System tray loads with all non-applet icons "popped out" into windows

[Tristan Schmelcher]

Binary package hint: gnome-panel

I have a Dell XPS M1710 laptop running pure up-to-date Hardy final. When logging in, I often (but not always) see a bug where the system tray loads in a state where all of the system tray icons for my session startup programs are "popped out" into tiny windows at the top-left of the screen (see screenshots). The icons for the standard set of gnome applets behave correctly though.

When in this state, any system tray program loaded after login will ALSO display its icon in a tiny popped-out window. However, the condition can be cleared by running "killall gnome-panel" (forcing it to restart), but sometimes you must do this several times for the problem to go away. Similarly, if the bug in NOT manifesting, restarting gnome-panel in this way will eventually bring it back.

I have noticed that when the bug occurs, the popped-out windows usually start showing up BEFORE the system tray has fully loaded, which suggests to me that the problem may be due to the system tray taking too long to load.

The bug occurs both with and without desktop effects enabled.

$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 8.04
Release: 8.04
$ apt-cache policy gnome-panel
gnome-panel:
  Installed: 1:2.22.1.2-0ubuntu3
  Candidate: 1:2.22.1.2-0ubuntu3
  Version table:
 *** 1:2.22.1.2-0ubuntu3 0
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com hardy/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

[Tristan Schmelcher (tschmelcher)]

Binary package hint: gnome-panel

I have a Dell XPS M1710 laptop running pure up-to-date Hardy final. When logging in, I often (but not always) see a bug where the system tray loads in a state where all of the system tray icons for my session startup programs are "popped out" into tiny windows at the top-left of the screen (see screenshots). The icons for the standard set of gnome applets behave correctly though.

When in this state, any system tray program loaded after login will ALSO display its icon in a tiny popped-out window. However, the condition can be cleared by running "killall gnome-panel" (forcing it to restart), but sometimes you must do this several times for the problem to go away. Similarly, if the bug in NOT manifesting, restarting gnome-panel in this way will eventually bring it back.

I have noticed that when the bug occurs, the popped-out windows usually start showing up BEFORE the system tray has fully loaded, which suggests to me that the problem may be due to the system tray taking too long to load.

The bug occurs both with and without desktop effects enabled.

$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 8.04
Release: 8.04
$ apt-cache policy gnome-panel
gnome-panel:
  Installed: 1:2.22.1.2-0ubuntu3
  Candidate: 1:2.22.1.2-0ubuntu3
  Version table:
 *** 1:2.22.1.2-0ubuntu3 0
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com hardy/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

[Ste (ilpillo)]

I have the same problem on hardy amd 64, I have upgraded from gutsy

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

thank you for your bug report. do you get the issue on the first login or after restarting your session or similar? can you attach your .xsession-errors when getting the bug?

[Tristan Schmelcher (tschmelcher)]

The problem can occur whenever logging in to GDM. Whether or not it is my first login (i.e., since booting the machine) does not matter.

I attached .xsession-errors when I created the report.

[Ste (ilpillo)]

this is my .xsession-errors, hope that helps:

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

nothing useful there, do you get the issue every time? could you try using an another user? does opening a software which uses the notification area after the startup works correctly?

[Ste (ilpillo)]

using a different user fixes the problem!
now I have managed to let it work with the old user deleting the folder
/home/user/.gconf/panel

(then logoff and login)

I want to try for a day or two but I think that will work now.
Tristan can you please confirm this?
thanks

[Tristan Schmelcher (tschmelcher)]

Sounds promising! I'm on a business trip right now so I don't have access to the machine experiencing the problem, but I will test in a week or so and let you know. Interestingly, the laptop that I have with me right now does not have such a directory, and also does not experience the bug.

[Tristan Schmelcher (tschmelcher)]

ilpillo:

I deleted .gconf/apps/panel and at first the problem went away, but when I added back all of my applets the problem came back. This seems to reinforce the hypothesis that the problem is due to load time. The applets I'm currently using are:

Quit...
Clock
Volume Control
User Switcher
Keyboard Indicator
Search for Files...
Timer
Deskbar
Tomboy Notes

Tomboy in particular takes ages to load, so it might be why this happens so often for me, but it has happened even without Tomboy. I have seen it happen with just the following set:

Quit...
Clock
Volume Control
User Switcher
Keyboard Indicator
Timer

[Ste (ilpillo)]

Tristan,
today the problem happened again, so the issue is not fixed...

[amalji (amalji)]

Hello,

    I had the same problem. I was able to resolve it by following the steps below.

1) Rename .gconf directory
2) Remove and then install the packages - gnome-panel and gnome-panel-data

Regards,
Amal. :)

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

do you still get this issue?

[Tristan Schmelcher (tschmelcher)]

No, I don't believe I've seen this issue in a while. ilpillo?

[Ste (ilpillo)]

I have intrepid beta now, and I don't see that bug anymore

Tristan Schmelcher ha scritto:
> No, I don't believe I've seen this issue in a while. ilpillo?
>
> ** Changed in: gnome-panel (Ubuntu)
> Assignee: Ubuntu Desktop Bugs (desktop-bugs) => (unassigned)
> Status: Incomplete => Confirmed
>
>

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

closing since that works correctly now

[brunotm (brunotm22)]

Someone knows how to fix this in Ubuntu 8.04?