Ubuntu 16.04: Notifications of some apps displayed in a classic window

[zubozrout]

Hello,
for about a month or so there is a bug affecting Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. Some apps like Slack (chat) started to popup new regular windows instead of osd-notifications.
Not sure what causes this as notify-send works as expected and so does other system notifications I've seen so far (including Rhythmbox).

Sadly, those windows are cumulating on the desktop and needs to be closed, so I had to disable notifications in the Slack chat app for instance.

// Please note I know the risks of using a development versions of Ubuntu - though I am following the same path on my personal laptop for quite a few years now. I am reporting this just so that it can be looked into - I am in no way trying to blame anyone for anything :).

Thank you very much.

[Nazar Mokrynskyi (nazar-pc)]

Same here, so annoying

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Nazar Mokrynskyi (nazar-pc)]

I think this might be related to webkit2 packages

[cldershem (cldershem)]

I've been experiencing the same bug for about the same amount of time. Slack and Keybase seem to cause the most problems for me. Both of those are built on Electron which has an open issue (https://github.com/atom/electron/issues/465) about this bug. My guess is that this less an Ubuntu bug and more an Electron one.

[Nazar Mokrynskyi (nazar-pc)]

Yes, this is indeed Electron bug and Slack devs gave me workaround:
echo "export ELECTRON_USE_UBUNTU_NOTIFIER=1" >> ~/.xinitrc

[Garth Wells (garth-wells)]

Looks like the issue has now been fixed upstream (https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/465).

[Yuriy Padlyak (gneeot)]

Really annoying :(@nazer-pc fix doesn't work for me

[Nazar Mokrynskyi (nazar-pc)]

This should be upstream in Electron. In fact, up to date version of Slack sends notifications correctly for me without any additional movements and workarounds.

[Alex Muntada (alex.muntada)]

As pointed out in Electron issue above, this bug may be related to https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/notify-osd/+bug/1277430.

[Alex Muntada (alex.muntada)]

Until Slack releases a new version with an updated Electron, you can use this workaround that worked for me:

    sudo touch /usr/lib/libunity-electron_notification_fix

See the full details in:
https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/465#issuecomment-206582829

[Nazar Mokrynskyi (nazar-pc)]

As I've mentioned earlier, up to date version of Slack works fine on 16.04

[x (xtxrx)]

I just downloaded slack-desktop-2.0.3-amd64.deb from Slack's website which is v2.0.3 and it's not fine on 16.04.

When you run Slack from the command line you can see below:

Creating Slack Application
(electron) submitUrl is deprecated. Use submitURL instead.
(electron) ipc module is deprecated. Use require("electron").ipcMain instead.
[Error: Failed to get path]
(electron) loadUrl is deprecated. Use loadURL instead.

[Nazar Mokrynskyi (nazar-pc)]

I have 2.0.3 installed from repository - notifications definitely work fine. Are you on 64bit OS?

[Grzegorz Śliwiński (fizyk)]

I am, and I'm still getting pop up windows from electron.

[Paolo Pelloni (briga)]

The same problem happens with Openshot (in 14.04 they were proper OSD)

[x (xtxrx)]

Nazar, Yes I am 64 bit OS

uname -a:
Linux TIS-PC 4.4.0-21-generic #37-Ubuntu SMP Mon Apr 18 18:33:37 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

lsb_release -a:
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
Release: 16.04
Codename: xenial

However this workaround worked for me as well, Slack is not showing classic notifications anymore:

sudo touch /usr/lib/libunity-electron_notification_fix

[Josep (jrourac)]

The workaround comentend before works in my case, using to a 64 bit OS too

Linux 4.4.0-21-generic #37-Ubuntu SMP Mon Apr 18 18:33:37 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
Release: 16.04
Codename: xenial

[xeddo (xeddo-xeddo)]

Had the same problem.
Ubuntu 16.04 64bit, Slack v 2.0.3

This workaround mentioned earlier seems to work for me:

    sudo touch /usr/lib/libunity-electron_notification_fix

[Brandon Dimcheff (bdimchef-launchpad)]

At least on my system, `notify-send -t 0 body summary` displays in a small window too. See the attached file for the window that is created. `notify-send body summary` works as expected, as do positive values of 't'.

[Mattia Migliorini (deshack)]

I have the same problem.

System info:
Linux 4.4.0-21-generic #37-Ubuntu SMP Mon Apr 18 18:33:37 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
Release: 16.04
Codename: xenial

Slack version: 2.0.6

The workaround mentioned earlier didn't work.

[Nazar Mokrynskyi (nazar-pc)]

I've set autostart command (in gnome-session-properties) for Slack as:
sh -c 'ELECTRON_USE_UBUNTU_NOTIFIER=1 slack -u'
And on 16.10 I do not see any issues with 2.0.6 and earlier versions.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

the issue is not an unity one but an electron bug (fixed now upstream)

[Jeroen de Jong (jeroen-de-jong)]

I get these popups whenever an email arrives, even if I haven't started Thunderbird yet. This is quite annoying, since I sometimes have to close 10 or more dialogs ...