When (re)starting compiz with "compiz --replace", switching workspaces causes the display to freeze

[Matt Pharoah]

After restarting compiz with the "compiz --replace" command, attempting to switch workspaces will cause the display to freeze. The only way to recover (aside from rebooting) is to restart the X session with Ctrl+Alt+PrtScrn+K, but the problem usually (though not 100% of the time) persists after this.

When compiz is started normally at logon, this problem does not occur, but restarting compiz with 'compiz --replace' causes this bug to occur when switching workspaces. I'm not sure if this is because doing this makes it so that compiz has no parent or child processes.

Steps to reproduce:
(compiz is running at this point)
1. Hit Alt+F2 (Run Application) and enter "compiz --replace"
2. Attempt to switch workspaces (Ctrl+Alt+RIGHT_ARROW)

((EDIT: This MIGHT be a duplicate of bug 711378. My theory is that perhaps this bug causes my workspace switcher applet on gnome-panel to get messed up; however, I don't see how that applet failing could possibly cause my entire screen to freeze and require a restart of X, so it's PROBABLY a different issue. But, unlike in that bug, I CAN see gnome-panel after restarting compiz perfectly fine,))

My specific setup was 2 workspaces beside each other (horizontal virutal size = 2, vertical cirutal size = 1, number of desktops = 1). The desktop wall plugin is turned on, but no other plugins under the Desktop category are turned on.

This bug report was submitted after rebooting from a freeze as a result of this bug, so any uploaded logs that only store information about errors occurring since the last reboot will not show the bug occurring. If it would help, I could cause this bug to occur, Ctrl+Alt+PrntScrn+K out of it, and attach the necessary files.

I am using GNOME Classic.

One interesting thing I noticed was that after attempting to figure out the exact conditions of this bug, I had restarted the X session (Ctrl+Alt+PrntScrn+K) multiple times. When I looked at GNOME System monitor, I had multiple instances of Compiz running. I then decided to reboot, and was shortly able to discover that running "compiz --replace" was the condition causing this bug. As I said earlier, using Ctrl+Alt+PrntScrn+K to restart the X session does not always resolve the issue. Probably because of the multiple instances of Compiz running for some reason (yes, I did make sure to always add "--replace").

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: compiz 1:0.9.6+bzr20110929-0ubuntu6
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-14.23-generic 3.0.9
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-14-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
.proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0: Error: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0'
.proc.driver.nvidia.registry: Binary: ""
.proc.driver.nvidia.version:
 NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 280.13 Wed Jul 27 16:53:56 PDT 2011
 GCC version: gcc version 4.6.1 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.6.1-9ubuntu3)
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,crashhandler,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,move,snap,commands,compiztoolbox,place,session,imgpng,resize,gnomecompat,regex,scale,staticswitcher,mousepoll,notification,animation,wall,mag,animationaddon,workarounds]
CompositorRunning: compiz
Date: Mon Dec 12 20:56:18 2011
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: oneiric
DistroVariant: ubuntu
GraphicsCard:
 nVidia Corporation Device [10de:1251] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: CLEVO/KAPOK Computer Device [1558:5102]
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release amd64 (20111012)
JockeyStatus:
 xorg:nvidia_current - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (Proprietary, Disabled, Not in use)
 xorg:nvidia_current_updates - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (post-release updates) (Proprietary, Enabled, In use)
MachineType: System76, Inc. Gazelle Professional
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-14-generic root=UUID=94f7fc1e-fa27-4b24-99f3-4b461665a4a4 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: compiz
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 08/09/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 4.6.4
dmi.board.asset.tag: Not Applicable
dmi.board.name: Gazelle Professional
dmi.board.vendor: System76, Inc.
dmi.board.version: gazp6
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Not Applicable
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: System76, Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: gazp6
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr4.6.4:bd08/09/2011:svnSystem76,Inc.:pnGazelleProfessional:pvrgazp6:rvnSystem76,Inc.:rnGazelleProfessional:rvrgazp6:cvnSystem76,Inc.:ct10:cvrgazp6:
dmi.product.name: Gazelle Professional
dmi.product.version: gazp6
dmi.sys.vendor: System76, Inc.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.6+bzr20110929-0ubuntu6
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs 20090808ubuntu26
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.26-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 7.11-0ubuntu3
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 7.11-0ubuntu3
version.nvidia-graphics-drivers: nvidia-graphics-drivers N/A
version.xserver-xorg: xserver-xorg 1:7.6+7ubuntu7
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.6.0-1ubuntu13
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.14.99~git20110811.g93fc084-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.15.901-1ubuntu2.1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:0.0.16+git20110411+8378443-1

[Matt Pharoah (mpharoah)]

I should also mention that it is NOT necessary to be running compiz when entering "compiz --replace".

Switching from Compiz to Metacity then back to Compiz also produces this error.

[Matt Pharoah (mpharoah)]

The latest update for GNOME completely ruined everything. Now, Compiz crashes when switching windows all the time. Even after a fresh reboot.

I no longer have any usable window managers. Looks like I've have to go back to Ubuntu 10.04 until this is fixed.

[Matt Pharoah (mpharoah)]

Actually, the chance of a crash now appears to simply be random. I've got about a 20% of a crash when switching workspaces, making one of the most useful things in Ubuntu completely useless.

[Matt Pharoah (mpharoah)]

This new behaviour since the update now matched bug 815996, so I'm marking this is a duplicate.

[Matt Pharoah (mpharoah)]

Upon purging the updated X packages I had and reverting to the current official release version in the repositories, the behavior has returned to being predictable exactly as described in my original post.

This may not be a duplicate, but I'm leaving it marked as such for now.

[Matt Pharoah (mpharoah)]

The exact behaviour of this bug seems to change with updates. At this point in time, compiz has a chance of experiencing this bug even when started normally, but that probabilty of this happening is not THAT high.

This is almost certainly a race condition.

Possibly related is that I sometimes have 2 dbus-launch and dbus-daemons running at once, and sometimes only have 1. Whether this is directly related to this problem or is a completely unrelated bug, I am not certain.

I'm leaving this as a duplicate since I suspect this does describe the same issue, and the other bug has been marked confirmed (though for some reason has low priority instead of critical priority)