[Linphone-users] GUI is not shown for Windows user with the UTF-8 username

[Jaroslav Škarvada]

Windows 10 64 bit
Linphone Desktop 5.1.2 - Qt5.15.2
Core 5.2.97

I have user 'Táta' (notice the 'á', i.e. the 'a' with acute, in the
username) and GUI is not shown when this user starts Linphone, debug
output:
[00:04:20:272][Info]Core:linphone: QT: Core is starting  "Starting up"
[00:04:20:272][Info]Core:linphone: [ToneManager] create ToneManager()
[00:04:20:272][Info]Core:linphone: Using
["C:\Users\Táta\AppData\Local\linphone\linphone.db"] as default
database path
[00:04:20:272][Info]Core:linphone: Opening linphone database
"C:\Users\Táta\AppData\Local\linphone\linphone.db" with backend
Sqlite3
[00:04:20:272][Error]Core:linphone: bctbx_file_open: Error opening
'C:\Users\Táta\AppData\Local\linphone\linphone.db': No such file or
directory
[00:04:20:272][Warning]Core:linphone: Unable to build db session with
uri: Cannot establish connection to the database. unable to open
database file
[00:04:20:272][Error]Core:linphone: Unable to open linphone database
with uri "C:\Users\Táta\AppData\Local\linphone\linphone.db" and
backend Sqlite3
[00:04:20:272][Info]Core:linphone: QT: "Set `CallLogs` path:
`C:\\Users\\Tßta\\AppData\\Local\\linphone\\call-history.db`"
[00:04:20:272][Error]Core:linphone: bctbx_file_open: Error opening
'C:\Users\Táta\AppData\Local\linphone\call-history.db': No such file
or directory
[00:04:20:272][Warning]Core:linphone: Unable to build db session with
uri: Cannot establish connection to the database. unable to open
database file
[00:04:20:272][Warning]Core:linphone: Unable to connect to:
`sqlite3://C:\Users\Táta\AppData\Local\linphone\call-history.db`.
[00:04:20:272][Warning]Core:linphone: nothing to migrate, skipping...
[00:04:20:272][Error]Core:linphone: bctbx_file_open: Error opening
'C:\Users\Táta\AppData\Local\linphone\zidcache': No such file or
directory
[00:04:20:272][Error]Core:linphone: Error in the opening
zrtp_cache_db_file(C:\Users\Táta\AppData\Local\linphone\zidcache):
unable to open database file.

[00:04:20:272][Info]Core:linphone: QT: Using ZrtpSecrets path :
"C:\\Users\\Tßta\\AppData\\Local\\linphone\\zidcache"
[00:04:20:272][Info]Core:linphone: QT: Using UserCertificate path :
"C:\\Users\\Tßta\\AppData\\Local\\linphone\\"
[00:04:20:272][Info]Core:linphone: QT: Using RootCa path :
"C:\\Program Files\\Linphone\\share\\linphone/rootca.pem"
[00:04:20:272][Info]Core:linphone: QT: "Start iterate"
[00:04:21:303][Error]Core:linphone: bctbx_file_open: Error opening
'C:\Users\Táta\AppData\Local\linphone\linphonerc.tmp': No such file
or directory
[00:04:21:303][Warning]Core:linphone: Could not write
C:\Users\Táta\AppData\Local\linphone\linphonerc ! Maybe it is
read-only. Configuration will not be saved.

Seriously it's 2023 now, Linphone could know UTF-8. I even didn't get
how it could encode it two different ways i.e. as 'T├íta' and 'Tßta'.

What's even worse, if run without the verbose option, the linphone
process keeps running in the background (invisibly, without a tray
icon) and has to be manually killed.

I workaround the problem by creation of the NTFS junction named 'Tata'
pointing to the directory 'Táta' and creation of the startup batch
wrapper overriding the USERPROFILE environment variable, i.e.:
set USERPROFILE=C:\Users\Tata
linphone.exe

Moreover, it seems it gets the path from the environment variable
USERPROFILE and not from the variable LOCALAPPDATA as stated in the
[1], because if the LOCALAPPDATA is overridden, it still ends up with
the same error

thanks & regards

Jaroslav

[1] 
https://wiki.linphone.org/xwiki/wiki/public/view/Linphone/Desktop%20application%20Files%20Tree/