matlab hangs whern starting help browser

New installation of R2016a. Matlab hangs when trying to start the Help browser. It does not appear to be a race condition.

[Adam]

Sounds like an issue you should contact Mathworks Technical Support directly about. I have also had issues with launching the help on the past which I contacted them about though my issues where in an older version and not related to it hanging.

[Peter]

I have the same issue. MATLAB 2016a Windows 7 SP1 64-bit with IE11 browser

2015b worked fine but after updating to 2016a, launching help caused a hang. Using

com.mathworks.mlwidgets.html.HtmlComponentFactory.setDefaultType('HTMLRENDERER');

as suggested below prevents the hang and allows use of Help, although with a degraded experience.

Answer 1

[Ruchir Kemnaik]

Hi Robert,

1) This issue could be caused by the WebRenderer. Before opening the Help Browser for the first time, try executing the following command to fall back to the old HTML rendering component:

com.mathworks.mlwidgets.html.HTMLRenderer.setUseWebRenderer(false);

2) You may also try using a different renderer entirely using the following command:

com.mathworks.mlwidgets.html.HtmlComponentFactory.setDefaultType('HTMLRENDERER');

Then Restart MATLAB. This may prevent crashing or hanging MATLAB, but documentation pages will have a degraded appearance and limited functionality compared to the new rendering engine. MATLAB remembers this setting across sessions.

To reset the browser back to its default, type the following command in MATLAB:

com.mathworks.mlwidgets.html.HtmlComponentFactory.setDefaultType(' ');

If the issue still persists, contact MathWorks Technical Support.

[Robert Moss]

So if I perform both steps 1 and 2 you suggested, the help will open, albeit a degraded experience. This is more of a work-around than a fix. What is the underlying problem, and when will an actual solution be available? By the way, thanks for the answer... a work-around is better than nothing.

Answer 2

[junziyang]

Run as Administrator solves the problem.

Answer 3

[haohao Zhang]

Thanks so much.

It works for MATLAB2019b in Linux Ubuntu 18.04.