recent upgrades reset permissions in home file incorrectly

[Susan Cragin]

I had not changed the permissions for any files in my home folder.
However, two recent upgrades have changed critical permissions that allow me to log in, probably for .Xauthority, .dmrc and/or .bashrc.
The result was that twice, when I re-booted after an upgrade, my logon screen led me to a blank wallpaper with nothing working.
(Logging in as a guest was fine.)
When I got in through a rescue disk and attempted to copy files to a thumb drive, I discovered that random of my user-created /home/name subfiles had been assigned permissions that did not allow me to access them.
???
Anyway, I tried various CTL-ALT-1 fixes to re-set permissions from the Ubuntu web site. I tried changing the owner / permissions for just /home/ then just /home/name then a couple of suggestions that put the settings into "default" mode, including changing all /home/name dot-something folders to user +rwx.
Nothing worked.
Finally I just changed the entire /home/user folder to my ownership, +rwx recursively, and that worked.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+1ubuntu7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-5.20-generic 3.13.0
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-5-generic x86_64
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.13.1-0ubuntu1
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Wed Jan 22 09:07:26 2014
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: trusty
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes, if not too technical
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller [8086:0166] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:2203]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-01-11 (11 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Alpha amd64 (20140110)
MachineType: LENOVO 3434CTO
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-5-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=cf9d8094-6540-41a5-9ae3-81d19a33e14d ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 07/25/2012
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: GCET21WW (1.10 )
dmi.board.asset.tag: Not Available
dmi.board.name: 3434CTO
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: Not Defined
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvrGCET21WW(1.10):bd07/25/2012:svnLENOVO:pn3434CTO:pvrThinkPadX230Tablet:rvnLENOVO:rn3434CTO:rvrNotDefined:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 3434CTO
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad X230 Tablet
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.10+13.10.20131011-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.51-1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 10.0.1-1ubuntu2
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 10.0.1-1ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.14.5-1ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.8.2-1ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.2.0-0ubuntu11
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.907-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.10-1ubuntu1
xserver.bootTime: Wed Jan 22 07:13:49 2014
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.outputs:
 product id 728
 vendor LGD
xserver.version: 2:1.14.5-1ubuntu2

[Maarten Lankhorst (mlankhorst)]

What updates are you talking about?

[Maarten Lankhorst (mlankhorst)]

And it's a small world. :-)

[Susan Cragin (susancragin)]

Hi, Maarten, it is a very small world, and good to "see" you. :)

This bug has been frustrating me because it's a system-stopper for me. What's more, when I filed it, I assumed it would have dozens of duplicates. Since it doesn't, I assume it's something specific to my system or configuration.

The permissions get changed, I believe in an ordinary apt-get update and apt-get dist-upgrade when the kernel is upgraded.
But I'm not sure. There may be other candidates. But my system is so simple that I've written down everything I do, hoping that something jumps out.

1. Install plain-vanilla Ubuntu 64-bit on my Lenovo X230 Tablet with the Dvorak keyboard
2. Enable the Ubuntu wine and libreoffice ppas
3. apt-get update
4. apt-get dist-upgrade
5. apt-get install wine git bleachbit azureus ccal le hnb
6. apt-get build-dep emacs24
7. pull the git repos for emacs and org-mode, compile without sudo and install emacs with sudo
8. install NaturallySpeaking.
9. run bleachbit. I have enabled every feature except the following: firefox passwords, System / cache and free disk space.

When I log on, I usually cannot put my password in until I check English (Dvorak) in that little box in the corner, even though it is option #1 and already selected.
Every morning I repeat steps 3&4, then pull the repos for emacs and org-mode, re-make and reinstall emacs.
Then I re-run bleachbit, and re-boot.
I don't always know right when my permissions have changed because I only work with a few files, and those are usually TXT. But usually (and this has happened three times) after a kernel upgrade, I'll try to log on and Unity / Compiz doesn't come up because the permissions have been re-set.

Usually I CTL-M-F1 for a prompt, change /home/susan/ to my ownership recursively, and then it'll work again, but not for long. Once I changed /susan to +rwx recursively, too.

Bleachbit is the obvious screwup candidate, because I run it with sudo and it looks at a lot of files.
It also gives me this error message when it starts:
(bleachbit:2398): IBUS-WARNING **: The owner of /home/susan/.config/ibus/bus is not root!

HTH
Susan

[Susan Cragin (susancragin)]

Could this be a scrollkeeper bug?

[Susan Cragin (susancragin)]

The dvorak keyboard never actually works as the default, even though it's marked as such. I have to change to Dvorak manually twice, once at the login screen to enter my password, and then again after I'm logged in. This makes me wonder if certain behaviors of bleachbit or another program could be caught in some sort of bad Querty / Dvorak tango.

[Susan Cragin (susancragin)]

This bug appears to have been fixed on my machine with updates of Monday, Feb 10th.
It does not appear to have been a bleachbit issue.