Brave-browser: Windows 7 users experiencing graphics/display issues with Brave after update

[Brave-Matt]

Description

The issue initially started with Windows 7 users who had upgraded from Brave Muon --> Core but seems to be consistent whether users migrate or attempt a fresh install.
Threads like these describe Brave launching (after install) a "blank white window" that is unresponsive to input.

There have also been similar reports, where Win7 users get a Brave window that's "all black", and elements very briefly display when scrolling over them in the window but is also unresponsive.

Another user states that Brave is launched and running but he can't "see" it. His english is bad so it's a little hard to tell exactly what they're saying but from context I believe its a display error very much like the ones above.

Steps to Reproduce

I personally was unable to reproduce the issue when testing on my Win7 VM and there aren't "exact"
steps to reproduce this. It seems as though it just happens when installing Brave on Win7.

Actual result:

Brave installs but launches/displays as a "blank" screen of some kind.

Expected result:

Brave should launch and perform as intended.

Reproduces how often:

Seems to be inconsistent, but more than enough users have reported this to consider it a real issue.

Brave version (brave://version info)

RC build v0.58.18

Reproducible on current release:

• Does it reproduce on brave-browser dev/beta builds?
  Yes

Additional Information

Many users have submitted logs for us to view in the threads linked to above. I'll come back later tonight and pull the logs out into individual comments for sake of ease.

[avndp]

Have you tried adding --disable-gpu in the Target end (Right click on Brave icon -> properties -> Target)?

[Brave-Matt]

@avndp,
Yes, I've tried this both from the terminal and editing the shortcut directly. I've also had other users reporting this attempt those same things with no effect.

[contemporarysage]

Enclosing a desktop capture of new version on Windows 7 so you can see the exact behavior. In standard theme, Brave seems to have a white overlay, beneath is a black window that does appear to be responsive (just not visually). I was able to hover and click (invisible) links.
brave4.zip

[Brave-Matt]

Two more on this one from Community:
https://community.brave.com/t/58-18-on-windows-7-does-not-work/41550/2

https://community.brave.com/t/bug-windows-7-white-screen-on-launch-brave-version-0-58-18-chromium-71-0-3578-98-official-build-64-bit/41528/2

[Brave-Matt]

+1 from Community, black screen: https://community.brave.com/t/solid-black-screen/41180/9

[Brave-Matt]

Looks like the --disable-gpu workaround _does_ work for some users. Testing this now. Taken from this thread:

Workaround for Windows 7 Blank screen:

1. Find the shortcut for Brave (generally on Desktop), right-click and select Properties from the context menu.
2. Click into the “Target” field, and type --disable-gpu at the end of the path. Note that you must type this outside of the quotes with a space between the flag and quotes. It should look something like this:
   
3. Click Apply then OK then open the modified shortcut you just created.
4. Assuming this worked and you’re able to view Brave, open the main menu on the top-right
5. Navigate to Settings --> Advanced --> System --> Hardware Acceleration
6. Ensure this option is off. If not, toggle it off and relaunch:
   
7. Now, return to the modified shortcut, remove the --disable-gpu flag from the Target path and launch Brave using that shortcut.

[jonathansampson]

I just received word from a user on Windows 10 who saw something similar, and had success with the --disable-gpu workaround. This may merit splitting off into its own issue, but for the time being I'll drop the comment here for tracking: https://twitter.com/mani2jeff/status/1083225642630434816. The user also provided a dxdiag dump.

[SilverPuppy]

I have not experienced this issue personally, exactly, but suspect that one I am experiencing may be another symptom of the same problem. I am also using Brave on Windows 7. I still use Muon a lot, but only have this issue with Core. When I click on an external link with Brave Core as the default browser and already running, Brave Core switches itself to the foreground and loads the page in a new tab, but goes white. I can get it to display properly again by minimizing it with the ALT+space menu or taskbar and then restoring it. The issue and workaround a both consistent. EDIT: This seems to only happen after BC has been running for awhile. Closing the browser resolves the issue for awhile.

Do you believe this is the same issue or a different one? If the same, I would rather not create a separate bug.

[jumde]

Repros on:

• Win 10
• AMD Raedon R5 M330

cc: @litsoni004

[minimeister]

I had the same exact issue with a fresh install. using the '--disable-gpu' on launch resolved the issue.

older version of windows 7

[bbondy]

Could you try the Nightly Brave build to see if it's an issue (don't pass the cmdline arg though in the test) https://brave.com/download-nightly/

[minimeister]

Ok, did that, same issue. One difference was that instead of an all white background it was all black. I presume that is due to it's default dark theme that I was able to see fine when launching with the ' --disable-gpu' option. Other than that same result. The standard version I'm running was just downloaded this morning btw.

A little more about my environment;
32 bit windows 7 ultimate
intel gma 3600 integrated video

So, kind of old hardware with an old version of windows. Also of note is that when hovering the mouse over the background there is 'stuff' there and right clicking shows appropriate options. It looks like something is failing to load/render on start up and it gets stuck. Nothing in windows system event logs.

[pi-eaterVZ]

Looks like the --disable-gpu workaround _does_ work for some users. Testing this now. Taken from this thread:

Workaround for Windows 7 Blank screen:

1. Find the shortcut for Brave (generally on Desktop), right-click and select Properties from the context menu.
2. Click into the “Target” field, and type --disable-gpu at the end of the path. Note that you must type this outside of the quotes with a space between the flag and quotes. It should look something like this:
   
3. Click Apply then OK then open the modified shortcut you just created.
4. Assuming this worked and you’re able to view Brave, open the main menu on the top-right
5. Navigate to Settings --> Advanced --> System --> Hardware Acceleration
6. Ensure this option is off. If not, toggle it off and relaunch:
   
7. Now, return to the modified shortcut, remove the --disable-gpu flag from the Target path and launch Brave using that shortcut.

I am a Windows 10 who had something similar, and had success with the --disable-gpu workaround. Thanks !

[Topper1950]

I resolved this issue on 2 different Notebooks running Windows 7, 64bit SP1 by setting the executable to run in Windows Vista SP2 "Compatibility mode, hardware acceleration still "Enabled". Before clicking the "Apply" button ensure that you select "Change the settings for all users" to allow all users access.

[agnelvishal]

Could you try the Nightly Brave build to see if it's an issue (don't pass the cmdline arg though in the test) https://brave.com/download-nightly/

In Brave nighty also I got the same issue. Passing the command line argument fixed the issue.

[Topper1950]

Agnel, thank you for directing me to the download.

1. Clean install on Alienware notebook, Intel T9300 @ 2.5 GHZ, 4GB Ram.
   2.Operating System:: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit.

Browser worked fine without command line argument fix or compatibility mode
work around.
Note that after install, the close button on the Installer GUI did not work
but it did close using the (X) top right box option.

Note: I did have two brave browser shortcuts pinned to the Taskbar which
disappear after reboot and starting the application. One was named Brave
Night and the other Brave Night 2.

Thanks again,
Martin

On Sun, Nov 3, 2019 at 10:24 AM Agnel Vishal [e-mail]
wrote:

Could you try the Nightly Brave build to see if it's an issue (don't pass
the cmdline arg though in the test) https://brave.com/download-nightly/

In Brave nighty also I got the same issue. Passing the command line
argument fixed the issue.

—
You are receiving this because you commented.
Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub
https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/2771?email_source=notifications&email_token=ANREX6OUJBWY7LHHPHEZ5ZLQR33MXA5CNFSM4GMW4RX2YY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGOEC5W3DQ#issuecomment-549154190,
or unsubscribe
https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ANREX6ISCJ27HVMVMNTFTBTQR33MXANCNFSM4GMW4RXQ
.

[bsclifton]

For folks experiencing this, I'd like to recommend (if you haven't already) downloading the latest official drivers from Intel / nVidia / AMD. Those may help significantly- I know the ones bundled with Windows aren't always the most recent or most optimized (often the official ones include a control panel for additional tweaking if you have both a built in and discrete video card)