firefox: crashes on viideo stream with pulse.c:200: pulse_new: Assertion `p->context' failed.

[Paul Gevers]

Binary package hint: firefox-3.0

When I try to view the first video at http://www.bergredding.nl/?p=826 my firefox crashes. This is very reproducible. I have three extensions installed (Novell Moonlight 1.0, Unofficial Google Translate Firefox extension 1.3, and Web Developer 1.1.6)

If more information is needed, just let me know.

When I start firefox from a console I get the following output:

paul@etna ~ $ firefox
ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:626:(pulse_prepare) PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: Invalid argument

ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:626:(pulse_prepare) PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: Invalid argument

ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:626:(pulse_prepare) PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: Invalid argument

ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:626:(pulse_prepare) PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: Invalid argument

ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:626:(pulse_prepare) PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: Invalid argument

ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:626:(pulse_prepare) PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: Invalid argument

ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:626:(pulse_prepare) PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: Invalid argument

E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
firefox: pulse.c:200: pulse_new: Assertion `p->context' failed.
Aborted

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.04
Package: firefox 3.0.10+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.04.1
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: firefox-3.0
Uname: Linux 2.6.28-11-generic i686

[[e-mail] (tor-flatebo)]

I get this same error using eclipse. It works for a while then randomly crashes. Uninstalling pulseaudio package resolves the issue. I was listening to an audio stream through Amarok at the time of the crash.

[Paul Gevers (paul-climbing)]

> I get this same error using eclipse. It works for a while then randomly
> crashes. Uninstalling pulseaudio package resolves the issue. I was
> listening to an audio stream through Amarok at the time of the crash.

Uninstalling pulseaudio solved the crashing of firefox for me as well.
And still with sound and video.

Paul

[Bjarne H. Nielsen (bjarne-h-nielsen)]

Uninstalling pulseaudio worked for me as well.

[John Vivirito (gnomefreak)]

this is not caused by firefox bug pulseaudio

[Troy Williams (twilliams18)]

I have the same problem, but when I mark pulse audio for removal,
Synaptic Package Manager says it will also remove ubuntu-desktop. I
don't think that would be a good idea. Any suggestions?

On Mon, 2009-05-18 at 20:24 +0000, Bjarne H. Nielsen wrote:
> Uninstalling pulseaudio worked for me as well.
>

[[e-mail] (tor-flatebo)]

You can go ahead and remove ubuntu-desktop, it won't have any noticable affect. I have done it on two machines so far. Other packages may re-add ubuntu-desktop, which may re-add pulse, then you will just have to remove it again. Hasn't happened to me yet.

[David McNerney (david-mcnerney)]

You can get around this by using the pulse server. The error message suggests that the problem is in the shm module and the server doesn't use shared memory.

So
grep pulse
kill
edit /etc/default/pulseaudio -> set SYSTEM_START=1
/etc/init.d/pulseaudio restart

[Chris Sherlock (ta-bu-shi-da-yu)]

The lines in question that are the problem are:

        if ((m->ptr = mmap(NULL, m->size, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_ANONYMOUS|MAP_PRIVATE, -1, (off_t) 0)) == MAP_FAILED) {
            pa_log("mmap() failed: %s", pa_cstrerror(errno));
            goto fail;
        }

It should be easy enough to check to see if shared memory is in use, just run:

 mount | grep "shm"

If you get something like the following, then it's enabled:

tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)

[Chris Sherlock (ta-bu-shi-da-yu)]

The more I look at this, the more I think there is a problem with the function pa_context_new().

Need to file a bug against pulseaudio.

[Chris Sherlock (ta-bu-shi-da-yu)]

The more I look at this, the more I think there is a problem with the function pa_context_new().

How do we move this one forward?

[Chris Sherlock (ta-bu-shi-da-yu)]

I have reported this upstream:

http://pulseaudio.org/ticket/595

[Paul Gevers (paul-climbing)]

> The more I look at this, the more I think there is a problem with the
> function pa_context_new().
>
> How do we move this one forward?

I guess if it really should be fixed upstream look at their bugtracker
(see first if it is already fixed) and file a bug there [1]. If you find
 there that the bug is already fixed, add a link to the appropriate
upstream bug report in this bug report. You might also want to look in
the debian bug tracker to see if it is (or was) there [2].

[1] http://www.pulseaudio.org/wiki/Community#BugsPatchesTranslations
[2] http://bugs.debian.org/pulseaudio

[Chris Sherlock (ta-bu-shi-da-yu)]

Yup, done already. See my comment before your last one :-)

[Tpugliese (thomas-pugliese)]

I did a 'rm -fr ~/.pulse*' for all users which fixed the problem on my machine.

see https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/274577

[Chris Sherlock (ta-bu-shi-da-yu)]

This has been fixed upstream by lennart - see the bug I reported earlier on - http://pulseaudio.org/ticket/595

[Chris Sherlock (ta-bu-shi-da-yu)]

@Tpugliese - that's an unreliable workaround at best, and at worst it stops us from finding what's causing this. Do you know why this works?

[Tpugliese (thomas-pugliese)]

I would say it is pretty reliable. Deleting the ~/.pulse directory
fixed the problem on two systems for me. Make sure firefox is closed
when deleting the files and it will clear up the crash.

I have no idea why it works, nor do I particularly care. I passed
along the workaround for anyone else who, like me, had a broken system
and wanted it fixed. My setup quit working after a power failure so I
speculate that it may be related to file corruption in some file in
the .pulse directory. It could also be related to having FF 3.0 and
3.5 installed simultaneously.

On Sat, Aug 1, 2009 at 1:01 AM, Chris Sherlock<email address hidden> wrote:
> @Tpugliese - that's an unreliable workaround at best, and at worst it
> stops us from finding what's causing this. Do you know why this works?
>
> --
> firefox: crashes on viideo stream with pulse.c:200: pulse_new: Assertion `p->context' failed.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/371147
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in PulseAudio sound server: New
> Status in “firefox-3.0” package in Ubuntu: Invalid
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: firefox-3.0
>
> When I try to view the first video at http://www.bergredding.nl/?p=826 my firefox crashes. This is very reproducible. I have three extensions installed (Novell Moonlight 1.0, Unofficial Google Translate Firefox extension 1.3, and Web Developer 1.1.6)
>
> If more information is needed, just let me know.
>
> When I start firefox from a console I get the following output:
>
> paul@etna ~ $ firefox
> ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:626:(pulse_prepare) PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: Invalid argument
>
> ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:626:(pulse_prepare) PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: Invalid argument
>
> ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:626:(pulse_prepare) PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: Invalid argument
>
> ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:626:(pulse_prepare) PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: Invalid argument
>
> ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:626:(pulse_prepare) PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: Invalid argument
>
> ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:626:(pulse_prepare) PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: Invalid argument
>
> ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:626:(pulse_prepare) PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: Invalid argument
>
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() failed: Cannot allocate memory
> E: shm.c: mmap() fail...

[Chris Sherlock (ta-bu-shi-da-yu)]

I'm quite surprised this works... but more concerned that your workaround might stop something else working. Anyone who reads the workaround has been warned!