[Resolved pending bug fix] Media thumbnails not appearing in Gramps v6.0.6 Linux

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1

Good evening, everyone!

After starting my tree on Xubuntu 24.04 with Gramps Version 5.1.6, I am currently testing Gramps (Version 6.0.6) on Xubuntu 26.04.

The transfer to this new version went well, except for the display of thumbnails for photos placed in the dedicated media folder “__.gpkg.media/”.

The photos are correctly linked to the individuals, but the thumbnails do not load and remain blank. If you click on them, the photos appear correctly.

Under Gramps 5.1.6, the thumbnail folder “Thumb” was located at /home/user/.gramps/thumb/

Under Gramps 6.0.6, the thumbnail folder “Thumb” is located at /home/user/.cache/gramps/ and the thumbnails are indeed created there.

Have you noticed this bug?

Do you know how to fix it?

Thank you for your feedback

2

The link to your images is no longer valid. Can you provide the path where your image folder is saved in Gramps and the location of your current folder?

[Edit: My previous message was incorrect]

3

Good evening, Geoglorus, thank you for your feedback,

My images are located at: /home/poun/Documents/Généalogie/Youri Family/Youri Family.gpkg.media/

In Gramps, they point to: /home/poun/Documents/Généalogie/Youri Family/Youri Family.gpkg.media

That is, to the same location.

4

Hello.

Under Gramps 5.1.6, the “Thumb” thumbnails folder was located at /home/user/.gramps/thumb/

Under Gramps 6.0.6, the “Thumb” thumbnails folder is located at /home/user/.cache/gramps/, and the thumbnails are indeed created there.

What if you create a redirection (shortcut), for example, to make /home/user/.gramps/thumb/ point to /home/user/.cache/gramps/? Would that display the thumbnails in Gramps 6.0.6?

5

Hello Romjerome, hello everyone,

The symbolic link creation above doesn’t work…

Since you seem to know how to use the Linux command line, I’m sharing below the errors that appear when launching Gramps:

poun@Gigatest-2604:~$ gramps
/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/gramps/gui/glade.py:57: PyGIWarning: GObject derived class Glade shouldn’t use slots.
class Glade(Gtk.Builder):
2026-05-06 14:43:45.205: WARNING: imagethumb.py: line 99: Error scaling image down: Unable to marshal str as an array, use .encode() to convert to bytes
Invalid byte sequence in conversion input
2026-05-06 14:43:45.314: WARNING: imagethumb.py: line 99: Error scaling image down: Unable to marshal str as an array, use .encode() to convert to bytes
Invalid byte sequence in conversion input
2026-05-06 14:43:45.349: WARNING: imagethumb.py: line 99: Error scaling image down: Unable to marshal str as an array, use .encode() to convert to bytes
Invalid byte sequence in conversion input
poun@Gigatest-2604:~$

It’s the same with and without the symbolic link.

Note that the thumbnails for the same photos display correctly in Gramps V6 under Windows 11.

6

Romjerome, your assumption was correct :slight_smile:

The magic formula to create the symbolic link to the old thumbnails directory in Gramps v5 is: ln -s ~/.gramps/thumb/ ~/.cache/gramps

It seems that the “thumbs” created by “Gramps v6.06” are not readable by itself but are readable with Linux graphical tools.

7

Maybe even already fixed in version 6.0.8?

Fix ImageThumb savev() passing strings instead of lists

8

Yeah, but that’s hardly a solution… It was just to check if the directory was correct after the change (upgrade). In this case, it was actually the “thumbs” generated by Gramps 6.0.6 that were corrupted (or unreadable)…

9

Thank you, Romjerome,

I’ll then wait for this update to be rolled out on Linux…

Best regards

10

Don’t celebrate too early…
I feel like it’s not really the same thing or a different fix!

Some have reported that this still happens with Gramps 6.0.8 :frowning:

Seems that the problem has migrated to the linux version 6.0.8. (at least for me).

11

The patch is being attempted…

gramps/plugins/thumbnailer/imagethumb.py
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ def run(self, mime_type, src_file, dest_file, size, rectangle):
            pixbuf = pixbuf.scale_simple(
                scaled_width, scaled_height, GdkPixbuf.InterpType.BILINEAR
            )
-            pixbuf.savev(dest_file, "png", "", "")
+            pixbuf.savev(dest_file, "png", [], [])
            return True
        except Exception as err:
            LOG.warning("Error scaling image down: %s", str(err))
12

Oops! You’re pushing me out of my comfort zone!

I found this file “imagethumb.py” under “/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/gramps/plugins/thumbnailer/”.

I’m making a backup copy and modifying line 96: pixbuf.savev(dest_file, "png", "", "") to: pixbuf.savev(dest_file, "png", [], [])

I’ll be back with an update…

13

I know! More seriously, I just gathered the clues and contributions from others… :wink:

Since you “patched” with write permissions, I assume you deserve the most credit, as I haven’t yet migrated to Gramps 6!!! :open_mouth:

14

This was fixed in v6.0.8.

15

I’ve been tinkering with Linux since 2008 and have polluted my entire circle with it.

I’ve been testing LTS versions since their alpha releases, and I’ve identified a few bugs in the new 26.04 version.

This thumbnail issue in Gramps v6 (on Linux) was one of them (but not on Windows 11), but I wasn’t sure whether Xubuntu was to blame or if it was the Linux version of Gramps.

Now we know :slightly_smiling_face:!

16

@ Nick-Hall

As of today, only version 6.0.6 is available in Canonical’s repositories. It’s true they’ve been quite busy with their cyberattack from last week: Massive Attack Against Ubuntu Infrastructure: 313 Team Issues Extortion Ultimatum | The CyberSec Guru

17

I’ve uploaded it to the release page.

Install with:

sudo snap install --dangerous gramps_6.0.8-1_amd64.snap
18

I avoid “Snap” apps as much as possible.

For Gramps, I’ll stick with the “.deb” version from Canonical’s repositories and wait for its update.

I’m in no hurry since I fixed the minor bug with Romjerome’s help—thanks again to him!

19

Hi Jérôme,

The patch mentioned on gramps.discourse.group worked perfectly for me.

Thanks!

Have a great day,
Robert

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Robert JERÔME <robert.jerome@skynet.be>

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