[mythtv-users] 0.25 upgrade - mythfrontend blank menu-page unless...

[Michael T. Dean]

On 04/18/2012 10:30 PM, Frank Phillips wrote:
> On Wed, Apr 18, 2012 at 7:29 PM, Nick Rout wrote:
>
>> On Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 10:48 AM, Gary Buhrmaster wrote:
>>> On Wed, Apr 18, 2012 at 22:18, Nick Rout wrote:
>>> ....
>>>> Why on earth are you running mythfrontend as root?
>>> I am not going to defend the practice(*), but depending on
>>> the distro, setting the permissions on (in particular)
>>> video and audio devices for access by a non-root user
>>> used to be a real challenge.  And I am pretty sure you
>>> can still find references on the 'net that say run as root
>>> (they may be obsolete references, but your search
>>> engine results may vary, and put them at the top of
>>> the list...).  I am certain some packagers used to
>>> have mythtv run as root (because they could not also
>>> package the permission changes required).  Perhaps
>>> some packagers still do.
>>>
>>> Note that changing to a non-root user after running
>>> as root is usually a challenging task.  Too many
>>> (obscure) files now have the wrong ownership or
>>> wrong permissions.
>>>
>>> Gary
>>>
>>> (*) I have never run mythtv as root.  I do not recommend
>>> it.  I strongly discourage it.  But, your system, your
>>> rules.
>> Those arguments seem to relate mainly to the backend, and yes some
>> distros certainly run the BE as root. I see no corresponding need for
>> the frontend.
>>
>> I wonder whether something obscure is preventing theme from working
>> properly when run as root?
>>
>>
> Can someone explain how he is in a root shell and the frontend is running
> with a Microsoft GDI renderer?

Likely a VM--which is also likely the problem (having a broken video 
driver and/or broken access to the video card due to the VM).

That said, the OP should go into mythfrontend Utilities/Setup and under 
Appearance, change the setting:

Paint engine
This selects what MythTV uses to draw. Choosing 'Auto' is recommended, 
unless running on systems with broken OpenGL implementations (broken 
hardware or drivers or windowing systems) where only Qt works.

to Qt--since he's running on a system with broken drivers.

Mike