[Bug Report] Replace References on Linux can only be used once

When using the “Replace References” dialog to consolidate assets on Linux, the dialog can only be used once before going unresponsive and being rendered useless.

After the first use (which works perfectly), the visible parts of the dialog disappears, while the actual window remains in place, blocking all interacting with the editor where it previously was. If the editor is minimized, the dialog is visible again, however, the rendered frame is instead whatever was on screen at the time.

Additionally, no new instances of the dialog can be spawned, since there is technically one open even though it is not responsive.

Steps to reproduce:

  1. In a project, open the content browser.
  2. Select two or more assets of the same type.
  3. Right click one of the selected assets, and go to Asset Actions → Replace References
  4. Use the dialog normally. When the action is complete, the window will vanish but leave a blocking square where it should have spawned a new instance of itself.

The engine is a direct-from-github compilation of the Release branch, running with the -opengl4 switch.

System information:
Linux Mint Cinnamon 17.3 Rosa (64-bit)
Nvida GeForce GTX 660Ti, 2048MB (Driver version nvidia-361.16 or nvidia-352-updates)
Engine Version: 4.11.0-0+UE4

Hey -

I’m not seeing the lingering window when using the Replace References option. After consollidating two blueprints into one, the Replace References window fully closed and I was able to continue working inside the editor.

Looking at the screenshot you posted, there has been a bug reported about the “Unreal Project” splash screen not closing properly after opening a project (UE-24843), it’s possible this is the window that you’re seeing lingering on screen. You can check this on your machine by opening a project and checking if the splash screen appears while loading the project / disappears after the project is opened.

Cheers

I’m certain this is not the splash screen - it vanishes as it should when I load a project. Consolidating assets works once, but not again after that. I forgot to specify that I’m consolidating material assets, which may play a part in things. Could you try again with materials instead of blueprints, and twice this time? The first one should work fine, but the second attempt should not bring up the consolidate dialog.

I created 3 materials and was able to consolidate two of them, leaving me with two. I was then able to successfully consolidate the remaining 2 down into 1. Are you seeing this with newly created materials? Are the materials setup in any way (ex: have a color tied to base color)? Are the materials applied to any assets in the level?

The materials have a single texture connected to Base Color, and they are all applied to a mesh in the level. Each material occupies a single material slot on the object in question, and I’m attempting to consolidate them to a material that is not applied to anything.

I tried following the setup that you’ve described however I was still able to use the Replace Referneces action multiple times without issue. It is possible that this is related to Mint and not occurring on other distributions. I have made a note of this in the report that has been entered for this issue (UE-25469).

Cheers

This is still occurring in UE 4.13.2 as described in the original issue. I have since updated to Mint 18, which is based on Ubuntu 16.04, as well as the NVIDIA 370 drivers.

There is no longer an unresponsive invisible dialog, but no new instances of the dialog can be spawned. UE-25469 has been fixed in the interim, but this issue remains.

Hey -

UE-25469 is still open and backlogged (Unreal Engine Issues and Bug Tracker (UE-25469) ). I am still unable to reproduce the behavior you described however I have updated the original report to indicate this issue is still occurring.

Thanks! Sorry about the issue number confusion, I had them mixed up. I was referring to UE-24843.

Back once again - the issue is still happening in 4.15, but this time there’s a difference (and a workaround!). When the replace references window is used for the first time, it leaves an invisible but interactive version of itself. If this window is closed (I’ve done it by trial and error, clicking where the viewport doesn’t respond) then the window can be opened and used again. The same method works for subsequent uses as well.

Hey -

Thank you for the additional information. I’ve added your workaround method to the initial report for clarification.