Odd behaviour in some applications

[Christian Brandt]

Earlier today I installed
linux-headers-3.13.0-59
linux-headers-3.13.0-59-generic
linux-image-3.13.0-59-generic
linux-image-extra-3.13.0-59-generic
and after that some applications, most notably steam, started to behave strange, e.g. in steam installed software was "invisible" and the application install dialog stated "Disk Space Available: 0"

Counter checks by booting some older kernels (48 to 58) fixed that behaviour. A very quick cross check with another system seem to prove this observation.

I do an educated guess: my steam is sitting on /archive/steam so I can share it over network and local users. /archive is a soft link to /home/archive coz I often move this one around a lot. I have the odd feeling kernel -59 is having issues with soft links and/or steam is handling soft links in a weird way which broke with -59. All other software affected is somehow connected to soft links, be it a small "readlink" from bash or postgresql.

Sorry for being a bit vague right now, more details after I return from work and have time to experiment with avoiding soft links while using my affected applications.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: linux-image-3.13.0-59-generic 3.13.0-59.98
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-58.97-generic 3.13.11-ckt22
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-58-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.11
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: brandtc 2790 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p: brandtc 2790 F...m pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] Datei oder Verzeichnis nicht gefunden: 'iw'
CurrentDesktop: LXDE
CurrentDmesg:
 [ 35.700956] nvidia 0000:01:00.0: irq 50 for MSI/MSI-X
 [ 35.793778] EXT4-fs (dm-2): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: acl
 [ 36.993771] init: plymouth-upstart-bridge main process ended, respawning
 [ 636.471258] perf samples too long (2501 > 2500), lowering kernel.perf_event_max_sample_rate to 50000
Date: Tue Jul 28 11:40:00 2015
HibernationDevice: RESUME=/dev/mapper/vgsys-lvswap
MachineType: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. 965G-DS3
ProcFB: 0 VESA VGA
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-58-generic root=UUID=7f7fd8ba-d814-4ead-9ea4-53089785459c ro nomodeset video=uvesafb:mode_option=1920x1200-24,mtrr=3,scroll=ywrap libata.force=1.5 zswap.enabled=1 zswap.max_pool_percent=25 nomdmonddf nomdmonisw
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.13.0-58-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.13.0-58-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.127.14
RfKill:
 0: hci0: Bluetooth
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 09/18/2008
dmi.bios.vendor: Award Software International, Inc.
dmi.bios.version: F10M
dmi.board.name: 965G-DS3
dmi.board.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAwardSoftwareInternational,Inc.:bvrF10M:bd09/18/2008:svnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:pn965G-DS3:pvr:rvnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:rn965G-DS3:rvr:cvnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:ct3:cvr:
dmi.product.name: 965G-DS3
dmi.sys.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[gitarr (gitarr)]

I observed the same behavior on two separate Xubuntu 14.04 systems. Booting into older kernels fixes the issue.

[Gonzalo (gonzalo-5)]

X doesn't start after upgrade to this Kernel on Kubuntu 14.04. Booting on 3.13.0-58 everything starts to work again.

[Christian Brandt (brandtc)]

gitarr, can you confirm that this might have to do with soft links? this would save me quite some work verifying this myself.

[gitarr (gitarr)]

I cannot confirm your soft link theory: My steam path is in /opt on the same SSD and partition as /. No soft links there.

When I try to reinstall a "lost" game within this path, or any other path including /home/user then Steam tells me: "New Steam library folder must be on a filesystem mounted with execute permissions"

[pelm (pelle-ekh)]

Also Wine applications behave odd which after the upgrade to 3.13.0-59 don't run. When I reboot in 3.13.0-58 kernel they work again. I'm now forced to boot into the earlier kernel.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream kernel? Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please test the latest v4.2 kernel[0].

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tag 'kernel-fixed-upstream'.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream'.

Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug as "Confirmed".

Thanks in advance.

[0] http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.2-rc4-unstable/

[Christian Brandt (brandtc)]

I have eliminated some symptoms in other applications but the steam problem continues. More details about my installation:

I installed Steam in /archive/steam, chown root:users and chmod 2770. /archive is a soft link to /home/archive.

Steam itself starts normally but the Library does not show any games. Surving the Web and Shop through Steam browser also fails. When trying to install a game the installer does not list the default installation location "/archive/steam/steamapps" but other Partitions I never used for steam like "/steam", "/var/steam", "/home/steam". Also it does display "Disk space available: 0". Installation obviously fails because of access rights and available space.

[Andre Quinnett (callak)]

I have this same problem with Steam just after the kubuntu update to 3.13.0-59-generic GNU/Linux just this morning.
It cannot any longer detect it's game directory.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Cedara (cedara2)]

This is exactly the problem I have now.

I installed the new kernel, then, as I started Steam, I got a bug and all Steam Games are shown up as not installed. Also, when I click on install, Steam says I don't have enough free space, which isn't true, as mine is more than 100GB free. The original Steam files are still there in: "Home\.steam\steam\steamapps\common".