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Beginners' Questions Inkscape on Windows Crashes: How you can help
  1. #1
    Martin Owens Martin Owens @doctormo🌹🧀
    *

    Before continuing, make sure you upgrade to the latest version of Inkscape: https://inkscape.org/release/ Your crashes may already have been fixed! You can also try the latest beta to see if the crash still happens there too.

    No one likes crashes. Least of all the Inkscape developers. But when Inkscape crashes in windows we struggle to fix the issues because of a lack of information.

    We need information about crashes to fix them! On windows you have to run Inkscape using the script "gdb_create_backtrace.bat" it will load inkscape in a mode that is slower, but if it crashes it'll produce a report which can be attached when you go to https://inkscape.org/report/

    Example of the location of the program file:


     

  2. #2
    Tyler Durden Tyler Durden @TylerDurden
    doctormo

    Please windows users, help us!

    No such file in Win, Inkscape .92.xx.  Is this a v1.0 batch?

  3. #3
    Martin Owens Martin Owens @doctormo🌹🧀

    This is a 1.0 innovation.

  4. #4
    MvO MvO @MvO
    *

    I found the script here:

    C:\some folder\some app folder I use\InkscapePortable\App\Inkscape\bin

    What kind of screenshot? I think it would basically be of a non-portable installation?

    I'm almost 100% sure it will be in this similar \bin folder in case of a non portable setup. After opening program files --> Inkscape

     

    How is the script switched off once started?

    Wait, it is probably not an issue. In the terminal screen it says cause crash now. Inkscape must be started by this script every time to maybe find out the crash.

     

    2020 9 9 Screenshot Explorer
  5. #5
    Martin Owens Martin Owens @doctormo🌹🧀

    Thanks @MvO ! This is great. Hopefully in the next release we'll have a launch script that can do this automatically.

  6. #6
    MvO MvO @MvO

    @doctormo
    I'm not experienced in creating that sort of things.

    But isn't this one of those situations where capabilities of technique may fail us. If the program starts catching the bugs instead of us?

    I  Don't think it's that bad how this works. Or an extra hint in the script/ batch file about starting Inkscape with the script until it is found. If it must be found.

    But I have no idea what things are taken into account when deciding about features.

  7. #7
    tromatojuice tromatojuice @tromatojuice

    My version kept crashing (like every 20 minutes to an hour). It didn't create autosave either (I created a separate topic in the forum on that). I tried to look for "gdb_create_backtrace.bat" but no luck (couldn't find it by snooping around or by running a search). 

    As a matter of fact, I tried to find Inkscape on my computer (Windows 10 - Surface pro 4) and couldn't find anything but a bunch of random empty folders. I uninstalled the whole program and reinstalled it (using the MSI installer). 

    I can now see all the files including "gdb_create_backtrace.bat" which I ran a couple of time. But the program has completely stopped crashing now so, not so useful I'm afraid. 

    Not sure what happened with the first install, and I can't remember what installer I used (possibly .exe). 

    Hopefully these details can help. 

  8. #8
    A Wolf A Wolf @awolf
    👍

    Ok I am getting a decent amount of crashes.  Can you clarify how to download the script " script "gdb_, and I will gladly assist?.

  9. #9
    Martin Owens Martin Owens @doctormo🌹🧀
    👍

    @awolf Yes, the bat file is installed with Inkscape, it should be available in a folder similar to C:\Program Files\Inkscape\ but the specific details are unknown to me (sorry!) @tromatojuice Where did you find your bat file?

    Also make sure you're using 1.0.1 version. Windows has a terrible time with crashes, any memory leak seemed to cause them, but we fixed quite a few in that release.

  10. #10
    ronburk ronburk @ronburk
    🆒*

    If you happen to have a desktop shortcut to your Inkscape 1.0.1, this is fairly painless.

    First, right-click the desktop shortcut and click the "Open file location"

     

     

     

    That will open the folder containing your inkscape.exe, which is the same folder where gdb_create_backtrace.bat is, so just right-click that file:

     

    When you click "Open", that will run the batch file.

    If you don't have a desktop shortcut, but Inkscape is somewhere in your Start menu, you can do the same trick. Find Inkscape in your Start menu, but instead of left-clicking to run it, right-click to get a context menu, then click "More", then click "Open file location". Then you can proceed as before.

    Duh, of course you can also just double-click the batch file when you see it instead of right-clicking and then clicking "Open". :-)

  11. #11
    tromatojuice tromatojuice @tromatojuice

    @doctormo

    Now that I've reinstalled the whole program, i found it in the Inkscape folder in Program files.

    Before that, couldn't find it anywhere. This is what prompted me to uninstall and reinstall the whole thing.

  12. #12
    art guerrilla art guerrilla @art_guerrilla

    newbie just adding my two centavos as potential clues to -ahem- stabilizing inkscape...

    (biting tongue on hundred stylistic 'issues' i have, aside from bugs)

    it seems both in present 1.1 and previous (.92?) that using the PNG export dialog and smooshing the 'Export As' button results in a tail-chasing lockup 90% of the time... maybe 99%...  i can type in the right path/filename i want directly in that dialog, but smooshing the button causes tail-chasing lockup...

    now, resuming search for SOMEHOW ? ? ? increasing ridiculously small handles on bezier curve handles, etc...

    grumble, grumble, grumble...

  13. #13
    Martin Owens Martin Owens @doctormo🌹🧀

    @art_guerrilla If you are using 1.1 you should come to chat.inkscape.org and talk to both the testing team and the developer teams. You're on the front lines testing things and feedback is very valuable.

  14. #14
    imadumb imadumb @imadumb

    i dont know hwat anyof this means . but i know inkscape crashes , bugs out whatever you call it alll the time. is inkscape worth using at all if your not computer literate? ive had to redownload it mutliple times because after a crash it wont open back up. ...among other problems.

    is the script your refering to ( im not even sure what a script is) something that sends you the errors when they happen for you to fix in the next version of inkscape?

    i cant afford adobe

  15. #15
    T0ny T0ny @T0ny

    Hi there. I have run Inkscape 1.0.2 with backtrace.bat and the program crashed. Now what do I do? Sorry if that is a silly question but I can't find the answer. I presume there is a fie somewhere.

  16. #16
    Martin Owens Martin Owens @doctormo🌹🧀

    @T0ny yes it should have popped up a windows (maybe black) with information about a file it's saved which you can attach to a bug report.

    @imadumb Inkscape certainly is worth using, it's not typical to have tons of crashes. Although we know that windows is pretty fickle sometimes with errors, (I recommend people use Linux instead) these reports though help us nail the actual errors.

  17. #17
    Gerald_Bettridge Gerald_Bettridge @Gerald_Bettridge

    I don’t use Inkscape normally but only to turn pdf files into emf. I’ve encountered the well-known «internal error inkscape will close» problem on internal import. I can of course use the other import option, but then I can’t untick the «replace pdf fonts by etc.» box which I need to do. Bear with me while I explain ― I make pdf files from PostScript files, then pass the pdf to Inkscape to get an emf. Now if the PostScript file uses the Symbol font, then I need to be able to untick that box, else the Greek letters show up as square boxes in the emf file. So I can use the Cairo import only if there are no symbols to display.

    Now what developers might find interesting is this:

    I have a file Sine.ps which yields Sine.pdf, and that works as it should, including displaying Times-Roman labels. It illustrates how to use Bézier curves to approximate the sine curve.

    I have a file Quad_Bézier_debug.ps which uses the same functions as the previous one plus a lot extra, to illustrate how a quadratic bézier curve is drawn. But that causes the internal error.

    This is where the plot thickens. If you comment out the last bit of the PostScript file, which seems above suspicion, to label 3 points P0, P1 and P2, in Times-Roman then it works!

    So that’s the exact point at which the problem kicks in. I can supply all the files mentioned above if you want.

     

  18. #18
    Martin Owens Martin Owens @doctormo🌹🧀

    @Gerald_Bettridge You should certainly report this issue to the inkscape issues tracker: https://inkscape.org/report so that it can be looked into and tested. It certainly should crash, but knowing how you make it crash can be a big help.

  19. #19
    Seadubbu Seadubbu @Seadubbu
    👍

    I downloaded the latest update 1.1.exe and Inkscape kept crashing. There did not appear to be any specific reason. So I uninstalled, reinstalled and kept crashing. Then I tried the Windows app, still kept crashing. Finally, after several re-install attempts I downloaded and installed 1.1 msi. So far, no crashes.

  20. #20
    Gavin Johnson Gavin Johnson @snow6oy
    👍

    Something that might help is to close the Document Properties Dialog.

    Explanation:

    Following the instructions in this thread I reported my backtrace and a friendly developer said this had been fixed in 1.2-dev and gave the above advice. Using the same svg file that previously caused crashes, I ran inkscape for a couple of hours without problem. Not exactly scientific proof, but it seems the dialog box was the cause of my memory leak. Hope it can work for someone else.

  21. #21
    rdoty rdoty @rdoty

    Really frustrating - downloaded latest Inkscape version about a month ago and it's crashed at least four times since then.  Isn't there a fix for this or do I need to manually save every minute I work?  ARGHHH!

  22. #22
    Gavin Johnson Gavin Johnson @snow6oy

    I had the same problem on Windows 10 with Inkscape 1.1 and can suggest three things

    1. Setup Autosave (Edit > Preferences > I/O > Autosave) and use the timestamped file after a crash
    2. Close the Document Properties Dialog box in case it leaks memory (see previous post)
    3. Follow the instructions in this thread to send a backtrace to the Inkscape team for analysis
  23. #23
    Mooeee Mooeee @Mooeee

    Trying to send crash report to  https://inkscape.org/report but i cant see where that takes me to as it just goes to a sort of forum, Iv'e run the  "gdb_create_backtrace.bat" script and now have a report to send but don't know where to send it.

    If you can point me in the right direction i'll get it sent. Seamless Patterns just shuts down Inkscape, I'm running version 1.1.1

  24. #24
    Tyler Durden Tyler Durden @TylerDurden
    👍

    That's the correct place.

    Guidance on reports is here: https://inkscape.org/forums/beyond/how-to-report-bugs-or-request-new-features/

  25. #25
    Westie Westie @Westie

    I've had many crashes while using most of the more recent versions of InkScape (v0.9+).  I can't speak for earlier versions as I didn't use them frequently enough.

    I have found that snapping sometimes causes issues or crashes for me.  Usually, I remedy this by (restarting InkScape v1.1.1), reloading the saved work (if any), then turning off the snapping.  Note that this is not as easy as just turning off the overarching snap setting - I minimise my crashes by turning off each individual setting, then the Toggle snapping on/off.  Sometimes I can get away with turning off all the other snapping that I use, in favour of one particular option.

    I've also found that if I group several 3D objects together and scale them, this usually causes a crash.

    I haven't performed any bug tracking, but now that I know how to...

  26. #26
    katiew523 katiew523 @katiew523

    I am mostly using inkscape to convert images to .SVG.  I find this crashing happens when I attempt to "Trace Bitmap" and apply to create the image.

     

    Thanks for creating a debug backtrace!

    After Inkscape starts, try to force the crash.
    The backtrace will be recorded automatically.

    Gathering system info...

    Launching Inkscape, please wait...
    warning: onecore\base\appmodel\runtime\winrt\lib\windows.applicationmodel.package.cpp(1008)\Windows.ApplicationModel.dll!00007FF982F9F63F: (caller: 00007FF982F8C5BC) ReturnHr(1) tid(423c) 80070002 The system cannot find the file specified.
    warning: onecore\base\appmodel\runtime\winrt\lib\windows.applicationmodel.package.cpp(512)\Windows.ApplicationModel.dll!00007FF982F9F4B1: (caller: 00007FF95E057CCA) ReturnHr(2) tid(423c) 80070002 The system cannot find the file specified.
     

  27. #27
    otsoa otsoa @otsoa

    Hi !
    For me, 1.2 and the previous versions work without a problem, but when I launch v1.3 I see that an "Inkscape" process has been launched, but there's nothing on the screen, no icon in the taskbar, etc. I've tried deleting the folder in "raoming, etc.", I've tried a *.zip version, the version with installation...
    http://onirike.free.fr/tmp/inkscape_backtrace.txt

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