0

I have written a Windows RT 8.1 XAML/C# enterprise app which is installed on Lenovo Thinkpad 8 tablets.

My users are experiencing a very intermittent issue where a number of controls on each screen would suddenly disappear or not render properly.

For example on every screen there is a back button in the top left corner. This would be one of the controls that would disappear. However when you touch where the button should be then it still functions correctly.

We can make these controls appear again by closing the app / suspending it and then opening it up again - sometimes you need to do this a couple of times.

I cannot figure out why this would be happening.

Various theories:

  • Some sort of problem with styling within the app
  • graphics/rendering hardware issue
  • A memory problem relating to suspending and resuming the app

Can anyone hazard a guess what might be happening?

Thanks

RCairns
  • 155
  • 13
  • Any chance you have a way to reproduce? I like the mystery you describe, sounds interesting. – Chris W. Dec 11 '14 at 16:23
  • No sadly not - we have been trying for days to re-create. I'm convinced it's some sort of hardware issue. I've tried running this program on the tablet but the hardware under stress but still can't recreate it http://www.jam-software.com/heavyload/ – RCairns Dec 12 '14 at 09:26
  • It happens intermittently on a number of the tablets so it's not an isolated issue. – RCairns Dec 12 '14 at 09:27
  • I might finally have some reproducible steps for this problem - I am trying it myself. Apparently if you open the app then go back to the Start screen and leave the device running for a number of hours then go back to the app this can cause the controls to be missing. Is there anyway I can force termination of the app within my code if it is has been idle for a certain amount of time? – RCairns Jan 16 '15 at 08:21
  • Is this related to http://stackoverflow.com/questions/28760034/windows-8-xaml-possible-bug-using-images-causes-text-controls-to-disappear ? – la_urre Feb 01 '16 at 11:47

1 Answers1

0

This is the exact problem we've been dealing with for a few months now. Cannot easily reproduce on a dime, but you can generally get it to occur by letting the device go to sleep while the app is open and then waking it up. We're using Lenovo ThinkPad 10 tablets running 8.1.

All controls on the top third of the screen go blank, although you can still touch them and they are interactive. The quick but temporary way to get the problem to disappear this is to close the app manually (swiping down from the top to bottom) and then reopening. However, in our case, our users lose their work-in-progress. While we could remedy that lost data by making design changes in our app, the problem will still persist and is frustrating.

We've thought of the same potential issues that you listed. I've tried to kill the app whenever the app goes into suspended state so that it is always opened "fresh," but you never know when that is going to suspend. I'm thinking about opening a ticket with Microsoft for help on this.

Tim
  • 51
  • 3