Synaptic crashes on startup

[Hans L]

I am unable to start synaptic. When attempting to start it, a blank window flashes on the screen momentarily then disappears.

Ubuntu 11.10
synaptic 0.75.2ubuntu8
Gnome shell

When running "gksu synaptic" from the command line i see a bunch of messages about unable to get theme:
(gksu:9656): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
(gksu:9656): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
(gksu:9656): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
(gksu:9656): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

Similar messages and behavior if just running "synaptic" or "sudo synaptic"

Since this is saying something about themes, it makes me wonder if this is an issue specific to the gnome shell gui?

This is 100% reproducable on my machine.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: synaptic 0.75.2ubuntu8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.20-generic 3.0.4
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-12-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sat Nov 12 11:13:33 2011
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release amd64 (20111012)
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: synaptic
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Hans Joachim Desserud (hjd)]

Interesting, I wonder if this could be the same issue as bug 889592. Though based on the information in the bug report you seem to be using English locale. Could you try running "LC_ALL=C synaptic" from the terminal?

Also, I don't think the theme engine warnings are related as I get them, even when synaptic doesn't crash.

[Hans L (thehans)]

hansl@hansl-ThinkPad-W510:~$ LC_ALL=C synaptic

(synaptic:31882): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(synaptic:31882): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(synaptic:31882): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",

(synaptic:31882): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "pixmap",
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::out_of_range'
  what(): vector::_M_range_check
Aborted

[Hans Joachim Desserud (hjd)]

Ok, looks like this is a separate issue then. Thanks for checking and I'm sorry for wasting your time. :)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Janice (janicechandler)]

I am having the exact same problem. I am running a dual-boot xp/Ubuntu 11.10 standard install on an Asus 1000HE, 2g ram. It began crashing after uninstalling Banshee and installing various fonts (for trying out). At the same time, gEdit began to be sluggish. I've blundered my way into resolving the gEdit issue, but not the Synaptic.

[Robert Ward (rob-ward78)]

hey all, Ubuntu 12.04 Alpha1 has the same issue. wondering if there is more wrong with it. I am using amd64 version.

[Robert Ward (rob-ward78)]

just googled the error and found this

It appears that it's related to accessibility settings. I was able to fix this problem on my system by opening Universal Access, enabling then disabling the screen reader, then opening Synaptic again.

Try:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface toolkit-accessibility false

It worked for me.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/synaptic/+bug/607605/comments/6

Is there any way to do this with the new update without having to put it in manually?

[Hans L (thehans)]

Hi Robert,

This gsettings command fixed it for me.

I accidentally ran Orca once and it said it configured screen reading for my computer. Is likely because I did this?

[Hans Joachim Desserud (hjd)]

>I accidentally ran Orca once and it said it configured screen reading for my computer. Is likely because I did this?

Looks like there is some problem with Orca and synaptic. See bug 607605 for details.

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This particular bug has already been reported and is a duplicate of bug 607605, so it is being marked as such. Please look at the other bug report to see if there is any missing information that you can provide, or to see if there is a workaround for the bug. Additionally, any further discussion regarding the bug should occur in the other report. Feel free to continue to report any other bugs you may find.