# Jabref always displaying full screen on Ubuntu, not in Gnome windown

**URL:** <https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [December 5, 2023, 11:51am UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090 "2023-12-05T11:51:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 13\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Pascal\_Bochet](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/pascal_bochet/32/1230_2.png) [@Pascal\_Bochet](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Pascal_Bochet)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 11:51am UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090/1 "2023-12-05T11:51:57Z")

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Hello  
On my machine Jabref always fills all the screen and does not appear within a window. The windows created by menu items of Jabref (e.g. About JabRef) are created but not displayed and cannot be taken from “behind” the main JabRef window.  
This behavior is not seen with the snap version of JabRef distributed for Ubuntu but this snap version does not interact well with LibreOffice writer, which I need.  
May be something is wrong with the set up of my machine but I cannot find what.  
Thank you for any help.  
Configuration:  
AMD Ryzen 7, Ubuntu 22.04, GNOME 42.9, X11  
JabRef installed with dpkg from jabref\_5.11\_amd64.deb

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**Author:** ![Siedlerchr](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/siedlerchr/32/216_2.png) [@Siedlerchr](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Siedlerchr)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090/2 "2023-12-05T22:39:34Z")

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Hi,

this sounds weird. Can you test the latest development version from here? We recently upgraded the javafx version as well, maybe that is already fixed there.

Remember to make a backup of your library before trying out the new version  
[https://builds.jabref.org/main/](https://builds.jabref.org/main/)

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**Author:** ![Pascal\_Bochet](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/pascal_bochet/32/1230_2.png) [@Pascal\_Bochet](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Pascal_Bochet)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 11:54am UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090/3 "2023-12-06T11:54:04Z")

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Thanks for your reply.  
I installed version 5.12.174 (with sudo dpkg -i). It crashes without displaying anything on the screen  
with the following the error message:  
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Directory does not exist: /modules/org.jabref/journals [2.2.224/0]  
(JabRef was launched manually with the command :/opt/jabref/bin/JabRef)  
Indeed I cannot find this directory in /modules/.  
Thank you.

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**Author:** ![Siedlerchr](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/siedlerchr/32/216_2.png) [@Siedlerchr](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Siedlerchr)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 11:57am UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090/4 "2023-12-06T11:57:00Z")

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Try starting JabRef from `JabRef/lib/runtime/bin/JabRef` .

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**Author:** ![Pascal\_Bochet](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/pascal_bochet/32/1230_2.png) [@Pascal\_Bochet](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Pascal_Bochet)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 1:31pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090/5 "2023-12-06T13:31:56Z")

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Hi,Christoph, thanks for the suggestion.  
I do not have the path “JabRef/lib/runtime/bin/JabRef” .  
So I tried to launch Jabref 5.12.174 from :  
/opt/jabref/lib/runtime/bin/JabRef  
and got exactly the same error about the missing directory:  
Directory does not exist: /modules/org.jabref/journals [2.2.224/0]

I have no problem if I install JabRef directly from the Ubuntu repository with apt  
(but this is JabRef 3.8.2 !).  
Thank you.

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**Author:** ![Siedlerchr](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/siedlerchr/32/216_2.png) [@Siedlerchr](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Siedlerchr)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090/6 "2023-12-07T18:49:26Z")

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Hi, the issue with the latest development not running has been solved. Can you please re-download it?

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**Author:** ![Pascal\_Bochet](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/pascal_bochet/32/1230_2.png) [@Pascal\_Bochet](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Pascal_Bochet)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 3:49pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090/7 "2023-12-08T15:49:29Z")

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Hi  
The new version of Jabref 5.12 runs OK on my machine and is now nicely displayed inside a window which can be moved and resized. Thank you very much for your help.

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**Author:** ![Peter\_Lammich](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/peter_lammich/32/1845_2.png) [@Peter\_Lammich](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Peter_Lammich)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2024, 9:00am UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090/8 "2024-03-21T09:00:10Z")

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I just downloaded the version from [JabRef download latest version](https://www.fosshub.com/JabRef.html?dwl=jabref_5.12_amd64.deb) and am experiencing very similar problems as decribed here (only full-screen, menus does not work with mouse). I’m on Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS, GNome 42.9, Wayland. Did I download the ‘new’ 5.12 referenced to in this entry? How to investigate/workaround this problem? The current jabref snap has exactly the same problem for me.

update: same issue with 5.13. At least I can display the about window:  
JabRef 5.13–2024-03-20–82a0338  
Linux 5.15.0-100-generic amd64  
Java 21.0.2  
JavaFX 22+30

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**Author:** ![Danaroth83](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/danaroth83/32/1952_2.png) [@Danaroth83](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Danaroth83)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090/9 "2024-07-16T16:13:31Z")

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Exactly the same issue with the latest (edge) version installed through snap. The problem was there even with the latest stable version.

Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS (64-bit)  
GNOME Version 42.9  
Wayland

JabRef 5.16–2024-07-16–7de6d59  
Linux 6.5.0-41-generic amd64  
Java 21.0.2  
JavaFX 22.0.1+7

Edit: Solved by pressing Alt+F10 and then restarting.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ruben\_Padial](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/ruben_padial/32/1960_2.png) [@Ruben\_Padial](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Ruben_Padial)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 5:43pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090/10 "2024-07-22T17:43:23Z")

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Same problem. Tested on Ubuntu 20.04 and Linux Mint 21.3 with native snap and Flatpak versions.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Siedlerchr](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/siedlerchr/32/216_2.png) [@Siedlerchr](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Siedlerchr)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 5:49pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090/11 "2024-07-22T17:49:42Z")

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Hn, might be related to [Can't escape full screen + menus stay closed (after upgrade to 5.12/5.13) · Issue #10731 · JabRef/jabref · GitHub](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/issues/10731)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Siedlerchr](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/siedlerchr/32/216_2.png) [@Siedlerchr](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Siedlerchr)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090/12 "2024-07-22T20:35:40Z")

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@Ruben_Padial @Danaroth83 @Pascal_Bochet @Peter_Lammich

There was a recent bug fix in javaFX, can you please test the version from here?  
[https://builds.jabref.org/jdk-ea/](https://builds.jabref.org/jdk-ea/)  
Take the one with **javafx23** in the name

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ruben\_Padial](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/ruben_padial/32/1960_2.png) [@Ruben\_Padial](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/Ruben_Padial)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 6:12am UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/jabref-always-displaying-full-screen-on-ubuntu-not-in-gnome-windown/4090/13 "2024-07-23T06:12:59Z")

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Hello I was unable to install jabref\_5.16\_amd64-jdk22-javafx23.deb because missing dependencies:

- libffi8
- libgdk-pixbuf-2.0-0
- libmd0

I think the initial problem is related with having 2 screens. If I disconected one screen and launch jabref, it seems working and after connecting again the screen it contious working even if I restart the application.