electron: [Bug]: Devtools won't open

Preflight Checklist

I have read the Contributing Guidelines for this project.
I agree to follow the Code of Conduct that this project adheres to.
I have searched the issue tracker for a bug report that matches the one I want to file, without success.

Electron Version

18.0.1

What operating system are you using?

Other Linux

Operating System Version

Linux mabel-endeavour-linux 5.15.32-xanmod1-1 #1 SMP Tue, 29 Mar 2022 10:56:09 +0000 x86_64 GNU/Linux

What arch are you using?

x64

Last Known Working Electron version

No response

Expected Behavior

I launch my application, I press ctrl+shift+i, and devtools appears.

Actual Behavior

I do the above, and the devtools console briefly flashes, before disappearing. the page is still formatted as though the devtools window is up (less horizontal space), but with a blank background where the devtools window should be. Re-entering the key-combo does not change the formatting back.

log:

[mabel@mabel-endeavour-linux electron-test]$ electron .
/usr/bin/../lib64/gcc/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu/11.2.0/../../../../include/c++/11.2.0/bits/unique_ptr.h:659: typename std::add_lvalue_reference<element_type>::type std::unique_ptr<blink::CSSSelector []>::operator[](std::size_t) const [_Tp = blink::CSSSelector [], _Dp = std::default_delete<blink::CSSSelector []>]: Assertion 'get() != pointer()' failed.
[10179:0408/145319.700844:ERROR:shared_image_manager.cc(227)] SharedImageManager::ProduceSkia: Trying to Produce a Skia representation from a non-existent mailbox.
[10179:0408/145319.701892:ERROR:shared_image_manager.cc(227)] SharedImageManager::ProduceSkia: Trying to Produce a Skia representation from a non-existent mailbox.
[10179:0408/145319.702470:ERROR:shared_image_manager.cc(227)] SharedImageManager::ProduceSkia: Trying to Produce a Skia representation from a non-existent mailbox.
[10179:0408/145319.703007:ERROR:shared_image_manager.cc(227)] SharedImageManager::ProduceSkia: Trying to Produce a Skia representation from a non-existent mailbox.

Testcase Gist URL

No response

Additional Information

No response

About this issue

Original URL
State: closed
Created 2 years ago
Reactions: 2
Comments: 34 (4 by maintainers)

Most upvoted comments

Also had the same issue with devtools not opening when running from vs code terminal. But adding mainWindow.webContents.openDevTools({ mode: 'detach' }) just before mainWindow.loadURL() works everytime it seems.

DogFoxX on Aug 19, 2023

Thank you for this update. While it’s good to know that newer versions of Electron are no longer encountering this issue, it’s important to acknowledge that there are still developers who are working with older versions and are forced to use Electron 13 or lower. With that in mind, I would like to suggest a workaround for those who are still experiencing this issue on unsupported versions of Electron.

Just use the remote debugger. The built-in debugger has too many problems on earlier versions of Electron.

Enable Chrome’s remote debugger by setting the --remote-debugging-port switch. this code to the main process

(Main process)
```
app.commandLine.appendSwitch("--remote-debugging-port", "9222");
```
Go to chrome://inspect in a Chromium-based browser Your BrowserWindow should appear.

Tested with Electron 9.4.4

e9x on May 20, 2023

With electron 21.3.1 the DevTools do not open when the app is launched from the Visual Studio Code terminal. They do open when launching from a system terminal.

radu-b on Nov 24, 2022

Adding what I hope is helpful information:

In the following apps built with Electron, devtools renders similar to the screenshot attached:

vscode (recent update) Obsidian Typora

My system info:

Kernel: 5.15.71-1-lts
arch: x86_64 bits: 64
Desktop: i3 v: 4.21 
Distro: EndeavourOS - Linux

2022-10-11_02-43-42_flameshot

13zebras on Oct 11, 2022

bump

jasonribble on Oct 5, 2022

Also @Curstantine are you also running Endeavour?

ckerr on Apr 27, 2022

that is, in fact, a slightly more correct description of what happens.

Hate9 on Apr 23, 2022