Unable to run screensaver when selected from menu

[Leó Kolbeinsson]

[ Impact ]

XScreenSaver 6.02 made a lot of changes to its supported options in the /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/XScreeSaver configuration file. This caused two sets of problems, one set unique to Lubuntu, the other only affecting non-Lubuntu flavors.

In Lubuntu specifically, Lubuntu ships a manually customized version of this file that is now out-of-date and has resulted in this and various other undesirable behavior (for instance, segmentation faults, theme problems, broken buttons like the Preview button, etc.) The SRU in lubuntu-default-settings solves all of these problems by replacing the old, incompatible configuration file with a new, working one.

In non-Lubuntu flavors, no crashes result from this bug, however the Preview button does nothing, and if you click the Settings button, the Documentation button in the pop-up window will cause a terminal to open and then immediately close. The SRU in xscreensaver resolves this by ensuring that needed fields in the autogenerated config file are populated with working defaults.

[ Test Case ]

For lubuntu-default-settings (NOTE: THIS SRU ALREADY FINISHED, THIS TEST ISN'T NEEDED NOW THAT THIS IS DONE):

1: Install Lubuntu Kinetic into a virtual machine and apply all updates.
2: Enable -proposed.
3: Run "sudo apt update && sudo apt install lubuntu-default-settings".
4: Open the Application Menu, search for "Screensaver", and open Screensaver.
5: Make sure that the default "Flurry" screensaver is selected when the window first opens. Ensure that it is primarily blue in color.
6: Test and make sure all expected functionality works (automatic screen blanking, automatic screen locking, Blank Screen Now, Lock Screen Now, Preview, Settings, Documentation).
7: Click the Advanced tab in the Screensaver window. Ensure that the field underneath "Choose Random Image:" reads "/usr/share/backgrounds", that the field next to "Text file" reads "/usr/share/doc/xserver-common/copyright", and that the URL field reads "https://feeds.feedburner.com/ubuntu-news".

For xscreensaver (this still needs done):

1: Install any flavor of Kinetic other than Lubuntu into a virtual machine and apply all updates.
2: Enable -proposed.
3: Run "sudo apt update && sudo apt install xscreensaver".
4. If you previously installed the bad version of XScreenSaver already, run "killall xscreensaver; rm ~/.xscreensaver" in a terminal before proceeding.
5: Open the Application Menu, search for "Screensaver", and open Screensaver.
6: Test and make sure all expected functionality works (automatic screen blanking, automatic screen locking, Blank Screen Now, Lock Screen Now, Preview, Settings, Documentation).
7: Click the Advanced tab in the Screensaver window. Ensure that the field underneath "Choose Random Image:" reads "/usr/share/backgrounds", and that the field next to "Text file" reads "/usr/share/doc/xserver-common/copyright".

[ Where problems could occur ]

A typo or error in the configuration file could cause features such as the Preview button to break, or potentially result in unintended and/or unexpected screensaver behavior. These problems will be caught quite easily by the above test case, and since significant amounts of functionality is currently broken, it can't exactly get a lot worse than it already is.

---

Original bug report:

Testing Lubuntu Kinetic daily iso 20220908 on live and installed systems.

1. Attempted to run "screensaver" form "Preferences menu" and nothing happens after selection.

2. Then ran "xscreensaver-settings" from the terminal and received the following :

(xscreensaver-settings:1187): Pango-WARNING **: 07:22:46.087: Invalid UTF-8 string passed to pango_layout_set_text()

(xscreensaver-settings:1187): Pango-WARNING **: 07:22:46.099: Invalid UTF-8 string passed to pango_layout_set_text()
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 22.10
Package: xscreensaver 6.02+dfsg1-2ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.19.0-15.15-generic 5.19.0
Uname: Linux 5.19.0-15-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.23.0-0ubuntu1
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: unknown
CurrentDesktop: LXQt
Date: Fri Sep 9 07:26:39 2022
InstallationDate: Installed on 2022-09-08 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Lubuntu 22.10 "Kinetic Kudu" - Alpha amd64 (20220908)
SourcePackage: xscreensaver
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[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:
https://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/reports/bugs/1989163

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

Lubuntu kinetic on hp8200

unable to run it via menu, or if system left idle
crash file in /var/crash though (submitting in another window

lubuntu@lubuntu:~$ ls -la /var/crash
total 1068
drwxrwxrwt 2 root root 4096 Sep 9 16:52 .
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 140 Sep 9 02:46 ..
-rw-r----- 1 lubuntu whoopsie 1084678 Sep 9 16:52 _usr_bin_xscreensaver-settings.999.crash

I just noted Leó said on "live and installed systems" ... I'm not having issues on my primary system (using kinetic), at least in getting the xscreensaver window up - but PREVIEW is doing nothing (unexpected) so maybe i have issues there too.

[sudodus (nio-wiklund)]

I am not sure what you mean, but this fails for me:

Selecting 'Lock Screen' works in my Dell Precision M4800, when running Lubuntu Kinetic Live. The screensaver starts and runs (a bit stuttering, different from earlier). The problem is to get rid of it. I get a pop-up window 'XscreenSaver 2021, v6.02' and it should be happy when pressing Enter or OK (with a blank password) but nothing happens and I have to stop the graphical desktop environment via ctrl+alt+F2.

This seems to be different from your descriptions, but I guess it is related.

Edit: I created a second user (in the live system at the virtual text screen tty2) and logged into it. Then tried 'Lock Screen' and then it worked to get back into the desktop environment. So in my case it seems that the pop-up window 'XscreenSaver 2021, v6.02' wants a non-blank password :-/

[KGIII (uninvolved)]

I can confirm that I see the same behavior here.

[Leó Kolbeinsson (leok)]

Tested Lubuntu Lunar daily ISO dated 24-11-2022 and this issue appears fixed.
Screensaver opens from the menu with no error.

[Leó Kolbeinsson (leok)]

Ran one further test on another box and screensaver fails to open.

see test results here: http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/milestones/441/builds/264206/testcases/1701/results/

[Chris Guiver (guiverc)]

Possibly related (duplicate; OP of bug says no)

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xscreensaver/+bug/1999422

No Preview in Xubuntu on kinetic/22.10

[Aaron Rainbolt (arraybolt3)]

Unsure why the changelog message didn't automatically set this to Fix Released, so I'm doing it manually here.

[Leó Kolbeinsson (leok)]

Tested Lubuntu Lunar daily ISO dated 28-12-2022 and this bug appears to be fixed.
2 machines tested see results here: http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/milestones/441/builds/267287/testcases/1701/results/

[sudodus (nio-wiklund)]

Test computer: Dell Precision M4800 (with nvidia graphics).

In UEFI mode I tested the screensaver in a live (live-only) Lubuntu Lunar daily dated 2022-12-28-16-55-52-00 according to the UUID. I can start the screensaver, but not quit from it. My problem described in comment #5 persists. (I noticed that the screensaver is new, vertical stripes of green characters.)

Is this another bug or should I wait for another day or two for the fix to reach the iso file?

[sudodus (nio-wiklund)]

Test computer: My old Toshiba with Intel i5 and built-in (Intel) graphics.

http://www.toshiba.se/laptops/satellite-pro/c850/satellite-pro-c850-19w/

In BIOS mode I tested the screensaver in a live (live-only) Lubuntu Lunar daily dated 2022-12-28-16-55-52-00 according to the UUID. I can start the screensaver, but not quit from it. My problem described in comment #5 persists.

The problem is the same, so not limited to the Dell with nvidia graphics.

[Aaron Rainbolt (arraybolt3)]

@sudodus I believe this is a different, possibly unrelated bug. Could you file a separate bug report?

[sudodus (nio-wiklund)]

@ Aaron Rainbolt,

I created the following bug report: "Live system cannot leave 'Lock Screen' when selected from menu",

Bug #2000787

Please check if it affects you too.

[Chris Halse Rogers (raof)]

Hello Leó, or anyone else affected,

Accepted lubuntu-default-settings into kinetic-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/lubuntu-default-settings/22.10.5 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-kinetic to verification-done-kinetic. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-kinetic. 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.

[Aaron Rainbolt (arraybolt3)]

Verified using a virtual machine run using raw QEMU+KVM. Everything appears to be working. Test case passes.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package lubuntu-default-settings - 22.10.5

---------------
lubuntu-default-settings (22.10.5) kinetic; urgency=medium

  * Overhauled XScreenSaver configuration file to be compatible with the
    version of XScreenSaver in Kinetic, adding customizations to work around
    new and undesirable behavior. (LP: #1989163)

 -- Aaron Rainbolt <email address hidden> Tue, 24 Jan 2023 02:26:54 -0600

[Łukasz Zemczak (sil2100)]

The verification of the Stable Release Update for lubuntu-default-settings 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.

[Aaron Rainbolt (arraybolt3)]

The fix for this bug has been published for Lubuntu, however the bug still affects flavors other than Lubuntu and a fixed xscreensaver package has been sitting in the Unapproved queue for a month. ubuntu-sru, if this could be reviewed, it would be much appreciated.

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

The new kinetic version will make it higher than lunar's:

xscreensaver | 6.02+dfsg1-2ubuntu1 | kinetic/universe | source
xscreensaver | 6.02+dfsg1-2ubuntu1 | lunar/universe | source
xscreensaver | 6.02+dfsg1-2ubuntu1.1 | kinetic/unapproved/854f48e | source

A lunar upload is also needed.

Besides that, I tried a test build of this on kinetic, using xorg (it complains a lot under wayland), and the only fix I could perceive was the "Documentation" link, which now opens the gnome terminal with the manpage. In the package from both the kinetic release pocket, and the updated one, the "preview" button never worked. All that being said, I didn't spot crashes like in the original bug description, and the xscreensaver kicked in when it was supposed to.

Can you perhaps clarify the test case what doesn't work exactly, and stick to that for a before & after test case?

[Aaron Rainbolt (arraybolt3)]

Good catch, I didn't realize that. Should be easy enough to bump the version number.

As for the bit about crashes, that only affected Lubuntu and isn't expected to affect any other distro.

It is worrying to hear that the preview button didn't work even in the updated version, so I will test that.

[Aaron Rainbolt (arraybolt3)]

@ahasenack: I think probably the reason you didn't see the fix work was because you installed the old, bad XScreenSaver package first, which the test case does not specify you should do. If you want to have the fix work *after* installing the bad XScreenSaver package, you need to close the screensaver config program, then open a terminal and run "killall xscreensaver; rm ~/.xscreensaver", then open the screensaver config app again. At that point the Preview button will work.

I will do a Lunar upload to bump the version number. In the mean time, can you test again with that extra info?

[Aaron Rainbolt (arraybolt3)]

I added the extra instructions from my last comment into the bug verification instructions.

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

Hello Leó, or anyone else affected,

Accepted xscreensaver into kinetic-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xscreensaver/6.02+dfsg1-2ubuntu1.1 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-kinetic to verification-done-kinetic. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-kinetic. 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.

[Aaron Rainbolt (arraybolt3)]

Verification successful on Ubuntu Desktop 22.10 using Xorg.

[Aaron Rainbolt (arraybolt3)]

Despite having passed verification, this SRU will need reuploaded and re-verified, as a much more pressing update to XScreenSaver has been pushed for bug 2009306.