unable to load desktop session in xubuntu precise

[Santiago Roland]

Installed Xubuntu Precise beta 1(amd64) in this PC

AMD FX 8120 8-core processor
16GB of RAM
ATI HD 5450
ASUS M5A99X-EVO
500 GB HDD
TrendNet Atheros Wireless PCI Card

And fully updated Xubuntu and for the very first time when i fill in my password it starts to load the desktop and it stops at the point that the only thing i see is the desktop background and the mouse i can move all over the place

What i do is hit Ctrl+F1 and
export DISPLAY=:0.0

and then some commands like

xfce4-session &
xfce4-panel &

and then Ctrl+F7 and the desktops started to load with panels and stuff. This bug is very important because it won't let me access my desktop. I cannot take a screenshot btw, maybe with my cellphone

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: xfce4-session 4.8.3-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-20.32-generic 3.2.12
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-20-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx
ApportVersion: 1.95-0ubuntu1
Architecture: amd64
Date: Wed Mar 28 12:30:55 2012
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 12.04 "Precise Pangolin" - Beta amd64 (20120228)
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: xfce4-session
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
---
ApportVersion: 1.95-0ubuntu1
Architecture: amd64
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 12.04 "Precise Pangolin" - Beta amd64 (20120228)
NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx
Package: xfce4-session 4.8.3-0ubuntu2
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-20.32-generic 3.2.12
Tags: precise
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-20-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo vboxusers

[Santiago Roland (santiago-roland)]

apport information

[Santiago Roland (santiago-roland)]

here is a video recorded with my cellphone with the whole procedure... you can see that the desktop is not loaded and i have lo launch xfce4-session from terminal

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Stéphane Gourichon (stephane-gourichon-lpad)]

Hi Santiago,

I think I have same problem here. Log in, no window manager, no panel.

** Workaround

I use a different workaround:
* press alt-f2
* the "run program" dialog appears
* move mouse into it to focus it
* type xfwm4, press enter
* you now have a window manager
* press alt-f2 again
* type xfce4-panel

Now you have something to work with.

** Additional information

Variants workarounds are probably possible (what about typing "xfce4-session" ?).

Another specific information : in my context there is a recorded session (only Thunderbird, actually), and it is reopened automatically by session manager. This may help pinpoint the problem.

** Severity

A normal user experiencing this bug is left clueless about what's happening and has no option to fix. For this reason I would rate this bug as severe.

(Actually, this happens on my wife's account and make a poor case for Ubuntu as she came from Mac.)

Reproducible here: sometimes (maybe around 10%-30% of times ? rough guess).

** Next step

How often is this reproducible on your side ?

Can you try this :
* record some session, then trigger bug and tell if session is restored when bug appears

Thank you.

[Stéphane Gourichon (stephane-gourichon-lpad)]

Another additional information : here is also AMD64 platform (Asus X77VN).

[Thaddaeus Tintenfisch (thad-fisch-deactivatedaccount)]

Is this problem still reproducible in the final release? If yes, does it affect all user accounts?

[Stéphane Gourichon (stephane-gourichon-lpad)]

> Is this problem still reproducible in the final release?

Yes. I just succeeded in reproducing it, see below.

The laptop is used daily and regularly updated.

$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=12.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=precise
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 12.04.4 LTS"

> If yes, does it affect all user accounts?

Yes, the bug affects all user accounts.

All users logging in on xfce session experience this bug. If you create a fresh account and login on xfce session bug happens.

I provided users a workaround with a .xsession containing these lines (you can see several fallback options, most were probably never needed, the "sleep 2" and first "exec" lines would be enough).

$ cat .xsession
#!/bin/bash

{ sleep 2 ; xfwm4 & xfce4-panel ; } &
{ sleep 4 ; xfwm4 & xfce4-panel ; } &
exec xfce4-session
exec gnome-terminal
exec x-session-manager

That workaround was so effective that I even forgot this bug.

Still the bug is real. I just reproduced it by moving away the .xsession workaround and logging in.

Regards,

[Thaddaeus Tintenfisch (thad-fisch-deactivatedaccount)]

Please attach the following files, so we can try to debug this rather special problem:

/var/log/lightdm/lightdm.log
~/.xsession-errors

[Stéphane Gourichon (stephane-gourichon-lpad)]

Here is .xsession-errors of a freshly created account logging on xfce for the first time.

Bug was reproduced : no window, no panel, only background picture (with 12.04 theme gradients).
Left click anywhere does nothing. Click and drag draws a selection rectangle (nothing to select).
Right click anywhere shows file manager desktop menu : create new folder, create new document..., organize desktop by name, keep aligned, paste (greyed out), change desktop background.

lightdm log to follow (in the following hours)

Regards.

[Stéphane Gourichon (stephane-gourichon-lpad)]

I restarted lightdm to have a clean log free from clutter from previous sessions.

Please find attached /var/log/lightdm/lightdm.log as requested.

Warning about gnome-screensaver is normal : gnome-screensaver is uninstalled on purpose.

I don't know what "WARNING:root:timeout reached, exiting" means.

Hope this helps.

[Thaddaeus Tintenfisch (thad-fisch-deactivatedaccount)]

LightDM seems to initiate the user session properly (/usr/sbin/lightdm-session startxfce4). However, the Xfce session fails to load and you end up with a broken Unity/Compiz session according to .xsession-errors.

Please login on a virtual console (tty1) and try to run the command "startxfce4" manually.

[Stéphane Gourichon (stephane-gourichon-lpad)]

> Please login on a virtual console (tty1) and try to run the command "startxfce4" manually.

Summary : startxfce4 does not trigger the bug.

I ran "startxfce4 -- :1" because another user session exists on :0 .

Session started normally, with a window telling about first xfce session (I created the account for the purpose of the tests) and offering default or empty settings. I chose default and had a normal XFCE desktop.

Then I logged out and tried again logging in the same used through lightdm. The bug appeared again as described yesterday.
On this test I used the "switch user" feature to preserve session :0
Yesterday, I had no such constraint (I even restarted lightdm) and bug appeared also.

So, this seems to be related to lightdm (independently of "switch user" feature).

If you need more information (logs, whatever), please ask.

[Thaddaeus Tintenfisch (thad-fisch-deactivatedaccount)]

Sorry for not answering again. Are there any news on this issue? Did you already upgrade to 14.04 or do you plan to do so? It would be interesting to know if this problem persists or not.

[Stéphane Gourichon (stephane-gourichon-lpad)]

> Sorry for not answering again. Are there any news on this issue?

No news. As written above, I provided users a workaround with a .xsession. That workaround was so effective that I even forgot this bug.

> Did you already upgrade to 14.04 or do you plan to do so?

It is planned and we already know some other improvements it will bring.
But we lack time so far. :-)

> It would be interesting to know if this problem persists or not.

I could disable the workaround to see if anything changed.
Do you want me to do so ?
Not sure I can do it in the following days.

Thank you for your attention.

[Thaddaeus Tintenfisch (thad-fisch-deactivatedaccount)]

I am not sure if disabling the workaround in 12.04 and testing again would help. The main focus switched to 14.04. So, in case this problem is still reproducible after upgrading to 14.04 (clean install or dist-upgrade), please let us know.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for lightdm (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for xfce4-session (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]