gnome-shell crashes with [St:ERROR:../src/st/st-bin.c:206:st_bin_destroy: assertion failed: (priv->child == NULL)] called from DesktopGrid::_backgroundDestroyed() [desktopGrid.js:206]

[Sean Miller Jr]

[Impact]

Gnome Shell crashes at random times.

https://errors.ubuntu.com/problem/fcc5c581fc0a8c2f8f68314fa383690423a3dc02

[Test Case]

None known.

[Where problems could occur]

The proposed fix is from the stable upstream gnome-shell branch so potential problems could arise from the usual risk of patching stable branches resulting in new regressions.

[Other Info]

See also bug 1898005

---

Ubuntu on Wayland crashes when you try to change the resolution even if your display supports the
Version: 3.38.0-1ubuntu2
Release: 20.10 Groovy Gorilla (development branch)
What I expected to happen
1. Login to Wayland
2. Change the resolution
3. Go on with my day

What actually happened
1. Login to Wayland
2. Change the resolution
3. Wait a minute to get kicked to the gdm login screen
4. Now I am here.

ProblemType: CrashDistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.10
Package: gnome-shell 3.38.0-1ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.8.0-20.21-generic 5.8.10
Uname: Linux 5.8.0-20-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu49
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Wed Oct 7 12:55:35 2020
DisplayManager: gdm3
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/gnome-shell
InstallationDate: Installed on 2020-10-07 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 20.10 "Groovy Gorilla" - Beta amd64 (20200930)
ProcCmdline: /usr/bin/gnome-shell
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
RelatedPackageVersions: mutter-common 3.38.0-1ubuntu1
Signal: 6SourcePackage: gnome-shell
StacktraceTop:
 () at /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglib-2.0.so.0
 g_assertion_message_expr () at /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglib-2.0.so.0
 () at /usr/lib/gnome-shell/libst-1.0.so
 g_closure_invoke () at /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0
 () at /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgobject-2.0.so.0
Title: gnome-shell crashed with SIGABRT
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin lxd plugdev sambashare sudo
separator:

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Looks like this is it:

[ 7628.145954] unitn2457 gnome-shell[28785]: St:ERROR:../src/st/st-bin.c:206:st_bin_destroy: assertion failed: (priv->child == NULL)
[ 7628.147485] unitn2457 gnome-shell[28785]: Bail out! St:ERROR:../src/st/st-bin.c:206:st_bin_destroy: assertion failed: (priv->child == NULL)
[ 7628.147485] unitn2457 gnome-shell[28785]: GNOME Shell crashed with signal 6
[ 7628.147485] unitn2457 gnome-shell[28785]: == Stack trace for context 0x557ce2fca1b0 ==
[ 7628.147485] unitn2457 gnome-shell[28785]: #0 557ce2feee08 i /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/desktop-icons@csoriano/desktopGrid.js:206 (1156c827f420 @ 142)
[ 7628.147485] unitn2457 gnome-shell[28785]: #1 557ce2feed80 i /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/desktop-icons@csoriano/desktopGrid.js:124 (1156c827f5b0 @ 12)
[ 7628.147485] unitn2457 gnome-shell[28785]: #2 557ce2feece0 i resource:///org/gnome/shell/ui/background.js:695 (2ce08e7e13d0 @ 155)
[ 7628.147485] unitn2457 gnome-shell[28785]: #3 557ce2feec28 i resource:///org/gnome/shell/ui/layout.js:471 (2ce08e7e06a0 @ 74)
[ 7628.147485] unitn2457 gnome-shell[28785]: #4 7ffdfe357920 b resource:///org/gnome/shell/ui/layout.js:541 (2ce08e7e04c0 @ 62)
[ 7628.147485] unitn2457 gnome-shell[28785]: #5 557ce2feeb58 i self-hosted:850 (2893ca3120b0 @ 423)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Apport retracing service (apport)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this crash and helping to make this software better. This particular crash has already been reported and is a duplicate of bug #1898005, so is being marked as such. Please look at the other bug report to see if there is any missing information that you can provide, or to see if there is a workaround for the bug. Additionally, any further discussion regarding the bug should occur in the other report. Please continue to report any other bugs you may find.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

See also bug 1898005.

[Aditya Suseno (aditya-suseno)]

I have to remove `gnome-shell-extension-desktop-icons` as a workaround

From journalctl:

St:ERROR:../src/st/st-bin.c:206:st_bin_destroy: assertion failed: (priv->child == NULL)
Bail out! St:ERROR:../src/st/st-bin.c:206:st_bin_destroy: assertion failed: (priv->child == NULL)
GNOME Shell crashed with signal 6
== Stack trace for context 0x5645ba824140 ==
#0 5645bae064e0 i /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/desktop-icons@csoriano/desktopManager.js:234 (d0258b7b>
#1 7ffcbfc591d0 b self-hosted:225 (1f8f4c1a5d80 @ 273)
#2 5645bae04648 i /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/desktop-icons@csoriano/desktopManager.js:234 (d0258b7b>
#3 5645bae04648 i /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/desktop-icons@csoriano/desktopManager.js:209 (d0258b7b>
#4 5645bae04648 i /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/desktop-icons@csoriano/desktopManager.js:460 (d0258b7b>
#5 5645bae04648 i /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/desktop-icons@csoriano/desktopManager.js:340 (d0258b7b>

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

First attempt at a fix: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/merge_requests/1500

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Also note: Comment #7 is bug 1898005, not this one.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

I'm actually not sure if this bug requires the same or a different fix to bug 1898005.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package gnome-shell - 3.38.2-1ubuntu1

---------------
gnome-shell (3.38.2-1ubuntu1) hirsute; urgency=medium

  * Merge with debian, containing new upstream release (LP: #1908161):
    - Fixed crash in meta_window_actor_thaw (LP: #1897765)
    - Fixed crash in st_bin_destroy (LP: #1898005)
  * debian/patches:
    - Refreshed
    - Revert-appDisplay-baseAppView-Cleanup-animate.patch:
      + Revert a 3.38.2 change that proved to cause regressions
    - screenshot-Grab-screenshot-during-paint-on-X11.patch:
      + Correctly take screenshots for fullscreen games (LP: #1908164)
  * Remaining changes with debian:
    - Replace gnome-backgrounds dep with ubuntu-wallpapers and Suggests
      gnome-themes-standard-data, gnome-backgrounds
    - Add some Recommends:
      + ubuntu-session (| gnome-session) to have the ubuntu session available
      + xserver-xorg-legacy
      + yaru-theme-gnome-shell for the default ubuntu theming
    - Update debian/gbp.conf with Ubuntu settings
    - gnome-shell-common.prerm: Remove deprecated ubuntu theme alternative
    - ubuntu/desktop_detect.patch:
      + add caching for desktop detection to avoid querying the current
        desktop env variable as iterate through the list each time. For the
        time of the Shell process, we can expect this env variable to stay
        stable.
    - ubuntu/smarter_alt_tab.patch:
      + quick alt-tab (without showing up the switcher) switch only between
        the last window of the last 2 applications to be focused instead of
        raising all windows of those apps.
    - ubuntu/lightdm-user-switching.patch:
      + Allow user switching when using LightDM.
    - ubuntu/lock_on_suspend.patch
      + Respect Ubuntu's lock-on-suspend setting.
    - ubuntu/background_login.patch
      + Change default background color as we modified the default GDM color
        for our ubuntu session.
    - ubuntu/gdm_alternatives.patch
      + Add support for GDM3 theme alternatives
    - optional-hot-corner.patch
      + enable patch proposed by upstream developer already in package (but
        not in series) to add a settings for optional hot corner activation.
    - main-show-an-error-message-on-gnome-shell-crash.patch,
      global-make-possible-to-set-debug-flags-dynamically.patch,
      main-increase-the-granularity-of-backtraces-in-SHELL_DEBU.patch,
      main-add-backtrace-crashes-all-and-backtrace-all.patch,
      sessionMode-add-support-for-debugFlags-parameter.patch:
      + Improve debug JS tracing for crash reports
    - st-scroll-view-Handle-the-case-where-scrollbars-are-NULL.patch:
      + Fix crash on theme changes
    - ubuntu/search-call-XUbuntuCancel-method-on-providers-when-no-dat.patch:
      + stop searches when requested from UI
    - magnifier-Show-cursor-when-magnifier-is-enabled-and-scale.patch:
      + Show monitor scaled cursor when magnifier is enabled
    - Break gnome-shell-extension-desktop-icons (<< 19.01.3+git20190814)

gnome-shell (3.38.2-1) unstable; urgency=medium

  * Team upload
  * New upstream release
    - Improve app picker spacing on larger resolutions
    - Don't add dialogs to the window preview more than once
    - ...

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Hello Sean, or anyone else affected,

Accepted gnome-shell into groovy-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-shell/3.38.2-1ubuntu1~20.10.1 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested, what testing has been performed on the package and change the tag from verification-needed-groovy to verification-done-groovy. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-groovy. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

[Nikolaj Løbner Sheller (nikolaj-l)]

I have enabled groovy-proposed, and I have not seen this error for 5 ~days.
Previously the problem occurred 2-3 times per day.

This seems to have solved the problem for me.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Looks like a few too many details were copied and pasted from bug 1898005 so I will remove them where appropriate, or inappropriate.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Alright, I've seen two people say the groovy-proposed fix is working.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

It looks fairly likely that https://gitlab.gnome.org/World/ShellExtensions/desktop-icons/-/merge_requests/191 already fixed the only possible root cause of this. I can't be sure because I still can't reproduce it.

Regardless, the related gnome-shell fix should prevent all possible forms of the same mistake from crashing the shell: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/merge_requests/1507

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Actually I am told[1] that the desktop-icons fix does work as expected...

[1] https://gitlab.gnome.org/World/ShellExtensions/desktop-icons/-/issues/220

[Chris Halse Rogers (raof)]

The verification of the Stable Release Update for gnome-shell has completed successfully and the package is now being released to -updates. Subsequently, the Ubuntu Stable Release Updates Team is being unsubscribed and will not receive messages about this bug report. In the event that you encounter a regression using the package from -updates please report a new bug using ubuntu-bug and tag the bug report regression-update so we can easily find any regressions.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package gnome-shell - 3.38.2-1ubuntu1~20.10.1

---------------
gnome-shell (3.38.2-1ubuntu1~20.10.1) groovy; urgency=medium

  * No-change backport to groovy
  * debian: Update gbp.conf and control references to groovy branching

gnome-shell (3.38.2-1ubuntu1) hirsute; urgency=medium

  * Merge with debian, containing new upstream release (LP: #1908161):
    - Fixed crash in meta_window_actor_thaw (LP: #1897765)
    - Fixed crash in st_bin_destroy (LP: #1898005)
  * debian/patches:
    - Refreshed
    - Revert-appDisplay-baseAppView-Cleanup-animate.patch:
      + Revert a 3.38.2 change that proved to cause regressions
    - screenshot-Grab-screenshot-during-paint-on-X11.patch:
      + Correctly take screenshots for fullscreen games (LP: #1908164)
  * Remaining changes with debian:
    - Replace gnome-backgrounds dep with ubuntu-wallpapers and Suggests
      gnome-themes-standard-data, gnome-backgrounds
    - Add some Recommends:
      + ubuntu-session (| gnome-session) to have the ubuntu session available
      + xserver-xorg-legacy
      + yaru-theme-gnome-shell for the default ubuntu theming
    - Update debian/gbp.conf with Ubuntu settings
    - gnome-shell-common.prerm: Remove deprecated ubuntu theme alternative
    - ubuntu/desktop_detect.patch:
      + add caching for desktop detection to avoid querying the current
        desktop env variable as iterate through the list each time. For the
        time of the Shell process, we can expect this env variable to stay
        stable.
    - ubuntu/smarter_alt_tab.patch:
      + quick alt-tab (without showing up the switcher) switch only between
        the last window of the last 2 applications to be focused instead of
        raising all windows of those apps.
    - ubuntu/lightdm-user-switching.patch:
      + Allow user switching when using LightDM.
    - ubuntu/lock_on_suspend.patch
      + Respect Ubuntu's lock-on-suspend setting.
    - ubuntu/background_login.patch
      + Change default background color as we modified the default GDM color
        for our ubuntu session.
    - ubuntu/gdm_alternatives.patch
      + Add support for GDM3 theme alternatives
    - optional-hot-corner.patch
      + enable patch proposed by upstream developer already in package (but
        not in series) to add a settings for optional hot corner activation.
    - main-show-an-error-message-on-gnome-shell-crash.patch,
      global-make-possible-to-set-debug-flags-dynamically.patch,
      main-increase-the-granularity-of-backtraces-in-SHELL_DEBU.patch,
      main-add-backtrace-crashes-all-and-backtrace-all.patch,
      sessionMode-add-support-for-debugFlags-parameter.patch:
      + Improve debug JS tracing for crash reports
    - st-scroll-view-Handle-the-case-where-scrollbars-are-NULL.patch:
      + Fix crash on theme changes
    - ubuntu/search-call-XUbuntuCancel-method-on-providers-when-no-dat.patch:
      + stop searches when requested from UI
    - magnifier-Show-cursor-when-magnifier-is-enabled-and-scale.patch:
      + Show monitor scaled cursor when magnifier is enabled
    - Break gnome-shell-extension-desktop-icons (<< 19.01.3+git20190814)

gnome-shell (3.38.2-1) unstable; urge...

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

gnome-shell-extension-desktop-icons (20.04.0+git20200908-5~ubuntu20.10.0) groovy; urgency=medium

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Hirsute had the fix before impish existed, and they're on the same package version anyway, so fix released in Impish too.