Can't open a new tab or new file on scratch

Question

I can't open a new tab or new file in Scratch. Nothing happens when I click on the + icon and the following image occurs when I close all documents and select "New File".

Running scratch from the command line and selecting a new file gives me the following on terminal:

[_LOG_LEVEL_INFO 09:56:27.534393] Application.vala:157: Kernel version: 3.19.0-25-generic
[_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG 09:56:27.535770] Settings.vala:158: Loading settings from schema 'org.pantheon.scratch.saved-state'
[_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL 09:56:27.612347] [Gtk] gtk_header_bar_pack: assertion 'gtk_widget_get_parent (widget) == NULL' failed
[_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL 09:56:27.612392] Scratch will not function properly.
[_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL 09:56:27.706954] file /build/scratch-text-editor-JxlBhk/scratch-text-editor-2.2.0~r1522/src/MainWindow‌​.vala: line 421: uncaught error: Arquivo ou diretório não encontrado (g-io-error-quark, 1)
[_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL 09:56:27.707004] Scratch will not function properly.
[_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL 09:56:27.707044] [Gtk] gtk_action_set_visible: assertion 'GTK_IS_ACTION (action)' failed
[_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL 09:56:27.707070] Scratch will not function properly. 
[_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL 09:56:27.707235] file /build/scratch-text-editor- JxlBhk/scratch-text-editor-2.2.0~r1522/src/MainWindow‌​.vala: line 421: uncaught error: Arquivo ou diretório não encontrado (g-io-error-quark, 1)
[_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL 09:56:27.707270] Scratch will not function properly.
[_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG 09:56:27.709947] SplitView.vala:180: WelcomeScreen shown succefully
[_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG 09:56:27.713487] Settings.vala:158: Loading settings from schema 'org.pantheon.scratch.plugins.folder-manager'
[_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG 09:56:27.713872] MainWindow.vala:472: create 'unsaved' directory: /home/bpantoja/.local/share/scratch-text-editor/unsaved
[_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL 09:56:27.713949] file /build/scratch-text-editor-JxlBhk/scratch-text-editor-2.2.0~r1522/src/MainWindow‌​.vala: line 473: uncaught error: Erro ao criar o diretório: Permissão negada (g-io-error-quark, 14)
[_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL 09:56:27.713983] Scratch will not function properly.
[_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG 09:56:29.189314] SplitView.vala:188: WelcomeScreen hidden succefully
[_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG 09:56:29.191560] SplitView.vala:126: View added succefully
[_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL 09:56:29.191781] file /build/scratch-text-editor-JxlBhk/scratch-text-editor-2.2.0~r1522/src/Widgets/Do‌​cumentView.vala: line 103: uncaught error: Erro ao abrir arquivo "/home/bpantoja/.local/share/scratch-text-editor/unsaved/Ficheiro de texto de 2015-08-12 09:56:29": Arquivo ou diretório não encontrado (g-io-error-quark, 1)
[_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL 09:56:29.191834] Scratch will not function properly.
[_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL 09:56:30.724841] file /build/scratch-text-editor-JxlBhk/scratch-text-editor-2.2.0~r1522/src/Widgets/Do‌​cumentView.vala: line 103: uncaught error: Erro ao abrir arquivo "/home/bpantoja/.local/share/scratch-text-editor/unsaved/Ficheiro de texto de 2015-08-12 09:56:30": Arquivo ou diretório não encontrado (g-io-error-quark, 1)
[_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL 09:56:30.724916] Scratch will not function properly.

Answer 1

This is due to a permissions bug that occurs when the first time you've run Scratch is as a privileged user. You end up with a directory in ~/.local/share/scratch-text-editor that you don't own.

To fix this issue:

1. Make sure you don't have any unsaved files in Scratch when run as root (with the sudo command). This fix will delete those files.

2. Open Terminal and use root permissions to remove the directory.

   sudo rm -rf ~/.local/share/scratch-text-editor

3. Open Scratch as your own user (do not use the sudo command)

After this, you should no longer encounter the issue. In general, you should not run graphical applications using the sudo command since you can encounter these types of issues.