IGV not reading BAM file

Question

[novice]

I'm having a problem visualizing a BAM file with IGV. The file was generated with bowtie2 + samtools and can be viewed normally with BamView. IGV, however, doesn't read it; it just shows it as an empty track. Has anyone had this problem before?

I used the same reference with IGV as the one I used for alignment. I also do have the index file in the same directory as the BAM file.

Answer 1

[ablanchetcohen]

The most frequent novice error is not to zoom in.

Just type in the name of a gene of interest and press "Enter".

Or select a chromosome, and a region of interest, then use the "+" sign to zoom in in the top right corner.

This answer is based on your handle, "novice".

[novice]

What's it with my name that's so upset you? Anyways, you solved my problem; thanks!

[h.mon]

Nothing in your name is upsetting. However, ablanchetcohen provided answers according with it (e.g. press "Enter"). Other novice mistake: not searching the forum before posting - if you did, you would find this and this posts.

[novice]

Good job explaining the explaining the situation in here, h.mon! Your comment was surely important and informative.