Ubuntu
libreoffice package

libreoffice font selection unusably slow

Bug #1969709 reported by Jurgen Schellaert
36
This bug affects 6 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
LibreOffice
Won't Fix
Medium
fontconfig (Ubuntu)
Incomplete
Medium
Unassigned
libreoffice (Ubuntu)
Incomplete
Medium
Unassigned

Bug Description

Trying to scroll through the font list in the menu bar, I experience an unacceptable degree of lagging. Just popping up the dropdown list takes 7-10 seconds and the system takes the same amount of time to respond to perform individidual scrolling gestures. The CPU jumps to 100% and the whole system becomes unresponsive.

I have tried deb, snap and even the packages offered on the site of the LibreOffice project. They all manifest the same behaviour. The only thing that works is disabling font previews. I have downgraded to 7.2 for now, which appears to be unaffected.

I have contacted the LibreOffice team and they tell me that this should be solved by fontconfig 2.14. Unfortunately, Ubuntu 22.04 is shipping 2.13...

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 22.04
Package: libreoffice-core 1:7.3.2-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.15.0-25.25-generic 5.15.30
Uname: Linux 5.15.0-25-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu82
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Thu Apr 21 05:01:24 2022
ExecutablePath: /usr/lib/libreoffice/program/soffice.bin
InstallationDate: Installed on 2022-03-27 (24 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS "Jammy Jellyfish" - Alpha amd64 (20220326)
SourcePackage: libreoffice
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

See original description
Revision history for this message
In , rob grune (robgrune) wrote :

Version: 7.3.1.3 / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: eead5aec017556e2cdbf9dfff06537ec58969b73
CPU threads: 6; OS: Linux 5.13; UI render: default; VCL: gtk3
Locale: en-GB (en_GB.UTF-8); UI: en-US
Calc: CL

LO is installed from the snap.
Deleted user profile. No success.
Copied fonts to /snap/libreoffice/247/usr/share/fonts. No success.

Problem:
Open LO Writer.
On format toolbar, click the font menu box to list fonts.
Very long delay to show list of fonts: about 15 seconds.
Cannot scroll up or down to find a font.

Revision history for this message
In , Dgp-mail (dgp-mail) wrote :

(In reply to robgrune from comment #0)
> Problem:
> Open LO Writer.
> On format toolbar, click the font menu box to list fonts.
> Very long delay to show list of fonts: about 15 seconds
> Cannot scroll up or down to find a font.

I can't confirm with

Version: 7.3.2.2 (x64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 49f2b1bff42cfccbd8f788c8dc32c1c309559be0
CPU threads: 4; OS: Windows 10.0 Build 19044; UI render: Skia/Raster; VCL: win
Locale: zh-CN (de_DE); UI: en-GB
Calc: CL

Revision history for this message
In , Jean-Marc Zambon (jeanmarczambon) wrote :

I'm facing the same problem.
Deactivating "Show preview of fonts" in LibreOffice view options make things faster... but font preview is lost obviously.

Version information:
Version: 7.3.2.2 / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 49f2b1bff42cfccbd8f788c8dc32c1c309559be0
CPU threads: 4; OS: Linux 5.4; UI render: default; VCL: gtk3
Locale: fr-BE (fr_BE.UTF-8); UI: en-US
Calc: threaded

Revision history for this message
In , Ilmari-lauhakangas (ilmari-lauhakangas) wrote :

fontconfig version 2.14 released on 2022-03-31 includes a huge performance boost related to this problem. The relevant code change is https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/fontconfig/fontconfig/-/commit/8022ab4aff469a8f095ce3168d879d3e0b3605ef

I have Arch Linux and they shipped the 2.14 version and font selection list for me is quite fast with gtk3 LibreOffice.

Revision history for this message
In , Ilmari-lauhakangas (ilmari-lauhakangas) wrote :

*** Bug 148506 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Revision history for this message
Jurgen Schellaert (jurgen-schellaert-j) wrote :
description: updated
Jurgen Schellaert (jurgen-schellaert-j)
description: updated
Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

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

Changed in libreoffice (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Harry W. Haines, III (harry17) wrote :

There is something else going on with fontconfig. When you go to the fonts viewer "Fonts", some of the DejaVu font families are not shown correctly. Some are duplicated and others are not shown. The issue is solid repeatable. Install fonts-dejavu-extra and then launch "Fonts". I'm not sure this is a libreoffice issue. What patches did Ubuntu make to it?

Revision history for this message
Harry W. Haines, III (harry17) wrote :

Okay so we know we have a bug. Is this just going to sit here forever without further investigation and resolution? Ubuntu took Debian's testing fontconfig package and patched it without any change log.

Revision history for this message
David White (foxy-moxy) wrote :

I have a feeling this is something to do with the Nvidia driver. I first noticed this on my desktop PC which was using Mint 20 (based on Ubuntu 20.04), and the "Fresh" PPA of Libreoffice 7.3. I recently moved to Mint 21, based on Ubuntu 22.04. Mindful of this lagging issue in the font selection box, I tested the Mint 21 live USB, which comes with Libreoffice 21. There was no lag when booting from the USB; the font selection box scrolled normally. However, once Mint 21 was installed, and the Nvidia driver was installed from Driver Manager and used instead of Nouveau, then sure enough the font selection box started lagging again.

I also experience no lagging on Mint 21 on my laptop, which is using the built-in Intel graphics chip. So I think this is some sort of rendering issue caused by Nvidia. Try it yourself; try booting into a Live USB of Ubuntu 22.04, make sure the graphics driver is still just Nouveau, and you should find the font selection box works normally.

Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

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

Changed in fontconfig (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Suppen Kasper (suppenkasper0815) wrote :

This font delay problem in libreoffice-writer 7.3/7.4 seems to be a combination of libreoffice-gtk3 and Nvidia proprietary driver. The problem appears with default desktop enviroment and with gnome classic. Problem appears in wayland and xorg.

Ubuntu 22.04
GPU Nvidia 750ti (Nvidia Driver 515)
Libre Office 7.3/7.4

Extreme Font Menu Delay when:

Nvidia driver - Installed AND libreofffice-gtk3 Installed

No Font Menu delay when:

Nvidia driver Installed AND libreofffice-gtk3 Not Installed
Nvidia driver Not Installed AND libreofffice-gtk3 Installed
Nvidia driver Not Installed AND libreofffice-gtk3 Not Installed

I can confirm David White. No problem in Mint 21.
BUT
As soon as i install gnome and log into a gnome session with Mint 21, then the extreme font delay will appear in libre office. When i log back into a mate session then the font menu behaves as it should.

Revision history for this message
Crusoe (daniel-a-joyce) wrote :

Disabling Adobe Source Code Pro font on Ubuntu/Pop using font manager and restarting writer largely fixes the issue for me.

I found this fix on reddit. The Source Code font from Adobe seems problematic.

Revision history for this message
Crusoe (daniel-a-joyce) wrote :

There could still be a bad interaction between driver / font, but the culprit seems to be mostly the source code pro font

Revision history for this message
Olivier Gayot (ogayot) wrote :

Jurgen, could you please send us the link to the discussion with LibreOffice upstream? Thanks!

Revision history for this message
Jurgen Schellaert (jurgen-schellaert-j) wrote :

https://<email address hidden>/msg862887.html

Steve Langasek (vorlon)
Changed in libreoffice (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Medium
Changed in fontconfig (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Medium
status: Confirmed → Incomplete
Changed in libreoffice (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Incomplete
Bug Watch Updater (bug-watch-updater)
Changed in df-libreoffice:
importance: Unknown → Medium
status: Unknown → Won't Fix
Revision history for this message
perkoug (perkoug) wrote :

After hint there is no problem with:
Tools > Options > LibreOffice > View > checked out το Show preview of fonts

Revision history for this message
Sam Townsend (stownsend42) wrote :

This is still a problem :(

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