Bug #984785 “.goutputstream files polluting $HOME” : Bugs : lightdm package : Ubuntu

palimmo (palimmo) wrote on 2012-04-18:

#1

Dependencies.txt Edit (5.0 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
usr_lib_nautilus.txt Edit (303 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")

Fabio Marconi (fabiomarconi) wrote on 2012-04-18:

#2

I think that is connected to bug 983059 ,sounding like your hard disk is going bad.
---
Ubuntu Bug Squad volunteer triager
http://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad

Fabio Marconi (fabiomarconi) wrote on 2012-04-18:

#3

oops, i mean bug 795760
---
Ubuntu Bug Squad volunteer triager
http://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad

palimmo (palimmo) wrote on 2012-04-18:

#4

I don't think so.. Several persons have the same problem.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1938825

And.. what do you mean with "sounding like your hard disk is going bad"? Could you explain in the other bug page?
thanks!

Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote on 2012-04-18:

#5

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

Changed in ubuntu:
status:	New → Confirmed

Lucazade (lucazade) wrote on 2012-04-18:

#6

same here, not a hw problem

Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton) wrote on 2012-04-18:

#7

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Freenode.

To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/984785/+editstatus and add the package name in the text box next to the word Package.

[This is an automated message. I apologize if it reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

tags:

added: bot-comment

palimmo (palimmo) on 2012-04-18

affects:

ubuntu → nautilus (Ubuntu)

Daniel Cordeiro (dcordeiro) wrote on 2012-04-19:

#8

What to do when the right package for the bug cannot be easily determined?

I don't known which package causes the bug (I don't think it is nautilus). A comment in the Ubuntu forum [http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=11853341&postcount=13] suggests that it could be caused by gtk-recordmydesktop and file-roller.

palimmo (palimmo) wrote on 2012-04-19:

#9

gtk-recordmydesktop isn't installed on my machine.

bobhuber (bobhuber-tampabay) wrote on 2012-04-19:

#10

gtk-recordmydesktop isn't installed on my machine either. I also am not sure which package is causing this .

Herbert Thielen (thielen) wrote on 2012-04-28:

#11

Seems to have something to do with X11 authorization, maybe lightdm?

$ ls -l .goutputstream-AYQHDW
-rw------- 1 itsme itsme 4201 Apr 27 12:21 .goutputstream-AYQHDW

$ file .goutputstream-AYQHDW
.goutputstream-AYQHDW: X11 Xauthority data

Herbert Thielen (thielen) wrote on 2012-04-28:

#12

Seems not to be caused by lightdm - the files are not created every time during login.

Blümchen Blau (bluemchen-blau) wrote on 2012-05-02:

#13

I suspect Dropbox to be the source of the problem. As recordmydesktop is not installed on my Computer and I do not use fileroller every day, but the files date back to - as far as I can remember - the day I installed the Dropbox-Nautilus-Integration.
Pakage is: nautilus-dropbox 0.7.1-2 from repos.
BB

Franz Schnetzinger (schnetf) wrote on 2012-05-02:

#14

I have the same problem:
.goutputstream-XXXXXX files appear in Nautilus.

I neither have Dropbox, fileroller, nor gtk-recordmydesktop installed.

I noticed the bug today when syncing files via Ubuntu One. When I edit (Gedit) and sync it to my other PC it appears as .goutputstream-XXXXXX file. This also applies to files I had on the computer for some time. They are "renamed" into the described filename.

Daniel Cordeiro (dcordeiro) wrote on 2012-05-02:

#15

Hum, I just saw that all my .goutputstream-* files have exactly 51 bytes.
They all are binary files and:

$ file .goutputstream-XXXXXX
.goutputstream-XXXXXX: X11 Xauthority data

$ strings .goutputstream-XXXXXX:
<my localhostname>
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1

cheribibi (sergebricole) wrote on 2012-05-02:

#16

Same problem: many files .goutputstream -XXXXXX squat my /home.
(Precise Pangolin 64 bit)

The problem disappear (in my case) removing all package UbuntuOne from Synaptic.

Daniel Cordeiro (dcordeiro) wrote on 2012-05-03:

#17

I uninstalled all Ubuntu One packages yesterday and today I have one .goutputstream file on my $HOME. :(

JustinChuTw (justin-chu) wrote on 2012-05-04:

#18

I also have this problem. I begin to notice .goutputstream-* files appearing in /home after upgrading to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Precise Pangolin 32 bit (fresh install). Deleting all of the .goutputstream-* files from /home do not seem to affect my system but they keep reappearing. I do not have gtk-recordmydesktop, fileroller or Dropbox installed on my computer. As suggested in the posts above, I have removed/uninstalled all the Ubuntu One packages, and similar to Daniel, I still have one .goutputstream-* file in /home when I turn on my computer this morning.

cheribibi (sergebricole) wrote on 2012-05-04:

#19

Hey guys,

I confirm: before 3 days of intensive computer use without UbuntuOne, i have now just ONE file .goutputstream- xxxxxx in /home. ( With UbuntuOne installed, in 2-3 days of use, i have easily 10 goutputstream files).

At this point, I think the strategy "Remove Ub.One, Wait and Say" can be to consider.
?

cheribibi (sergebricole) wrote on 2012-05-04:

#20

Edit: sorry for my bad English... Correction of my precedent message: evidently, you have to replace "Before" with "After"

IMBJR (imbjr) wrote on 2012-05-05:

#21

This also affects Thunar not just Nautilus.

Krino Hoogestraat (krino) wrote on 2012-05-06:

#22

Same with me: Affects Thunar (Final Release – Xubuntu 12.04 LTS Precise Pangolin).

Scott Moore (scottbomb) wrote on 2012-05-12:

#23

I second IMBJR (imbjr). I use Xubuntu 12.04. I never saw these in 11.10. My home directory is also polluted with many of these .goutputstream-XXXXXX in Thunar. They also appear in the CLI so it's not a GUI browser problem. I don't know what is creating these but I will investigate. I'm tempted to delete them, yet I'm afraid that if I do, I could break something else that depends upon them.

Scott Moore (scottbomb) wrote on 2012-05-12:

#24

They are data files of some kind. Not viewable in a text editor.

JustinChuTw (justin-chu) wrote on 2012-05-12:

#25

After removing/uninstalling all Ubuntu One packages as suggested by cheribibi and Daniel in posts #16 and #17 respectively, I now see only one new .goutputstream-* file in my /home every morning when I turn on my computer. The Properties of all my .goutputstream-* files show that their size is 0 bytes and opening the files with gedit show that they are blank. I have moved my .goutputstream-* files to Trash, kept them there for a couple of days, then deleted them and it does not appear to have any affect on the normal performance of my system.

Hope someone who is familiar with Ubuntu ... and its variants ... will look into this problem as it is quite frustrating to see these apparently useless files appearing everyday.

Karolis (reklamukibiras) wrote on 2012-05-12:

#26

nautilus/thunar/terminal .... doesn't matter where you view it. it does not affect nautilus as currently states. more like systemic ubuntu stuff here

i don't have dropbox, file roller, ubuntu one, nautilus (thunar for me).

`ls -al | grep goutput` gives me this:
-rw------- 1 mdm mdm 51 May 9 16:34 .goutputstream-2KCWDW
-rw------- 1 mdm mdm 51 May 10 20:39 .goutputstream-AVK3DW
-rw------- 1 mdm mdm 51 May 10 02:45 .goutputstream-CAJ7DW
-rw------- 1 mdm mdm 51 May 7 00:22 .goutputstream-EXDSDW
-rw------- 1 mdm mdm 51 May 6 19:44 .goutputstream-FV9TDW
-rw------- 1 mdm mdm 51 May 10 04:28 .goutputstream-GZZYDW
-rw------- 1 mdm mdm 51 May 11 14:52 .goutputstream-L6OUDW
-rw------- 1 mdm mdm 51 May 9 15:57 .goutputstream-ODM4DW
-rw------- 1 mdm mdm 51 May 8 14:25 .goutputstream-RYD1DW
which seems a lot like my computers startup times.. (or was it shutdowns?, i'll check it sometime..)

if i run `strings` on any file i get:
<hostname>
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
sg]|

all the three lines are the same for all files. I would notice the "DW" on the end of each file name. does it have something to do with "doubleword"?
before finding this bug report i was blaming gstreamer for making these files, now i'm in doubt. i've had it all the time 12.04, beta 12.04 and 11.10, running xubuntu, can't remember about ubuntu

Karolis (reklamukibiras) wrote on 2012-05-12:

#27

ok so i checked it with a stopwatch and it seems that upon confirmation of shutdown the file is being created

Karolis (reklamukibiras) wrote on 2012-05-12:

#28

really sorry for tripleposting, but on the fly bug research lead me to this:

the bug is related to "X Window authorization" or "xauth"
according to wikipedia a cookie based access:
"These cookies are created by a separate program and stored in the file .Xauthority in the user's home directory, by default."
if i run `strings .Xauthority` i get almost the same as in .goutputstream*DW:
<3 identical lines (check two posts up)>
<2 lines that repeats the first two>

question remains - how do these .Xauthority get's partially duplicated into bunch of .goutputstream* on every shutdown?

Karolis (reklamukibiras) on 2012-05-12

affects:

nautilus (Ubuntu) → xauth (Ubuntu)

Karolis (reklamukibiras) on 2012-05-12

description:

updated

JustinChuTw (justin-chu) wrote on 2012-05-13:

#29

Please refer to this post in Ubuntu Forums [ http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?s=1d2ac9348c57a7d3aad06a89da3f0be9&t=1973925&highlight=.goutputstream ].

I followed the advise given in Post #5 of the above by logging out before re-starting or shutting down my computer and .goutputstream-* files stop appearing when I start my computer this morning.

Sebastien Bacher (seb128) wrote on 2012-05-14:

#30

reassigning to nautilus, it's not likely an xauth issue, rathr a GNOME one (though not likely nautilus itself)

Changed in xauth (Ubuntu):
importance:	Undecided → Low
affects:	xauth (Ubuntu) → nautilus (Ubuntu)
Changed in nautilus (Ubuntu Precise):
status:	New → Confirmed
importance:	Undecided → Low
milestone:	none → precise-updates

Mark Rowland (mrowland) wrote on 2012-05-16:

#31

Google shows instances of this bug going back to at least 2009. I had 19 of these files covering the first 13 days of May, starting when I installed Pangolin and ending when I installed Mint 12/Cinnamon to overcome an intractable printer problem. In my case all 19 files were zero bytes.

Daniel Cordeiro (dcordeiro) wrote on 2012-05-16:

#32

I have been using Ubuntu for several years (and on several machines) and never had this problem before.

dginsd (davidgardenhire) wrote on 2012-05-20:

#33

I have the same issue as everyone else, nothing much else to add. I don't recall these being generated in prior Ubuntu versions.

Just a thought since others have suggested removing Ubuntu one solves the problem and others that logging out before shutdown does. It would seem something needs to be changed with how shutdown stops U1. Just a thought.

mazurkin (mazurkin) wrote on 2012-05-21:

#34

I see no any .goutputstream files any more. I did nothing just installed all pending updates.

Dennis Baurichter (d-baurichter) wrote on 2012-05-21:

#35

ps-log.sh Edit (219 bytes, text/x-sh)

Summary of previous comments:
- blank files (#25, #31) or partial copies of .Xauthority (#11, #15, #26 / #28, mine too)
- in Ubuntu and Xubuntu (files shown by Nautilus, Thunar and ls; no file manager problem)
- created on direct shutdown (but not logout -> shutdown)

Workaround: put 'sh -c "rm ~/.goutputstream-*"' (without the single quotes) into autorun

My Software:
- Ubuntu 12.04 amd64 (up-to-date)
- file-roller installed but usually not running (also not running on shutdown: see below)
- No gtk-recordmydesktop, Dropbox or UbuntuOne.

I tried to find out which software is creating these files. I used (e.g.) inotifywait (package inotify-tools) and lsof, but it didn't work out. Probably the .goutputstream-* files are open only very short (too short for my script to catch it although run with niceness -19).

Then I simply logged all processes running with my UID (1000) in an endless loop (i.e. until the script was terminated because of shutdown). I'll attach the script and its shortened output (removed duplicate blocks with no changes in process list and many blocks at the beginning).

The output also contains a line stating "FILE CREATED!!!" when the ~/.goutputstream-* file is created. Just before / after this gnome-session quits and lightdm is started by UID 1000 (not root as usual). I don't know, why it is started, but it is also the next process which quits.

lightdm also uses the ~/.Xauthority file. See
strings `which lightdm` | grep -iE 'output|xauth'
and the source code of lightdm:
grep -ri xauthority /path/to/source/of/lightdm-1.2.1/src/

lightdm is used by Ubuntu and Xubuntu, but not Kubuntu. This fits to the previous comments.

Maybe also related: GIO (part of glib)
http://developer.gnome.org/gio/2.30/GOutputStream.html

Get own processes using this:
ps -o comm= -U 1000 -u 1000 | while read cmd; do file=$(which "$cmd") || file=$(locate -b "$cmd*"); strings -af $file | grep -E ': g.*output.*stream'; done > search.out

I assume it's a problem with lightdm, but I can't fix it. I hope my information helps.

Dennis Baurichter (d-baurichter) wrote on 2012-05-21:

#36

ps-log.out.shortened Edit (9.7 KiB, text/plain)

Sebastien Bacher (seb128) wrote on 2012-05-21:

#37

Thank you for the debug work those informations seem useful indeed ... is that specific to one of the lightdm greeters?

> Just before / after this gnome-session quits and lightdm is started by UID 1000 (not root as usual). I don't know, why it is started, but it is also the next process which quits.

do you mean that it happens at logout?

Dennis Baurichter (d-baurichter) wrote on 2012-05-21:

#38

> is that specific to one of the lightdm greeters?

I don't know if it's specific to unity-greeter. Maybe an Xfce / LXDE user can try the script I attached. There are also some Xubuntu users which commented on this bug.

For those who want to try my script: You should start it only just before requesting shutdown or restart. It produces a lot of output into the logfile (more time -> more output).

> do you mean that it happens at logout?

It happened on shutdown. It seems that makes a difference here (between logout and shutdown I mean; see comment #29).

I did this:
- rm ~/.goutputstream-*
- start ps-log.sh: sudo -b nice -n -19 sh ./ps-log.sh
- start gnome-session-quit --power-off and click on "Shutdown" (This should be the same as top-right button in Unity -> Shutdown -> Shutdown.)

After restarting my computer I looked into ps-log.out:
...
COMMAND
gnome-session
...
FILE CREATED!!! <-- This is the point where my script first sees an ~/.goutputstream-* file.
COMMAND
lightdm
...

Karolis (reklamukibiras) wrote on 2012-05-21:

#39

very nice Dennis ;)
definitely not specific to unity-greeter. xfce4-session on xubuntu12.04 produces this from Dennis script:
http://paste.ubuntu.com/999606/
really don't have the time now to dig into this but i'll check back with it later in more detail

Dennis Baurichter (d-baurichter) wrote on 2012-05-21:

#40

Shortened version of Karolis's log Edit (3.9 KiB, text/plain)

Thank you Karolis! I downloaded your file and merged the duplicate blocks (search + replace). It's 330 lines now, instead of 3900.

Here are the diffs:
$ diff PART1 PART2
2c2
< sh
---
> lightdm # LightDM start
$ diff PART2 PART3 # "FILE CREATED!!!" is between these two (empty diff)
$ diff PART3 PART4
2d1
< lightdm # LightDM end
$ diff PART4 PART5
5d4
< xfconfd
11d9
< xfsettingsd
14d11
< gvfsd
$ diff PART5 PART6
7d6
< xfwm4
# ... and so on (only processes quitting or becoming "<defunct>" and then quitting)

When I ran my script lightdm appeared right after "FILE CREATED!!!", but it probably spawned a bit earlier, i.e. right before .goutputstream-* is created. It was also the first process to quit after the creation of .goutputstream-*.

Now, in a Xfce session, we have lightdm spawning right before .goutputstream-* is created and quitting afterwards again.

It's not a proof, but an indication.

And I have no clue why it is started (by user 1000!) at all ...
Anybody else?

Sebastien Bacher (seb128) on 2012-05-23

affects:	nautilus (Ubuntu) → lightdm (Ubuntu)
Changed in lightdm (Ubuntu Precise):
assignee:	nobody → Robert Ancell (robert-ancell)

Sathish (ssathishkumar-deactivatedaccount) on 2012-07-19

security vulnerability:

no → yes

Sathish (ssathishkumar-deactivatedaccount) on 2012-07-19

security vulnerability:	yes → no
visibility:	public → private

Sathish (ssathishkumar-deactivatedaccount) on 2012-07-19

visibility:

private → public

Bug Watch Updater (bug-watch-updater) on 2012-08-06

Changed in glib:
importance:	Unknown → Low
status:	Unknown → New

Andrea Corbellini (andrea.corbellini) on 2012-09-21

Changed in glib2.0 (Ubuntu):
importance:	Undecided → Low
Changed in glib2.0 (Ubuntu Precise):
importance:	Undecided → Low

Launchpad Janitor (janitor) on 2012-09-22

Changed in glib2.0 (Ubuntu Precise):
status:	New → Confirmed
Changed in glib2.0 (Ubuntu):
status:	New → Confirmed

Daniel Cordeiro (dcordeiro) on 2012-10-18

tags:

added: quantal

Alan (alanjas) on 2012-11-05

tags:

added: raring

Steve Sauls (steve.sauls) wrote on 2012-12-01:

#99

I have the same issue and I have a brand new Lenovo laptop with a fresh install of 12.10 on it. I just deleted all of my .goutputstream-* files and I am going to watch it to see if I can determine when they are created. So this is not a hardware problem or 3rd party software issues. It is happening with a clean install on a new laptop.

actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) wrote on 2012-12-01:

#100

Happens in Raring too. I have a command in /etc/rc.local to run:

rm /home/andy/.goutputstream-*

each boot

N1ck 7h0m4d4k15 (nick-athens30) wrote on 2012-12-01: Re: [Bug 984785] Re: .goutputstream files polluting $HOME

#101

On 12/01/2012 07:39 PM, actionparsnip wrote:
> Happens in Raring too. I have a command in /etc/rc.local to run:
>
> rm /home/andy/.goutputstream-*
>
> each boot
>

@actionparsnip , I have the same command at my start-up applications (no
rc.local needed as no root privileges needed to remove these files)

Bug Watch Updater (bug-watch-updater) on 2012-12-10

Changed in glib:
status:	New → Fix Released

Sebastien Bacher (seb128) wrote on 2012-12-11:

#102

upstream commited a fix to git if somebody wants to try the change:
http://git.gnome.org/browse/glib/commit/?id=afdb2abb13896a3d5caecabd2f7158e8047f9956

Changed in lightdm (Ubuntu Precise):
assignee:	Robert Ancell (robert-ancell) → nobody
Changed in lightdm (Ubuntu):
status:	Confirmed → Invalid
Changed in lightdm (Ubuntu Precise):
status:	Confirmed → Invalid
Changed in glib2.0 (Ubuntu):
status:	Confirmed → Fix Committed
Changed in glib2.0 (Ubuntu Precise):
status:	Confirmed → Triaged

3r0s (36notes) wrote on 2012-12-13:

#103

These .goutputstream-xxx files get created everytime Ubuntu 12.04 shuts down or starts up.

I tried to fresh install several Ubuntu 12.04 flavors on several laptops and desktops to check this behavior, and it happens with ALL distros based on Ubuntu (Kubuntu, Xubuntu, UbuntuStudio, Mint, etc.).

I noticed that every time there is a file write activity, a temporary .goutputstream-xxx is created in the folder where this file write activity accours.

Say i copy a file from ~/Downloads to ~/Documents, in the ~/Documents folder there is a temporary .goutputstream-xxx file created which gets automatically deleted when the copy action finishes.

In the $HOME folder seems that these temporary .goutputstream-xxx files are not cleaned up when the Ubuntu system starts up or shuts down.

I normally run a start up script that automatically deletes these .goutputstream-xxx files in my $HOME, but it would be better if the bug that causes this is fixed.

This only happens in *buntu 12.04 not earlier.

I haven't tried 12.10.

Federico Gazaba (federico-gazaba-6) wrote on 2013-01-26:

#104

Have the same issue. All the files have 0 bytes but also contains "1" text inside. Date of creation seems to be same as shutdown. Affects me in two computers.

Nicolas M. (nicolas-m-le-zer0) wrote on 2013-02-27:

#105

As reported before, all the “.goutputstream-xxxxxx” files are temporary files that GLib uses in file write activities. However, these buffer files aren't deleted when an operation was cancelled. Currently, a fix was committed for this bug (see #104).

Now, let's focus on the other part of the problem. On every session close, LightDM needs to clean ~/.Xauthority. According to #28, there can be lines in .Xauthority that shouldn't be erased, though the last line seems to stand for the current session and should be deleted when the session is closed. I don't know well how it works, but some process (most likely XAuth) is called to remove the last cookie of .Xauthority. It works fine when you only close your session, but when you shutdown from an open session, it looks like LightDM doesn't take time to close it properly before shutting the whole system down. o_O

That results in a “.goutputstream-xxxxxx” containing all the ”permanent” cookies of .Xauthority. If you delete .Xauthority, these permanent cookies will disappear, so you will only get null-sized “.goutputstream-xxxxxx”... and a much lighter .Xauthority on next reboot. ;-) And it seems to cause no other problems, according to http://forum.ubuntu-fr.org/viewtopic.php?pid=11588001#p11588001

cousteau (cousteaulecommandant) wrote on 2013-02-28:

#106

Shouldn't temporary files be created in /tmp rather than $HOME?

Paddy Landau (paddy-landau) wrote on 2013-02-28:

#107

@cousteaulecommandant — "Shouldn't temporary files be created in /tmp rather than $HOME?"

That depends on whether the contents are potentially private. As this is related to .Xauthority, according to nicolas-m-le-zer0, these files should go to the user's home folder.

rpr nospam (rpr-nospam) wrote on 2013-02-28:

#108

@paddy-landau: Every application that writes to /tmp can change permissions of the files in order to limit access only to the owner of the files. Log on to Ubuntu as a guest and you'll find the complete user's home directory in the /tmp/guest-* directory.

@nicolas-m-le-zer0: You probable meant to say that comment #102 mentioned a bug fix.

Paddy Landau (paddy-landau) wrote on 2013-02-28:

#109

@rpr-nospam — thanks for the clarification. I am aware of the permissions ability, but it is further improved if the user uses encryption on his home folder. Anyway, that is probably suitable for a separate discussion.

Regarding comment #105 by @nicolas-m-le-zer0, I have been automatically removing .Xauthority (via a logout script) when logging out since I read that comment. Unfortunately, it did not solve the problem. The .goutputstream* files were still being created and left in the home folder. I have reverted to deleting the .goutputstream* files in the logout script.

Markus Klyver (markusklyver) wrote on 2013-03-17:

#110

Hmm...
root@XXX:~# ls -al|fgrep '.goutput'
-rw------- 1 markus markus 0 mar 7 23:54 .goutputstream-7M8PTW
-rw------- 1 markus markus 0 feb 20 22:55 .goutputstream-8BCVSW
-rw------- 1 markus markus 0 mar 11 00:21 .goutputstream-8C5ATW
-rw------- 1 markus markus 0 feb 20 15:00 .goutputstream-C4UOSW
-rw------- 1 markus markus 0 feb 22 00:02 .goutputstream-CGHSSW
-rw------- 1 markus markus 0 mar 10 20:15 .goutputstream-ELRLTW
-rw------- 1 markus markus 0 feb 23 00:43 .goutputstream-GA4QSW
-rw------- 1 markus markus 0 feb 25 00:00 .goutputstream-SPC6SW
-rw------- 1 markus markus 0 feb 20 20:34 .goutputstream-UOW5SW
-rw------- 1 markus markus 0 feb 20 18:05 .goutputstream-UV7NSW
-rw------- 1 markus markus 0 feb 20 18:26 .goutputstream-WC24SW
root@XXX:~# file .goutputstream-*
.goutputstream-7M8PTW: empty
.goutputstream-8BCVSW: empty
.goutputstream-8C5ATW: empty
.goutputstream-C4UOSW: empty
.goutputstream-CGHSSW: empty
.goutputstream-ELRLTW: empty
.goutputstream-GA4QSW: empty
.goutputstream-SPC6SW: empty
.goutputstream-UOW5SW: empty
.goutputstream-UV7NSW: empty
.goutputstream-WC24SW: empty

Why empty files?

benditoelqueviene (quasar1970) wrote on 2013-03-18:

#111

Same problem in Aspire 5920G with Precise 32-bit with 3.2.0-39-generic-pae, all its packages updated. Unity 2D breaks frecuently. I use Grub customizer and have to change configuration with each kernell update.

Dabo Ross (daboross) wrote on 2013-04-02:

#112

I get these a lot with ubuntu 12.10, though they aren't really a problem as I have a script run with crontab to delete them on boot
`@reboot rm ~/.goutputstream-*`
in `crontab -e`.
It has something to do with file management, I think.
just speculating, but because everyone who has these have them with some process that edits files, like Ubuntu one/dropbox, or when booting up/shutting down. What if the process that creates goutputstream for changing files hasn't fully loaded or is shut down in the middle of an operation? (just speculating).

Russian redneck (otaku-8) wrote on 2013-04-20:

#113

IMHO making all "Shutdown" buttons in various *DEs work like "Logout then shutdown" can workaround or even fix many bugs including this one, especially for linux newbies. But it's a task of *DEs developers, not only Ubuntu/Unity ones.
Excuse me if i'm spamming.

Karolis (reklamukibiras) wrote on 2013-04-20:

#114

For a while I thought this bug has been solved, but here I am looking at my $HOME forlder again. And what I see:

-rw------- 1 root root 103 Apr 20 10:39 .Xauthority
-rw-rw-r-- 1 user user 52 Apr 10 00:57 .Xauthority.2259UW

Now what is that second one? Reminds me of good old '.goutputstream-2259UW'. Even size is the same 52bytes, even `strings .Xauthority.2259UW` shows the same:

localhost-pc
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1

One eye on strangeness, though i can't recall my actions on that timestamp

geezanansa (geezanansa-ubuntu) wrote on 2013-04-25:

#115

Since installing 12.10 have noticed that a warning box indicates a process is not shutting down as quickly as it should be ref signon-ui at shutdown time. This could be related to the use of Ubuntu One sign in with relation to the Backup app. If Backup is closed from desktop session an Ubuntu One sign in box appears.
After noticing the hidden goutputstream files and doing a websearch then looking here it appears there is no definite cause to this happening. Reading comment #33 did motivate me to note my own observations but do not have programming experience to help identify what is the actual cause of the goutputstream files in home folder. Ref https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/lightdm/+bug/984785/comments/33 Have noticed these hidden files but did not see them as problem until reading some of the comments here referring to this possibly being a security issue.

t0m5k1 (tom-tomsbox) wrote on 2013-05-16:

#116

ok I seem to have made some head way on this & I think this file is definitely created by a bug within xauth:

┌─(t0m5k1@b0x)-(1221/pts/1)-(10:59am:16/05/13)-
└─>(%:~)
└─>> la | grep '.goutputstream-*' && strings .goutputstream-*
-rw------- 1 t0m5k1 users 44 Sep 13 2012 .goutputstream-14KUKW
-rw------- 1 t0m5k1 users 44 Sep 25 2012 .goutputstream-2BUBLW
-rw------- 1 t0m5k1 users 0 Apr 14 2012 .goutputstream-2PZXCW
-rw------- 1 t0m5k1 users 44 Sep 13 2012 .goutputstream-3MGKKW
-rw------- 1 t0m5k1 users 44 Dec 13 00:01 .goutputstream-3Q8BPW
-rw------- 1 t0m5k1 users 44 Feb 28 15:55 .goutputstream-5GBPSW
-rw------- 1 t0m5k1 users 44 Mar 9 01:15 .goutputstream-BPSMTW
-rw------- 1 t0m5k1 users 44 Aug 29 2012 .goutputstream-BY59IW
-rw------- 1 t0m5k1 users 44 Feb 19 23:55 .goutputstream-CJI2SW
-rw------- 1 t0m5k1 users 44 Mar 3 00:30 .goutputstream-EDXHTW
-rw------- 1 t0m5k1 users 44 Apr 20 15:05 .goutputstream-HL66VW
-rw------- 1 t0m5k1 users 44 Dec 15 11:08 .goutputstream-N0KDPW
-rw------- 1 t0m5k1 users 44 Dec 15 11:20 .goutputstream-X56DPW
-rw------- 1 t0m5k1 users 44 Nov 4 2012 .goutputstream-XG3ENW
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
MTVG
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1

┌─(t0m5k1@b0x)-(1223/pts/1)-(11:02am:16/05/13)-
└─>(%:~)
└─>> man xauth
<snip>
generate displayname protocolname [trusted|untrusted]
[timeout seconds] [group group-id] [data hexdata]

               This command is similar to add. The main difference is that instead of requiring the user to supply the key data, it connects to the server specified in displayname and uses the
               SECURITY extension in order to get the key data to store in the authorization file. If the server cannot be contacted or if it does not support the SECURITY extension, the command
               fails. Otherwise, an authorization entry for the indicated display using the given protocol is added to the authorization file. A protocol name consisting of just a single period
               is treated as an abbreviation for MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1.
<snip>
EXAMPLE
       The most common use for xauth is to extract the entry for the current display, copy it to another machine, and merge it into the user's authority file on the remote machine:

% xauth extract - $DISPLAY | ssh otherhost xauth merge -

       The following command contacts the server :0 to create an authorization using the MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 protocol. Clients that connect with this authorization will be untrusted.
            % xauth generate :0 .
<snip>
BUGS
       Users that have unsecure networks should take care to use encrypted file transfer mechanisms to copy authorization entries between machines. Similarly, the MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 protocol is
       not very useful in unsecure environments. Sites that are interested in additional security may need to use encrypted authorization mechanisms such as Kerberos.

moko138 (tfjb321) wrote on 2013-05-17:

#117

Hello,
I also have.goutputstream files polluting $HOME.
But I don't use amd64 nor lightdm.
I use Lucid ubuntu 10.04-4 with gdm
Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 1400MHz
Let's tell me which other informations could be useful.
Thanks

moko138 (tfjb321) wrote on 2013-05-17:

#118

I have to add this : I mostly have .goutputstream files also in my FAT32 personal data partition. Their content is
sometimes an intentionally pasted text (Ctrl C, Ctrl V),
sometimes a small part of a bigger txt file, but with no use of (Ctrl C, Ctrl V).

moko138 (tfjb321) wrote on 2013-05-17:

#119

I discovered how to reproduce the bug with Gedit and Firefox :
- Create a text file, and save it with this encoding type :
"Occidental (ISO-8859-15)"
- Type several lines in it. Save it again.
- Go to a web page with a certain encoding, UTF8 compatible, but not compatible with "Occidental (ISO-8859-15)".
- Copy a few lines including, for instance, go-to-note, or (french) "puce" (you know, that sort of symbol you can put, instead of a number or a letter, at the beginning of a line or of a paragraph, when listing items). (Sorry for my rusty english and the lack of precision).
-5) Then go back to your text file : paste the formerly copied lines from the web page, but NOT at the beginning.
- Have a look at the clock on your pc, memorize the time. Try to save your file : you get normally an error message, pointing the different encoding types. (You could save the copied text if you created for it a new UTF8 encoded file. It is not necessary for this experience.)

Here you are ! the new .goutputstream-XYZ123 file already exists, not empty.
- Gedit, "open file", and you can see, in the dialog box, your new .goutputstream-XYZ123 file, dated when you tried unsuccessfully to save your txt file.
- If you open it, you'll find only the first "Occidental (ISO-8859-15)" lines of your file, but not the end : the saving stopped when encountering different encoding.
In order to get a 0 ko .goutputstream-XYZ123 file, just do the same process, but, at the 5th step, paste at the very beginning.

moko138 (tfjb321) wrote on 2013-05-17:

#120

I made a small mistake in my #119 comment :
if I paste at the very beginning of the Occidental (ISO-8859-15) file, I do NOT get an empty file : my .goutputstream-XYZ123 contains the pasted text. I can't get intentionally an empty file.

And one more time, I got this with a 32 bits Pentium M processor, GDM and Ubuntu 10.04 4.

Robert Ancell (robert-ancell) on 2013-06-07

Changed in lightdm:
status:	New → Triaged
importance:	Undecided → Medium

PS Jenkins bot (ps-jenkins) wrote on 2013-06-10:

#121

Fix committed into lp:lightdm at revision 1675, scheduled for release in lightdm, milestone Unknown

Changed in lightdm:
status:	Triaged → Fix Committed

Robert Ancell (robert-ancell) on 2013-06-17

Changed in lightdm:
milestone:	none → 1.7.1
status:	Fix Committed → Fix Released

Andrea (sammybuca) wrote on 2013-07-14:

#122

Hi, I have same bug. A new .goutputstream-xxx is created at every shutdown of PC.
I use gnome-panel on ubuntu 12.04 64 bit. Any suggestions?

Andrea (sammybuca) wrote on 2013-07-14:

#123

I have fixed the problem, simply unistalling dropbox..... I hope this can help someone else..

Forest (foresto) wrote on 2013-07-14:

#124

Ubuntu
lightdm package

.goutputstream files polluting $HOME

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Ubuntulightdm package

.goutputstream files polluting $HOME

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Ubuntu
lightdm package