Sigil-2.3.0 Released

[KevinH]

But the exact text of his message is old. It did not exist in Sigil 2.3.0. Sigil 2.3.0 modified that dialog.

That is why I am confused. If he is really running Sigil-2.3.0 he should get the new message, not the old.

[philja]

Originally Posted by KevinH

That is very strange... are you sure you built from official github sources for the Sigil 2.3.0 tag?

There were some Beta releases that did not have those fixes but the final released Sigil-2.3.0 certainly had them.

Here is the snippet of code from ImportEPUB.cpp that is in Sigil 2.3.0

I don't find that snippet in ImportEPUB.cpp on the linux build which I made on 21 July. The W10 download seems to be a bit earlier so it looks likely that I didn't have the definitive releases in either case.

Originally Posted by KevinH

On Linux, perhaps your distribution version of Sigil (and older one) is being found in your path first? Did you do the sudo make install after make completed?

On Windows could you have an old version being run instead.

What does the About Sigil dialog say on both (exactly). A screen shot of each About box would help.

Typically to build from source you download the source code directly from the Releases page and unpack it and build from there. If you did a git clone earlier to get the source you need to use git to pull in all changes since your prior pull or clone before doing your build.

I haven't used a distro version in linux for a few years now. To have a more up-to-date- version, I used Flatpack per advice on the Sigil website and got good support for a while. Then one day when I didn't get any response to a query on a problem, I begged assistance from this forum, November 2023, and was kindly 'coached' through the build-from-source process by DiapDealer, especially with help identifying the QT elements needed.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=357115

That thread documents the whole struggle. Ever grateful thanks to DiapDealer.

Since then I've rebuilt to update a few times always following the process defined here:

https://github.com/Sigil-Ebook/Sigil...ng_on_Linux.md

The 2.3.0 source was downloaded as Sigil-master.zip from https://github.com/Sigil-Ebook/Sigil
after I queried the name on the first download from your site which was named BuildSigilOnMac-for_sigil_1.0.0.zip which didn't seem appropriate.

Screenshots attached as requested:

[KevinH]

You built Sigil on Linux from beta 2.3.0 code. The final version was not released until just 2 weeks ago.

So you need to either download the official source from the releases on github, or just use today's master, not a copy of master from July.

Todays master would be best as it has a few bugs fixed.

Master is not always in a buildable state but we do try to keep it as buildable as possible. If in doubt just ask here and we can let you know.

[philja]

Originally Posted by KevinH

You built Sigil on Linux from beta 2.3.0 code. The final version was not released until just 2 weeks ago.

So you need to either download the official source from the releases on github, or just use today's master, not a copy of master from July.

Yes, I built the linux version way back on 21st July. I'll rebuild when I've a moment.

I just downloaded the Windows version again and re-installed. The warning message with Diatsu's epub doc is now the new one.

[KevinH]

Yes, building from the official source release is orobably the best idea overall. But if you are comfortable building from source, then by all means use master to get all the latest bug fixes.

[philja]

In the past few days, I've noticed that Sigil sometimes loses its menu bar if left unattended for some (undefined at present) time.

I work with two desktops, one on linux and the other on Windows 10. They share a screen, keyboard and trackball via a KVM switch. The W10 box is only a couple of years old and W10 is kept up to date. More than 90% of the time, I'm on the linux box.

I first noticed that the menu bar had gone after I switched back to linux for half an hour or so and then went back to W10. Subsequently, however, I have had the menu bar disappear when the W10 box is the active box and I've been called away for maybe 20 minutes. On return, I find the screensaver has kicked in and Sigil has lost its menu bar. This is not systematic, however. The screensaver kicks in after 10 minutes.

It doesn't seem to matter if the Sigil virtual desktop is active or not. I have just had three instances of Sigil running in 3 virtual desktops - I switched to the linux box and went back to W10 after about 40 minutes and all 3 instances had lost their menu bar.

There doesn't appear to be an easy way to restore the menu bar, which doesn't appear to be an optionally viewed item.

I can't say I was aware of any similar behaviour on earlier versions of Sigil.

[DiapDealer]

I don't run virtual desktops, but I've not noticed menubars disappearing on Linux or Windows. But I'll be honest... I'm not really one to leave programs running when I'm away from a machine.

The difference between Sigil 2.3.0 and previous versions is that 2.3.0 uses a newer version of Qt. The very latest version of Qt at this point (6.7.2). So visual artifacts and rendering issues are more than likely a sign that video hardware and/or drivers are being left behind. Make sure your Windows graphics card is using the latest manufacturer's version (not the Windows update version).

Another thing you can try is turning off qtwebengine's hardware acceleration in Sigil's advanced preferences.

[philja]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I don't run virtual desktops, but I've not noticed menubars disappearing on Linux or Windows. But I'll be honest... I'm not really one to leave programs running when I'm away from a machine.

The menu bar only disappears on my Windows 10.

I'm a great fan of virtual desktops especially on linux. Email on #1, Firefox on #2, Slack on #3, general purposes #4, #5, Calibre / Zoom #6, Password manager #7 - fired up by devilspie2. W10 is less organised but four desktops there save piling windows on windows.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

The difference between Sigil 2.3.0 and previous versions is that 2.3.0 uses a newer version of Qt. The very latest version of Qt at this point (6.7.2). So visual artifacts and rendering issues are more than likely a sign that video hardware and/or drivers are being left behind. Make sure your Windows graphics card is using the latest manufacturer's version (not the Windows update version).

I recently updated the Nvidia Studio driver and I just rechecked. I have the latest.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Another thing you can try is turning off qtwebengine's hardware acceleration in Sigil's advanced preferences.

I'll have a look at that one.

[philja]

Just hopped back to the W10 box to check your suggestion re: qtwebengine's hardware accelerator and what did I find ?

After restarting Sigil, I disabled the qtwebengine's hardware accelerator. We'll see what happens over the next few days.

[KevinH]

So is this a waking from sleep issue?

Have you tried minimizing the Sigil MainWindow and the restoring?

Have you tried maximizing the MainWindow and restoring?

Have you tried a simple resize of the MainWindow? etc.

Could this be a bug in your virtual desktop software?

[DiapDealer]

If it can happen when Windows is the active box, then Windows virtual desktops may be the culprit. They may be messing with Qt6.7's ability record/restore accurate geometry metrics.

Are you using keyboard shortcuts to control the KVM and/or select virtual desktops?

I've also seen KVMs play havoc with HDMI edids when screens go to sleep.

[philja]

Originally Posted by KevinH

So is this a waking from sleep issue?

Have you tried minimizing the Sigil MainWindow and the restoring?

Have you tried maximizing the MainWindow and restoring?

Have you tried a simple resize of the MainWindow? etc.

Could this be a bug in your virtual desktop software?

It's not strictly waking from sleep because I have the sleep setting at 'never'. But it does appear connected with the display, either changing virtual desktops or interrupting by shifting to the other computer.

I'll try the various resize suggestions next time It happens.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

If it can happen when Windows is the active box, then Windows virtual desktops may be the culprit. They may be messing with Qt6.7's ability record/restore accurate geometry metrics.

Are you using keyboard shortcuts to control the KVM and/or select virtual desktops?

I've also seen KVMs play havoc with HDMI edids when screens go to sleep.

It's only the menu bar that goes missing. There's no other drawing anomaly apparent in the gui.

My current KVM switch doesn't do keyboard shortcuts. There is a push button switch on the KVM box and a remote switch tucked under the end of my keyboard. I've never noticed any other disturbance caused by my KVMs over the years.

It hasn't happened again this evening since I disabled qtwebengine hardware accelerator.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by philja

It hasn't happened again this evening since I disabled qtwebengine hardware accelerator.

Oh good. Keep us posted. I misunderstood and thought it had happened AFTER you had made that change, but now I see that you said your screenshot was what you saw when you went to MAKE that change. My bad.

[philja]

Another day - and a small advance. I left Sigil unattended on an active W10 box until the screensaver kicked in - no problem. I then left it unattended as a non-active virtual desktop with another virtual desktop also active. I waited at least an hour and no problem.

I then left the W10 box to KVM over and use the linux box for half an hour. When I went back to the W10 box, Sigil had lost its menubar.

I tried the first item on Kevin's list : minimised the Sigil mainwindow and then restored it and back came the menubar.

Once the menubar was back, I checked the Advanced settings just to confirm that the QtWebEngine GPU acceleration was still disabled - it was.

This seems to make it less likely that QtWebEngine GPU acceleration is behind the problem. The jury is still out on W10 Virtual desktop mechanism versus KVM switching between active computers.

If it goes again this afternoon, I'll try another of Kevin's suggestions to restore the menubar.

[philja]

I thought I'd check Windows' sleep function. I set the PC to sleep after 25 minutes and then came back to find Sigil still had its menubar. Doesn't look like a Windows' sleep problem.

I then went to do 20 minutes or so on the linux box (using KVM) - came back to find no menubar.

I used Kevin's #2: maximise the Sigil window (for the record, it was already maximised - I just hit the Windows maximise icon) - and back came the menubar.

I re-instated QtWebEngine GPU acceleration, disabled the Sleep function, and left Windows 10 active while I took the dogs for a walk for an hour. When I returned, Sigil was complete with its menubar.

I switched to the linux machine to do some work and re-checked Sigil in W10 after 15 minutes. The menubar had disappeared. A simple grab of the window and moving it a bit was enough to get the redraw complete with the menubar.

I have been unable to get the menubar to disappear when keeping the Windows box active so maybe I was mistaken on that aspect yesterday.

It does appear that disconnecting the display output from the screen when switching from Windows to linux and then reconnecting by switching back to Windows is the only factor responsible for this mishap. Time is also an element because a simple switch back and forth over a minute or two is not sufficient to cause the menubar to disappear.

Strange though that Sigil GUI seems perfect apart from the missing menubar.