Ver. 2.7.3 not starting gui on Windows

[Artie127]

Bug Report

I run gpt4all version 2.7.3 on windows. Starting the program results in no windows at all, only a chat.exe running on low cpu usage in the task manager. My computer has AMD R7 5800H and Nvidia 3070 Desktop, all drivers are updated.
I am not a programmer so I may need instructions to be a bit clearer for me to carry them out.
My windows run in Simplified Chinese so non-latin characters are all over the user folders, can this be relevant?

Expected Behavior

I expect some instructions for me to do a debug process and find out what is wrong.

Your Environment

• GPT4All version: 2.7.3
• Operating System: Windows 10
• Chat model used (if applicable): None-not there yet

[cosmic-snow]

My windows run in Simplified Chinese so non-latin characters are all over the user folders, can this be relevant?

Yes, there have been problems in the past with this kind of thing. I don't know whether that has been fixed now, though, sorry.

But there are also other things which can make it misbehave, so without any additional information (or running an actual debugger), it's kind of hard to determine the cause in this case.

Things you could try:

• Create a new user account for testing; make it have only latin characters. Install the chat GUI again on that account. Even better: if you can, make sure that the account's user folder has no Chinese characters in it. Here it's typically C:\Users\<name>, and I don't know if the Users folder is different in your version of Windows.

• If you know about/use VMs, set up a basic Ubuntu machine with English language and latin-only username and see if you can install the Linux variant and start it there.

• You say you are not a programmer, but in case you know how to set up and run Python, you could try an example from the bindings documentation. That might give some additional insight.

[Artie127]

My windows run in Simplified Chinese so non-latin characters are all over the user folders, can this be relevant?

Yes, there have been problems in the past with this kind of thing. I don't know whether that has been fixed now, though, sorry.

But there are also other things which can make it misbehave, so without any additional information (or running an actual debugger), it's kind of hard to determine the cause in this case.

Things you could try:

• Create a new user account for testing; make it have only latin characters. Install the chat GUI again on that account. Even better: if you can, make sure that the account's user folder has no Chinese characters in it. Here it's typically C:\Users\<name>, and I don't know if the Users folder is different in your version of Windows.
• If you know about/use VMs, set up a basic Ubuntu machine with English language and latin-only username and see if you can install the Linux variant and start it there.
• You say you are not a programmer, but in case you know how to set up and run Python, you could try an example from the bindings documentation. That might give some additional insight.

Thank you for replying! I was starting to get worried that my post is buried underneath all that rubble.
I have tried creating an account with pure English characters and ran gpt4all in English, but the same thing happened as before so I guess it's not a character issue.
As for your second and third advice, setting up a Ubuntu machine is a bit out of my reach but I'll try to figure out how to do the third one.
Thank you kindly again and I am also open for any instructions on the debug process which may help me understand the problem a bit more.

[SINAPSA-IC]

Hello.

Setting up a whichever linux or Windows as a Virtual Machine is pretty easy if you use the VMWare (Player, at one time). There are free versions out there, I know that once upon a time they even offered a set of S/Ns to go with those free versions, 5.x I think it was.

Also, there was (or is, I don't know) the Virtual PC from M$oft; I only played with VMWare.

Once installed, you can create a Virtual Machine as a file on a /disk, then insert the CD or USB or ISO where the OS for that particular Virtual Machine is, then set it up by giving it some RAM, access to network and USB, and then start it like a normal computer from within VMWare Player, then use it as any "normal" computer. Nice stuff - having n files as n computers, each of them with its own boot sequence* , OS, installed programs, Regional Settings and whatnot, all isolated from the "main", physical computer, with all these computers being stored on a SSD, yet only accessible with VMWare Player. Plenty of room to play.

• when installing linux on a computer which already has a Windows on it, chances are that the inexperienced user (of linux) will lose access to Windows, and linux will start instead as it messes with the boot record. This can be fixed afterwards, with programs functioning like the oldtimer EasyBCD, but why do that when one can play with virtual computers that do not touch the boot area of the physical computer...

You can try Ubuntu (very popular) or Mint (https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=311) and even Tails (https://tails.net/install/index.en.html) if you've got the time/mood to start all over time and again. Burn the ISO to a disc or USB, then install it on a virtual machine in VMWare like a nGB file on a SSD, and you're all set,

[f4ww4z]

@Artie127 I confirm the same bug is happening on my windows 11 machine, with AMD Ryzen 7 5800H and NVIDIA RTX 3070. I attach a recording that shows this bug.

Recording.2024-04-08.215428.mp4

[cosmic-snow]

If as you say creating a new account doesn't work, you can also try the steps outlined here:

• chat.exe not launching on windows 11 #1656 (comment)
• that is, download a -debug-console build, but use the latest version
• maybe also procdump, as explained in that issue

[cebtenzzre]

Since the fix for #2111 is not included yet as of the latest chat UI release, I think it's best to assume that this is the same issue for now. This can be confirmed by building from source.

[UshiroNaka]

Having same issue on windows 11 machine

[cebtenzzre]

I'm assuming that this has been fixed in v2.7.4. If not, please reopen.

[neural-oracle]

I solved this problem / issue at least for my case:

hey .. just an update for Windows users:

The reason ... why on windows chat.exe is opening in the task manager only but not opening the GUI seems to be an interference with AVG Antivirus software. After uninstalling it gpt4all version 2.8 pre opened with CUDA and everything!!

I made a discord post in the Gpt4all channel here:
https://discord.com/channels/1076964370942267462/1090651132390543400/1242561840056111114

maybe you can uninstall all your antivirus ... test .. then reinstall antivirus ... hope it opens