window spread causes system logout

[Ludo]

Expect to happen:
-window spread upon <super> w
- no intempestive logout when tweaking window spread with the unity-tweak-tool

What happened instead:
-After installing unity tweak, turning ON the window spread caused a system logout when I clicked on any icon with multiple windows open.
-A logout also happens if hot corners is enabled with the action set to window spread, and the mouse pointer directed to the preset hot corner.
-A logout also happened when i press <super>-w but in an unpredictable manner (<super> w sometimes have the desired effect without logout)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: unity-tweak-tool 0.0.6ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-49.83-generic 3.13.11-ckt17
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-49-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.10
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Mon Jun 8 09:49:51 2015
InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-08-29 (647 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Release amd64 (20130424)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: unity-tweak-tool
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2015-04-20 (48 days ago)

[Spike (make-it-fast)]

hey there, i had this or same bug @ubuntu 14.04 , and now i have a situation of continuosly logging out of the session...

writting this from guest profile... all my stuff is there and now i don't know how can i possibly log in ^___^

about the bug: it happened when i turned back on the window spread... somehow i was logged out , and now when i log in I have only couple of sec's , not even seeng the taskbar... and no chance of opening terminal...

i don't know what else to do or who to ask so i hope somehow we will figure out how can i stop that from guest profile

:C

[Ludo (ludonago)]

HI,

What I did was to disable window spread from within unity tweak.
No more window spread but no more logout.
If you haven't done so, you could also comment directly on my bug report so that it gets attention and someone works on it.

Cheers,

Ludo

Le Lundi 15 juin 2015 2h10, Spike <email address hidden> a écrit :
hey there, i had this or same bug @ubuntu 14.04 , and now i have a
situation of continuosly logging out of the session...

writting this from guest profile... all my stuff is there and now i
don't know how can i possibly log in ^___^

about the bug: it happened when i turned back on the window spread...
somehow i was logged out , and now when i log in I have only couple of
sec's , not even seeng the taskbar... and no chance of opening
terminal...

i don't know what else to do or who to ask so i hope somehow we will
figure out how can i stop that from guest profile

:C

--
You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
report.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1462841

Title:
  window spread set with unity tweak causes system logout

Status in unity-tweak-tool package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  Expect to happen:
  -window spread upon <super> w
  - no intempestive logout when tweaking window spread with the unity-tweak-tool

  What happened instead:
  -After installing unity tweak, turning ON the window spread caused a system logout when I clicked on any icon with multiple windows open.
  -A logout also happens if hot corners is enabled with the action set to window spread, and the mouse pointer directed to the preset hot corner.
  -A logout also happened when i press <super>-w but in an unpredictable manner (<super> w sometimes have the desired effect without logout)

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
  Package: unity-tweak-tool 0.0.6ubuntu1
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-49.83-generic 3.13.11-ckt17
  Uname: Linux 3.13.0-49-generic x86_64
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
  ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.10
  Architecture: amd64
  CurrentDesktop: Unity
  Date: Mon Jun 8 09:49:51 2015
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-08-29 (647 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Release amd64 (20130424)
  PackageArchitecture: all
  SourcePackage: unity-tweak-tool
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2015-04-20 (48 days ago)

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity-tweak-tool/+bug/1462841/+subscriptions

[J Phani Mahesh (phanimahesh)]

Unity Tweak tool simply sets unity preferences, it appears that unity is crashing, causing a logout when spread is attempted. Retargeting this bug to Unity.

If you have lost access to your account, you can try logging in from a tty and running unity-tweak-tool --reset-unity. You will however lose all your Unity settings.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[mijahn (mijahn-ben)]

I have the same issue, + 1 to disabling window spread in unity tweak tools: solves the problem (at the expense of having no window spread)

[Nickey (lampionson)]

I have the same issue. Would only like to add:

- Changing settings in Unity Tweak Tool has the same effect (unwanted logout). This is not restricted to 'Window spread', i.e. happens when changing other settings, too (I tried 'Hotcorners' and 'Window snapping')

- My Window Spread had worked OK for more than a year now. The problem started to happen when I did this:

1. Disable window spread
2. Enable window spread

[Alex Baggott (alex-baggott)]

As part of the big bug review for 16.04 LTS, I have tested this on 15.10 and the bug is still there.

I'm unsure whether this is the same behaviour, but I observe a blank desktop (no panel, no launcher, etc.) for a brief moment when attempting windows spread.

[MilkThief (evazzoler)]

+1
The same happens for me. Maybe the NVidia drivers?

[Rodrigo Lledó (rodhos-hp)]

As part of the big bug review for 16.04 LTS, I have tested this on 15.10 and the bug is still there.
I followed the steps in comment #7 and now my window spread is broken. The desktop freezes with no logout.

[Rodrigo Lledó (rodhos-hp)]

@MilkThief I'm using AMD with open source drivers.

[Rodrigo Lledó (rodhos-hp)]

I just rebooted and tried again. Unity restarts without logout.

[Rodrigo Lledó (rodhos-hp)]

Disabling window spread in unity tweak tool doesnt prevent the crash when clicking in a launcher icon with multiple windows opened. This also triggers the window spread. Unity tweak tool is just disabling the shortcuts.

[Rodrigo Lledó (rodhos-hp)]

Workaround:
1) Open CompizConfig manager
2) Go to "Window manager" category
3) Enable "Static Application Switcher"
4) If asked to resolve conflicts mantain the actual values (option in the middle).
5) You will see unity restart and the window spread working again.

[J Phani Mahesh (phanimahesh)]

Thank you Rodrigo for your diagnostics and workaround. This is definitely a bug in Unity. Unity Tweak tool only manipulates the settings exposed by Unity.

We'll continue to track this bug in UTT for reference though we have no code change, and the fix must happen in Unity.

[Denis Monasse (denis-monasse)]

Since the last update of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on November 18th, I have the same problem of intempestive logout.

[Tici (742954809-t)]

Anybody solved this problem? It really made me crazy...

[J Phani Mahesh (phanimahesh)]

Can not reproduce in 16.04.1, Unity 7.4.0, unity-tweak-tool 0.0.7ubuntu2, and from git master.

Also verified as not reproducible by Oerheks on freenode, using unity-tweak-tool 0.0.7ubuntu2, Unity 7.4.0.

If you can not upgrade from 14.04 for whatever reason, please use the workaround mentioned in #14.

If the bug can be reproduced on 16.04 (or later), please report your unity version and graphics driver in use.

[Jean Louis Salbego (jlsalbego)]

I got the bug after just turning off and on window spread.

I managed to fix the bug by reinstalling xorg-server with this tutorial:
https://www.computersnyou.com/4945/re-install-xorg-xserver-completely-ubuntu/

After reinstalling the xorg server, ubuntu desktop, unity tweak tools and a reboot; click on "Restore Defaults" on the "Window Spread" tab on unity tweak tool.

[Lucas Czepaniki (lucas.czpnk)]

Got this bug after all mentioned events.

Tried to fix using @jlsalbego solution, but just ended up causing kernel panic.
(something like https://askubuntu.com/questions/822327/debugging-kernel-panic-not-syncing-attempted-to-kill-init)

Since my filesystem remains intactm I'm trying to fix it now using a live usb to restore init.

I don't recommend this solution, make sure you back up first if you're going to try it, don't make the same mistake i did.

Thanks you all for this tread.