mplayer blocks on dcop for several seconds at startup

[Bryan Donlan]

Binary package hint: mplayer

mplayer (2:1.0~rc2-0ubuntu17) executes the following command and blocks on it at startup:
 sh -c dcop kdesktop KScreensaverIface isEnabled 2>/dev/null | sed 's/1/true/g' | grep true 2>/dev/null >/dev/null

However, if KDE is not in use, dcop spends several seconds polling the (nonexistent) socket:
uname({sys="Linux", node="rika", ...}) = 0
connect(3, {sa_family=AF_FILE, path="/tmp/.ICE-unix/dcop6909-1223596270"}, 37) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
close(3) = 0
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, [CHLD], [], 8) = 0
rt_sigaction(SIGCHLD, NULL, {SIG_DFL}, 8) = 0
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_SETMASK, [], NULL, 8) = 0
nanosleep({1, 0}, {1, 0}) = 0
socket(PF_FILE, SOCK_STREAM, 0) = 3
uname({sys="Linux", node="rika", ...}) = 0
connect(3, {sa_family=AF_FILE, path="/tmp/.ICE-unix/dcop6909-1223596270"}, 37) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
close(3) = 0
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, [CHLD], [], 8) = 0
rt_sigaction(SIGCHLD, NULL, {SIG_DFL}, 8) = 0
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_SETMASK, [], NULL, 8) = 0
[loop]

Because of this, mplayer startup is delayed by several seconds.

mplayer should either not block on dcop (ie, handle it asynchronously), or at least offer a config option to disable kscreensaver integration. Alternately, dcop should offer a no-retry option, and mplayer should make use of said option.

This is a regression from hardy, in which mplayer startup was essentially instantaneous.

Also note that running dcopserver is a usable workaround for this problem, but the root cause should be fixed.

[Bryan Donlan (bdonlan)]

Added kdelibs4c2a (4:3.5.10-0ubuntu6) as this dcop polling/retry behavior may be a regression(?) from hardy.