Image sending - black

[snajlcz]

• [ ] I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates
• [x] I am submitting a bug report for existing functionality that does not work as intended
• [ ] I have read https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/wiki/Submitting-useful-bug-reports
• [ ] This isn't a feature request or a discussion topic

---

Bug description

While opening image folders show Black thumb and after open any photo samé Black view

Steps to reproduce

• opening any contacts and send random image

Screenshots

Device info

Device: Huawei p30 Pro Android version: 10.1. Signal version: 5.4.7 (79302)

Link to debug log

https://debuglogs.org/4d1306c33277bd95af4345c466f1a5e2ca76627ccaa64ee41b2b2f2e66104163

[hiqua]

What happens if you try to send these black images (you can send to "Notes to self")?

I tried (I also have black images like you) and it results in a crash (FileNotFoundException in EncryptedCacheDecoder):

https://debuglogs.org/3ac16ed73cda045873c6f58c9a784752a751c8f6ec7e0628d231507fe674ea91

Related:

• #10603
• #10394

[aeturnum]

I have a very similar situation with my signal. Here's what I've found:

• Can be resolved by opening google photos and 'sharing' a photo to signal.
• Sometimes signal will load thumbnails if I wait long enough.
• If I can see a thumbnail, it will send fine.
• If I can't see a thumbnail, it will send forever until I close signal (I haven't had it crash trying yet)

[fatpat]

try https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/pull/11016

on my P30 pro I had similar issues, since I added this patch, the problem is also gone. Not sure how it's related.

[phil8900]

I have the exact same issue since I started using Signal like a month ago and it is blocking me from really using it.

Device info Samsung Galaxy S5 DuoS (SM-G900FD) Signal 5.4.7 (793, 79301) Android 10 (lineage_klteduos 10 QQ3A.200805.001)

Link to debug log https://debuglogs.org/ae72d0a95f011cb8f3e013555eddc0de2648fd7725f428c0e536bab6cbce3d50?fbclid=IwAR11K2LahlVypRS-W9g0v72qoBnSPozIHyRrxT1jvd890Njp8G5Dg_5ol2k

[snajlcz]

try #11016

on my P30 pro I had similar issues, since I added this patch, the problem is also gone. Not sure how it's related.

this isnt fix, i now tested, and same problem.

[fatpat]

try #11016 on my P30 pro I had similar issues, since I added this patch, the problem is also gone. Not sure how it's related.

this isnt fix, i now tested, and same problem.

ok, sorry, at least you tried it :-/

[snajlcz]

On update emui 11 problem solved P30pro

[cfe84]

On update emui 11 problem solved P30pro

That's interesting. I have the exact same issue on a Samsung Galaxy S9, I'm wondering what the source of the problem is. I have noticed another problem - when sharing a picture or video from another app (gallery, ...), the spinner shows for 30s to a minute before I can select a contact to send the picture to. This doesn't do the same on my wife's phone (Galaxy A8).

What's more, waiting sometimes brings some thumbnails, however scrolling down then back up makes them disappear and re-appear randomly.

[phil8900]

I can verify that the problem persists on my Galaxy S5 DUOS with Signal 5.4.12.

https://debuglogs.org/4fc22ac935aeeec679f3fc568759a8591f62ef63ac04cc72fd0dc8c236939582?fbclid=IwAR382RhsxmJ2BmpkmUJB0tTanSOqAy-3CZGAw2U8AFMdx5wqtz7xO7A4zBk

[aeturnum]

This problem has become less severe recently (the gallery is no longer all black, but it's common for the last few photos to be unloaded black squares for a while).

https://debuglogs.org/68fab74e489f19fe211f9ecfa1f6f30964b11d5e1d720c17213b91ca3c39eee3

[clampak]

That's interesting. I have the exact same issue on a Samsung Galaxy S9, I'm wondering what the source of the problem is. I have noticed another problem - when sharing a picture or video from another app (gallery, ...), the spinner shows for 30s to a minute before I can select a contact to send the picture to. This doesn't do the same on my wife's phone (Galaxy A8).

What's more, waiting sometimes brings some thumbnails, however scrolling down then back up makes them disappear and re-appear randomly.

The same happens on my Galaxy S9, though the spinner doesn't show for all that long. This black thumbnail is a new issue as of a month or two now, it never used to do it. Very frustrating.

[q2apro]

Same here on Honor View 20.

And multiple other phones. See also Reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/signal/comments/kk1qka/black_ghost_images_after_moving_files/

Please try to fix this. This bug should have high priority.

[clampak]

I just updated my Galaxy S9 from Android 10 update 29 to update 30, and the issue is gone.

So, Baseband version G960USQS9FUB2.

Hope this helps some folks.

[UserX404]

This issue seems to be already monitored at https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/issues/11074 and a possible fix has already be found for the image library. https://github.com/bumptech/glide/issues/4517 https://github.com/bumptech/glide/commit/042f6b57d511c9d1652d280f5d385d5fef071647

It seems we has to wait for the next glide release.

[varac]

Similar issue: #11212

Possible workaround: Reducing the picture size for new pictures taken with the camera app down to 2.1 megapixel "fixed" it for me (although this is just a temporary stop-gap measure until this gets fixed properly).

[phil8900]

Updating to Lineage 18.1 solved the issue for me!

[varac]

Updating to Lineage 18.1 solved the issue for me!

Not for me, I'm on Lineage 18.1 and Pictures >2.1 megapixel still show up black when selecting from the gallery.

[ErikSkinnari]

Have this issue too. Oneplus 6, Android 10, OxygenOS 10.3.11.

All image thumbnails are black in Signal. So it is very difficult to select what image to share. But the images is shared correctly if You know which image to tap on.

[mklilley]

I have this problem on Oneplus 5, Android 10, OxygenOS 10.0.1. I am using Signal version 5.21.5. I find the black thumbnail problem is sporadic and have not managed to identify what causes it and when. The only fix I find when it happens is to restart my phone. This does seem to have been going on for a while - is there a roadmap in which this bug sits? Thanks for your help.

[ErikSkinnari]

For me it has been fixed. @mklilley Do not see any black thumbnails anymore.

But I do get some random blur/color overlay on parts of the image thumbnails in the chat on images I have sent. But if I click the image it is shown correctly. I'm on version 5.20.4

[aeturnum]

It also seems fixed for me and, I believe, has been for some time. I'm on version 5.21.6 and on an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S9.

[grzesie]

I am using app version 5.24.17 on OnePlus 5T (original Oxygen 10.0.1, android 10). Still seeing black thumbnails.

[stale[bot]]

Is this still relevant? If so, what is blocking it? Is there anything you can do to help move it forward?

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs.

[irisv]

I'm still experiencing this issue. Please reopen it. Motorola One, android 10, Signal 5.40.4 Sometimes sharing from another app works, but often even with that workaround pics are never sent.

[cody-signal]

What are the file types of the images you are trying to preview?

[irisv]

What are the file types of the images you are trying to preview?

The screenshot I attached is from the Camera folder, ie the photos taken with my phone's camera; those are jpg with the occasional mp4 video (like the second item on the fifth row of the screenshot, marked with the triangular video icon). But if I access, for example, the download folder, there are more mixed files, but again the same black thumbnails. My phone saves screenshots like the one above as png, and again, black thumbnails.

But just as the OP, I do get one or two thumbnails occasionally. It doesn't seem linked to a specific file type. My impression is that Signal tries to create thumbnails for a fraction of a second, stops well before that process is anywhere near done, and any images that aren't covered in that time, are never attempted again.

[cody-signal]

Thanks for the extra details. Android and HEIC have historically not gotten along so wanted to check. Can you provide an updated debuglog after viewing the gallery?

[irisv]

Thanks for picking this up.

Here's what I did: I force closed Signal, cleared the cache, opened the app, went to the Note to self conversation, hit the blue + button, then gallery, then Camera -- which gave me all black thumbnails, I selected the first image and tried to send it, let Signal work on that for a minute or two, lost patience and backed out to go get the log.

It's here:

https://debuglogs.org/android/5.40.4/57b6f3baae397a9e8652b64c2e0394a54ebc769c0599b4d3aae357c06e88af7f

Hope that helps!

[greyson-signal]

@irisv For context, your log is filled with a lot of this:

[5.40.4] [main ] 2022-06-13 17:42:27.317 GMT+02:00 W FileViewHolder          Failed to load media.
[5.40.4] [main ] 2022-06-13 17:42:27.317 GMT+02:00 W FileViewHolder          class com.bumptech.glide.load.engine.GlideException: Failed to load resource
[5.40.4] [main ] 2022-06-13 17:42:27.317 GMT+02:00 W FileViewHolder            Cause (1 of 1): class com.bumptech.glide.load.engine.GlideException: Failed LoadPath{AutoCloseInputStream->Object->Drawable}, LOCAL
[5.40.4] [main ] 2022-06-13 17:42:27.317 GMT+02:00 W FileViewHolder              Cause (1 of 4): class com.bumptech.glide.load.engine.GlideException: Failed DecodePath{AutoCloseInputStream->APNGDecoder->Drawable}
[5.40.4] [main ] 2022-06-13 17:42:27.317 GMT+02:00 W FileViewHolder              Cause (2 of 4): class com.bumptech.glide.load.engine.GlideException: Failed DecodePath{AutoCloseInputStream->GifDrawable->Drawable}
[5.40.4] [main ] 2022-06-13 17:42:27.317 GMT+02:00 W FileViewHolder              Cause (3 of 4): class com.bumptech.glide.load.engine.GlideException: Failed DecodePath{AutoCloseInputStream->Bitmap->Drawable}
[5.40.4] [main ] 2022-06-13 17:42:27.317 GMT+02:00 W FileViewHolder              Cause (4 of 4): class com.bumptech.glide.load.engine.GlideException: Failed DecodePath{AutoCloseInputStream->BitmapDrawable->Drawable}

Which is to say that Glide has no idea how to load the media file. We'll think on this and see if there's any other debuginfo we could get. In the meantime, if one of these files are shareable, it'd be cool to get a copy of one to see if we can reproduce. You can email it to [email protected] (I'd recommend uploading it to a filesharing service like GDrive or Dropbox to ensure it isn't compressed). Thanks!

[irisv]

Which is to say that Glide has no idea how to load the media file. We'll think on this and see if there's any other debuginfo we could get. In the meantime, if one of these files are shareable, it'd be cool to get a copy of one to see if we can reproduce. You can email it to [email protected] (I'd recommend uploading it to a filesharing service like GDrive or Dropbox to ensure it isn't compressed). Thanks!

I don't think it's linked to any specific files or filetypes, because sometimes the thumbnails show up and sometimes they don't. Sometimes it's none at all like in my screenshot above, sometimes it's a couple of pics seemingly at random like in the OP's screenshot, and sometimes I get lucky and most show up. Thumbnails I've definitely seen before, are gone again an hour later. So it's not as if it a specific file or filetype Signal can't read - sometimes it can, sometimes it can't.
For example, when I first tried to get a log, I did the same as I described above: force closed the app, cleared the cache, started the app, opened a conversation, opened the gallery - and then Signal kept crashing and crashing and crashing. So I restarted my phone, opened Signal again, and hey presto: thumbnails galore! Typical, just when you want to show what's wrong, everything works... But of course the fix only lasted a very short time, and as soon as it was all black thumbs again, I got the debuglog above.

Things seem to work better immediately after I've restarted my phone, so I did that again just now and got another log for comparison: https://debuglogs.org/android/5.40.4/d6259d0334cd537393ccd83fa0a6d52d25ec01846ad8230e0dfac58259607121 - though it still has a lot of those same Failed to load media errors. And needless to say, I don't want to have to restart my phone each time I want to send a photo with Signal.

Anyway, I'll send you a link to the original file of the screenshot I shared above, in case it helps.