$DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS left empty. Unable to open the session message bus. ---> ArgumentNullException

[Daniel Ejsing-Duun]

When logging in through LightDM, the variable $DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS is left empty and Tomboy won't start (see comment #9 below). The terminal outputs the following on launching tomboy (and it does not launch):

$ tomboy

Unhandled Exception: System.Exception: Unable to open the session message bus. ---> System.ArgumentNullException: Argument cannot be null.
Parameter name: address
  at DBus.Bus.Open (System.String address) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at DBus.Bus.get_Session () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
  at DBus.Bus.get_Session () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at DBus.BusG.Init () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Tomboy.GnomeApplication.Initialize (System.String locale_dir, System.String display_name, System.String process_name, System.String[] args) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Tomboy.Application.Initialize (System.String locale_dir, System.String display_name, System.String process_name, System.String[] args) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Tomboy.Tomboy.Main (System.String[] args) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
[ERROR] FATAL UNHANDLED EXCEPTION: System.Exception: Unable to open the session message bus. ---> System.ArgumentNullException: Argument cannot be null.
Parameter name: address
  at DBus.Bus.Open (System.String address) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at DBus.Bus.get_Session () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
  at DBus.Bus.get_Session () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at DBus.BusG.Init () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Tomboy.GnomeApplication.Initialize (System.String locale_dir, System.String display_name, System.String process_name, System.String[] args) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Tomboy.Application.Initialize (System.String locale_dir, System.String display_name, System.String process_name, System.String[] args) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Tomboy.Tomboy.Main (System.String[] args) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

$

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: tomboy 1.8.0-1ubuntu1.1.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-16.28-generic 3.0.17
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-16-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sat Mar 3 21:54:06 2012
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Release amd64 (20101007)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=da_DK:da
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=da_DK.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: tomboy
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to oneiric on 2011-12-17 (77 days ago)
---
ApportVersion: 2.6.1-0ubuntu9
Architecture: amd64
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.10
InstallationDate: Installed on 2010-11-13 (769 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Release amd64 (20101007)
MarkForUpload: True
NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx
Package: tomboy 1.12.0-1ubuntu1
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.5.0-21.32-generic 3.5.7.1
Tags: quantal running-unity
Uname: Linux 3.5.0-21-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to quantal on 2012-10-19 (63 days ago)
UserGroups: adm admin cdrom dialout lpadmin mythtv netdev plugdev sambashare vboxusers

[garrison (jim-garrison)]

I found that for now you can instead try:

$ dbus-launch tomboy

and it should work.

[Daniel Ejsing-Duun (zilvador)]

Thank you. Tomboy worked again after a restart, so I still have not found the cause of the crash, but I will write again if I do.

[Daniel Ejsing-Duun (zilvador)]

Error reappeared after half a year...and dbus-launch seems to work in the terminal, but no window pops up.

[Daniel Ejsing-Duun (zilvador)]

apport information

[Daniel Ejsing-Duun (zilvador)]

apport information

[Alemann Massho (armistice-con-deactivatedaccount)]

What is the value of the environment variable $DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS ? Had your Ubuntu session started normally at the time you had this error?

[Daniel Ejsing-Duun (zilvador)]

$DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS is empty. I am currently having trouble with Unity crashing on startup (bug #1072329). The issue with Tomboy started before the one with Unity appeared though.

[Alemann Massho (armistice-con-deactivatedaccount)]

The cause of the problem perhaps might be similar to the one here: http://gnome-tomboy.1788872.n4.nabble.com/compiling-running-issues-on-Ubuntu-11-10-td4605044.html. I don't remember the exact mechanics, but somehow Unity is provided with that variable when it starts "regularly" from lightdm, gdm, etc, and when it isn't, the variable isn't inherited with the required value for interproccess communication.

[Daniel Ejsing-Duun (zilvador)]

Thank you Alemann. It seems that you are right. I now skip the LightDM log-in screen when booting and Unity starts up a lot nicer. I only have a problem now one out of maybe ten times, where it usually crashes about nine out of ten times.

It seems that you had exactly the same issues as I had. I went through some of the settings on http://www.tuxgarage.com/2011/04/missing-top-and-side-panels-in-unity.html . It might be related to unity bug #1072329 .