banshee doesn't start

[Espinet François]

Binary package hint: banshee

It started to happen when I downgraded from the ppa version to the classic repo one because of a bug in the lyrics plugin (I removed and reinstalled banshee and its extension after removing the ppa software sources). The player doesn't start, I've tried to launch it from everywhere I could think of (integrated soundmenu, classic menu,/usr/bin,/usr/share/application ...). Instead, it displays an error window (see screenshot) whose content is the following:

An unhandled exception was thrown: Could not read add-in description

  at Mono.Addins.Addin.get_Description () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Mono.Addins.AddinSessionService.CheckHostAssembly (System.Reflection.Assembly asm) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Mono.Addins.AddinSessionService.ActivateRoots () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Mono.Addins.AddinSessionService.Initialize () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Mono.Addins.AddinManager.Initialize (System.String configDir) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Banshee.ServiceStack.ServiceManager.InitializeAddins () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Banshee.ServiceStack.ServiceManager.DefaultInitialize () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Banshee.ServiceStack.Application.Initialize () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Banshee.Gui.GtkBaseClient.Initialize (Boolean registerCommonServices) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Banshee.Gui.GtkBaseClient..ctor (Boolean initializeDefault, System.String defaultIconName) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Banshee.Gui.GtkBaseClient..ctor () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Nereid.Client..ctor () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at (wrapper managed-to-native) System.Reflection.MonoCMethod:InternalInvoke (object,object[],System.Exception&)
  at System.Reflection.MonoCMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.

  at System.Reflection.MonoCMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at System.Reflection.MonoCMethod.Invoke (BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at System.Reflection.ConstructorInfo.Invoke (System.Object[] parameters) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at System.Activator.CreateInstance (System.Type type, Boolean nonPublic) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at System.Activator.CreateInstance (System.Type type) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Banshee.Gui.GtkBaseClient.Startup () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Hyena.Gui.CleanRoomStartup.Startup (Hyena.Gui.StartupInvocationHandler startup) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

.NET Version: 2.0.50727.1433
OS Version: Unix 2.6.38.7

Assembly Version Information:

System.Xml (2.0.0.0)
Banshee.Core (1.9.0.0)
Hyena.Data.Sqlite (1.9.0.0)
System.Core (3.5.0.0)
gdk-sharp (2.12.0.0)
Mono.Addins (0.4.0.0)
atk-sharp (2.12.0.0)
Hyena.Gui (1.9.0.0)
gtk-sharp (2.12.0.0)
Banshee.ThickClient (1.9.0.0)
Nereid (1.9.0.0)
NDesk.DBus.Proxies (0.0.0.0)
Mono.Posix (2.0.0.0)
NDesk.DBus (1.0.0.0)
glib-sharp (2.12.0.0)
Hyena (1.9.0.0)
System (2.0.0.0)
Banshee.Services (1.9.0.0)
Banshee (1.9.0.0)
mscorlib (2.0.0.0)

Platform Information: Linux 2.6.38-7-generic i686 i386 GNU/Linux

Disribution Information:

[/etc/lsb-release]
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=11.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=natty
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu Natty (development branch)"

[/etc/debian_version]
squeeze/sid

To fix this problem, I tried purging banshee and its extension,rebooting and installing them again but the same window pops up.
Thanks a lot, I hope I can fix it, I happen to really like banshee !

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: banshee 1.9.5-1ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-7.39-generic 2.6.38
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-7-generic i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Sun Mar 27 10:02:10 2011
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Alpha i386 (20101202)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: banshee
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to natty on 2011-03-25 (2 days ago)

[Bertrand Lorentz (bertrand-lorentz)]

I think the extension system might be confused by downgrading versions.

Try running the following command in a terminal :

rm -r ~/.config/banshee-1/addin-db-001/

This will delete the folder used by Banshee's extension system. This will not delete any of your data, but the extensions will go back to their default enabled/disabled state.

[Espinet François (espinetfrancois)]

I did what you suggested but the same error window showed up (I rebooted to be sure).

[Espinet François (espinetfrancois)]

I "fixed" the problem by purging banshee first, and them removing any folder in the /.config directory and in the /usr folder related to banshee
Then I reinstalled banshee and it "solved" the problem, but I think I also deleted some .png file (pictures) and no the banshee sound menu has no icon anymore ...

[Victor Vargas (kamus)]

Please fill a new report about sound menu indicator, since initial issue was solved I will close this report for now. Thanks again