Cannot use terminal: no window contents

knb · 2017-11-15 12:09:14 UTC

Terminal diagnostics gives my this (3 lines like this actually)

Handle: 'F06043A8' Caption: 'Terminal 1' Session Created: false

only the terminal tab is visible, but there is no content inside (no prompt, no way to type something)

Probably unrelated: When I start rstudio from the command line, I also get this error

rstudio
load glyph failed err=6 face=0xc21a40, glyph=2797
load glyph failed err=6 face=0xc21a40, glyph=2797

There is another post here, problem similar to mine (but my rstudio does not freeze).

I have the colorout package installed (useful when using R at the command line),
and my bash prompt is set by bash_it (an oh-my-zsh clone for bash) to

 2017-11-15 12:51:41  wb3 in ~
○ → ls -lad .bash*

my system:

Session info -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 setting  value                       
 version  R version 3.4.2 (2017-09-28)
 system   x86_64, linux-gnu           Ubuntu 16.04 , with Unity
 ui       RStudio (1.1.383)           
 language en                          
 collate  en_US.UTF-8                 
 tz       Europe/Berlin               
 date     2017-11-15                  

Packages -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 package   * version date       source                            
 base      * 3.4.2   2017-10-28 local                             
 colorout  * 1.1-2   2016-11-30 Github (jalvesaq/colorout@6d84420)
 compiler    3.4.2   2017-10-28 local                             
 datasets  * 3.4.2   2017-10-28 local                             
 devtools    1.13.4  2017-11-09 cran (@1.13.4)                    
 digest      0.6.12  2017-01-27 CRAN (R 3.3.2)                    
 graphics  * 3.4.2   2017-10-28 local                             
 grDevices * 3.4.2   2017-10-28 local                             
 memoise     1.1.0   2017-04-21 CRAN (R 3.4.0)                    
 methods   * 3.4.2   2017-10-28 local                             
 stats     * 3.4.2   2017-10-28 local                             
 tools       3.4.2   2017-10-28 local                             
 utils     * 3.4.2   2017-10-28 local                             
 withr       2.1.0   2017-11-01 cran (@2.1.0)                     
 yaml        2.1.14  2016-11-12 CRAN (R 3.3.2)

GaryR · 2017-11-16 19:28:48 UTC

Sorry you are having trouble with the terminal. To try and figure out what’s happening, can you try the following experiment:

In RStudio, close the Terminal tab (click the X on the tab itself).
Close RStudio and then restart it.
Tools -> Terminal -> New Terminal

Does that change anything? I suspect it won’t but it’s a good first thing to try. What does the Terminal Diagnostics show at this point?

I’ll share some more things to try once we see what that does! Thanks for your patience and I hope we can get this figured out for you.

Gary

knb · 2017-11-26 08:29:02 UTC

Thanks for trying to help me with this Starting-the-Terminal problem.

I work at two different PCs with nearly identical setup. Both rstudios had this problem, but only on one of them it goes away after a while. I don’t know why, because I’ve observed this behaviour only twice, and realized it only much later after the error went away.

Maybe it has to do with doing a “Restart R Session” and repeatedly restarting an in- IDE webserver while working with the blogdown package. This package creates a preview of a blog post inside the RStudio IDE.

I didn’t install blogdown on my work PC yet, where I wasn’t able to get a terminal inside Rstudio.

Now here is the full output of Terminal Diagnostics when it’s working properly:


Global Terminal Information
---------------------------
Loaded TerminalSessions: 1
Handle: '271D147C' Caption: 'Terminal 1'

Terminal List Count: 2
Handle: '271D147C' Caption: 'Terminal 1' Session Created: true
Handle: 'C1E78D68' Caption: 'Terminal 2' Session Created: false

Current Terminal Session Information
------------------------------------
Caption:     'Terminal 1'
Title:       '/home/knut/code/git/_my/R_stuff/ggplot2-expermt'
Cols x Rows  '107 x 13'
Shell:       'Bash'
Handle:      '271D147C'
Sequence:    '1'
Restarted:   'true
Busy:        'false'
Exit Code:   'null'
Full screen: 'client=false/server=false'
Zombie:      'false'
Track Env    'true'
Local-echo:  'true'
Working Dir: '~/code/git/_my/R_stuff/ggplot2-expermt'
Interactive: 'Always'
WebSockets:  'true'
Typing lag:  '0ms'

System Information
------------------
Desktop:    'true'
Platform:   'Linux'

Connection Information
----------------------
2017/11/26 9:21:50: Connect WebSocket: 'ws://127.0.0.1:6788/terminal/271D147C/'
2017/11/26 9:21:50: WebSocket connected

Local-echo Match Failures
-------------------------
<none>

Aurele · 2017-12-10 15:01:39 UTC

Hi @GaryR

I experience a similar issue. The terminal panel is empty, no prompt appears.

I tried to close it, close RStudio, re-open it, close and restart individual terminals, to no avail.

Here is what the diagnostic shows:

Global Terminal Information
---------------------------
Loaded TerminalSessions: 0

Terminal List Count: 0

and my session_info():

─ Session info ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 setting  value                       
 version  R version 3.4.3 (2017-11-30)
 os       Linux Mint 18               
 system   x86_64, linux-gnu           
 ui       RStudio                     
 language (EN)                        
 collate  fr_FR.UTF-8                 
 tz       Europe/Paris                
 date     2017-12-10                  

─ Packages ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 package     * version     date       source                             
 assertthat    0.2.0       2017-04-11 CRAN (R 3.4.0)                     
 backports     1.0.5       2017-01-18 CRAN (R 3.4.0)                     
 cli           1.0.0       2017-11-27 Github (r-lib/cli@ab1c3aa)         
 clisymbols    1.2.0       2017-05-21 CRAN (R 3.4.2)                     
 crayon        1.3.4       2017-09-16 CRAN (R 3.4.2)                     
 desc          1.1.1       2017-08-03 CRAN (R 3.4.2)                     
 devtools      1.13.3.9000 2017-11-27 Github (hadley/devtools@9f14664)   
 digest        0.6.12      2017-01-27 CRAN (R 3.4.2)                     
 magrittr      1.5         2014-11-22 CRAN (R 3.4.0)                     
 memoise       1.1.0       2017-08-21 Github (hadley/memoise@d63ae9c)    
 pkgbuild      0.0.0.9000  2017-11-27 Github (r-lib/pkgbuild@a70858f)    
 pkgload       0.0.0.9000  2017-11-27 Github (r-lib/pkgload@70eaef8)     
 R6            2.2.2       2017-06-17 CRAN (R 3.4.1)                     
 rlang         0.1.4.9000  2017-12-06 Github (tidyverse/rlang@5f1656d)   
 rprojroot     1.2         2017-01-16 CRAN (R 3.4.0)                     
 rstudioapi    0.7.0-9000  2017-11-27 Github (rstudio/rstudioapi@335f257)
 sessioninfo   1.0.1.9000  2017-11-27 Github (r-lib/sessioninfo@c871d01) 
 testthat      1.0.2.9000  2017-07-17 Github (hadley/testthat@c7e8330)   
 usethis       1.1.0       2017-11-27 Github (r-lib/usethis@0fb89e9)     
 withr         2.1.0       2017-11-01 CRAN (R 3.4.2)                     
 yaml          2.1.14      2016-11-12 CRAN (R 3.4.0)

Edit
Rstudio version is 1.1.383, I don’t know why it shows up in @knb’s session_info and not mine.

GaryR · 2017-12-11 18:52:12 UTC

Try turning off all the following Terminal options, then opening a new terminal.

[ ] Local terminal echo
[ ] Connect with WebSockets
[ ] Save and restore environment variables

If that makes it work, then try to figure out which one(s) it was. The terminal is slower (typing lag) without websockets and local echo, so try turning them back on one at a time and opening a new terminal, etc.

Aurele · 2017-12-14 14:17:38 UTC

Thank you @GaryR !
That worked.
I turned back on “Save and restore varenvs” and “local terminal echo”, so this works:

[x] Local terminal echo
[ ] Connect with WebSockets
[x] Save and restore environment variables

In case that matters, here is what Terminal diagnostic looks like now:

Global Terminal Information
---------------------------
Loaded TerminalSessions: 1
Handle: '65FDABF' Caption: 'Terminal 6'

Terminal List Count: 1
Handle: '65FDABF' Caption: 'Terminal 6' Session Created: true

Current Terminal Session Information
------------------------------------
Caption:     'Terminal 6'
Title:       '..ents/R/rtests'
Cols x Rows  '60 x 26'
Shell:       'Bash'
Handle:      '65FDABF'
Sequence:    '6'
Restarted:   'false
Busy:        'false'
Exit Code:   'null'
Full screen: 'client=false/server=false'
Zombie:      'false'
Track Env    'true'
Local-echo:  'true'
Working Dir: '~/Documents/R/rtests'
Interactive: 'Always'
WebSockets:  'false'
Typing lag:  '133ms'

System Information
------------------
Desktop:    'true'
Platform:   'Linux'

Connection Information
----------------------
2017/12/14 15:11:38: Connected with RPC

Local-echo Match Failures
-------------------------
<none>