Flameshot: FlameShot doesn't start, no errors

[Ulrar]

Hi,

I've installed flameshot on gentoo from the jorgicio overlay. When I type "flameshot" in a term, it just hangs forever. If I try the gui, full or config options, it immediately exits without any output (return code is 0). I tried starting dbus, see if that helps, but no changes.

Is there a debug mode, or something I could try to see what the problem might be ?

[lupoDharkael]

A friend just notified the same situation. I'll talk with him and see if I can find the problem.

[alexanderadam]

Having the same issues. But calling flameshot gui shows something.

[WhyNotHugo]

I've the exact same issue:

• flameshot just idles immediately.
• flameshot gui exists immediately (exit code 0).
• flameshot config exists immediately (exit code 0).

Most importantly, the screenshot is not saved. I'm running ArchLinux, with Xorg/i3wm. I'm using the AUR package.

I'm happy to provide extra information as required.

[zingmars]

Same issue here. I'm running KDE Neon, and installed Flameshot using the .deb package meant for Ubuntu Xenial (16.04) from Releases.

[tkkcc]

Use exec dbus-launch i3 instead of exec i3 in ~/.xinitrc works. Get from #168
I use i3wm(4.15)

[SapphicCode]

This issue is also happening to me on NixOS in KDE Plasma 5, with Flameshot 0.5.1 (from both the latest release and unstable repositories).

[derekwsgray]

Worked when I installed it. Now I only get this problem. Just doesn't start, no errors.

[polishExperiment]

I'm on Ubuntu 18.04. When I press Prt Scr the screenshot is taken but it is taken by native ubuntu screen capture tool, I presume - it is saved in Pictures directory with name such as "Screenshot from 2018-09-25 13-47-09.png". But flametool does nothing. It's icon just sits there in the top bar next to battery indicator.

[WhyNotHugo]

Still not working for me on Archlinux, using flameshot 0.6.0:

$ flameshot  # Idles indefinitely
QApplication: invalid style override passed, ignoring it.

$ flameshot gui  # Exists immediately

$ flameshot full
Invalid format, set where to save the content with one of the following flags:
 -p, --path
 -r, --raw
 -c, --clipboard

Usage: flameshot full [full-options]

Options:
  -p, --path <path>           Path where the capture will be saved
  -c, --clipboard             Save the capture to the clipboard
  -d, --delay <milliseconds>  Delay time in milliseconds
  -r, --raw                   Print raw PNG capture
  -h, --help                  Displays this help

$ flameshot config  # Exits immediately

[sgse]

On Manjaro Xfce, Kernel 4.19 no tray-icon.
From terminal

~ >>> flameshot
qt5ct: using qt5ct plugin     - Did not start

~ >>> flameshot gui          - start

~ >>> flameshot full
Invalid format, set where to save the content with one of the following flags:
 -p, --path
 -r, --raw
 -c, --clipboard

Usage: flameshot full [full-options] 

Options:
  -p, --path <path>           Path where the capture will be saved
  -c, --clipboard             Save the capture to the clipboard
  -d, --delay <milliseconds>  Delay time in milliseconds
  -r, --raw                   Print raw PNG capture
  -h, --help                  Displays this help

~ >>> flameshot config     - start

Dos not work with gtk3

[sgse]

Work with gtk3-classic, Edit: must be more than that, dos not help on other Xfce PC.

[kylescousin]

Had the same issue, but when manually adding flameshot to the system tray it worked.

[rod-stuchi]

Same issue here, I'm running Arch 4.18.5-arch1, with i3 4.16 and Flameshot 0.6.0-1 (via community).
It opens but not showing gui, but the process still running.

Tried XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=gnome flameshot gui

[christianmtr]

I just comment my case in other similar issue.
https://github.com/lupoDharkael/flameshot/issues/403#issuecomment-441126951

[juancampa]

This is happening to me if I have two X servers running locally. It will show in the wrong one. It's like flameshot is not paying attention to the DISPLAY environment variable

[rubenbarreiro]

happening to me as well. was working normal since the first install, then couple days ago just doesn't launch. I'm using linux mint 19.1 cinnamon edition

[genejr]

Ubunut 18 getting exact behaviour WhyNotHugo saw...

$ flameshot # Idles indefinitely
QApplication: invalid style override passed, ignoring it.

$ flameshot gui # Exists immediately

$ flameshot full
Invalid format, set where to save the content with one of the following flags:
-p, --path
-r, --raw
-c, --clipboard

Usage: flameshot full [full-options]

Options:
-p, --path Path where the capture will be saved
-c, --clipboard Save the capture to the clipboard
-d, --delay Delay time in milliseconds
-r, --raw Print raw PNG capture
-h, --help Displays this help

$ flameshot config # Exits immediately

[dNvl]

Using Ubuntu 18.04LTS with the 4.19 LTS Kernel and Gnome. Stopped working about a week ago. Same issues as @genejr

[mitchellkrogza]

Same problem on Manjaro Cinnamon, worked after installation but after a reboot (some 14 days later) it no longer works.

[Alexxz]

Ubuntu Disco Dingo (development branch) default desktop
Started as flameshot just waits for something and no notification icon in system tray.
Started as flameshot gui shows a selection interface and seems to be functional.

So it is possible to continue using it but every time I need to start it as a separate command 8(

[NikosAlexandris]

Under Linux version 4.18.16-gentoo-FC.01 (root@carbon) (gcc version 7.3.1 20180703 (Funtoo 7.3.1-r3)) #1 SMP Sun Nov 4 13:25:44 CET 2018 and i3 (4.14.1):

qt5ct: using qt5ct plugin
qt5ct: D-Bus system tray: no
qt5ct: custom style sheet is disabled

Screenhot, Icon in i3wm

The icon is usable and I can use the tool. The rest, however, do not work. In example:

flameshot gui |echo $?
0

and the same for

flameshot full --path ~

and

flameshot screen --path ~

do nothing.

[xRiot]

Bumping this report, I encounter the same issue exactly as described above on Debian Buster using KDE Plasma 5.14.1

$ flameshot --version
Flameshot 0.6.0-11(Debian)
Compiled with Qt 5.11.3

SOLVED: I resolved this by resetting my locales _(since my system wasn't able to locate LC_ALL)_ and desktop launch option. Go to: System Settings > Regional Settings > Reset all and then set desktop launcher to Exec=flameshot gui in /usr/share/applications/flameshot.desktop.

[xcme]

The same issue on Manjaro Cinnamon,
The "/usr/bin/flameshot gui" works but just "/usr/bin/flameshot" doesn't work.

[mihai-dinu]

In my case, I had another flameshot instance running in the background without me knowing it (the autostarted flameshot instance). Killed that instance and started it again and now it works.

If you want flameshot to autostart correctly at login, then modify ~/.config/autostart/Flameshot.desktop to contain: Exec=/bin/bash -c "sleep 10; flameshot &" instead of the regular Exec

[mitchellkrogza]

@mihai-dinu you sir are a genius :clap: this indeed works 100% .... finally I have flameshot back without having to keep triggering it via command line. :clap:

[NikosAlexandris]

Exec=/bin/bash -c "sleep 10; flameshot &"

Which OS? Does not work for me.

[NikosAlexandris]

Edit: I resolved this by resetting my locales _(since my system wasn't able to locate LC_ALL)_ and desktop launch option. Go to: System Settings > Regional Settings > Reset all and then set desktop launcher to Exec=flameshot gui in /usr/share/applications/flameshot.desktop.

How is this important? Here my locales, all set:

LANG=en_US.UTF-8
LC_CTYPE="en_US.utf8"
LC_NUMERIC="en_US.utf8"
LC_TIME="en_US.utf8"
LC_COLLATE="en_US.utf8"
LC_MONETARY="en_US.utf8"
LC_MESSAGES="en_US.utf8"
LC_PAPER="en_US.utf8"
LC_NAME="en_US.utf8"
LC_ADDRESS="en_US.utf8"
LC_TELEPHONE="en_US.utf8"
LC_MEASUREMENT="en_US.utf8"
LC_IDENTIFICATION="en_US.utf8"
LC_ALL=en_US.utf8

[MarvinFS]

If you want flameshot to autostart correctly at login, then modify ~/.config/autostart/Flameshot.desktop to contain: Exec=/bin/bash -c "sleep 10; flameshot &" instead of the regular Exec

have the very same issue qt5ct: using qt5ct plugin under wheel user (it runs absolutely fine under root BTW), tried everything.
only that solutions worked for me either! manjaro latest release

[mihai-dinu]

@NikosAlexandris I'm using Solus, but that command should work for any distro. Try the command in a terminal and see if that works. If it does, then it's probably something with the way the ".desktop" files are interpreted for your distro.

[NikosAlexandris]

@NikosAlexandris I'm using Solus, but that command should work for any distro. Try the command in a terminal and see if that works. If it does, then it's probably something with the way the ".desktop" files are interpreted for your distro.

@mihai-dinu, I think I misunderstood. Your solution solves the problem of not being able to launch flameshot (gui) at all. The issue(s) I observe is that I cannot run any of:

flameshot gui

and

flameshot full --path ~

and

flameshot screen --path ~

while simply running flameshot does open the GUI. A delay of the execution (i.e. sleep 10) of flameshot is not changing anything here.

[mitchellkrogza]

Did you make sure you commented out the original Exec? @NikosAlexandris @MarvinFS mine is working with this fix on Latest Manjaro Cinnamon ... must reboot after this change.

[Desktop Entry]
Name=flameshot
Icon=flameshot
#Exec=flameshot
Terminal=false
Type=Application
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true
Exec=/bin/bash -c "sleep 10; flameshot &"

[NikosAlexandris]

Did you make sure you commented out the original Exec? @NikosAlexandris @MarvinFS mine is working with this fix on Latest Manjaro Cinnamon ... must reboot after this change.

[Desktop Entry]
Name=flameshot
Icon=flameshot
#Exec=flameshot
Terminal=false
Type=Application
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true
Exec=/bin/bash -c "sleep 10; flameshot &"

Thank you @mitchellkrogza. Can you please post the output of the three following commands, executed in the command line?

flameshot gui |echo $?
flameshot full --path ~ |echo $?
flameshot screen --path ~ |echo $?

[mitchellkrogza]

$ flameshot gui |echo $?
0
$ flameshot full --path ~ |echo $?
0
$ flameshot screen --path ~ |echo $?
0

[NikosAlexandris]

$ flameshot gui |echo $?
0
$ flameshot full --path ~ |echo $?
0
$ flameshot screen --path ~ |echo $?
0

This means that if you do

flameshot full --path ~

there is no screenshot saved in your home directory. Which means, none of the above three work for you either in the command line. Which is the issue. See also posts above from @tkkcc and @WhyNotHugo. Though @tkkcc managed to solve the problem for working under i3 (under which I work too).

[NikosAlexandris]

Use exec dbus-launch i3 instead of exec i3 in ~/.xinitrc works. Get from #168
I use i3wm(4.15)

@tkkcc, is the file /etc/X11/Sessions/i3wm related?
It contains

#!/bin/sh
exec /usr/bin/i3

I edited this by adding thedbus-launch part, but no luck.

[tkkcc]

@NikosAlexandris Sorry, I am now using flameshot without any trick, though I don't know why it broke before. My version is flameshot 0.6.0-3, i3-wm 4.16.1-1, I run startx in my login shell, and has these in xinitrc

flameshot >/dev/null 2>&1&
exec i3

then in i3, run flameshot gui works

[NikosAlexandris]

Interesting, if I do in the command line exactly

flameshot >/dev/null 2>&1&

the following works then too:

flameshot full --path ~

and saves a screenshot as expected under ~.

Perhaps I misunderstood the way it is supposed to work. I am thinking of flameshot as a command line utility (too), which I can use at any given point within from any terminal. Without the need to have it run on the background.
?

[hugollsouza]

I use flameshot on Gnome Shell and it does not start when I click the icon in Dash to Dock. I installed the main menu package (apt install alacarte), I edited the flameshot icon and I added the gui at the end of the command.

[Raj2032]

Same thing it doesn't even launch in either ArchLabs (based on Arch Linux) and Zorin OS (based on Ubuntu) What is going on?

[mitchellkrogza]

@Raj2032 did you try the Exec fix in ~/.config/autostart/Flameshot.desktop ?

[Desktop Entry]
Name=flameshot
Icon=flameshot
Exec=/bin/bash -c "sleep 10; flameshot &"
Terminal=false
Type=Application
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true

[Raj2032]

It turns out that I am having dependency issues, it for some reason installed in GUI but I tried to launch it nothing happens but using terminal I am getting dependency errors. I am kinda new to the Linux world so I need to understand better how do I fix dependency issues?

I believe I have to type sudo apt-get install -f to fix any broken dependency. then what am I supposed to do next?

[zeddock]

I am on Linux Mint 19.1.
On initial install everything works and icon sits nicely in Notification try ready to be used.
But after reboot, it is not loaded.

I got some help and several different things were attempted:
dbus-launch flameshot &
and
dbus-launch flameshot gui &

But this above suggestion is what worked for me as well:
In autostart I changed the exec= line to read: Exec=/bin/bash -c "sleep 10; flameshot &"

However, I also noticed 2 other things that seem to make a difference:

1. If you toggle the checkbox in the Flameshot config for startup, it puts another entry into autostart which seems to gum things up
2. You have to right-click or otherwise set the new entry to Trusted.

zeddock

[derekwsgray]

Thanks! That worked for me!

I got some help and several different things were attempted:
dbus-launch flameshot &
But this above suggestion is what worked for me as well:
In autostart I changed the exec= line to read: Exec=/bin/bash -c "sleep 10; flameshot &"

zeddock

[zeddock]

Please do keep in mind that the version available to normal users on Linux Mint 19.1 is still version 5.
I am attempting to update mine now to version 6, and hoping to get that all-desired TEXT tool working with it!
This is a great tool! If you are coming to Linux from Windows, please donate to support this tool. I don't know the creator or any of the fine folks helping to develop and extend it, but if we want a good tool like this to keep going donations speak loudly!

Good luck to you!

[Kreyren]

Same issue here starting flameshot gui results in blank -> starting flameshot prior to flameshot gui fixed the issue -> suggesting error message for this scenario and referencing https://github.com/lupoDharkael/flameshot/issues/168

Thanks @tkkcc from https://github.com/lupoDharkael/flameshot/issues/90#issuecomment-398322771

[Neasden]

I came across this problem, observing Ubuntu and Fedora 30. What happens is that, in Ubuntu, when you start Flameshot, it starts basically as a minimized icon in Ubuntu's customized GNOME Shell tray, from there, you can take screenshots. I also noticed that Telegram Desktop had its icon being displayed in Ubuntu's notifications tray.

So, we have this situation of GNOME Shell Vanilla not displaying the tray icons for these applications, because I noticed that neither Telegram nor Flameshot would appear in F30, up to date, as of today. Although Telegram will run and appear in the dash and the window will open, Flameshot, as it is designed, needs a small tweak, until GNOME or Flameshot dude works out a way. I read somewhere that GNOME don't want app icons in its tray anymore. Now, I can't remember where I read that -- but coming from GNOME, that is completely believable.

My fix was to edit:
sudo /usr/share/applications/flameshot.desktop

and in
[Desktop Entry]
append the gui to the line of Exec=flameshot

Exec=flameshot

to

Exec=flameshot gui

There are other entires but I don't know how they work.
After saving the file I was able to run Flameshot both in Wayland and Xorg.

[Kreyren]

Exec=flameshot -> Exec=flameshot gui

Doesn't work on my end since based on provided informations flameshot has to be running for flameshot gui to open a GUI.

[Neasden]

Okay. I see. Looks like the developer needs to circumvent ways to avoid flameshot to start minimized, plus, I think your case is different. Operating system I tested this were Ubuntu 19.04 and Fedora 30.

[benjaminbauer]

Exec=flameshot -> Exec=flameshot gui

Doesn't work on my end since based on provided informations flameshot has to be running for flameshot gui to open a GUI.

Same here on Ubuntu 18.04

Flameshot 0.5.1-1(Debian)
Compiled with QT 5.9.4

[NikosAlexandris]

Interesting, if I do in the command line exactly

flameshot >/dev/null 2>&1&

the following works then too:

flameshot full --path ~

and saves a screenshot as expected under ~.

Perhaps I misunderstood the way it is supposed to work. I am thinking of flameshot as a command line utility (too), which I can use at any given point within from any terminal. Without the need to have it run on the background.
?

BUMP. Is flameshot thought to be a command line tool as well as a GUI-based tool, or only the latter?

Thank you.

[codingtalkie]

using MXLinux 19
$ flameshot
Icon theme "Numix-Circle-Light" not found.
...
thats all, FlameShot is not opening after 30 minutes, still showing that message

[mbacilieri]

Hallo.

Same issue here, Ubuntu 18.04.
On 16.04 worked flawlessy. After upgrade, it doesn't start with no error.
A ps -aux | grep flameshot shows a process running, but no gui opens.
Adding gui or config to the command line, the gui or the config forms open. Although there's no way to start a "normal" session.

[Sun1ive]

Same here Archlinux latest

[realForbis]

1. Go to settings
2. Devices
3. Keyboard Shortcuts
4. Set Custom Shortcut
   
   Done!

[algiuxass]

What did help me was running "flameshot" and then "flameshot gui" while "flameshot" is still running in the background

[rahatzamancse]

Same problem (flameshot does nothing)

• bspwm
• gtk3 installed

[realForbis]

You need to "bind" it to some "key" on the keyboard

[marcelofern]

Same issue on arch + i3

[amassarwi]

I came across this problem, observing Ubuntu and Fedora 30. What happens is that, in Ubuntu, when you start Flameshot, it starts basically as a minimized icon in Ubuntu's customized GNOME Shell tray, from there, you can take screenshots. I also noticed that Telegram Desktop had its icon being displayed in Ubuntu's notifications tray.

So, we have this situation of GNOME Shell Vanilla not displaying the tray icons for these applications, because I noticed that neither Telegram nor Flameshot would appear in F30, up to date, as of today. Although Telegram will run and appear in the dash and the window will open, Flameshot, as it is designed, needs a small tweak, until GNOME or Flameshot dude works out a way. I read somewhere that GNOME don't want app icons in its tray anymore. Now, I can't remember where I read that -- but coming from GNOME, that is completely believable.

My fix was to edit:
sudo /usr/share/applications/flameshot.desktop

and in
[Desktop Entry]
append the gui to the line of Exec=flameshot

Exec=flameshot

to

Exec=flameshot gui

There are other entires but I don't know how they work.
After saving the file I was able to run Flameshot both in Wayland and Xorg.
Fixed my issue on debian kde
+1 :tada:

[damsma]

On Debian 10 you have to install gnome-shell-extension-appindicator
sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-appindicator gnome-tweaks

then log out and log in again, open up Gnome tweaks and enable "Kstatusnotifieritem/appindicator support"

in terminal type

flameshot config

and under general click on "Show tray icon"

[rollto]

After install gnome-shell-extension-appindicator gnome-tweaks, even can not login to desktop.

[rollto]

Cannot login into GNOME, kicking me back to login screen
after apt install gnome-shell-extension-appindicator gnome-tweaks

[damsma]

Cannot login into GNOME, kicking me back to login screen
after apt install gnome-shell-extension-appindicator gnome-tweaks

i don't think this is because of installing gnome tweaks, maybe you tried to reconfigure Xorg before and something went wrong?
have you tried reverting your steps? checked the logs?
i've done this on 3 fresh installed debian 10 machines and none of them had this issue.

[rollto]

Flameshot is good application ,
definitely it was "gnome-shell-extension-appindicator gnome-tweaks" that corrupt my gnome desktop environment .
I can only login xfce4 mate lxqt,lxde now,can not use gnome anymore,
tried chown .Xauthority no luck.

ls /usr/bin/*session
/usr/bin/cinnamon-session /usr/bin/lxqt-session
/usr/bin/dbus-run-session /usr/bin/lxsession
/usr/bin/gnome-session /usr/bin/mate-session
/usr/bin/gnome-session-custom-session /usr/bin/openbox-session
/usr/bin/lxqt-config-session /usr/bin/xfce4-session

[ianseyer]

Running arch. Using i3.

When trying to run flameshot, was getting:
Cannot mix incompatible Qt library (version 0x50d02) with this library (version 0x50e01)

Used yay to reinstall qt-5 libs.

Now I am getting this behavior. Not sure if that precursor helps.

[JakeRoggenbuck]

I had this same issue after trying to save the screenshot as a file. I am using bspwm and flameshot just dose not open after I re install of flameshot or a reboot.

[udhien80]

In my case, I had another flameshot instance running in the background without me knowing it (the autostarted flameshot instance). Killed that instance and started it again and now it works.

If you want flameshot to autostart correctly at login, then modify ~/.config/autostart/Flameshot.desktop to contain: Exec=/bin/bash -c "sleep 10; flameshot &" instead of the regular Exec

Thank you very much, it works for me.

TPX220-i7-16G-DualSSD(160G+250G)-LMDE4

[znm241]

Executing

$ flameshot &
$ flameshot gui

solves the problem, but is this the only way to get flameshot to work correctly? Why is this happening? This isn't common behavior of other screen captures (e.g. scrot, gnome-screenshot, etc.)

[alexanderadam]

Executing

$ flameshot &
$ flameshot gui

solves the problem

indeed! I changed my shortcut now to:

/usr/bin/flameshot & bash -c "sleep 0.5 && /usr/bin/flameshot gui"

@lupoDharkael does flameshot need a running process to allow ad-hoc commands like flameshot gui? Is there any way to fix this?

[codingtalkie]

1. Go to settings

2. Devices

3. Keyboard Shortcuts

4. Set Custom Shortcut
   ![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/37193612/69919513-c6fa9580-147d-11ea-9a40-bea03767b233.png)
   Done!

I confirm, this work well on MXLinux 19. now the flameshot is working

[nd3w]

In my case, I had another flameshot instance running in the background without me knowing it (the autostarted flameshot instance). Killed that instance and started it again and now it works.

If you want flameshot to autostart correctly at login, then modify ~/.config/autostart/Flameshot.desktop to contain: Exec=/bin/bash -c "sleep 10; flameshot &" instead of the regular Exec

I confirm this, this work as well on Mint 19.3 Cinnamon.

[gdsouza1]

Had the same issue on ArchLinux 5.7.6-zen running bspwm and X, it only works after running
flameshot &, then the other commands work, like flameshot gui, added it to bspwmrc to start with the WM and all works fine.

[diego-aquino]

I had the same issue trying to open Flameshot via terminal with flameshot or by clicking the app icon. Running flameshot gui works fine, though.

[tmccombs]

For me flameshot and flameshot config work fine, but flameshot gui immediately exits with a 0 status code and no error message. Is there any verbose option to print more information on what is going on?

[laurindofljunior]

Hey guys.
I have the same problem. My flameshot don't open when I click it in the applications list.
To fix it I changed my config to this:

[Desktop Entry]
Exec=flameshot gui --delay 1000

Adding the delay parameter, flameshot works correctly to me.
Hope this helps!

[weilbith]

@laurindofljunior so you get then the "gui" after the delay? Because for me the command does nothing and then exists after the delay...

[laurindofljunior]

Hi @weilbith . I put it this before the "delay". You can test the command in the terminal. Open the terminal and try the command please:

flameshot gui --delay 1000

This command is the same that I use in my file 'flameshot.desktop'.

[weilbith]

That is exactly what I did. :smile:

[laurindofljunior]

That is exactly what I did. 😄

@weilbith I understand that you put the command after the "--delay" and not before like me. 😄 😄
I read it in your message at 10/09/2020.

[tmccombs]

flameshot gui --delay 1000 did not work for me at one point, but flameshot gui itself seems to be hit-or-miss for me. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and haven't been able to figure out a pattern for when it doesn't work.

[tmccombs]

I think it might have something to do with putting my computer to sleep, because that causes other problems too, like my mouse stops working, and my slack app graphics get all messed up.

[Nightowlswing]

Fixed problem with sudo apt install git g++ build-essential qt5-qmake qt5-default qttools5-dev-tools on Ubuntu 20.04