# Not using view mode because the major mode is special **URL:** \ **Category:** Troubleshooting\ **Created:** [November 27, 2023, 12:45pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301 "2023-11-27T12:45:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChuckSneed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/chucksneed/32/1379_2.png) [@ChuckSneed](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/ChuckSneed)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 12:45pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/1 "2023-11-27T12:45:38Z")
When I issue `org-roam-graph` command, I get “Not using view mode because the major mode is special” on the minibuffer, and on the buffer I don’t see the .svg file being displayed. How do I resolve this? ---
**Author:** ![akashp](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/akashp/32/1383_2.png) [@akashp](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/akashp)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 12:23am UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/2 "2023-11-28T00:23:12Z")
Can you please post what you get when you do: `C-h v org-roam-graph-viewer <'ret>` describe-variable : org-roam-graph-viewer It should default to your default web application in Debian, i.e. Firefox. Please check that. ---
**Author:** ![ChuckSneed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/chucksneed/32/1379_2.png) [@ChuckSneed](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/ChuckSneed)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/3 "2023-11-28T14:05:51Z")
> [@akashp](#): > > Can you please post what you get when you do: > > `C-h v org-roam-graph-viewer <'ret>` > > describe-variable : org-roam-graph-viewer I don’t have such variable under `C-h v`, nor under `C-h o` for that matter. The only help topic inside emacs I have is `org-roam-graph`. Is there something wrong with my setup? ---
**Author:** ![akashp](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/akashp/32/1383_2.png) [@akashp](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/akashp)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/4 "2023-11-28T14:44:02Z")
Hmm, I dont know for sure, its a variable defined in org-roam-graph.el, most probably its value is being read as 'nil so emacs is trying to open it in view-file ? Can you try to force set it by using `(setq org-roam-graph-viewer "/usr/bin/firefox")` in your _scratch_ and execute this temporarily? \> point your text cursor to the end of the bracket and do `C-x C-e` and see what happens when you then try to execute `org-roam-graph`? see this : [Org-roam User Manual](https://www.orgroam.com/manual.html#org_002droam_002dgraph) ---
**Author:** ![ChuckSneed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/chucksneed/32/1379_2.png) [@ChuckSneed](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/ChuckSneed)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 2:49pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/5 "2023-11-28T14:49:18Z")
I set it to `"/usr/bin/torbrowser"` since I am on qubes-whonix. After I executed `org-roam-graph`, torbrowser asked me whether to open `/tmp/....svg` file, I clicked OK, and then GIMP fired up trying to open the file. It failed, “Opening ‘/tmp/graph.88Bcnw.svg’ failed: Could not open ‘/tmp/graph.88Bcnw.svg’ for reading: Unknown reason” ---
**Author:** ![akashp](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/akashp/32/1383_2.png) [@akashp](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/akashp)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/6 "2023-11-28T14:53:00Z")
This is definitely an improvement, I think now the issue is with the tor-browser here, can you use something like chromium to test this out temporarily ? ---
**Author:** ![ChuckSneed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/chucksneed/32/1379_2.png) [@ChuckSneed](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/ChuckSneed)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/7 "2023-11-28T14:53:57Z")
It’s an svg file. I used `nsxiv` image viewer, too. It fails to open the svg file. ---
**Author:** ![akashp](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/akashp/32/1383_2.png) [@akashp](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/akashp)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 2:56pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/8 "2023-11-28T14:56:39Z")
strange… can you go to your /tmp/ dir and extract the image and see it ? There should be two files associated with the image, a .dot file and an .svg file ---
**Author:** ![ChuckSneed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/chucksneed/32/1379_2.png) [@ChuckSneed](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/ChuckSneed)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 2:59pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/9 "2023-11-28T14:59:42Z")
These are the graph-related svg files: ```auto .rw------- 125k user 28 Nov 17:47 graph.42HuzM.svg .rw------- 125k user 28 Nov 17:48 graph.88Bcnw.svg .rw------- 38k user 28 Nov 17:47 graph.BB9FbK.dot .rw------- 38k user 28 Nov 17:48 graph.L9p6mK.dot .rw------- 125k user 28 Nov 17:54 graph.oQLmyY.svg .rw------- 38k user 28 Nov 17:54 graph.z2yw47.dot ``` Trying to open one: ```auto /tmp $ nsxiv graph.42HuzM.svg nsxiv: graph.42HuzM.svg: Error opening image nsxiv: no more files to display, aborting /tmp $ ``` Here’s the `file` output: ```auto /tmp $ file graph.42HuzM.svg graph.42HuzM.svg: SVG Scalable Vector Graphics image /tmp $ ``` ---
**Author:** ![akashp](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/akashp/32/1383_2.png) [@akashp](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/akashp)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 3:03pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/10 "2023-11-28T15:03:12Z")
Nothing seems out of the ordinary for the files… In my case the files are opened in Firefox, and any image viewer even gimp opens them… I don’t know whats going wrong there. do a cat on the .dot files and see whats inside them maybe? does it offers a clue whats going wrong? ---
**Author:** ![akashp](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/akashp/32/1383_2.png) [@akashp](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/akashp)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 3:05pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/11 "2023-11-28T15:05:00Z")
also you have graphviz installed as a system package right ? ---
**Author:** ![ChuckSneed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/chucksneed/32/1379_2.png) [@ChuckSneed](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/ChuckSneed)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 3:06pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/12 "2023-11-28T15:06:57Z")
```auto /tmp $ apt policy graphviz graphviz: Installed: 2.42.2-7+b3 Candidate: 2.42.2-7+b3 Version table: *** 2.42.2-7+b3 500 500 tor+https://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm/main amd64 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status /tmp $ ``` > [@akashp](#): > > do a cat on the .dot files and see whats inside ```auto /tmp $ cat graph.BB9FbK.dot digraph "org-roam" { edge []; "d3d88be5-fcf5-455d-ab8d-8bf0b262dec7" [style="bold,rounded,filled ``` and continues on and on describing various elements. ---
**Author:** ![akashp](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/akashp/32/1383_2.png) [@akashp](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/akashp)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 3:11pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/13 "2023-11-28T15:11:40Z")
I honestly don’t see anything out of the ordinary here… can you diagnose whether the .svgs being produced are corrupted or is it a problem in the image viewers themselves somehow ? ---
**Author:** ![ChuckSneed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/chucksneed/32/1379_2.png) [@ChuckSneed](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/ChuckSneed)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/14 "2023-11-28T15:16:32Z")
Here’s a funny thing when GIMP shows me when it tries to open the .svg file: ![funny](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/orgroam/original/2X/6/6c4b226176680cfc9fa96bedf3de3419d18566ea.webp) Do you see 1. the image preview GIMP produces, which is completely flat line 2. the image size proportions out of whack ---
**Author:** ![akashp](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/akashp/32/1383_2.png) [@akashp](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/akashp)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 3:17pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/15 "2023-11-28T15:17:18Z")
ya it looks corrupted… ---
**Author:** ![ChuckSneed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/chucksneed/32/1379_2.png) [@ChuckSneed](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/ChuckSneed)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 3:17pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/16 "2023-11-28T15:17:27Z")
I also had the `C-c n g` command working properly before. This current phenomenon I am facing is a recent thing… Could I have screwed up something in the use-package declaration. I don’t even know if there are org-roam-graph related settings in there. ---
**Author:** ![akashp](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/akashp/32/1383_2.png) [@akashp](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/akashp)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/17 "2023-11-28T15:19:14Z")
how many nodes do you have? Maybe its not corrupted… ---
**Author:** ![ChuckSneed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/chucksneed/32/1379_2.png) [@ChuckSneed](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/ChuckSneed)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/18 "2023-11-28T15:20:36Z")
```auto ~/Documents/org/roam $ ls -la | wc -l 43 ~/Documents/org/roam $ ``` ---
**Author:** ![akashp](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/akashp/32/1383_2.png) [@akashp](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/akashp)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 3:22pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/19 "2023-11-28T15:22:18Z")
Its corrupted for sure then, the width proportions are out of whack… if it was working earlier and not now… maybe the problem is located somewhere in your config? I dont use use packages… just the plain old way to configure my setup. ---
**Author:** ![akashp](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/org-roam.discourse.group/akashp/32/1383_2.png) [@akashp](https://org-roam.discourse.group/u/akashp)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301/20 "2023-11-28T15:38:53Z")
`(setq org-roam-graph-extra-config '(("rankdir" . "LR")))` ; render the graph vertically can you set the variable temporarily in your scratch and see what happens with the graph? [Next page](https://org-roam.discourse.group/t/not-using-view-mode-because-the-major-mode-is-special/3301.md?page=2)