Google Earth doesn't show map

Question

I have the same problem as is described here but that question doesn't have an answer and its OP doesn't seem like they will ever answer the arisen questions.

I installed google-earth-pro-stable_current_amd64.deb via sudo apt install on Ubuntu 16.04 64 bit.

Deleting ~/.xinputrc didn't change anything. When I log into a different account (account on my machine, that is – I don't think the commenter meant a different Google account (I didn't log into any Google account)), I experience the exact same problem.

It's not like a glitch which occurs for a few seconds and then vanishes. Google Earth just isn't usable because the map never shows up. It always shows the controls, part of the splash screen, and whatever was in the background when the application was launched.

ttf-mscorefonts-installer already was installed.

Using gdebi didn't resolve the problem either.

Neither did using the 32 bit version.

Answer 1

I have found the solution to the problem:

Find the currently installed Google Earth package

dpkg --list 'google-earth*'

Uninstall the existing package:

sudo dpkg -P google-earth-stable

Install the googleearth-package package:

sudo apt-get install googleearth-package

Use the script to download the latest binary and create a .deb package:

make-googleearth-package --force

An example of the message you should get after executing the above command:

Description: Google Earth, a 3D map/planet viewer
 Package built with googleearth-package.
dpkg-deb: building package 'googleearth' in './googleearth_6.0.3.2197+1.2.0-1_amd64.deb'.
-----------------------------
Success!
You can now install the package with e.g:

sudo dpkg -i googleearth_6.0.3.2197+1.2.0-1_amd64.deb
-----------------------------

Install the .deb package as mentioned in the description:

sudo dpkg -i googleearth_6.0.3.2197+1.2.0-1_amd64.deb

In case any dependecy problems arise (which did in my case), use

sudo apt-get -f install

This will successfully install a compatible version of Google Earth for your system.

Here's how Google Earth now looks:

(As opposed to how it looked on my PC as shown in the question)

Note: This method worked for me, hope it works out for you as well :)

(reference: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GoogleEarth)

Answer 2

Option 1: Install an older Google Earth Pro version

The latest versions of google-earth-pro are not compatible with GNU/Linux drivers for newer graphics hardware.

Uninstall the latest google-earth-pro version, then download and install google-earth-pro-stable_7.1.8.3036-r0_amd64.deb from the official or a private backup repository, as suggested here.

In the Synaptic Package Manager, select Packages → Lock Version to prevent future upgrading.

Option 2: Modesetting DDX

If the xserver-xorg-video-intel package is in use, and your Intel integrated graphics is rather new, simply uninstall it and reboot.

$ sudo apt remove xserver-xorg-video-intel

As the information packaged with the driver explains:

The use of this driver is discouraged if your hw is new enough (ca. 2007 and newer). You can try uninstalling this driver and let the server use it's builtin modesetting driver instead.

Option 2 caveat

Unfortunately, modesetting DDX breaks many other things:

• backlight switches,
• loading ICC colour profiles with xcalib,
• Chromium showing artifacts.

See also archlinux.org.

Answer 3

As of this writing, you don't need to remove xserver-xorg-video-intel to run the latest Google Earth. Simply enable dri3 in your Intel graphics config:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel-graphics.conf (create if needed):

Section "Module"
   Load "dri3"
EndSection

Section "Device"
   Identifier  "Intel Graphics"
   Driver      "intel"

   # Fixes Google Earth. Requires dri3 module:
   Option      "DRI"   "3"

   # OPTIONAL, but fixes screen tearing for me:
   Option      "TripleBuffer" "true"
   Option      "TearFree"     "true"
EndSection

Restart. Works on Ubuntu 18.04 + Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2).