"Failed to execute w3mimgdisplay, []" but only on JPEGs

[b33rcity]

Runtime Environment

ranger-stable 1.8.1
Python 3.5.5 (default, May 13 2018, 20:10:32)
[GCC 6.4.0]
Termite, Gentoo, awesomwm

Current Behavior

I can preview png files in Termite with the w3m method without a problem. JPEG files consistently return the error in the title and refuse to display. This also affects PDF files, regardless of whether I use pdftoppm or pdftotext. This issue was present with my config files from the ebuild I installed on 2018-04-08 and persisted after I updated the ebuilt and re-copied the config files.

Expected Behavior

JPEG (and PDF) should display as PNGs do.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install ebuild from Portage of: Ranger, Python3.5, and w3m; compile Termite and vte-ng from github source
2. Set preview_images=true and method to w3m
3. Attempt to view PNG and JPEG images

Traceback

Failed to execute w3mimgdisplay, []

[toonn]

Does w3migmdisplay work for you from the command line?

[b33rcity]

I can call w3m /path/to/image.jpg, but w3mimgdisplay /path/to/image.jpg does nothing; echo $? returns a 1.

EDIT:

After a little research I learned that w3mimgdisplay can't be called that way. https://www.mail-archive.com/mutt-users@mutt.org/msg34445.html has the details.

So following that format (and correcting a typo), I can verify that, yes, w3mimgdisplay will display a png image (for an instant as the terminal redraws over the image when it scrolls), but will not display a jpg from the command line.

I guess this makes it a w3m issue, and not a ranger issue :p

[toonn]

It's probably termite. w3mimgdisplay is made with xterm in mind and termite's too different.

[b33rcity]

I installed an ebuild of xterm just now and found the same issue. Ranger shows the png but not the jpg. I'll research w3mimgdisplay a bit more. It's possible I missed something in the w3m ebuild (I have all the USE flags listed in the Portage docs for w3m, but you never know with Gentoo).

[b33rcity]

Quick update:

I tried installing w3m from source on Arch and termite from pacman. Image previews using w3m worked flawlessly following this procedure.

Optimistic, I tried unmerging w3m on my Gentoo box and reinstalling it from source only to run into the exact same issue. This may be a peculiarity of Gentoo (big fricken' surprise).

[b33rcity]

Thanks to some help on the Gentoo Forums, I was able to find a solution to this problem.

The issue wasn't with ranger or even with w3m, but with a dependency of w3m. In my case, imlib2 was not compiled with jpeg support. I'm not sure how that happened, but once I found the problem it was a simple matter of running emerge -N on that package.

Termite is now happily playing with w3m in Ranger--and it's even transparent and supports Powerline fonts!

[toonn]

Ah, great! Definitely something I'd never consider.