[SRU] xfce4-panel 4.18.4 in noble broken with glib 2.80

[Gaël Bonithon]

[ Original Description ]

Hi, I'm Gaël Bonithon from Xfce, I'm the maintainer of xfce4-panel.

It appears that you updated glib to 2.80 on Ubuntu 24.04, but left xfce4-panel at 4.18.4. However, a patch released in xfce4-panel 4.18.6 is required when using glib 2.80:

https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-panel/-/commit/87d0bb94602021921cdb2692837714a24be7623a

Without it, xfce4-panel and wrapper-2.0 crash on exit (SIGABRT), with this type of log:

GLib-GObject:ERROR:../../../gobject/gtypemodule.c:119:g_type_module_finalize: assertion failed: (module->type_infos == NULL)
Bail out! GLib-GObject:ERROR:../../../gobject/gtypemodule.c:119:g_type_module_finalize: assertion failed: (module->type_infos == NULL)

See also https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=17446

So please upgrade xfce4-panel to 4.18.6. Thanks!

[ Impact ]

 * xfce4-panel and wrapper-2.0 crash on exit with glib 2.80.

 * The upstream patch resolves the issue introduced in glib 2.80 from 2.79:

Fix memory management of GTypeModules
Finalizing a module containing types and/or interfaces implementations
is no longer possible as of glib 2.79.0. See
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/glib/-/merge_requests/3779

[ Test Plan ]

 * Start Xubuntu session

 * Issue the command `xfce4-panel --quit`

 * Note the resulting crash

[ Where problems could occur ]

 * Patch is approved and tested upstream and solely resolves the defined issue. No additional problems are to be introduced.

[ Other Info ]

 * While the issue is considered lower priority, it is still a source of frustration for our users and reduces confidence in Xubuntu. We would like to move quickly to testing and release.

[Fane (i96usa)]

There is a separate user reported bug for this.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xfce4-panel/+bug/2054919

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Hans Hinterseer (hansihin)]

as i already said in https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xfce4-panel/+bug/2054919/comments/9 can someone please add the updated version to the repositories, so package managers can update the panel? thank you.

[Christoph (maggiv8)]

Agree with Hans. Compiling the sources of xfce4-panel 4.18.6 (or higher) manually is a temporary workaround.

[Marc (teaberries)]

I also agree.

For the non tech-savvy of us: How would the workaround mentioned above work? How do I actually upgrade to 4.18.6?

Thanks!

[Christoph (maggiv8)]

Hi Marc,
The only way I see it right now is to compile the XFCe-panel from the source. You can find the details here:
https://github.com/xfce-mirror/xfce4-panel
However, if you compile and install from source, you may be responsible for keeping it up-to-date in your system as well.

[Marc (teaberries)]

Thank you! :)

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

FWIW Debian stable doesn't yet include a new enough version of the xfce4-panel package to import and resolve this issue: https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/xfce4-panel This might be why the fixed version hasn't been pulled into Ubuntu yet.

However, testing (trixie), unstable (sid), experimental etc. do: https://packages.debian.org/trixie/xfce4-panel https://packages.debian.org/sid/xfce4-panel https://packages.debian.org/experimental/xfce4-panel

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

CC += Sean Davis, Unit193 since they're both admins of launchpad group xubuntu-council.

Sean, Unit193, how would this kind of issue usually be resolved?

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

It looks like this is the number 1 issue at https://errors.ubuntu.com/, although I don't have access to the full details so can't be sure.

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

Steve Langasek,

It looks like you updated this package to build against glib 2.80; from the package changelog:

    xfce4-panel (4.18.4-1build1) noble; urgency=medium

      * No-change rebuild against libglib2.0-0t64

     -- Steve Langasek <email address hidden> Fri, 08 Mar 2024 08:12:46 +0000

Is it possible to revert that change, or would that cause the package to fail to build, or to run at all?

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

(actually, maybe that was just a rebuild, not an actual dependency change, so may not be relevant, but...)

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

Since I see that this is only a crash on exit, marking this as medium. Clearly it doesn't seem to block use of the Xubuntu desktop as Xubuntu 24.04 (and 24.04.1) released with this bug present.

Reverting a no-change rebuild is not an option.

Subscribing xubuntu developers to look at this.

[paolo (paolo-faverio)]

Hi
have same issue
very annoing

is there a solution ?

[Marco (marco93)]

Same issue here on Ubuntu 24.04 (I switched from Gnome to XCFE)

[Kaur Männamaa (kaurman)]

It seems that the reasonable thing to do at the moment is wait. It may take quite some time for the package to be upgraded considering the harmlessness of the bug*. As has been said before, one might just create the new package. However, just like others have pointed out, I'm also not sure it'd be worth the hassle.

If I'm not mistaken then it should be possible to 'tell' the crash reporter that it needn't notify the user of the same problem over and over again (I seem to remember seeing such an option on a Xubuntu system recently). This seems like a smart thing to do.

*while I'm not aware of any usability problems caused by this bug, it has to be said that new users in particular may find it daunting to be greeted by the crash reporter over and over again & I agree that it can be annoying. Just look at the big picture and consider all the bugs that need attention. That'll put things in perspective.

[Marco (marco93)]

"If I'm not mistaken then it should be possible to 'tell' the crash reporter that it needn't notify the user of the same problem over and over again (I seem to remember seeing such an option on a Xubuntu system recently). This seems like a smart thing to do."

That's what I did. No problems observed so far.

[roland aus köln (devzero-c)]

hello,

i hope that every package and distro maintainer understands, that people HATE linux because of issues like these.

because there's something constantly broken and not getting fixed for months - or - something breaks after the next udpate and needs complicated workarounds or fixation to make it work again.

i'm really getting depressed when i see something like this. and i'm sooooo tired, as it's the same fatiguing tinkering some of the linux userbase seem to happily waste their time with.

but some people only want nothing more but a functional operating system, where at least all basic components run stable without quirks or hours of googling.

this is the 5th (!) bug now i hit in only 24hrs. for the last 24hrs i want nothing more but getting linux installed on an older PC to give it away so some linux newbie - and each of those bugs i hit either preventing reliable operation or are some major annoyance, nagging the user over and over again.

how can linux be ever successful on the desktop when even the most basic things are broken for months ?

sorry to tell, but it really really sucks.

[Sean Davis (bluesabre)]

Hi everyone,

Apologies for the delay. We will begin the SRU process on this bug shortly. Watch for updates on testing the package and the eventual release into noble-updates.

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

Hello Gaël, or anyone else affected,

Accepted xfce4-panel into noble-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xfce4-panel/4.18.4-1ubuntu0.1 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested, what testing has been performed on the package and change the tag from verification-needed-noble to verification-done-noble. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-noble. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

If you want this considered for 24.04.2, please expedite the test plan verification. Or leave a comment here stating it's not critical for 24.04.2.

[Kaur Männamaa (kaurman)]

A little more enthusiasm, guys & gals :)

I managed to take a look at a Xubuntu 24.4 system & did some quick tests with xfce4-panel 4.18.4-1ubuntu0.1 from proposed. Everything seems to work as expected & Apport logs have no complaints concerning xfce4-panel as such (using the default version results in log entries as expected).

There is 'noise' in the files regarding some plugins of the panel, but that seems to have been there with the default version as well. Not sure, but it seems to me that those messages (the noise) are suppressed by default, which is another reason to believe that this is nothing to worry about and all is well with the new version.

I urge everyone to test. Would be a bit embarrassing if we left this in limbo after all the fuss.

[Sébastien Pache (spache81)]

Hi,

I just did a new installation (Ubuntu server 24.04.1 + Xfce desktop).
Our Linux workstations are generated like this (with cloud-init) since version 18.04

After installing xfce4-panel 4.18.4-1ubuntu0.1 the wrapper still crashes

Update:
Sorry, after installing libxfce4panel-2.0-4 from -proposed, everything is working fine. No more crash

[ajgreeny (ajg-charlbury)]

I have just upgraded my xfce4-panel to the proposed version with no problems showing following doing so.

It has been a long time now since I saw the problem with the default repos version but have upgraded to this new proposed version just to test.

So far so good but I'll keep looking for problems!

[Sean Davis (bluesabre)]

I've verified the package update using the latest Xubuntu noble daily ISO and updating both:

libxfce4panel-2.0-4
xfce4-panel

from -proposed.

[Kaur Männamaa (kaurman)]

I stand corrected indeed.

There seem to have been 2 types of relevant messages. Those concerning just the panel with no mention of the wrapper, and those that did mention the wrapper in the context of the panel. Upgrading just xfce4-panel, as I did, seems to have gotten rid of the panel message, but the ones involving the wrapper were still there. I was careless enough to use too specific of a grep search and not to notice them in the log*.

*I had no crash reporter popping up due to an exception that had been added previously regarding those messages.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package xfce4-panel - 4.18.4-1ubuntu0.1

---------------
xfce4-panel (4.18.4-1ubuntu0.1) noble; urgency=medium

  * d/p/lp2064846.patch:
    - Fix crash with glibc 2.80 (LP: #2064846)

 -- Sean Davis <email address hidden> Tue, 28 Jan 2025 13:48:07 -0500

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

The verification of the Stable Release Update for xfce4-panel has completed successfully and the package is now being released to -updates. Subsequently, the Ubuntu Stable Release Updates Team is being unsubscribed and will not receive messages about this bug report. In the event that you encounter a regression using the package from -updates please report a new bug using ubuntu-bug and tag the bug report regression-update so we can easily find any regressions.