Users are getting an error page with a black and white flicker strobe-like effect

[alexwykoff]

Did you search for similar issues before submitting this one?
Yes

Describe the issue you encountered:
Some users after updating to 0.12.3 are experiencing screen flicker.

Expected behavior:
The content should render normally.

• Platform (Win7, 8, 10? macOS? Linux distro?):
  This has been found primarily on Windows devices.
• Brave Version:
  0.12.3
• Steps to reproduce:
  1. Unknown. Needs investigation.
• Screenshot if needed:
• Any related issues:

[alexwykoff]

User report:
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro x64
CPU : Intel Core i3-4005U @ 1.70Ghz
RAM : 4Gb
Graphics : Intel HD Graphics

[rajakvk]

• Steps to reproduce
  Starts flickering immediately after launching browser. I can see "about:error" in the address bar.

[alexwykoff]

cc : @srirambv @bridiver

[bsclifton]

Will be checking this out- might be related to calculations w/ the window frame, per comment by @zcbenz when I upstreamed this (it was reverted after merge)

electron/electron#7416

[bridiver]

are these all anniversary edition?

[bridiver]

this is slightly different from what @srirambv reported. He said he only sees the issue in tabs opened from links

[bridiver]

@rajakvk do you have the anniversary edition update? What is your screen resolution?

[bsclifton]

@rajakvk do you still see the issue? @jonathansampson was working with someone who had seen the issue previously and it may have been related to Windows Defender

[jonathansampson]

@bsclifton I don't believe the issue was related to Windows Defender; I suspect the update to Defender they saw was a mere coincidence, coinciding with the passing of several hours between opening Brave, as well as a new Session, and a restart of their machine.

[bbondy]

Can we close this?
BrianJ said afaik a restart fixed it.
We could close for now and re-open if needed after?

[jonathansampson]

@bbondy The user I was speaking to reported that the issue had gone away by the next day. There was one other user who reported this issue; I'll check with them as well to see if it has resolved itself by now.

[alexwykoff]

+1 from support : https://linkbubble.zendesk.com/agent/tickets/5830

Oct 03 14:22
I attempted to download & install brave today.

After the install initially appears to work, the browser immediately opens to a strobing (as in flashing rapidly black & white - inducing nausea) about:error page. Attempting to open a new tab only opens further strobing about:error pages.

Windows 7 SP1 64bit

[D-m-L]

Did the in-browser upgrade today. No difference.

[luixxiul]

Because it's not fixed yet

[D-m-L]

You may have misunderstood the nature of my comment. As it has been ~10 minor updates since I last posted, I am offering clarifying information on my case. If this is not desired I will unsubscribe from the issue.

[bsclifton]

@D-m-L apologies- this is still a work in progress... I believe I have found a fix for this 😄

When we have new builds available, would you be interested in testing this for us? We might have something as early as today

[D-m-L]

Happy to help. Don't want to be a bother. I know we're all busy.

[bsclifton]

@D-m-L definitely not a bother; it would actually be a huge help for us! 😄

Regarding the above, I had accidentally closed the issue by checking in code. I used a message like "this code might fix #4502" which then closed it. Thanks for your patience- stay tuned! 😄

[bsclifton]

@D-m-L (and others too! @boozedog @CyrexCore2k) we have a release candidate available if you wanted to try it out 😄
https://github.com/brave/browser-laptop/releases/tag/v0.13.0dev-RC1

I believe this may fix the issue for you! Please let me know 😄

[jbmonroe]

The install was very quiet, and afterward Brave starts two processes which shut down almost immediately. I used both the 64-bit msi and exe installers with the same results for both. This was on a Windows 7 machine; I'll try again on my Win10 box a little later.

[bsclifton]

@jbmonroe I've seen this before and had a problem with Squirrel (what's used for installing).

You might try going to add/remove programs, uninstalling Brave (if it shows there), then rebooting. After reboot, install should work OK

[jbmonroe]

Yes, I was thinking of doing that next--clean install instead of just running it. I'll have something to report in a couple of minutes.

…

On Fri, Jan 20, 2017 at 4:04 PM, Brian Clifton ***@***.***> wrote: @jbmonroe <https://github.com/jbmonroe> I've seen this before and had a problem with Squirrel (what's used for installing). You might try going to add/remove programs, uninstalling Brave (if it shows there), then rebooting. After reboot, install should work OK — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#4502 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABiIfO3s-t0mbbFnWWLZJP1W6c-mDuJzks5rUSFqgaJpZM4KNv_6> .

[bsclifton]

@jbmonroe awesome- thanks for trying. I was able to reproduce. We're going to try a new build here in a few mins which may help (release candidate 2)

[jbmonroe]

I'll be on the lookout later tonight. Thanks!

…

On Fri, Jan 20, 2017 at 4:24 PM, Brian Clifton ***@***.***> wrote: @jbmonroe <https://github.com/jbmonroe> awesome- thanks for trying. I was able to reproduce. We're going to try a new build here in a few mins which may help (release candidate 2) — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#4502 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABiIfPjxtVuDlq7RlSUqLPy-B7BvuPl1ks5rUSX4gaJpZM4KNv_6> .

[D-m-L]

Installed RC1 from the link above, got the install problem, uninstalled, rebooted, same thing. Creates window frame but closes before filling with anything. (Probably preferable to the flashing! : ) Will await RC2.

[luixxiul]

Please try with the latest build, RC5: https://github.com/brave/browser-laptop/releases/tag/v0.13.0dev-RC5

[jbmonroe]

Clean install, up and running. Now if I can just figure out how I triggered the black/white flashing.....

…

On Sun, Jan 22, 2017 at 10:42 PM, Suguru Hirahara ***@***.***> wrote: Please try with the latest build, RC5: https://github.com/brave/ browser-laptop/releases/tag/v0.13.0dev-RC5 — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#4502 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABiIfObyrSKijOYFE_uFwBnsveBqh_Vvks5rVCGcgaJpZM4KNv_6> .

[jbmonroe]

And thanks! :) On Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at 6:48 AM, Brook Monroe <brook.monroe@gmail.com> wrote:

…

Clean install, up and running. Now if I can just figure out how I triggered the black/white flashing..... On Sun, Jan 22, 2017 at 10:42 PM, Suguru Hirahara < ***@***.***> wrote: > Please try with the latest build, RC5: https://github.com/brave/brows > er-laptop/releases/tag/v0.13.0dev-RC5 > > — > You are receiving this because you were mentioned. > Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub > <#4502 (comment)>, > or mute the thread > <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABiIfObyrSKijOYFE_uFwBnsveBqh_Vvks5rVCGcgaJpZM4KNv_6> > . >

[bsclifton]

@jbmonroe everything working ok?

@D-m-L you can try the latest release above, that @luixxiul linked to 😄

[jbmonroe]

I haven't noticed anything awry so far.

…

On Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at 11:35 AM, Brian Clifton ***@***.***> wrote: @jbmonroe <https://github.com/jbmonroe> everything working ok? @D-m-L <https://github.com/D-m-L> you can try the latest release above, that @luixxiul <https://github.com/luixxiul> linked to 😄 — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#4502 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABiIfKd4WE2eKqxuY_bdGnTtPMDBUHtAks5rVNbZgaJpZM4KNv_6> .

[scrap-worker]

I'm afraid I won't be able to assist with testing the fix. I switched off compatibility mode prior to installing RC5 to verify I am still experiencing the issue and it seems to have resolved itself? I event tried rebooting to verify Windows wasn't persisting some compatibility setting or something.

Here's what I have in my Help -> About

Brave 0.12.15
Muon 1.4.31
libchromiumcontent 53.0.2785.143
V8 5.3.332.47
Node.js 6.5.0
Update Channel dev
os.platform win32
os.release 6.3.9600
os.arch x64

I've been running in compatibility mode since December 21st (see my comment above). Maybe sometime since then my usage flipped a misbehaving bit back.

Regardless many thanks to @bsclifton for your work on this. I'll post back here if the problem returns and I can test the RC. Love the browser!! :)

[D-m-L]

Was able to install and run RC5 with no errors. Came up with an empty about:error page in the same position and window size as previously. Browsed to Google and Facebook (without logging in) and their homepages were displayed without error! Looks like you've squashed this one!

[cndouglas]

Multiple reports that this problem is fixed. Closing as fixed in 0.13.0.

[LeeGDavis]

I'm getting what I believe is this issue on Win 10 pro x64 since updating to 0.19.95.
In my situation the browser simply flashes from solid black to solid white and continues back and forth like this until you kill the process. It is not a fast flicker, but sits on all black screen, then flickers all white quickly, then back to black and so on. You can still click where the exit button would be and close it down without having to kill the process.

Running in compatibility mode does indeed work around this issue.

Likely relevant based on info above... I have an nvidia optimus card, m2200 paired to a intel P630 on chip.

Please let me know if I can capture any relevant information to help debug.

[jonathansampson]

@LeeGDavis Would you be able to capture a screen recording of this issue?

[LeeGDavis]

@jonathansampson I'll try and get a screen recording up later today, but here are a couple screen shots of what it flashes back and forth with:


You can resize the window, you can close it naturally if you click where the buttons are... it just flashes back and forth between these two states. The background is just another browser open to the brave website, the black or white box is the entirety of the brave browser window.

[LeeGDavis]

Following the instructions at https://community.brave.com/t/window-is-solid-black-or-solid-white-looks-like-a-blank-page/10003/3 and using the disable gpu flag, --disable-gpu, the problem goes away. I don't how badly this impacts performance, but it certainly resolves this issue. The only exception a relaunch after an update leaves it in a solid black window and it no longer flips back and forth between white and black.