Text shown as question marks on Mac

[glasfeld@…]

The following bug report has been submitted:
Platform:        macOS-15.7.3-x86_64-i386-64bit
ChimeraX Version: 1.11.1 (2026-01-23 05:51:34 UTC)
Description
Upon opening ChimeraX the text in the log windo is all "????"  When I copy and paste into TextEdit, normal text appears. It looks like a font problem.  I also encountered this in the online help pages.  I think I might need to need to update a graphics driver, but not sure how to do that.

It looks like you'll see automatically that this is MacOS 15.7.3 on an intel chip.

Log:
UCSF ChimeraX version: 1.11.1 (2026-01-23)  
© 2016-2025 Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.  
How to cite UCSF ChimeraX  

> open 8TR8 format mmcif fromDatabase pdb

8tr8 title:  
Cryo-EM structure of the rat P2X7 receptor in complex with the allosteric
antagonist AZD9056 [more info...]  
  
Chain information for 8tr8 #1  
---  
Chain | Description | UniProt  
A B C | P2X purinoceptor 7 | P2RX7_RAT 1-595  
  
Non-standard residues in 8tr8 #1  
---  
GDP — guanosine-5'-diphosphate  
KEI —
N-{[(3s,5s,7s)-adamantan-1-yl]methyl}-2-chloro-5-{3-[(3-hydroxypropyl)amino]propyl}benzamide  
NA — sodium ion  
NAG — 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucopyranose (N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosamine;
2-acetamido-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucose; 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucose;
2-acetamido-2-deoxy-glucose; N-ACETYL-D-GLUCOSAMINE)  
PLM — palmitic acid  
ZN — zinc ion  
  

> set bgColor black

> set bgColor transparent

> set bgColor black

> set bgColor transparent

> log

> log font

Expected a keyword  

> ui tool show Log

> help help:user




OpenGL version: 4.1 ATI-7.0.24
OpenGL renderer: AMD Radeon Pro 5300M OpenGL Engine
OpenGL vendor: ATI Technologies Inc.

Python: 3.11.9
Locale: en_US.UTF-8
Qt version: PyQt6 6.9.1, Qt 6.9.0
Qt runtime version: 6.9.2
Qt platform: cocoa
Hardware:

    Hardware Overview:

      Model Name: MacBook Pro
      Model Identifier: MacBookPro16,1
      Processor Name: 6-Core Intel Core i7
      Processor Speed: 2.6 GHz
      Number of Processors: 1
      Total Number of Cores: 6
      L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
      L3 Cache: 12 MB
      Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled
      Memory: 32 GB
      System Firmware Version: 2094.40.1.0.0 (iBridge: 23.16.12048.0.0,0)
      OS Loader Version: 583~2317

Software:

    System Software Overview:

      System Version: macOS 15.7.3 (24G419)
      Kernel Version: Darwin 24.6.0
      Time since boot: 43 days, 1 hour, 50 minutes

Graphics/Displays:

    Intel UHD Graphics 630:

      Chipset Model: Intel UHD Graphics 630
      Type: GPU
      Bus: Built-In
      VRAM (Dynamic, Max): 1536 MB
      Vendor: Intel
      Device ID: 0x3e9b
      Revision ID: 0x0000
      Automatic Graphics Switching: Supported
      gMux Version: 5.0.0
      Metal Support: Metal 3

    AMD Radeon Pro 5300M:

      Chipset Model: AMD Radeon Pro 5300M
      Type: GPU
      Bus: PCIe
      PCIe Lane Width: x16
      VRAM (Total): 4 GB
      Vendor: AMD (0x1002)
      Device ID: 0x7340
      Revision ID: 0x0043
      ROM Revision: 113-D3220E-190
      VBIOS Version: 113-D32207P1-019
      Option ROM Version: 113-D32207P1-019
      EFI Driver Version: 01.A1.190
      Automatic Graphics Switching: Supported
      gMux Version: 5.0.0
      Metal Support: Metal 3
      Displays:
        Color LCD:
          Display Type: Built-In Retina LCD
          Resolution: 3072 x 1920 Retina
          Framebuffer Depth: 30-Bit Color (ARGB2101010)
          Main Display: Yes
          Mirror: Off
          Online: Yes
          Automatically Adjust Brightness: Yes
          Connection Type: Internal


Installed Packages:
    aiohappyeyeballs: 2.6.1
    aiohttp: 3.13.1
    aiosignal: 1.4.0
    alabaster: 1.0.0
    annotated-types: 0.7.0
    anyio: 4.12.1
    appdirs: 1.4.4
    appnope: 0.1.4
    asttokens: 3.0.1
    attrs: 25.4.0
    babel: 2.17.0
    beautifulsoup4: 4.13.5
    blockdiag: 3.0.0
    blosc2: 3.12.2
    build: 1.3.0
    certifi: 2025.7.14
    cftime: 1.6.5
    charset-normalizer: 3.4.4
    ChimeraX-AddCharge: 1.5.20
    ChimeraX-AddH: 2.2.8
    ChimeraX-AlignmentAlgorithms: 2.0.2
    ChimeraX-AlignmentHdrs: 3.6.1
    ChimeraX-AlignmentMatrices: 2.1
    ChimeraX-Alignments: 3.1.1
    ChimeraX-AlphaFold: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-AltlocExplorer: 1.2
    ChimeraX-AmberInfo: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Animations: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Aniso: 1.3.2
    ChimeraX-Arrays: 1.1
    ChimeraX-Atomic: 1.61.4
    ChimeraX-AtomicLibrary: 14.2.1
    ChimeraX-AtomSearch: 2.0.1
    ChimeraX-AxesPlanes: 2.4
    ChimeraX-BasicActions: 1.1.3
    ChimeraX-BILD: 1.0
    ChimeraX-BlastProtein: 3.0.0
    ChimeraX-Boltz: 1.1
    ChimeraX-BondRot: 2.0.4
    ChimeraX-BugReporter: 1.0.2
    ChimeraX-BuildStructure: 2.13.1
    ChimeraX-Bumps: 1.0
    ChimeraX-BundleBuilder: 1.6.0
    ChimeraX-ButtonPanel: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-CageBuilder: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-CellPack: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Centroids: 1.4
    ChimeraX-ChangeChains: 1.1
    ChimeraX-CheckWaters: 1.5
    ChimeraX-ChemGroup: 2.0.2
    ChimeraX-Clashes: 2.3
    ChimeraX-ColorActions: 1.0.5
    ChimeraX-ColorGlobe: 1.0
    ChimeraX-ColorKey: 1.5.8
    ChimeraX-CommandLine: 1.3.0
    ChimeraX-ConnectStructure: 2.0.1
    ChimeraX-Contacts: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Core: 1.11.1
    ChimeraX-CoreFormats: 1.2
    ChimeraX-coulombic: 1.4.5
    ChimeraX-Crosslinks: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Crystal: 1.0
    ChimeraX-CrystalContacts: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-DataFormats: 1.2.4
    ChimeraX-Dicom: 1.2.7
    ChimeraX-DistMonitor: 1.4.2
    ChimeraX-DockPrep: 1.1.4
    ChimeraX-Dssp: 2.0
    ChimeraX-EMDB-SFF: 1.0
    ChimeraX-ESMFold: 1.0
    ChimeraX-FileHistory: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-FunctionKey: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Geometry: 1.3
    ChimeraX-gltf: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Graphics: 1.4.1
    ChimeraX-Hbonds: 2.5.3
    ChimeraX-Help: 1.3
    ChimeraX-HKCage: 1.3
    ChimeraX-IHM: 1.1
    ChimeraX-ImageFormats: 1.2
    ChimeraX-IMOD: 1.0
    ChimeraX-IO: 1.0.4
    ChimeraX-ItemsInspection: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-IUPAC: 1.0
    ChimeraX-KVFinder: 1.7.3
    ChimeraX-Label: 1.2
    ChimeraX-ListInfo: 1.2.2
    ChimeraX-Log: 1.2.2
    ChimeraX-LookingGlass: 1.1
    ChimeraX-Maestro: 1.9.2
    ChimeraX-Map: 1.3
    ChimeraX-MapData: 2.0
    ChimeraX-MapEraser: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-MapFilter: 2.0.1
    ChimeraX-MapFit: 2.0
    ChimeraX-MapSeries: 2.1.1
    ChimeraX-Markers: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Mask: 1.0.2
    ChimeraX-MatchMaker: 2.2.2
    ChimeraX-MCopy: 1.0
    ChimeraX-MCPServer: 0.1.0
    ChimeraX-MDcrds: 2.17.2
    ChimeraX-MedicalToolbar: 1.1
    ChimeraX-Meeting: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Minimize: 1.3.2
    ChimeraX-MLP: 1.1.1
    ChimeraX-mmCIF: 2.16
    ChimeraX-MMTF: 2.2
    ChimeraX-ModelArchive: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Modeller: 1.5.22
    ChimeraX-ModelPanel: 1.6
    ChimeraX-ModelSeries: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Mol2: 2.0.3
    ChimeraX-Mole: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Morph: 1.0.2
    ChimeraX-MouseModes: 1.2
    ChimeraX-Movie: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-MutationScores: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Neuron: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Nifti: 1.2
    ChimeraX-NMRSTAR: 1.0.2
    ChimeraX-NRRD: 1.2
    ChimeraX-Nucleotides: 2.0.3
    ChimeraX-OpenCommand: 1.15.2
    ChimeraX-OrthoPick: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-PDB: 2.7.12
    ChimeraX-PDBBio: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-PDBLibrary: 1.0.5
    ChimeraX-PDBMatrices: 1.0
    ChimeraX-PickBlobs: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Positions: 1.0
    ChimeraX-PresetMgr: 1.1.4
    ChimeraX-ProfileGrids: 1.4.2
    ChimeraX-PubChem: 2.2
    ChimeraX-ReadPbonds: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Registration: 1.1.2
    ChimeraX-RemoteControl: 1.0
    ChimeraX-RenderByAttr: 1.6.5
    ChimeraX-RenumberResidues: 1.1
    ChimeraX-ResidueFit: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-RestServer: 1.3.3
    ChimeraX-RNALayout: 1.0
    ChimeraX-RotamerLibMgr: 4.0
    ChimeraX-RotamerLibsDunbrack: 2.0
    ChimeraX-RotamerLibsDynameomics: 2.0
    ChimeraX-RotamerLibsRichardson: 2.0
    ChimeraX-SaveCommand: 1.5.2
    ChimeraX-Scenes: 0.3.1
    ChimeraX-SchemeMgr: 1.0
    ChimeraX-SDF: 2.0.3
    ChimeraX-Segger: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Segment: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Segmentations: 3.5.10
    ChimeraX-SelInspector: 1.0
    ChimeraX-SeqView: 2.17.3
    ChimeraX-Shape: 1.1
    ChimeraX-Shell: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Shortcuts: 1.2.1
    ChimeraX-ShowSequences: 1.0.3
    ChimeraX-SideView: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-SimilarStructures: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Smiles: 2.1.2
    ChimeraX-SmoothLines: 1.0
    ChimeraX-SpaceNavigator: 1.0
    ChimeraX-StdCommands: 1.19.1
    ChimeraX-STL: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Storm: 1.0
    ChimeraX-StructMeasure: 1.2.1
    ChimeraX-Struts: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-Surface: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-SwapAA: 2.0.1
    ChimeraX-SwapRes: 2.5.2
    ChimeraX-TapeMeasure: 1.0
    ChimeraX-TaskManager: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Test: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Toolbar: 1.2.3
    ChimeraX-ToolshedUtils: 1.2.4
    ChimeraX-Topography: 1.0
    ChimeraX-ToQuest: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Tug: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-UI: 1.49.1
    ChimeraX-Umap: 1.0
    ChimeraX-uniprot: 2.3.2
    ChimeraX-UnitCell: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-ViewDock: 1.5.2
    ChimeraX-VIPERdb: 1.0
    ChimeraX-Vive: 1.1
    ChimeraX-VolumeMenu: 1.0.1
    ChimeraX-vrml: 1.0
    ChimeraX-VTK: 1.0
    ChimeraX-WavefrontOBJ: 1.0
    ChimeraX-WebCam: 1.0.2
    ChimeraX-WebServices: 1.1.5
    ChimeraX-Zone: 1.0.1
    click: 8.3.1
    colorama: 0.4.6
    comm: 0.2.3
    contourpy: 1.3.3
    coverage: 7.13.1
    cxservices: 1.2.3
    cycler: 0.12.1
    Cython: 3.1.4
    debugpy: 1.8.19
    decorator: 5.2.1
    docutils: 0.21.2
    executing: 2.2.1
    filelock: 3.19.1
    fonttools: 4.61.1
    frozenlist: 1.8.0
    funcparserlib: 2.0.0a0
    glfw: 2.10.0
    grako: 3.16.5
    h11: 0.16.0
    h5py: 3.15.1
    html2text: 2025.4.15
    httpcore: 1.0.9
    httpx: 0.28.1
    httpx-sse: 0.4.3
    idna: 3.11
    ihm: 2.2
    imagecodecs: 2024.6.1
    imagesize: 1.4.1
    iniconfig: 2.3.0
    ipykernel: 6.30.1
    ipython: 9.5.0
    ipython_pygments_lexers: 1.1.1
    ipywidgets: 8.1.8
    jedi: 0.19.2
    Jinja2: 3.1.6
    jsonschema: 4.26.0
    jsonschema-specifications: 2025.9.1
    jupyter_client: 8.6.3
    jupyter_core: 5.9.1
    jupyterlab_widgets: 3.0.16
    kiwisolver: 1.4.9
    line_profiler: 5.0.0
    lxml: 6.0.2
    lz4: 4.3.2
    Markdown: 3.8.2
    MarkupSafe: 3.0.3
    matplotlib: 3.10.7
    matplotlib-inline: 0.2.1
    mcp: 1.18.0
    msgpack: 1.1.1
    multidict: 6.7.0
    ndindex: 1.10.1
    nest-asyncio: 1.6.0
    netCDF4: 1.6.5
    networkx: 3.3
    nibabel: 5.2.0
    nptyping: 2.5.0
    numexpr: 2.14.1
    numpy: 1.26.4
    OpenMM: 8.2.0
    openvr: 1.26.701
    packaging: 25.0
    ParmEd: 4.2.2
    parso: 0.8.5
    pep517: 0.13.1
    pexpect: 4.9.0
    pickleshare: 0.7.5
    pillow: 11.3.0
    pip: 25.2
    pkginfo: 1.12.1.2
    platformdirs: 4.5.1
    pluggy: 1.6.0
    prompt_toolkit: 3.0.52
    propcache: 0.4.1
    psutil: 7.0.0
    ptyprocess: 0.7.0
    pure_eval: 0.2.3
    py-cpuinfo: 9.0.0
    pybind11: 3.0.1
    pycollada: 0.8
    pydantic: 2.12.5
    pydantic-settings: 2.12.0
    pydantic_core: 2.41.5
    pydicom: 2.4.4
    Pygments: 2.18.0
    pynmrstar: 3.3.6
    pynrrd: 1.0.0
    PyOpenGL: 3.1.10
    PyOpenGL-accelerate: 3.1.10
    pyopenxr: 1.1.4501
    pyparsing: 3.3.2
    pyproject_hooks: 1.2.0
    PyQt6-commercial: 6.9.1
    PyQt6-Qt6: 6.9.2
    PyQt6-WebEngine-commercial: 6.9.0
    PyQt6-WebEngine-Qt6: 6.9.2
    PyQt6_sip: 13.10.2
    pytest: 9.0.2
    pytest-cov: 7.0.0
    python-dateutil: 2.9.0.post0
    python-dotenv: 1.2.1
    python-multipart: 0.0.21
    pyzmq: 27.1.0
    qtconsole: 5.7.0
    QtPy: 2.4.3
    qtshim: 1.2
    RandomWords: 0.4.0
    referencing: 0.37.0
    requests: 2.32.5
    roman-numerals: 4.1.0
    roman-numerals-py: 4.1.0
    rpds-py: 0.30.0
    scipy: 1.14.0
    setuptools: 80.9.0
    sfftk-rw: 0.8.1
    six: 1.17.0
    snowballstemmer: 3.0.1
    sortedcontainers: 2.4.0
    soupsieve: 2.8.3
    Sphinx: 8.2.3
    sphinx-autodoc-typehints: 3.2.0
    sphinxcontrib-applehelp: 2.0.0
    sphinxcontrib-blockdiag: 3.0.0
    sphinxcontrib-devhelp: 2.0.0
    sphinxcontrib-htmlhelp: 2.1.0
    sphinxcontrib-jsmath: 1.0.1
    sphinxcontrib-qthelp: 2.0.0
    sphinxcontrib-serializinghtml: 2.0.0
    sse-starlette: 3.2.0
    stack-data: 0.6.3
    starlette: 0.52.1
    superqt: 0.7.6
    tables: 3.10.2
    tcia_utils: 1.5.1
    tifffile: 2025.3.13
    tinyarray: 1.2.5
    tornado: 6.5.4
    traitlets: 5.14.3
    typing-inspection: 0.4.2
    typing_extensions: 4.15.0
    urllib3: 2.6.3
    uvicorn: 0.40.0
    wcwidth: 0.3.2
    webcolors: 24.11.1
    wheel: 0.45.1
    wheel-filename: 1.4.2
    widgetsnbextension: 4.0.15
    yarl: 1.22.0

[Eric Pettersen]

Reported by Arthur Glasfeld

[Tom Goddard]

This is not a graphics driver problem.

The Qt window toolkit html panels (ChimeraX Log, help view) are showing questions marks because you have a custom version of the Times New Roman font installed probably by some other software like Microsoft Office, that Qt can't handle. The problem font might be in /Library/Fonts, or /Library/Fonts/Microsoft, or ~/Library/Fonts. Removing the problem font is one solution. Possibly the ChimeraX daily build might fix it (uses Qt 6.10 while your ChimeraX 1.11 uses Qt 6.9) since the underlying problem seems to be a Qt bug where it uses a font file it can't actually handle. Let me know if you try the ChimeraX daily build and it fixes the problem or does not fix it.

More details about how another user fixed this is here

​https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/trac/ChimeraX/ticket/19549

[glasfeld@…]

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately the daily build has the same problem. This issue only crept up recently (I mostly use another machine), so it might be some automatic update that Microsoft did.

Looking in my /Users/me/Library folder, I see folders titled \u201cFonts\u201d and the Times New Roman there is from 2006. I do see some recent files from late Nov. 2025:  fonts.list, fonts.dir, fonts.scale and encodings.dir.

Looking in /Library/Fonts I see those same files have been updated at about the same time I started up the daily build. Interestingly, no Times New Roman present there.

Does that give any clarity?

Thanks
Arthur

[Tom Goddard]

I'd suspect renaming the ~/Library/Fonts copy of Times New Roman will fix ChimeraX. Of course that could break some other software, but probably it won't, but to be safe I would just rename the file so you can restore it to the original name if needed.

As I mentioned this is a Qt bug, possibly in newer versions of Qt. So maybe it worked in older ChimeraX. It should be checking that the font files it reads are in a format it understands. There is nothing I can do to fix that Qt bug. I don't know of any fix other than to remove the extra Times New Roman font file that is causing the problem.

[glasfeld@…]

Well, sadly that didn\u2019t work. I removed the Times New Roman, and the ? persists. I was using v1.9 of ChimeraX when I first saw this issue, so it must just be something I inadvertently installed or something installed on me. It\u2019s not a killer problem, since in the worst of cases I can copy the stuff to a text window if I need to see the log. If you happen to find a solution, and remember me, I\u2019d love to know what it is.

Thanks for trying,
Arthur

[Tom Goddard]

The solution is to remove the extra Times New Roman font. The one you found apparently was not the only extra copy of this font. The previous report of this problem

​https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/trac/ChimeraX/ticket/19549

also involved multiple custom installed copies of Times New Roman. You would need to find them all and rename them. That previous report said

"Examining Times New Roman in Font Book revealed old versions in multiple locations, including /Library/Fonts, /Library/Fonts/Microsoft, my user fonts directory, as well as the version distributed by Apple with macOS Tahoe. Deleting the various old versions (so that only the system version remained) resolved the problem."

So apparently you can use the Font Book app to find the extra copies. There is also an option to remove all custom fonts in Font Book settings although I don't suggest doing that since apps that need some custom fonts that don't already exists in the standard Mac font location will probably break.

[Eric Pettersen]

I used Font Book to reset all fonts on my Mac more than a week ago and it solved this problem and I haven't run into any other problems so far, so if Tom's other suggestions don't resolve the problem you might consider trying the reset.

--Eric

[glasfeld@…]

Bingo.  That did it.  It took me a moment to figure out how to use the app, but it identified two versions of the font, and one was corrupted.

Thanks for your help,

Arthur

[Eric Pettersen]

Great!