[BUG] App grid context doesn't open

[startmeupnz]

Describe the bug

Sometimes the "app grid" or hot corner doesn't seem to open or pressing the start key to open the activities overview.

Could be a duplicate of #291 but logs seem slightly different.

Basic debug information

• Did disabling all other extensions help? Yes.
• Did you find conflicting extension? No.

To Reproduce

After starting sessoin, open a few different applications like for instance Libre Office, Nautilus, terminal etc... then try to access the activities overview using the start key or hot corner.

Expected behavior

The activities menu opens, and workspace switcher and application launch panel is visible.

Screenshots

N/A

System:

• OS: Fedora 43
• Version of V-Shell extension: 49.14
• Source of installation: GitHub
• Other installed and enabled extensions: AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support

System log output

some logs are repeated a lot especially:

Jan 29 13:20:37 fedora gnome-shell[87549]: value "nan" of type 'gdouble' is invalid or out of range for property 'value' of type 'gdouble'

Other logs I've noticed:

Jan 29 12:24:06 fedora gnome-shell[87549]: Can't update stage views actor unnamed [ClutterClone] is on because it needs an allocation.

Jan 29 12:24:06 fedora gnome-shell[87549]: Can't update stage views actor unnamed [StIcon] is on because it needs an allocation.

Jan 29 12:24:06 fedora gnome-shell[87549]: Can't update stage views actor unnamed [Gjs_ui_windowPreview_WindowPreview] is on because it needs an allocation.

Jan 29 12:24:06 fedora gnome-shell[87549]: _st_create_shadow_pipeline_from_actor: assertion 'clutter_actor_has_allocation (actor)' failed

Jan 29 12:37:36 fedora gnome-shell[87549]: Can't update stage views actor unnamed [ClutterActor] is on because it needs an allocation.

Jan 29 12:42:35 fedora gnome-shell[87549]: meta_wayland_surface_role_notify_subsurface_state_changed: assertion 'klass->notify_subsurface_state_changed' failed

Jan 29 13:19:51 fedora gnome-shell[87549]: JS ERROR: TypeError: can't access property "get_transition", this.actor is null

[G-dH]

Sounds the same. Try this from the terminal and restart the GNOME session:

sed -i '/GLib\.idle_add(GLib.PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE, () => {/{s/DEFAULT_IDLE/DEFAULT/}' ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/vertical-workspaces\@G-dH.github.com/lib/overviewControls.js

[G-dH]

Please install the latest version from the repository and let me know if it helped.

[startmeupnz]

I've reinstalled the version from GitHub per the README. Also ran the sed command here is that line:

extensions/vertical-workspaces@G-dH.github.com/lib
❯ grep GLib.PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE overviewControls.js 
                    this._winPreviewOverlayDelayId = GLib.timeout_add(GLib.PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE, delay * slowDownFactor, () => {
            GLib.PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE, () => {

When I start a new session, and open Firefox I see the same slowness. If I switch workspace and click the hot corner a few times, eventually normal behaviour, the activities overview comes back.

I have these logs:

Jan 30 14:17:14 fedora systemd[72368]: Started app-gnome-org.mozilla.firefox-76650.scope - Application launched by gnome-shell.
Jan 30 14:17:14 fedora gnome-shell[72783]: Can't update stage views actor unnamed [ClutterActor] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 30 14:17:44 fedora gnome-shell[72783]: Can't update stage views actor unnamed [ClutterActor] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 30 14:17:44 fedora gnome-shell[72783]: Can't update stage views actor unnamed [ClutterActor] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 30 14:17:44 fedora gnome-shell[72783]: Can't update stage views actor unnamed [ClutterActor] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 30 14:17:44 fedora gnome-shell[72783]: Can't update stage views actor unnamed [ClutterActor] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 30 14:18:04 fedora gnome-shell[72783]: Can't update stage views actor unnamed [ClutterActor] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 30 14:18:04 fedora gnome-shell[72783]: Can't update stage views actor unnamed [ClutterActor] is on because it needs an allocation.
Jan 30 14:18:13 fedora gnome-shell[72783]: Invalid sequence for VSYNC frame info

[G-dH]

Does it behave the same when you open the overview using the Super key?

[startmeupnz]

Yes, both methods seem to hang a bit now an then. I often drag windows to one side of the screen so they snap to taking half the screen, to set two application windows in a split screen arrangement, i.e. a browser and a terminal. This seems to trigger the behaviour.

[G-dH]

Try disabling the WindowPreview module in the V-Shell Settings.

If it's still lagging, could you test older V-Shell versions (<= 49.12)?

[startmeupnz]

I tried disabling WindowPreview but no change. I rolled back to version 49.11 and it's working as expected.

[G-dH]

Thanks. I’ll find the culprit, but it’s complicated since I can’t reproduce it. What hardware are you using?

[G-dH]

The latest update adds the Smooth Overview Animation option to the Misc tab. Please install it, disable the option and let me know if it helped.

[startmeupnz]

I'm using a HP Zbook Raptor Lake-P [Iris Xe Graphics] w/ the added complexity of a DisplayLink hub which requires this package to install the driver:

• https://github.com/displaylink-rpm/displaylink-rpm

I've tried the latest version again and noticed the same latency/hanging issue opening the overview. Possibly the DisplayLink/EVDI driver might be the hangup? That said v49.11 seems to work fine with this setup.

[G-dH]

Did you disable the option I mentioned?

[startmeupnz]

Yep, same behaviour w/ "Smooth Overview Animation" disabled. Not sure if it will help a screen cast here, of how I can reproduce it. Once I open the Firefox window and drag it to the side can't open the overview window from the hot corner or by pressing the super key.

Screencast.From.2026-02-01.10-52-43.mp4

[G-dH]

Thanks. At least we’ve ruled out one possibility for good.