python-visual seg faults even in simple test cases
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
python-visual (Ubuntu) |
New
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned | ||
Bug Description
Binary package hint: python-visual
Test case 1:
Observed outcome
~ $python
Python 2.6.2 (release26-maint, Apr 19 2009, 01:58:18)
[GCC 4.3.3] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> from visual import *
>>> v = vector('x')
Segmentation fault
Expected outcome (output from 8.04.3)
u9@test:~$ python
Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Jul 31 2008, 17:31:22)
[GCC 4.2.3 (Ubuntu 4.2.3-2ubuntu7)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> from visual import *
>>> v = vector('x')
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ValueError: Vectors must be constructed from sequences of 2 or 3 float members.
>>>
Test case 2:
Observed outcome
~ $python
Python 2.6.2 (release26-maint, Apr 19 2009, 01:58:18)
[GCC 4.3.3] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> from visual import *
>>> v=vector(1,2,3)
>>> for i in v:
... print i
...
1.0
2.0
3.0
Segmentation fault
Expected outcome (output from 8.04.3)
u9@test:~$ python
Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911, Jul 31 2008, 17:31:22)
[GCC 4.2.3 (Ubuntu 4.2.3-2ubuntu7)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> from visual import *
>>> v=vector(1,2,3)
>>> for i in v:
... print i
...
1.0
2.0
3.0
>>>
Ubuntu releases tested:
Error occurs on 9.04 32bit, 9.04 64bit,, 8.10 64bit
Error does not occur on 8.04 32bit, 8.04 64bit
Not tested 8.10 32bit
How to reproduce:
Clean install from CD
aptitude update
aptitude safe-upgrade (this step is optional, has no effect on outcome, positive or negative)
aptitude install python-visual
(Important! Do not activate proprietary graphics driver.)
run test as shown above
What happens if one activates proprietary graphics driver (For these tests I used the menu option to install the drivers):
No change with ATI/AMD graphics cards. Errors (seg faults) occur exactly the same as without the proprietary graphics driver.
With Nvidia graphics cards test 1 and 2 do not seg fault.
Reproducibility (hardware tested):
6 different computers (2xnvidia graphics, 4x ATI/AMD graphics) 1 Dell, 1 Dell laptop, 1 Lenovo laptop, 3 different custom builds.
A third test case has slightly different behavior:
Test case 3:
Observed outcome
~ $python
Python 2.6.2 (release26-maint, Apr 19 2009, 01:58:18)
[GCC 4.3.3] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> from visual import *
>>> quit()
Segmentation fault
Expected outcome:
~ $python
Python 2.6.2 (release26-maint, Apr 19 2009, 01:58:18)
[GCC 4.3.3] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> from visual import *
>>> quit()
~ $
Test case 3 works on 8.04.3 AND 8.10, but fails on 9.04. Unlike test case 1 and 2 installing proprietary graphics drivers on systems with nvidia graphics does not change the negative outcome.
This last error is less severe than the first two, because it happens when exciting the python interpreter. Still it is very annoying.
Additional remarks:
Same behavior for new upstream version (5.12_release), compiled from source.
python-visual is used heavily with novice programmers and a seg fault instead of an error message for a simple syntax error is deadly.
python-visual on debian lenny works on all tested hardware.
Same problem with Ubuntu 9.10 and Python 2.6.4 and python-visual! What to do?
Thanks!