Darktable locks up upon first opening, post-installation [latest Linux Manjaro/Arch]

Software darktable
1

A strange issue. Not critical for me as I primarily use ART/RT, but a bit of a puzzle…

I’ve got darktable 4.0.1 running smoothly on my Linux laptop (dual boot on an ancient MacBookPro circa 2013). No problem here.

But while I once had darktable running on my desktop Linux (vintage Dell Optiplex) - with faster CPU and more memory - now I can’t get it to run. I can’t even get it to start up without locking.

I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled, trying both the DT 4.0.1 flatpak and the 2:4.0.0-1Official Repositories (Community) sources, but after getting/accepting the “database locked” warnings and subsequent acknowledgment screens, darktable freezes and locks up my entire desktop.

I’ve left it for 1/2 hour or so to see if it was simply processing something. No change - still locked up entire system. No mouse or keyboard response to anything, which forces me to power down hard (messing up my desktop settings in the process).

Each time I uninstall, I also search for any darktable config or .cache and delete those files too. Having searched for a solution, I’ve also tried to find the (two) db.lock files often cited as a possible problem. But I cannot locate such files to be deleted anywhere on my system - I’m pretty sure they don’t exist. I’d be happy to wipe them out too, but I can’t find them anywhere with file search tools.

Again, since I use ART this is a minor puzzle than a significant conundrum for me.

But it’s strange I cannot get past these initial locked database warning screens without locking up my entire system.

Any suggestions for a step I’m missing here? :thinking:

2

For an OBS install:

  • Assuming you are running darktable as standard i.e. not using the –configdir option, the lockfiles would be in ~/.config/darktable assuming they existed.
  • If you are comfortable with the command line then run darktable -d all which may give you a clue as to why it’s locking.

Flatpak install : I don’t know where the folder would be and I’m unsure how to run it with the -d all option.

1 Like
3
  • Yes, checked for files including in that location
  • Just redownloaded and ran darktable from CLI with “-d all” parameters. Interesting, as I got a never-ending parade of activity in my terminal (none of which is familiar to my eyes, repeated wide range of process calls that seem to run over and over again) while darktable still locking up most everything. Eventually leading me to terminate DT. Happily, at least I didn’t have to reboot my machine this time :wink:
4

I’m going out hence a short reply.

There are various options for -d and the manual may have more details on the options.

-d {all,act_on,cache,camctl,camsupport,control,demosaic,dev,imageio,
input,ioporder,lighttable,lua,masks,memory,nan,opencl,params,
perf,print,pwstorage,signal,sql,tiling,undo,verbose}

Interesting, as I got a never-ending parade of activity in my terminal
Yes that is normal. You may need to pipe the output to a file to allow you to browse through it.

If you have a graphics card installed try running darktable --disable-opencl to disable the graphics card to see if opencl is causing the issue.

5

I have seen this problem on Windows computer. It is a simple fix if that is the problem. Good luck.

6

darktable --disable-opencl
No dice. At least not on Linux. Or perhaps not on my installation of Linux :wink:
Locks up as before = same old same old.
Alas, this must be getting tiring for you as it is for me. Back to ART.

7

Run darktable with gdb attached to find out what the problem is.

8

Thanks - if I were seriously in need of DT I’d go this route. Or perhaps even wipe my system clean and start scratch with a fresh Linux install. Darktable used to function on this machine. Now it doesn’t.

But I’m not in need of the app at this time. If there were a simpler fix I’d gladly pursue it. Apparently not.

For now I’ll chalk up darktable as one of those apps that doesn’t want to behave properly on my platform. Thank goodness there are other outstanding options.

If I ever tumble across a fix I’ll share it here for posterity. :vulcan_salute: