That seems like some weird render bug. I do have a little empty black screen in that top right but at no moment ( except maybe when the wallpaper starts ) should it ever show up. I would have to do some testing when I have some time to see If I can reproduce it. Will report back when I have some info.

Thanks, best dev

Did some digging, I have a feeling some error is happening in the wallpaper, but I can't pinpoint it as it seems to be something specific on your end. My first guess would be something about the background settings but it is really just a guess. Could you paste the settings you have used for this wallpaper here in the discussion? To do so, you can go to the wallpaper browser, scroll down all the settings of the VU Meter wallpaper on the right until ya reach the bottom where there is a button "Share JSON". Click on it, then in the bottom left click on "Copy" under Base64 and then paste that contents ( a huge block of letters and numbers ) into his thread.

Also if you don't care too much about your settings ( or you could save them as a preset ), I would like to ask if you can reset the settings ( the obvious button below the share json button ), and then setting up the background again to see if you still get that black box. But not until you shared your settings so I might be able to try and see if I can reproduce it using your exact settings.

Here's the settings:


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

As i used a preset, i can't find the exact settings used very easily, and with the garbage one i made, i kinda hit random buttons till the box appeared... I'll try doing that again and find which button did it.

I didn't have to go very far to find that even on default settings it does the black box but less often. Music also seems to make it happen more often however.

Thanks! I am however stumped. Still no problem on my end so can reproduce it easily, but that black box is a very good sign that there is some error happening in my javascript. Only an error would trigger the visibility of that black box, that much I am sure of, as that box was meant to display an error message ( and not be empty ). I will have to take some time to dive into the code and figure out whats going on and how to diagnose what could be triggering it on your end. I will report back but might take some days or a week.

Thanks so much! Most devs would just not respond at all. I appreciate you trying to fix this as your wallpaper is my favourite out of all the ones I've seen.

I have updated the wallpaper. The update is very minor and is mostly in the hopes to get an error message , which should have been displayed in the black area ( but in your example it was empty ).

So for testing, I would suggest opening wallpaper engines settings, then in the "General" tab, scroll all the way down to the advance options and while testing set the "log level" to 'verbose". I do suggest turning it back off afterwards if you dont need it. Then start/restart the VU meter wallpaper.

If you still get the black box, please go to .../steam/steamapps/common/wallpaper_engine/projects/bin/ and open the file debug.log ( it can be opened with notepad or any other plain text editor ) and I hope there is a message from the wallpaper in there. Something like:
[0729/230824.364:INFO:CONSOLE(84)] "message goes here", source: file:///D:/Steam/steamapps/workshop/content/431960/837056186/log.js (84)

I am not sure if this will work, but really hope to get an error message from this.

I changed log level to verbose, and i still got the box but with text in it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwlMU3LTMps

Hrm "Not receiving audio from Wallpaper Engine" is a custom error, when the wallpaper is not receiving any data. What is weird however is that you are receiving that multiple times.

But that does basically bring down the error to you not getting any audio data in the wallpaper.

-- edit
Ok, after some testing I might have figure it out. Do you pause the wallpaper when other windows are active??
--

my original questions..

First question. Does the wallpaper react if you are playing music?

Second question: In the wallpaper settings at the top, is "Audio Recording" checked? I assume it is as unchecking it should only result in a single error message.

Third: Any chance you have one of the following applications installed?
- Nahimic
- Sonic Suite
- Alienware Audio

I am really guessing here as seeing that error a few times makes no sense.

1. Yes it does react to music.
2. I can't find where audio recording is meant to be checked,
3. I don't have any of that software.
4 (edit). Yes it pauses when other applications are active.

Well if it reacts to music then that audio recording must be checked. I think it was that pause option in combination with a check I had my code. I already updated the wallpaper again without the check ( and thus I think without black box ) so I hope it is fixed this way. If it isn't fixed, just give me another shout.

Also, thanks for reporting the problem and doing some effort to help fix it. After some searching I found out that this problem is very wide spread, even found a recent thread on the WE forums, but nobody reported it directly to me so I was clueless about it. The bug has probably affected a lot of people over a long period of time.

Unfortunately, it''s still there. Idk what to do. Hmm

I think you didn't get the update from steam yet. Which should be good as I made a mistake and bugged the wallpaper by updating too quick. Just updated again. If you still get the same message ("Not receiving audio from Wallpaper Engine") then your copy of the wallpaper hasn't been updated.