Pcbnew: Appcrash in GAL was: [when trying to display local ratnests]

[Oivind Toien]

[Edit: I changed the title to reflect that is is not only happening with local ratnets set to on, see later down the thread. Bug appeared first in Windows nightly 2017-12-28 revision 4f1b51075 (kicad-r9055.4f1b51075-x86_64.exe installer). Just click on a pad in GAL and freeze/crash happens right away)]

I am using the latest Windows nightly, and have observed the following appcrash with several different projects.
To reproduce,
  0. Open the PIC programmmer demo and Pcbnew.
  1. Turn on GAL canvas if not already on.
  2. To have some ratnests, go to Edit - Global deletions, tick on tracks and press OK.
  3. Toggle the global ratnests button on the left side to off.
  4. Press the Display loacal ratnests button on the right side.
  5. Select the PIC. No ratnests come on as expected (problem A).
  6. Click the yellow LED, but "you were not accurate" so you click on the left pad.
  7. The cross cursor freezes, the equivalent of an hourglass come on and Windows message "KiCad.exe has stopped working" shows up, which expands to appcrash. (See attached screenshot, main problem B).

This is reproducible every time with this board and procedure.

Edit: There is also a current relevant discussion in bug report #1740156 of functionality of the local ratnest selection in GAL.

Application: kicad
Version: (2017-12-29 revision 93683d002)-makepkg, release build
Libraries:
    wxWidgets 3.0.3
    libcurl/7.54.1 OpenSSL/1.0.2l zlib/1.2.11 libssh2/1.8.0 nghttp2/1.23.1 librtmp/2.3
Platform: Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW
Build Info:
    wxWidgets: 3.0.3 (wchar_t,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
    Boost: 1.60.0
    Curl: 7.54.1
    Compiler: GCC 7.1.0 with C++ ABI 1011

Build settings:
    USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
    USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
    KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_ACTION_MENU=ON
    BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
    KICAD_USE_OCE=ON
    KICAD_SPICE=ON

[Jon Evans (craftyjon)]

Can't reproduce on Linux in debug build FWIW

[Oivind Toien (otoien)]

Can I assume that is the latest build andn not more than a couple of days old? Also when local ratnests are turned on are they marked as lines in GAL when a footprint is selected?

I had a clean installed version with no libraries (only footprint wizard ticked on) installed except the local ones in the demo projects, in a fresh Win7 VM (2017-12-26 revision 90818afed) from a few days ago. When that version was tested according to the above, I did not get the appcrash.

Then I upgraded that version in the VM to the latest windows nightly (2017-12-29 revision 93683d002, same as the one I initially reported), still no libraries, same install settings. With this latest version I am able to reproduce the freeze (Pcbnew unresonsive, becomes grayed out when clicked) but appcrash message does not always show. If not it finally had to be stopped with task manager (after waiting very long) which took KiCad down without any message.

None of these versions show any lines of local ratnests with GAL and the "Display local ratnets" button selected when a footprint is clicked like in the classic canvas, only the highlighting showing that the footprint is selected. (Show board ratnets work normally.) So this is anyway in need to be looked at.

Full version info:

**No crash**:
Application: kicad
Version: (2017-12-26 revision 90818afed)-makepkg, release build
Libraries:
    wxWidgets 3.0.3
    libcurl/7.54.1 OpenSSL/1.0.2l zlib/1.2.11 libssh2/1.8.0 nghttp2/1.23.1 librtmp/2.3
Platform: Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW
Build Info:
    wxWidgets: 3.0.3 (wchar_t,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
    Boost: 1.60.0
    Curl: 7.54.1
    Compiler: GCC 7.1.0 with C++ ABI 1011

Build settings:
    USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
    USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
    KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_ACTION_MENU=ON
    BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
    KICAD_USE_OCE=ON
    KICAD_SPICE=ON

**Freezeup/crash**:
Application: kicad
Version: (2017-12-29 revision 93683d002)-makepkg, release build
Libraries:
    wxWidgets 3.0.3
    libcurl/7.54.1 OpenSSL/1.0.2l zlib/1.2.11 libssh2/1.8.0 nghttp2/1.23.1 librtmp/2.3
Platform: Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW
Build Info:
    wxWidgets: 3.0.3 (wchar_t,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
    Boost: 1.60.0
    Curl: 7.54.1
    Compiler: GCC 7.1.0 with C++ ABI 1011

Build settings:
    USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
    USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
    KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_ACTION_MENU=ON
    BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
    KICAD_USE_OCE=ON
    KICAD_SPICE=ON

[David Pearce (halzia)]

I may have the same
On Windows 10 64 bit Nightly r9046 28th December 2017 is fine and previous builds over the last few weeks have also been stable.
Trying r9064 30th December, as soon as I modify tracks KiCad closes immediately
I am trying to download r9055 to see when the bug appeared. The server is very slow for a few days.

[Oivind Toien (otoien)]

Update: Along the same lines, I had the PIC programmer board just opened again in (2017-12-29 revision 93683d002), turned on GAL, and just clicked at the 40 PIN PIC and that yellow LED and immediately got the freezeup and appcrash. So the appcrash is not specific to local ratnets at all (although they too could need to be looked at).

[Oivind Toien (otoien)]

I tried version: 2017-12-28 revision 4f1b51075 (kicad-r9055.4f1b51075-x86_64.exe installer)
and there is appcrash almost immediatly in GAL when just clicking around; I tried a different board this time, one of my own that has been working OK up to this point.

Then I tried the 2017-12-27 revision fab6fc69e (kicad-r9046.fab6fc69e-x86_64.exe installer) on same board, and can confirm that that is the latest good Windows nightly. (Full version info of both below).

Crashes:
Application: kicad
Version: (2017-12-28 revision 4f1b51075)-makepkg, release build
Libraries:
    wxWidgets 3.0.3
    libcurl/7.54.1 OpenSSL/1.0.2l zlib/1.2.11 libssh2/1.8.0 nghttp2/1.23.1 librtmp/2.3
Platform: Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW
Build Info:
    wxWidgets: 3.0.3 (wchar_t,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
    Boost: 1.60.0
    Curl: 7.54.1
    Compiler: GCC 7.1.0 with C++ ABI 1011

Build settings:
    USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
    USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
    KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_ACTION_MENU=ON
    BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
    KICAD_USE_OCE=ON
    KICAD_SPICE=ON

OK:
Application: kicad
Version: (2017-12-27 revision fab6fc69e)-makepkg, release build
Libraries:
    wxWidgets 3.0.3
    libcurl/7.54.1 OpenSSL/1.0.2l zlib/1.2.11 libssh2/1.8.0 nghttp2/1.23.1 librtmp/2.3
Platform: Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW
Build Info:
    wxWidgets: 3.0.3 (wchar_t,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
    Boost: 1.60.0
    Curl: 7.54.1
    Compiler: GCC 7.1.0 with C++ ABI 1011

Build settings:
    USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
    USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
    KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
    KICAD_SCRIPTING_ACTION_MENU=ON
    BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
    KICAD_USE_OCE=ON
    KICAD_SPICE=ON

[Oivind Toien (otoien)]

Also affects the just downloaded Windows nightly 2017-12-30 revision b55eb0b5f.

[KiCad Janitor (kicad-janitor)]

Fixed in revision 11d1188fdfedcfde1caa4af6324225adf39790a9
https://git.launchpad.net/kicad/patch/?id=11d1188fdfedcfde1caa4af6324225adf39790a9

[Oivind Toien (otoien)]

I can confirm that it does not crash any longer in Version: (2017-12-31 revision 11d1188fd). A nice start on the new year. Thanks and happy new year to the developer team!