Scene view 'hangs' after minimizing Editor

Hi Guys,

I ran into the following issue, but because I tested it with multiple releases of the Editor, I’ve posted it here. If I still need to report this via the in-editor menu, let me know :slight_smile:

  1. What happened
    After starting the editor on my system, if I switch to a different workspace, or minimize the Editor’s window, the graphics part of the application stops working. Do note, I am able to ‘play’ around with the camera and the game before I minimize the window.

However, when I run the project, it works AND I am able to move the Scene view again.

I have tested this using the following builds:

unity-editor-5.4.3f1-3+20161125_amd64.deb → NOT affected
unity-editor_amd64-5.5.3xf1Linux.deb → affected
unity-editor_amd64-5.6.0xf1Linux.deb → affected
unity-editor_amd64-5.6.0xf3Linux.deb → affected

Looking at these builds, the one main difference (except the version of the engine) is the used version of OpenGL. In the 5.4 editor it’s 2.1 (which defines itself as deprecated). And in 5.5 and 5.6 it’s 4.5.

Is this an issue with the editor, or with the OpenGL libraries somewhere?

  1. How we can reproduce it using the example you attached
    a. Start editor on Linux (see below for full specifics)
    b. Move scene view around, notice that it’s working
    c. Minimize editor or switch to a different virtual workspace
    d. Notice that the Scene view is no longer working
    e. Press play on the project (if you have no errors :slight_smile: )
    f. Notice that the scene view is working again

  2. My system:
    Debian 9 Stretch with kernel 4.9.0-2-amd64
    Nvidia GTX 1070 with Geforce driver version 375.39
    Xfce Desktop environment with multiple workspaces

I have encountered something like this, the scene view freezes but the little coordinate system arrows in the corner still update. Could it be the same?

My fix always was to resize the view panel so the UI does a layout update (and thus resets the viewport renderer) :slight_smile:

Hi Cygon4,

That’s correct, it looks like the same issue. And it doesn’t seem related to the graphics adapter itself, as I can also reproduce this on a NVidia GT710.

However, it’s very annoying, but I don’t know what the cause of the issue is. So I’m still running 5.4.3

@ devs, if you can’t reproduce it. I can provide you with an image of my system. You only need to provide the NVidia graphics card :slight_smile:

I’m encountering the same issue: when I switch workspaces or minimize Unity, the OpenGL portion of the UI freezes when I get back. GTX 970 here.

Although I don’t have a fix, I have found a potentially more convenient workaround: if I drag and drop the “game” tab - possibly to the same place - it unfreezes.

I had same problem with some other softwares. Problem was with hardware accelerated graphics and in some cases programs as Mumble was trying to draw its overlay into programs. Maybe this will help you some way…

Same issue, I’ve had it for a while now. 5.5.2 on Arch Linux, GTX 960M using nVidia drivers over Optimus.

My work around has been to play and unplay the scene. Infact that’s solved a lot of issues I’ve had.

Bump, 4 months of newer editors (currently running 2017.1.0xf3) and NVidia Drivers (375.66 as packaged by my distro), no improvement…

Would be nice if we at least get a response…

Bump, @Tak : is there any extra information you require?

Same issue with Unity 2017.2.0f3 (Arch Linux, NVidia GTX-650, Drivers 387.22).

Bump… again!

@Tak @natosha.bard @PJayB Why is it so hard to reply on this? We’re not asking for an immediate solution, we would like to talk with you as the devs to try and see if we can fix this issue.

My offer also still stands, if you need I can construct an Debian OS image with the Unity editor and the latest NVidia drivers, just add your own Nvidia GPU.

Are you still seeing this with 2017.3? Did you/can you file a bug? Also, thanks for offering to assist with this issue. Unfortunately, for various reasons we only have the bandwidth to cover blocking/crash issues for the Linux Editor right now, so I still can’t guarantee a fix in the near-term.

Hi @PJayB ,

Thanks for the reply! I do still encounter this issue on my current setup. I consider this a blocking issue when you use a NVidia graphics card. I cannot speak for AMD/Radeon based cards, the issue is not appearing on Intel based cards (as I have one in my laptop).

I will post a bug report when I am home, but the quick rundown of the issue is:

Any interaction with your desktop environment that causes the Unity editor to go out of focus, either by minimizing or switching to a different workspace (which I do all the time to switch to my browser/mail client etc.) will freeze any 3d window in the editor. The compass widget will still respond if you change orientation, but the 3d image will not move.

The current know workarounds (which are very sequence breaking):

  • ‘Play’ the editor and stopping it, given that you do not have any script errors
  • Resize/move the 3d window to a different place within the editor.

Hi @PJayB

Report has been made, but it seems I also already did report it last year:

Ticket: 903163 (dated 4/19/2017 10:10PM)
Ticket: 990905 (dated 1/22/2018 8:30 PM)

Solved the problem by installing Bumblebee for NVIDIA Optimus. The problem was that OpenGL was running on Mesa drivers and not on NVIDIA ones : [SOLVED]Link OpenGL to NVIDIA proprietary