Failed to execute program /lib/dbus-1.0/dbus-daemon-launch-helper

[KIAaze]

Binary package hint: dbus

After running an upgrade on Ubuntu 10.04, I had several problems:
-Sound stopped working
-I could not access gnome-volume-manager or change the volume
-I could not start users-admin
-When starting amarok, it told me that some devices were missing and asked if I wanted to forget about them permanently
-Shutdown and restart buttons in Gnome only logged me out
-Shutdown and restart buttons on the login screen did nothing

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Error message when trying to run pulseaudio:
E: module-console-kit.c: GetSessionsForUnixUser() call failed: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.Spawn.ExecFailed: Failed to execute program /lib/dbus-1.0/dbus-daemon-launch-helper: Success

Error message when trying to run users-admin:
There was an unknown error communicating with the backends: Failed to execute program /lib/dbus-1.0/dbus-daemon-launch-helper

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More info:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1719380
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/system-tools-backends/+bug/574078

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Workaround:
sudo chmod o+x /lib/dbus-1.0/dbus-daemon-launch-helper
Note: Might be dangerous.

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$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 10.04.2 LTS
Release: 10.04
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$ apt-cache policy dbus
dbus:
  Instalita: 1.2.16-2ubuntu4.2
  Candidate: 1.2.16-2ubuntu4.2
  Version table:
 *** 1.2.16-2ubuntu4.2 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-updates/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.2.16-2ubuntu4.1 0
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-security/main Packages
     1.2.16-2ubuntu4 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/main Packages
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$ grep messagebus /etc/passwd
messagebus:x:102:107::/var/run/dbus:/bin/false
$ grep messagebus /etc/group
messagebus:x:106:

[Milan Bouchet-Valat (nalimilan)]

OK, the explanation is simple, and I wouldn't have guessed it without you coming! The GID for the messagebus user in /etc/passwd isn't correct: it should be 106, to match the messagebus group in /etc/group. Just fix that using a text editor as root, and it should work without the workaround.

This is actually known as bug 295405 for quite some time. The problem is, nobody has been able to understand what caused this GID issue to appear. Any help welcome: did the bug appear after a mere upgrade? Without anything weird (crash...)? Can you list the packages that were upgraded on the other report (again :-)?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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