synergys interfering with gnome panel window list

[James Wylder]

Binary package hint: synergy

I am running karmic, with synergys on my server. ATI opensource. Without synergy running the window list panel responds normally but once I start synergy, the panel seems to be loosing mouse clicks. If I have focus on the desktop, and then click a button on the panel, it works, but then if I directly select another button on the panel, without first clicking outside of the panel, nothing happens. If I click on the desktop in between selections it works normally.

Jim

[Francisco Villar (villarf)]

Also affects synergy+:
http://code.google.com/p/synergy-plus/issues/detail?id=281#c1

[Palli (pallipp)]

It's very annoying - I'm also affected by this bug.
Firstly I've thought it's a bug in quicksynergy, but when I run 'synergys' (with really basic config file) it's acting the same way.

I'm using:

Ubuntu 9.10, Karmic Koala,
nVidia proprietary drivers,
Synergy 1.3.1-6ubuntu1,
quicksynergy 0.9-1,
gnome-panel 1:2.28.0-0ubuntu6.

[Jorge Castro (jorge)]

Confirming (Palli feel free to mark a bug "Confirmed" if you are affected so that the bug gets triaged, thanks!)

[Goran Zec (zecg)]

I also have it with synergy-plus, Ubuntu 9.10.

[ScoobyDog_DE (scoobydog)]

Hello,

I have this problem too, if I get down with the Mouse to die screenground, the DEBUG2 tell me this.

Ubuntu 9.10 Updatestate 05.12.2009
Screen Dimention 1920x1200
Dec 5 17:16:43 xxx Synergy 1.3.1: DEBUG2: CXWindowsScreen.cpp,1435: event: MotionNotify 1739,1199
Dec 5 17:16:43 xxx Synergy 1.3.1: DEBUG2: CServer.cpp,1585: onMouseMovePrimary 1739,1199
Dec 5 17:16:43 xxx Synergy 1.3.1: DEBUG2: CServer.cpp,583: find neighbor on down of "xxx"
Dec 5 17:16:43 xxx Synergy 1.3.1: DEBUG2: CServer.cpp,598: no neighbor on down of "xxx"
Dec 5 17:16:43 xxx Synergy 1.3.1: DEBUG1: CServer.cpp,780: try to leave "xxx" on down
Dec 5 17:16:43 xxx Synergy 1.3.1: DEBUG1: CServer.cpp,786: no neighbor down

If I go down to the screenground and move the mouse to left or right, then I can't activate a window. In 80% I have this error.

If I go down to the screengrond whithout moving left or right, I can most activiate the window.

[ScoobyDog_DE (scoobydog)]

Hi,

today I get the newest Updates from Ubuntu 9.10 x64, in the last 20min. I have no Problem with the panel.

good work.

greetings from Bremen/Germany

[James Wylder (jim.wylder)]

I just updated and am seeing no change in the behavior.

[ScoobyDog_DE (scoobydog)]

hmm,

after second Reboot, the Bug ist back. :-(

[jenhsun (jenhsun)]

I have the same problem between synergy and synergy+. Initially I thought it's gnome-panel problem, ha.

[Petr Vandrovec (petr-vmware)]

Attached is hack I've applied to my synergys (from debian, 1.3.1-6).

Unfortunately task list does not have any name, so I had to filter out everything below '* Expanded Edge Panel' - so if there are other screens on edges where your panel lives, either move mouse through places where no applet lives on your panel, or change 'Expanded Edge Panel' to something more specific to select only panel with tasklist, like 'Bottom Expanded Edge Panel'...

Petr

[Petr Vandrovec (petr-vmware)]

And now when taskbar works I've noticed that problem is much more widespread: apparently all Gtk::Button instances are affected, so for example VMware Workstation user interface can be controlled only through menus - toolbars work like task list did, and buttons in summary do not work at all :-(

[Nikola Kotur (kotnik)]

Also affected.

I noticed that this happens to me only when there are no clients connected to synergy.

[Palli (pallipp)]

I'm affected just after running synergy server (doesn't matter if there are clients connected or not).

After Petr comment, I'm wondering if it might be related to this bug:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gtk+2.0/+bug/442078

Cheers.

[Petr Vandrovec (petr-vmware)]

You are THE MAN! Set GDK_NATIVE_WINDOWS=true in the environment, and everything works like it did before. Thanks!

[Francisco Villar (villarf)]

@Petr: where exactly did you set the variable?

[Petr Vandrovec (petr-vmware)]

On command line, before starting X. If you are using gdm/kdm, adding file /etc/X11/Xsession.d/85fixsynergy with contents:

# -*- sh -*-
GDK_NATIVE_WINDOWS=true
export GDK_NATIVE_WINDOWS

could do the trick. Or - for one-time testing - you can do that in your xterm, and then kill & restart problematic applications (namely gnome-panel) from that shell.

[Francisco Villar (villarf)]

Both workarounds did not work for me :-(

[James Wylder (jim.wylder)]

The GDK_NATIVE_WINDOWS fix didn't work for me, but patching the synergy+ sources did work.

Petr - Thanks!

The original problem is described as being caused by a fix that is unearthing poor assumptions made by application developers. I haven't read what these bad assumptions are. Looking at the code for this patch, it doesn't look like it is just undoing a poor assumption. Is there more information somewhere about the change in behavior, and how developers should implement these fixes in the long term?

Jim

[James Wylder (jim.wylder)]

Whoops - nevermind, I had thought that the patch worked for my on synergy+ 1.3.4, but it was not interfering with my panel because it had seg faulted. -- Jim

[Peter (peter-xenos)]

This issue is also affecting me. I am not using synergy+ and occurs whether or not clients are connected. This only started happening for me about a week ago though. I remember when I first upgraded to 9.10 2 months ago, I didn't have this problem, so it seems to be a regression in some underlying library that was updated.

[Petr Vandrovec (petr-vmware)]

I had to reboot my box, so I've given theoretical Xsession.d code I described in #16 a try, and indeed setting it there does not work if you are using gnome-session, as for unknown reason gtk+2.0 refuses to pass variable down to applications it starts. So gnome-session itself uses native windows - which is of no use for you (it creates no windows itself), as you need gnome-panel and all other gnome apps started by gnome-panel to use native windows.

Rebuilding gtk+2.0-2.18.5-1 with attached patch, reinstalling built libgtk2.0-0, and setting value to 'inherit' is propagated correctly through whole hierarchy of GTK applications, so now 'export GDK_NATIVE_WINDOWS=inherit' in /etc/X11/Xsession.d/11petr works, and forces all gtk applications you start (and apps spawned by these apps) to use native windows.

[Valentin Neacsu (valentin.neacsu)]

This problem is almost gone if using Compiz with gnome-panels.

[rakslice (rakslice)]

It's nice that this problem is gone with compiz, but I suspect that a disproportionate number of people using synergy are using xinerama and can't use compiz with it because of their video drivers.

[Tomi Valkeinen (tomba-iki)]

For me this problem appears most clearly with Evolution. Running Evolution with GDK_NATIVE_WINDOWS=true may fix the problem with synergy, but brings another one: the mail list is not updated at all for some folders.