Arch Linux PDF viewer renders blank after electron39/libdrm update

Bug reports
1

Steps to reproduce

  1. On an Arch-based Linux system, install/run Obsidian 1.12.7 with the package stack that includes:
    • electron39 39.8.10-1
    • libdrm 2.4.133-1
    • obsidian 1.12.7-2
  2. Launch Obsidian with community plugins disabled or Restricted Mode enabled.
  3. Open a vault containing a known-good PDF that renders correctly in external PDF viewers.
  4. Open the PDF directly in Obsidian’s built-in PDF viewer.
  5. Also test the same PDF embedded in a note, for example: ![[test.pdf]]

Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? [Y/N]

Y

Expected result

The PDF should render normally in Obsidian’s built-in PDF viewer and when embedded in a note.

Actual result

The PDF viewer/preview area is blank. The same PDFs render correctly in external PDF viewers.

Disabling PDF++ did not change the behavior. Clearing Obsidian/Electron render caches did not fix it. Removing custom Electron flags and launching Obsidian with clean package defaults did not fix it.

Rolling back the related packages made PDF rendering work again immediately:

electron39: 39.8.10-1 -> 39.8.9-1
libdrm:     2.4.133-1 -> 2.4.131-1
obsidian:   1.12.7-2  -> 1.12.7-1

Follow-up isolation test: with electron39 39.8.9-1 and obsidian 1.12.7-1, upgrading only libdrm to 2.4.133-1 did not reproduce the issue; PDFs still rendered. This makes electron39 39.8.10-1, or the interaction between Electron and the graphics stack, the stronger suspect.

Environment

Obsidian version: v1.12.7
Operating system: Arch Linux / Omarchy 3.8.0
Kernel at original report: 7.0.3-arch1-1-ptl
Kernel during later libdrm-only follow-up test: 7.0.3-arch1-2-ptl
Session: Wayland / Hyprland
Machine: Dell XPS 16 DA16260
CPU: Intel Core Ultra X7 358H
GPU: Intel Panther Lake [Arc B390] [8086:b080]

Affected package set:
electron39 39.8.10-1
libdrm 2.4.133-1
obsidian 1.12.7-2

Known-good rollback package set:
electron39 39.8.9-1
libdrm 2.4.131-1
obsidian 1.12.7-1

Additional information

The regression appeared after a system update on May 7, 2026. Obsidian itself had already been upgraded to 1.12.7-2 on May 4, 2026, but the PDF blanking behavior did not appear until after the May 7 update that included electron39 and libdrm.

Package timeline from pacman log:

[2026-05-04T17:03:02-0400] upgraded obsidian (1.12.7-1 -> 1.12.7-2)
[2026-05-07T16:06:57-0400] upgraded libdrm (2.4.131-1 -> 2.4.133-1)
[2026-05-07T16:06:58-0400] upgraded electron39 (39.8.9-1 -> 39.8.10-1)

Known-good rollback command:

pkexec pacman -U --noconfirm \
  /var/cache/pacman/pkg/electron39-39.8.9-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst \
  /var/cache/pacman/pkg/libdrm-2.4.131-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst \
  /var/cache/pacman/pkg/obsidian-1.12.7-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst

This was first reported in the Omarchy tracker because the regression appeared through an Omarchy/system update path on Dell XPS Panther Lake hardware:

https://github.com/basecamp/omarchy/issues/5671

Another user in that issue reported the same symptom on CachyOS and said the rollback suggestions worked for them. Their exact hardware is unknown.

I searched the Obsidian forum and did not find an exact duplicate for this Arch/CachyOS + electron39/libdrm PDF viewer regression. The closest older/different reports I found were:

  • https://forum.obsidian.md/t/pdf-viewer-seems-to-be-broken/97628
  • https://forum.obsidian.md/t/pdf-files-take-too-long-to-open-or-dont-open-at-all/96524
  • https://forum.obsidian.md/t/some-pdfs-are-shown-as-empty-in-internal-pdf-viewer/73058
  • https://forum.obsidian.md/t/graph-view-is-blank-on-linux-after-os-update/69495/9
  • https://forum.obsidian.md/t/pdf-files-fail-to-load-in-obsidian-when-file-names-contain-non-ascii-characters/100298

Official AppImage/Snap under GNOME or KDE has not yet been confirmed. Current confirmed reports are Arch/Omarchy/Hyprland and CachyOS.

Omarchy debug log from the original report:

https://github.com/user-attachments/files/27525286/omarchy-debug.log

3

When trying to open any PDF inside Obsidian’s built-in viewer, the page stays completely blank. No content is displayed and no error message is shown in the UI. The issue happens even with all community plugins and themes disabled (Safe Mode).

Here error messages in console when trying to open PDF.

image
image2306×872 264 KB

Have tried –disable-web-security --allow-file-access-from-files but still failed and same error messages.

4

I confirm issue in same environment. I downgrade obsidian to version 1.10.6. This version works fine.

5

This topic needs to be moved to “Bug reports”

6

Please, create a new bug report and make sure you read and follow the troubleshooting guide and BR template.

7

i also have the exact same problem…it started after i used syncthing to share my vault with my tablet using android and there obsidian works fine as expected

i looked a bit and it seems some new policy with electron saying it is not safe thus it won’t let any pdf render… something about iframes

i am still very new to arch so i don’t know the proper way to tackle this

8

Hello!

I merged a similar thread from help section here.
We do not make the arch package (it is an unofficial an unauthorized redistribution).

If this happens with Appimage or Snap, we’ll look into it.
If this is specific to the Arch package, we can’t help you. Sorry!

9

Thank you for your speedy and concise clarification. The appimage seems to work with the latest dependency binaries installed on the system. You correctly identified that it is an arch packaging issue. I shall file the issue with Arch.

10

Good job. I downgrade electron39 to version 39.8.9-1 and Obsidian 1.12.7-2 start to work fine.

11

Can confirm that this fix works.