Inkscape hangs while trying to access slow mounts.

[oliford]

Inkscape has been hanging at apparently random intervals recently.
It shows in system monitor that it is waiting on afs_[something] which is the OpenAFS network file system that is installed on my PC. The AFS is hanging because it's not connected or not authenticated or something, which to be fair isn't Inkscape's fault.

The problem with it, is that I've no idea why it is trying to access the AFS volume. This happens when I start inkscape with no file (i.e. just run 'inkscape' from the terminal) from a directory on my main drive (not the AFS). It then also happens at arbitary muliple minute intervals and/or on every ~10th time I switch back to the inkscape window.

I'm guessing that there must be a recently used file or something that is on the AFS, although I can't find it in the list.
Could it also be that the 'File Open' dialog is being primed or something? It doesn't require me to open the 'Open' diaglog though, it just happens anyway in the middle of drawing.

The second problem is that the interface shouldn't just freeze while it's waiting for a slow device, since the average user wouldn't know what's going on. It took me ages to work it out. I'm not sure if this counts as a bug in inkscape, in openafs, or in some common file handling component.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: inkscape 0.48.2-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-20.34-generic 3.0.30
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-20-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: openafs
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
Date: Thu May 24 12:26:35 2012
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release amd64 (20111012)
ProcEnviron:
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
SourcePackage: inkscape
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[oliford (oliford)]

If anyone can tell me how to make the OpenAFS client write an access log , or log anything useful, I might be able to work out what inkscape is trying to read.

[Anders Kaseorg (andersk)]

You can use the strace utility to figure out what file (on any filesystem) inkscape is trying to access. Try running
  strace -eopen inkscape

(Marking invalid in OpenAFS because, unless something seriously unexpected is happening, OpenAFS never magically compels any applications to access files inside itself.)

[Saren Taşçıyan (sarentasciyan)]

This affects me as well. In my case strace shows access to files, which are inaccessible. It is a common practice to hide shared file systems behind private networks. Access via internet required VPN connection or being in the local network. If this is not the case, things get weird. And this actually affects many applications (is not inkscape specific). I had issues with LibreOffice as well.

In my case, strace inkscape reveals files which are at the inaccessible network. The IO (which I guess fails) takes seconds until some sort of time-out. But if there are many files, then this takes longer cumulatively. Funny thing is that none of these files were actually in any way associated to inkscape. Basically, this happens while inkscape checks/goes through recently accessed files. My guess is that some library or component does this, which is shared by many applications. If you can find, which (if this is the case) I would like to report the issue them as well.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.