Can't change UI font (in Preferences)

pjfarr · 07-07-2015, 05:37 PM

My installation of Calibre defaults to the "MS Sans Serif" font (8pt). Whenever I attempt to change it to something else, Calibre won't open. The splash screen comes up, then a blank UI window which remains frozen.

The MS Sans Serif font looks terrible on my display and is missing certain extra characters which are substituted with squares. I want to change the font to Window 7's Segoe UI.

Anyone else run across this?

theducks · 07-07-2015, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjfarr

My installation of Calibre defaults to the "MS Sans Serif" font (8pt). Whenever I attempt to change it to something else, Calibre won't open. The splash screen comes up, then a blank UI window which remains frozen.

The MS Sans Serif font looks terrible on my display and is missing certain extra characters which are substituted with squares. I want to change the font to Window 7's Segoe UI.

Anyone else run across this?

Your font may be damaged

W7 x64 no problem changing to segue Semibold (10pt) here
Calibre 2.31

pjfarr · 07-07-2015, 07:47 PM

I use the Segoe UI font for my Windows system font and it works fine. Also, any other font other than MS Sans Serif causes the same freeze up. A plugin interfering maybe...? Is there a way to start Calibre in safe mode without plugins?

theducks · 07-07-2015, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjfarr

I use the Segoe UI font for my Windows system font and it works fine. Also, any other font other than MS Sans Serif causes the same freeze up. A plugin interfering maybe...? Is there a way to start Calibre in safe mode without plugins?

command prompt
calibre-debug -g

BTW all the CLI are documented in the online help

or you could just try
calibre --ignore-plugins

eschwartz · 07-07-2015, 10:07 PM

EDIT: Beaten, I should think about reloading the page more often.

Via the CLI:

Code:

[eschwartz@arch ~]$ calibre --help
...
  --ignore-plugins      Ignore custom plugins, useful if you installed a
                        plugin that is preventing calibre from starting
...

pjfarr · 07-08-2015, 07:00 AM

Calibre opens properly with the Segoe UI font when opened from the command prompt in debug mode and using the 'ignore plugins' command.

I was going to try disabling all plugins and then enabling one at a time to catch the culprit, but going into Preferences > Plugins to disable the plugins tells me "Disabling of this plugin is not allowed" for each one.

BetterRed · 07-08-2015, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjfarr

Calibre opens properly with the Segoe UI font when opened from the command prompt in debug mode and using the 'ignore plugins' command.

I was going to try disabling all plugins and then enabling one at a time to catch the culprit, but going into Preferences > Plugins to disable the plugins tells me "Disabling of this plugin is not allowed" for each one.

@pjfarr - I've found many (most, all ??) PI's can be uninstalled and reinstalled without losing their configuration data.

BR

kovidgoyal · 07-08-2015, 07:59 AM

@pjfarr in the preferences->plugins dialog click the checkbox to show only user installed plugins

pjfarr · 07-08-2015, 08:52 AM

BR - I removed all plugins, but it didn't make a difference.

Kovid - Yes, that's what I did and it still wouldn't let me disable plugins. So I removed them all, but Calibre still crashed when changing the UI font to anything other than MS Sans Serif.

Also tried: deleting the Calibre AppData folder and starting fresh. Made each custom change from before (UI colors, toolbar button size, layout), closing and reopening Calibre after each change. Each change went smoothly until I changed the UI font.

pjfarr · 07-08-2015, 09:51 AM

I think I solved it...

I went into the gui.json file and removed the "font" reference ("MS Sans Serif, 8, 50, false") and when Calibre opened it defaulted to "MS Shell Dlg 2", which looks pretty good.

theducks · 07-08-2015, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjfarr

I think I solved it...

I went into the gui.json file and removed the "font" reference ("MS Sans Serif, 8, 50, false") and when Calibre opened it defaulted to "MS Shell Dlg 2", which looks pretty good.

My experience is that choice occasionally breaks when M$ does some updates

(the entry is still there, but you must change it, then back. the file is now different?)

pjfarr · 07-08-2015, 12:21 PM

I'm not sure what the default MS Shell Dlg 2 font is, it's not an actual font on my system. It could be just a reference to what I have set as my Windows system font, which is Segoe UI. At any rate, it's a much better font and the Calibre UI looks great now. Opening the gui.json file again, there still is no font reference after I removed it, so it must be using my system font by default.

If a future MS update breaks it I'll at least know where to go to fix it.

07-07-2015, 05:37 PM	#1
pjfarr Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2015 Device: none	Can't change UI font (in Preferences) My installation of Calibre defaults to the "MS Sans Serif" font (8pt). Whenever I attempt to change it to something else, Calibre won't open. The splash screen comes up, then a blank UI window which remains frozen. The MS Sans Serif font looks terrible on my display and is missing certain extra characters which are substituted with squares. I want to change the font to Window 7's Segoe UI. Anyone else run across this?

07-07-2015, 10:07 PM	#5
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	EDIT: Beaten, I should think about reloading the page more often. Via the CLI: Code: [eschwartz@arch ~]$ calibre --help ... --ignore-plugins Ignore custom plugins, useful if you installed a plugin that is preventing calibre from starting ... Last edited by eschwartz; 07-07-2015 at 10:09 PM.

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07-07-2015, 07:47 PM	#3
pjfarr Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2015 Device: none	I use the Segoe UI font for my Windows system font and it works fine. Also, any other font other than MS Sans Serif causes the same freeze up. A plugin interfering maybe...? Is there a way to start Calibre in safe mode without plugins?

07-08-2015, 07:00 AM	#6
pjfarr Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2015 Device: none	Calibre opens properly with the Segoe UI font when opened from the command prompt in debug mode and using the 'ignore plugins' command. I was going to try disabling all plugins and then enabling one at a time to catch the culprit, but going into Preferences > Plugins to disable the plugins tells me "Disabling of this plugin is not allowed" for each one.

07-08-2015, 07:59 AM	#8
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,858 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	@pjfarr in the preferences->plugins dialog click the checkbox to show only user installed plugins

07-08-2015, 08:52 AM	#9
pjfarr Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2015 Device: none	BR - I removed all plugins, but it didn't make a difference. Kovid - Yes, that's what I did and it still wouldn't let me disable plugins. So I removed them all, but Calibre still crashed when changing the UI font to anything other than MS Sans Serif. Also tried: deleting the Calibre AppData folder and starting fresh. Made each custom change from before (UI colors, toolbar button size, layout), closing and reopening Calibre after each change. Each change went smoothly until I changed the UI font.

07-08-2015, 09:51 AM	#10
pjfarr Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2015 Device: none	I think I solved it... I went into the gui.json file and removed the "font" reference ("MS Sans Serif, 8, 50, false") and when Calibre opened it defaulted to "MS Shell Dlg 2", which looks pretty good.

07-08-2015, 12:21 PM	#12
pjfarr Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2015 Device: none	I'm not sure what the default MS Shell Dlg 2 font is, it's not an actual font on my system. It could be just a reference to what I have set as my Windows system font, which is Segoe UI. At any rate, it's a much better font and the Calibre UI looks great now. Opening the gui.json file again, there still is no font reference after I removed it, so it must be using my system font by default. If a future MS update breaks it I'll at least know where to go to fix it.

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