gnome-panel fails to start when desktop loads

[itsjustarumour]

Binary package hint: gnome-panel

What happens:

When I start my Karmic 9.10 machine and the desktop loads, gnome-panel fails to start. I can start it by running "gnome-panel" in terminal. As a workaround, I have to add "gnome-panel" to the list of "Startup applications".

I have corresponded with several people on the Ubuntu forums who have had this same problem, although it seems - surprisingly - that nobody has reported this as a bug yet (apologies if I'm duplicating an already-reporting bug here, but I had a search and couldn't find one).

I don't get this problem after a fresh install - only after I have installed my normal set of programs from the Ubuntu repos and then added my own icon and GTK 2.0 themes. However - I have got the same problem on every single install of Karmic 9.10 that I have done (approx 10 installs, between 3 machines) - so it is reproducible every time.

Also, at approximately the same time that Karmic was released, Ubuntu automatic updates broke gnome-panel on my Jaunty 9.04 install, producing exactly the same problem.

What should happen:

gnome-panel should start when the desktop is loaded, without manual intervention from the user.

Technical details:

Distro Version - Ubuntu Karmic 9.10, 32-bit, default fresh install with latest updates
Desktop Environment - GNOME 2.28.1 (Ubuntu 2009-11-03)
Kernel - Linux 2.6.31-19-generic
System - Athlon 64 3400 2.2GHz processor, NVidia 6800LE graphics, 1.5MB RAM
GNOME Panel version - 2.28.0

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Mon Feb 8 15:31:45 2010
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release i386 (20091028.5)
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: gnome-panel 1:2.28.0-0ubuntu6
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-19.56-generic
SourcePackage: gnome-panel
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-19-generic i686
XsessionErrors:
 (gnome-settings-daemon:2276): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_propagate_error: assertion `src != NULL' failed
 (gnome-settings-daemon:2276): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_propagate_error: assertion `src != NULL' failed
 (polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1:2374): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_once_init_leave: assertion `initialization_value != 0' failed
 (nautilus:2371): Eel-CRITICAL **: eel_preferences_get_boolean: assertion `preferences_is_initialized ()' failed
 (firefox:4195): GLib-WARNING **: g_set_prgname() called multiple times

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Could you please list all of the steps that it takes you to reproduce this bug? Do you know if there is any one particular step that seems to be causing the problem? I am setting this bug as "Incomplete" until there is more information.

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Hello Draycen, thanks for taking a look at this bug.

I'm still trying to work out if its installation of a particular software package that causes this bug. I think it must be, as I have exactly the same set of programs installed on each Karmic machine I use. However, so far I have been unable to narrow it down. Originally I thought it might be caused by Ubuntu-Tweak, but then the problem appeared again on a machine without Ubuntu-Tweak installed. So unless I do another fresh install and install packages one at a time and reboot to test after each one - which takes about 4 1/2 hours on my slow-ish ADSL connection (I live a long way from the telephone exchange), then I don't know what else to suggest. Hopefully someone else who gets this problem might be able to add information to this log. In the meantime, I am running a 10.04 alpha2 test install and installing a couple of packages at a time, to see if I can replicate this bug on Lucid - but so far its working OK.

Best Regards

itsjustarumour

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

Thank you for responding so quickly and taking the initiative to try and narrow down the source. If you provide me with a list of possible programs and/or appearance changes that you haven't ruled out, then I can try to do some work to see if I can reproduce the bug. However, if you want to keep working on the issue then by all means do so. Just keep us updated!

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Hello Draycen, no problem! I can provide you with a list of installed packages if you think it would help - although they aren't all from the Ubuntu repos - as part of my standard Ubuntu setup I do install quite a few packages from 3rd-party repo's like Medibuntu, GetDeb etc - although only "stable" packages, nothing "alpha" from PPA's or anything like that as these are "production" machines for me to get work done on. I also uninstall a handful of packages, although I can't see how that would affect this bug. Anyway, just let me know.

In the meantime, I've almost finished installing all the same packages (or their Lucid equivalents) on my 10.04 alpha2 install, and not been able to reproduce the bug - so perhaps its fixed in Lucid, or is an upstream GNOME problem (I did have a quick search on GNOME Bugzilla but couldn't find a match).

Anyway, I'll do a bit more experimenting and get back to you in a few days with any updates!

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

Great! Thank you for responding so quickly and taking such a huge initiative to figure out this bug. I use my machine for a lot of software testing, so if you determine any package that could be the culprit, even if not in the repos, then feel free to let me know and I am willing to test it for verification.

[mikef187 (mikef187)]

I second this problem. I have 2 different machines that boot and 3 times out of 4 will fail to load any icon on the top or bottom panel. I happened to have a terminal launcher on the desktop, so I haven't tried the alt F2 trick. Running a killall gnome-panel brings everything up.

I also have a friend who claims that when he boots his menu is missing, then he unplugs his network cord and reboots and it bots correctly. I'm not sure how reliable this report is, but it maybe a place to start.

I check syslogs dmesg etc and I see nothing interesting.
What information would you like from my laptop, or desktop that may help?
lspci, lsusb, syslogs? request it and I'll send it.

Mike

9.10 problem started around first week of February.
PS very Stock systems.

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

@Mike
Thank you for letting us know that you are experiencing this problem as well. Could you please click on the "Does this bug affect you?" link at the top of this report and select "Yes"? It is far easier for developers to see how many people are affected by a certain bug this way as opposed to them having to read through all of the comments.

Also, would you mind testing this bug in Lucid Lynx? You can use a Virtual Machine or a Live CD to do so, but this will help us determine if this bug has indeed been fixed in Ubuntu 10.04. You can find out more about the development release at http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/ . Thanks again and we appreciate your help.

[Trev Peterson (trev-advanced-reality)]

I am also having this problem. Here are some relevant details:

Problem system: Ubuntu 9.10 amd64 (nvidia drivers from ubuntu repo)
Unproblematic system: Ubuntu 8.10 x86 (32-bit) (nvidia drivers from ubuntu repo)
Both running roughly the same apps.

Problem: Periodically on boot the menubars are blank (both top and bottom although System Monitor applet is still working in the bottom one) and sticky notes are not displayed. Desktop background and icons are in place as usual.

Solution: killing the gnome-panel process (although the weather applet is missing from the menubar after it restarts).

Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help with this. It recurs periodically (4 - 5 times since 9.10 install) and I think this would effect newer users a lot more since there is no way to shutdown properly or restore it without help (rebooting does not fix the issue). Hope this helps,

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

@Trev
Thank you for letting us know that this bug affects you as well. Please click the "Does this bug affect you?" link at the top of this report and select "Yes." By doing so, it will be easier for developers to see how many people are affected by the bug.

Is there any way that you can cause this bug to occur consistently, or is it always random?

Would you mind testing this in the latest developmental build of Lucid Lynx as well? You can use a Virtual Machine or a Live CD to do so, but this will help us determine if this bug has indeed been fixed in Ubuntu 10.04. You can find out more about the development release at http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/

@itsjustarumour
Have you been able to reproduce this bug in Lucid Lynx at all? Are there any programs that you have narrowed down as possibly causing this bug? Any updates would be appreciated, thanks!

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

@Draycen. Hello again.

No joy with Jaunty 9.10 I'm afraid, I was hoping I might have time to do a fresh install at the weekend and install all the packages again, but unfortunately I didn't have time.

However, the good news is I haven't managed to reproduce the bug on my Lucid 10.04 Alpha 2 install. I have installed almost everything on Lucid that I had on Jaunty, and gnome-panel always starts OK. The only thing I haven't tested yet is "google-desktop-linux".

@mikef187 and trev - I'm not sure if what you guys are seeing is the same bug as me. With this bug, gnome-panel fails to start at all, and so I have no panels at either the top or the bottom of the screen. With what you are describing, the panels load but they are blank (no icons or applets etc) - please could you confirm, or perhaps enclose a screenshot? Many thanks.

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

@itsjustarumour
Thank you, you're right that Trev and Mike seem to be having a different problem with their systems. We appreciate all of the work that you are doing to try and narrow down the cause of this problem. I will try to do some testing with google-desktop-linux to see if I am able to reproduce this bug.

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

@Draycen - I've just finished my testing with Lucid 10.04 - I've installed all the packages that I had on Karmic 9.10 - including google-desktop-linux. I have done lots of experimenting, and tried very hard to break Lucid - but so far I can't replicate this bug.

So - I consider my final verdict to be: "This bug appears to be fixed in Lucid 10.04 Alpha 2".

:-)

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

@itsjustarumour
That's great to hear! I checked the changelogs, and there have indeed been some changes to help prevent crashing, however there is no way to know for sure whether these fixes have solved the problem you were previously experiencing since we don't know the exact conditions that created the bug in the first place. Because of that, I'm hesitant to have this bug marked as 'Fix Released' but I will consult with some others who specialize in GNOME within the next few days. In the mean time, just feel free to let us know if anything changes. Thanks again!

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

@itsjustarumour
I have confirmed that we are unable to mark this bug as having a fix released unless we know the exact cause of the bug and can find evidence in the change logs that the bug has in fact been fixed. Since you were able to reproduce this bug consistently in Karmic, I am hoping to test this on my own system. Could you please let me know what packages you had to install in order to get this bug to occur? If it is a long list that you do not want to leave in a comment, you can go to my Launchpad page and send me an email. Sorry this has taken so much work on your part. We really appreciate all of your help!

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

@Draycen - OK, I'll go and work out how to generate a package list...

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

@Draycen - "dpkg --get-selections | grep -v deinstall > ubuntu-files" gives me the following list that I've added as an attachment - does this give you what you need?

For info, since setting up these machines and getting this bug, I have added some extra software packages from 3rd-party repos and PPAs - including Lotus Symphony 3.0 Beta, and GIMP 2.7.1 (unstable). So if you do some testing and try to set up a machine to reproduce this bug, there is no need to install these packages as I know they are not the cause of the problem.

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

Perfect! Thanks for providing me with that list. I will see what packages I do not already have installed and will start testing tonight. Hopefully I will be able to reproduce your bug so we can narrow down the cause and see whether this really has been fixed.

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Great! Just for info, I've given you a list for one of my (near-identical) NVidia-based desktop machines. I also get this same bug on my laptop with Intel graphics.

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

@itsjustarumour
Sorry for the delay, but I have finally installed roughly 98% of the software that was listed in the file you attached, and the gnome-panel still loads for me just fine. The only programs I did not install were a couple requiring a PPA (abiword for example), and a few I have had installed in the past without trouble (such as AWN and Evolution). Do you have any updates on this issue?

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

@Draycen - sorry to hear you can't replicate this bug (OK, not sure if that is a good thing or not in this case!) I don't have any updates, apart from this bug still exists for me in Karmic 9.10 with latest updates, and Lucid 10.04 Alpha 2 is still working fine...

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

@Draycen - I've been scratching my head trying to work out the cause of this bug.

Do you have an ideas about what might be corrupted, to cause this problem? Is there a particular config file in ~/home that I can try recreating to see if I can fix it? Or is there a particular process/daemon that needs to start, to make the gnome-panel load? Or anything else I can look at to perhaps get some clues? (feel free to go all "technical" on me at this point, if it helps!)

When I first got this bug I did try numerous fixes on the Ubuntu forums, but nothing worked...

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

@itsjustarumour
There is one possibility I started to wonder about last night. This is admittedly a shot in the dark, but one of the changes in the gnome-panel Change Log for Ubuntu Lucid is some changes to prevent crashes due to Xrandr. I was just recently working on another report that ended up being due to Xinerama conflicting with Xrandr. It is difficult to say if this could possibly be happening on your system too, especially since Xinerama is used for dual displays, but could you attach your xorg.conf file to this report? That will show whether Xinerama is enabled on your system or not so we can see if that is possibly related in any way. Depending on what your xorg.conf file says, I have a few ideas on how we can approach this bug. Thanks in advance!

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

@Draycen - OK, heres my xorg.conf There doesn't actually seem to be very much in there...

This is for my main NVidia-based desktop machine btw (I can't give you the xorg.conf from my Intel-based laptop as well, because yesterday's Karmic updates hosed GRUB 1.97~beta4 and right now I can't mount my root file system on that one!)

I've also attached a couple of screenshots from Synaptic in 9.10, just so you can see what I've got installed in terms of Xrandr and Xinerama...

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

Hm, that doesn't seem to be the issue at hand. Well, one thing you could try is installing the latest version of gnome-panel on your Karmic install and seeing if that resvolves the issue. If it does, then we will at least know for sure that it is the gnome-panel package that is the problem. If you're interested, you can get the .deb here: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/gnome-panel_2.29.91-0ubuntu1_i386.deb . Afterwards we can always have you reinstall the Karmic version if it causes any problems.

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

@Draycen - Hmm, I had a look at the latest gnome-panel .deb package but it needs 35 dependency packages installing as well and the "too scary" light has come on, as this is now my only functioning Karmic system at the moment and I need it for doing "real work" on so I'm a bit worried about breakage...

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

Very understandable. I forgot to look at the dependencies before suggesting you install that version. Let me do some more research over the next few days and I will let you know if I find anything.

[Draycen DeCator (ddecator)]

@itsjustarumour
Unfortunately I have been unable to find a possible cause for the bug you are experiencing on Karmic. However, I have been told by another bug triager (more experienced than I am) that the fact that this problem seems to be resolved in Lucid qualifies it for the "Fix Released" status. I'm sorry that I have not been able to find a workaround for you. If you begin to experience the bug again in Lucid at any point, then please feel free to let us know so we can try to address it! Thanks again for reporting this bug, and please continue to report any other bugs you experience.

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

@Draycen - Sorry, been away from Launchpad for a few weeks.

Just a quick message to say thanks for all your work on this! And sorry we couldn't get to the bottom of it. So far, all is working fine in Lucid 10.04 - fingers crossed!

Best,

Itsjustarumour

:-)

[itsjustarumour (itsjustarumour-gmail-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Hi Draycen,

Sorry, been away from Launchpad for a few weeks.

Just a quick message to say thanks for all your work on this! And
sorry we couldn't get to the bottom of it. So far, all is working fine
in Lucid 10.04 - fingers crossed!

All the best,

Itsjustarumour

:-)

On 2/28/10, Draycen DeCator <email address hidden> wrote:
> @itsjustarumour
> Unfortunately I have been unable to find a possible cause for the bug you
> are experiencing on Karmic. However, I have been told by another bug triager
> (more experienced than I am) that the fact that this problem seems to be
> resolved in Lucid qualifies it for the "Fix Released" status. I'm sorry that
> I have not been able to find a workaround for you. If you begin to
> experience the bug again in Lucid at any point, then please feel free to let
> us know so we can try to address it! Thanks again for reporting this bug,
> and please continue to report any other bugs you experience.
>
> ** Changed in: gnome-panel (Ubuntu)
> Status: Incomplete => Fix Released
>
> --
> gnome-panel fails to start when desktop loads
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/518873
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in “gnome-panel” package in Ubuntu: Fix Released
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: gnome-panel
>
> What happens:
>
> When I start my Karmic 9.10 machine and the desktop loads, gnome-panel fails
> to start. I can start it by running "gnome-panel" in terminal. As a
> workaround, I have to add "gnome-panel" to the list of "Startup
> applications".
>
> I have corresponded with several people on the Ubuntu forums who have had
> this same problem, although it seems - surprisingly - that nobody has
> reported this as a bug yet (apologies if I'm duplicating an
> already-reporting bug here, but I had a search and couldn't find one).
>
> I don't get this problem after a fresh install - only after I have installed
> my normal set of programs from the Ubuntu repos and then added my own icon
> and GTK 2.0 themes. However - I have got the same problem on every single
> install of Karmic 9.10 that I have done (approx 10 installs, between 3
> machines) - so it is reproducible every time.
>
> Also, at approximately the same time that Karmic was released, Ubuntu
> automatic updates broke gnome-panel on my Jaunty 9.04 install, producing
> exactly the same problem.
>
> What should happen:
>
> gnome-panel should start when the desktop is loaded, without manual
> intervention from the user.
>
> Technical details:
>
> Distro Version - Ubuntu Karmic 9.10, 32-bit, default fresh install with
> latest updates
> Desktop Environment - GNOME 2.28.1 (Ubuntu 2009-11-03)
> Kernel - Linux 2.6.31-19-generic
> System - Athlon 64 3400 2.2GHz processor, NVidia 6800LE graphics, 1.5MB RAM
> GNOME Panel version - 2.28.0
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> Architecture: i386
> Date: Mon Feb 8 15:31:45 2010
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
> InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release i386 (20091028.5)
> NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
> Package: gnome-panel 1:2.28.0-0ubuntu6
> ProcEnviron:
> LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-19.56-generic...

[s7726 (gavinswanson)]

I had this pop up a couple times win 9.10, and it was usually fixed with a reboot. Just had it crop up again in 10.04 and no amount of rebooting fixed. I had to create a launcher on the desktop to run gnome-panel.

Woke up turned on computer, walked out of the room
Came back a couple min later. No panels and the "Theme" was wrong.
CTRL-ALT-F1 to the console and did a sudo shutdown -r now
Rebooted with the correct "theme" but still no panels.
rebooted a couple more times, with no luck
Found http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=875887 after adding a google-chrome launcher
started gnome-panel, got my panels back and added gnome-panel to the list
found this.