ubiquity in live session and ubiquity-dm fails to start

[Chris Guiver]

Intending to explore an unrelated issue with sddm/video-graphics (https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1895905) I booted the current hirsute daily on

dell [optiplex] 990 (i7-2600, 16gb, nvidia geforce gt 6600 gt)

No "Try Kubuntu" or "Install Kubuntu" dialog appeared, instead I got

"Installation failed - KDialog \n
 The installer encountered an unrecoverable error.
 A desktop session will now be run so that you may
 investigate the problem or try installing again"

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 21.04
Package: kubuntu-desktop 1.398
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.8.0-25.26-generic 5.8.14
Uname: Linux 5.8.0-25-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu51
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
CasperVersion: 1.455
CurrentDesktop: KDE
Date: Sat Nov 7 08:03:17 2020
LiveMediaBuild: Kubuntu 21.04 "Hirsute Hippo" - Alpha amd64 (20201106)
SourcePackage: kubuntu-meta
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
---
ProblemType: Bug
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu51
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
CasperVersion: 1.455
CurrentDesktop: KDE
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 21.04
InstallCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/kubuntu.seed maybe-ubiquity quiet splash ---
LiveMediaBuild: Kubuntu 21.04 "Hirsute Hippo" - Alpha amd64 (20201106)
Package: ubiquity 20.10.13
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.8.0-25.26-generic 5.8.14
Tags: hirsute ubiquity-20.10.13 kubuntu
Uname: Linux 5.8.0-25-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin lxd plugdev sambashare sudo
_MarkForUpload: True

[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

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[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

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[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

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[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

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[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

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[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

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[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

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[Ubuntu QA Website (ubuntuqa)]

This bug has been reported on the Ubuntu ISO testing tracker.

A list of all reports related to this bug can be found here:
http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/reports/bugs/1903378

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Leó Kolbeinsson (leok)]

I also received the same error trying to boot the latest Kubuntu Hirsute daily at http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/daily-live/20201107/hirsute-desktop-amd64.iso .

[Leó Kolbeinsson (leok)]

Tested on 2 machines today (16.11.2020) latest Kubuntu Hirsute daily at http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/daily-live/20201116/hirsute-desktop-amd64.iso

Live sessions recorded here :

http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/milestones/419/builds/223028/testcases/1303/results

In both cases after the running of the files checks and at the point where the ubiquity should start the systems freeze - the "Try Kubuntu screen" (default desktop" nevber appears and the error message that the system encountered an unexpected error also does not appear.

[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

Kubuntu hirsute daily booted on
- dell [optiplex] 755 (c2d-e8300, 8gb, amd/ati radeon rv610/radeon hd2400 pro/xt)

attempt at full disk installation. I'm filing under this bug report, however the response on this box is different (or it's changed since initial filing).

I've got background on both displays, and mouse-pointer (which moves), but no menu, NOR an error message that is mentioned in initial filing.

This reaction could be exactly what Leó Kolbeinsson (leok) found in #11 & #12 with description of "freeze". As I can move mouse-pointer around the screen I'd not call it frozen, but I can't do anything useful :(

I switched to text terminal & no squashfs errors, nor anything that stood out in quick glance.

[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

Another try of Kubuntu hirsute daily on
- hp dc7700 (c2d-e6320, 5gb, nvidia quadro nvs 290)

different result on this box; no background, no mouse-cursor - just BLACK SCREEN. result is the same though, session is unusable.

(this box usually doesn't give me troubles on installs)

Rik Mills has suggested I try removing "maybe-ubiquity" from grub command line.. which I'll try (if/when I've time)

[Leó Kolbeinsson (leok)]

Kubuntu hirsute daily booted on Lenovo V14 IIL i3-1005G1 UEFI+secure boot mode
ISO = http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/daily-live/20201122/hirsute-desktop-amd64.iso

On my test I only got as far as the Kubuntu logo after the disk checks at boot.

Attached is the syslog from the boot media.

Last entry is "failed to start KDE Global Shortcuts Server"

Should I file a new bug? This seems to me to be another isssue than the original bug,

[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

Repeat of #14 boot on
- hp dc7700 (c2d-e6320, 5gb, nvidia quadro nvs 290)

RikMills suggested I remove "maybe-ubiquity" from kernel line, I did so and session booted normally :)

operation of system looks good, but listing here as it only booted with "maybe-ubiquity" removed.

ALSO installer/ubiquity failed to start :( either from icon on desktop, or menu entry.

If I use terminal I get
--
$ ubiquity --debug
/usr/bin/ubiquity:74: DeprecationWarning: the imp module is deprecated in favour of importlib; see the module's documentation for alternative uses
  import imp

[Rik Mills (rikmills)]

On 22/11/2020 12:29, Leó Kolbeinsson wrote:
> Kubuntu hirsute daily booted on Lenovo V14 IIL i3-1005G1 UEFI+secure boot mode
> ISO = http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/daily-live/20201122/hirsute-desktop-amd64.iso
>
> On my test I only got as far as the Kubuntu logo after the disk checks
> at boot.
>
> Attached is the syslog from the boot media.
>
> Last entry is "failed to start KDE Global Shortcuts Server"
>
> Should I file a new bug? This seems to me to be another isssue than the
> original bug,

If you look at the syslog from the original report, you will see:

"Activated service 'org.kde.kglobalaccel' failed: Process
org.kde.kglobalaccel received signal 6"

BOTH report that

"kglobalaccel5[1751]: qt.qpa.xcb: could not connect to display
kglobalaccel5[1751]: qt.qpa.plugin: Could not load the Qt platform
plugin "xcb" in "" even though it was found."

proceeding the fail, so I suspect the origin of the problem as is the
same. Just that the output in logs is a bit different, as we have new
kglobalaccel, Qt and plasma now compared to the versions when the bug
was 1st reported.

[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

Boot on (kubuntu hirsute daily)
- sony vaio svp112a1cw (i5-9400u, 4gb, intel haswell-ULT)
normal boot (no change to kernel line), same ISO was written with `dd` as before; prior boxes attempted tonight were BIOS, this is uEFI

on dell-755-8 (bios) the boot goes to background & mouse-pointer.
on hp-dc7700 (bios) the boot went to black screens

on this sony-ultracrap (uEFI) it remains on kubuntu-plymouth screen

[Rik Mills (rikmills)]

I note that the ISO was already broken as of 4th November: https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showthread.php/77539-Happy-Inspection-of-Hippo-Kubuntu-21-04?p=441966&viewfull=1#post441966

.i.e maybe-ubiquity was not loading, as per the original report.

so breakage was most certainly present well before any new KDE/Qt landed for hirsute. In other words, it appears something in the initial preparation and auto-sync for hirsute caused breakage.

[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

Great find Rik

My intention today was to try and boot each of the grub options available

* Kubuntu failed on
dell [optiplex] 755 (c2d-e8300, 8gb, amd/ati radeon rv610/radeon hd2400 pro/xt)
* Kubuntu (safe graphics failed on fail on
hp dc7700 (c2d-e6320, 5gb, nvidia quadro nvs 290)
* OEM install on
dell [optiplex] 755 (c2d-e6850, 5gb, amd/ati radeon rv516/x1300/x1550)
hp dc7700 (c2d-e6320, 5gb, nvidia quadro nvs 290)

MEMORY TEST WORKED on
dell [optiplex] 755 (c2d-e6850, 5gb, amd/ati radeon rv516/x1300/x1550)
(though I couldn't end it; it locked up, but ignoring that)

in case I've not mentioned 755-5 before; it stays stuck on plymouth logo, ctrl+alt+f4 gets me to terminal to explore so system is running

[Rik Mills (rikmills)]

Starting the ISO without maybe-ubiquity gets you to the desktop session.

Trying to start ubiquity in that session fails with the error:

Ubiquity 21.04.1
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/bin/ubiquity", line 668, in <module>
    main(oem_config)
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/bin/ubiquity", line 652, in main
    install(args[0], query=options.query)
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/bin/ubiquity", line 261, in install
    raise AttributeError('No frontend available; tried %s' %
AttributeError: No frontend available; tried kde_ui

There is no other output to ubiquity or system logs.

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

kde_ui.py fails to load due to this error:
Ubiquity 21.04.1
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/bin/ubiquity", line 667, in <module>
    main(oem_config)
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/bin/ubiquity", line 653, in main
    install(query=options.query)
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/bin/ubiquity", line 253, in install
    ui = importlib.import_module('ubiquity.frontend.%s' % f)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/importlib/__init__.py", line 127, in import_module
    return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1014, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 991, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 975, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 671, in _load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 783, in exec_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 219, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/ubiquity/frontend/kde_ui.py", line 40, in <module>
    import sip
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'sip'

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

Ubiquity starts fine with python3-sip installed manually on hirsute.

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

It could be this change:
pyqt5 (5.15.0+dfsg-1+exp1) experimental; urgency=medium

  * Switch from sip4 to sip5:
    - Update build-dependencies.
    - Build with sip-build instead of configure.py.
    - Drop debian/patches/public_sip.diff, not needed with sip5.
    - Install .sip files into the new location.
    - Update runtime dependency of python3-pyqt5{,-dbg} and pyqt5-dev.

[Rik Mills (rikmills)]

I am told python3-sip is depreciated, and replacing 'import sip' with 'from PyQt5 import sip' should fix it a better way

as in https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=966034

[Rik Mills (rikmills)]

I am also told in #ubuntu-qt on IRC that:

<mitya57> Also sip.setapi('QVariant', 1) needs to be replaced with something like sip.enableautoconversion(QVariant, False).

See https://www.riverbankcomputing.com/static/Docs/PyQt5/pyqt_qvariant.html and https://www.riverbankcomputing.com/static/Docs/PyQt5/api/sip/sip-module.html#enableautoconversion

[vmc (vmclark)]

The current Kubuntu hirsute-desktop-amd64.iso, dated: 2020-12-15 05:55, fails to start.
If I remove "maybe-ubiquity" from the boot-option, then it will boot up, but install icon fails.

This has failed same way for the past week.

[vmc (vmclark)]

Just booted up to desktop with 'maybe-ubiquity' removed.
Found failed fail in "/var/crash""

[Leó Kolbeinsson (leok)]

I also tested the current daily Kubuntu dated 2020-12-15 and could boot and install in a VirtualBox ..however booting from USB media to a machine resulted in - installer failed to start.

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

Pushed a fixed to Ubiquity:
https://git.launchpad.net/ubiquity/commit/?id=0ffb72be73e22d201e40e153eea0c678d70a4532

Thanks Rik for finding the references.

[Leó Kolbeinsson (leok)]

Two tests current daily Kubuntu dated 2020-12-18 - live sessions one in VirtualBox the other on Acer laptop - both failed to start the installer.

http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/milestones/419/builds/224285/testcases/1303/results

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

@leok, it won't be fixed until a new release of Ubiquity is done, which now won't be before first week of January.

[Leó Kolbeinsson (leok)]

@jibel - thanks for letting me know..I´ll watch the bug report for further info,

[vmc (vmclark)]

Sometimes there's a work around in lieu of a fix. I haven't found one for this bug yet.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package ubiquity - 21.04.4

---------------
ubiquity (21.04.4) hirsute; urgency=medium

  [ Jean-Baptiste Lallement ]
  * Moved from deprecated sip4 to sip from PyQt5 (LP: #1903378) Thanks Rik
    Mills for the references.
  * Replaced deprecated module imp by importlib (LP: #1898494)

  [ Shih-Yuan Lee (FourDollars) ]
  * set() has a random order when looping it that makes the failure of
    dependencies issue random. Sort the list of package to make it predictable
    and easier to diagnose dependency issues.

  [ Łukasz 'sil2100' Zemczak ]
  * Provide some minimal user feedback on the UI when ubuntu-drivers is busy
    while running in the background. (LP: #1824905)

  [ Gunnar Hjalmarsson ]
  * d-i/patches/localechooser-post-base-installer.patch:
    - Set nl (Dutch) as the default Belgian language (LP: #1907914)

 -- Łukasz 'sil2100' Zemczak <email address hidden> Fri, 08 Jan 2021 18:13:07 +0000

[vmc (vmclark)]

Its fixed, sort of. I needed to remove the linux line "maybe-ubiquity" for it to boot to a desktop. Leaving "maybe-ubiquity" in, I was left with a black screen with no way to resume.

[Rik Mills (rikmills)]

Here, ubiquity-dm appears to start a display (wallpaper appears), but the try/install greeter is not starting.

[Leó Kolbeinsson (leok)]

@rikmills

Ran two quick tests on the latest daily http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/daily-live/20210114/hirsute-desktop-amd64.iso.

http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/milestones/419/builds/225427/testcases

All well booting and the try/install greeter started normally.

[Bob H (bobbicat)]

I'm still getting this problem on Kubuntu daily build 2021-03-21 05:49

The daily builds were behaving ok for me, going through a complete install without a hitch, until a few days ago.

I tried the daily build for Ubuntu but got no problems there.

I'm not a programmer or developer but am happy to provide any further info that might be useful.

Incidentally, when the build was running okay at the very start before anything a file check ran, displaying the check status as it proceeded.
Since the bug cropped up I don't know if the install files are checked but the display of the process no longer is visible.

[Bob H (bobbicat)]

If, as noted above, the last fix was released on 2021-01-14
I can confirm that it worked for me too.

However, within the last few days, beginning perhaps around 2021-03-16 this bug has re-appeared for me. Sorry I didn't make a note of when I first noticed it.

At this time version 2021-03-21 05:49 still has the bug.

I'll post here if there are any changes.

[Bob H (bobbicat)]

What I am trying to say is that the fix is broken.

Does this need to be reported elsewhere?

[Rik Mills (rikmills)]

On 21/03/2021 08:07, Bob H wrote:
> What I am trying to say is that the fix is broken.
>
> Does this need to be reported elsewhere?

This appears to be a separate issue.

See: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/1920665

[Bob H (bobbicat)]

thanks Rik
The bug I am experiencing is the same as #1903964 but not identical to #1920665

Installation is not possible due to the bug.

[Bob H (bobbicat)]

After booting installation media:
"Installation failed - KDialog \n
 The installer encountered an unrecoverable error.
 A desktop session will now be run so that you may
 investigate the problem or try installing again"

[Rik Mills (rikmills)]

On 21/03/2021 22:26, Bob H wrote:
> After booting installation media:
> "Installation failed - KDialog \n
> The installer encountered an unrecoverable error.
> A desktop session will now be run so that you may
> investigate the problem or try installing again"

That is simply the gui error thrown as a result of ubiquity crashing
on the try/install screen. The cause of that in this bug is fixed, and
remains so.
As said, the current crash is due to #1920665