[642039] synergy: switch to another computer causes immediate gdm restart

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E7655C6.30701@pobox.com BTS author: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com

Package: synergy Version: 1.3.6-1 Severity: grave Justification: renders package unusable

I have synergy server running on Linux, and a synergy client running on the Mac. Both client and server run at 1.3.6.

When I move my cursor from the Linux to the Mac, from time to time gdm will immediately halt and restart. This makes using syslog chancy at best.

I have a ~/synergy.conf file - note that it does not have a leading "." but works regardless. The contents are:

section: screens linux_computer: mac_computer: end section: links linux_computer: left(40,60) = mac_computer(40,60) mac_computer: right(40,60) = linux_computer(40,60) end section: options switchCorners = all

switchDelay = 500

end

-- System Information: Debian Release: wheezy/sid APT prefers unstable APT policy: (990, 'unstable'), (500, 'testing'), (500, 'stable'), (1, 'experimental') Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 2.6.39-2-amd64 (SMP w/2 CPU cores) Locale: LANG=en_US.utf8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.utf8 (charmap=UTF-8) Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash

Versions of packages synergy depends on: ii libc6 2.13-21 ii libgcc1 1:4.6.1-3 ii libice6 2:1.0.7-2 ii libsm6 2:1.2.0-2 ii libstdc++6 4.6.1-3 ii libx11-6 2:1.4.4-1 ii libxext6 2:1.3.0-3 ii libxinerama1 2:1.1.1-3 ii libxtst6 2:1.2.0-3

synergy recommends no packages.

synergy suggests no packages.

-- no debconf information

-- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe "Critical thinking is what tells you when to say 'Oh really?' instead of 'Oh cool!'" -- Barry Gehm

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E76590C.6010003@debian.org BTS author: Jeff Licquia licquia@debian.org

On 09/18/2011 04:34 PM, Moshe Yudkowsky wrote:

I have synergy server running on Linux, and a synergy client running on the Mac. Both client and server run at 1.3.6.

When I move my cursor from the Linux to the Mac, from time to time gdm will immediately halt and restart. This makes using syslog chancy at best.

I have a ~/synergy.conf file - note that it does not have a leading "." but works regardless. The contents are:

I'm a little confused. Are you running synergys on startup? If so, it will not read your per-user synergy.conf (unless you're giving it the config file on the command line, in which case its name makes no difference).

If your user session is just crashing, giving you the gdm login window once the crash has settled down, please just say that.

I'm also unclear as to what the problem with syslog is.

Can you try a few things to help and see where the problem might be? Tell me if changing your configuration in the following ways helps:

• Dropping the ranges in the links.

• Dropping the "switchCorners" option.

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E76691A.3050201@pobox.com BTS author: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com

Thanks for writing.

Jeff Licquia wrote, On 09/18/2011 03:48 PM:

I'm a little confused. Are you running synergys on startup? If so, it will not read your per-user synergy.conf (unless you're giving it the config file on the command line, in which case its name makes no difference).

I'm running synergys from the command line after I log into gdm.

If your user session is just crashing, giving you the gdm login window once the crash has settled down, please just say that.

The user session crashes and I get the login window once the crash has settled down.

I'm also unclear as to what the problem with syslog is.

Sorry, that was a "braino," an error similar to a typo but caused by staying up until 1 AM sorting out issues... I meant to say that synergys caused gdm restarts and made using the otherwise-excellent and vital synergys very chancy.

Can you try a few things to help and see where the problem might be? Tell me if changing your configuration in the following ways helps:

• Dropping the ranges in the links.

• Dropping the "switchCorners" option.

I've dropped back to synergy/stable (1.3.1).

• I'll report back if it synergys still fails
• If it still fails, I will remove "switchCorners" and then afterwards the ranges and report back.

I have not measured the uptime, but with 1.3.6 (unstable) I'd generate a failure every few hours with moderate usage. I will report back when I have more data.

If I do not generate any failures with 1.3.1, I will test in the evenings when I am not developing. Each crash takes some time to recover from -- Gnome does not restore windows to workspaces for reasons I've never figured out -- including possible lost data.

-- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe "It's very windy today... watch out for flying phone booths on the East-West Tollway." -- Chicago traffic report

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E769177.6060904@pobox.com BTS author: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com

I've just had another gdm crash (screen blanks, login screen appears) as I attempted to switch screens. synergy 1.3.1 was up for 4 hours, 20 minutes before crashing.

I've restarted 1.3.1 without the switchCorners option:

section: options

switchCorners = all

    #switchDelay = 500

end

I'll report back when I have either another crash or substantial usage without a crash.

-- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E775B59.60308@pobox.com BTS author: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com

Synergy version 1.3.1 crashed after about 5 hours of use. The conf file still had the "links" 40-60% as above but with switchCorners still commented out as above.

I've downloaded 1.3.7 from the synergy site to see if that works. If that does not work, I'll try removing the links - that will be awkward to work with but I'll have little choice.

-- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E779FAE.9050000@pobox.com BTS author: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com

I should mention that in each case when there was a crash, I moved the mouse very rapidly from one screen to the other.

-- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E77B71B.8020908@pobox.com BTS author: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com

Deb from the Synergy web site, 1.3.7, crashed after about 7 hours, a new record. synergy.conf as above (no switchCorners, yes limits).

-- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E77BC95.7060801@debian.org BTS author: Jeff Licquia licquia@debian.org

On 09/19/2011 04:01 PM, Moshe Yudkowsky wrote:

I should mention that in each case when there was a crash, I moved the mouse very rapidly from one screen to the other.

Thanks for all the testing; it's very helpful.

When you move the mouse rapidly between screens, does it crash every time? If not, does it seem to make crashes happen more quickly?

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E77C786.5050100@pobox.com BTS author: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com

Jeff Licquia wrote, On 09/19/2011 05:05 PM:

On 09/19/2011 04:01 PM, Moshe Yudkowsky wrote:

I should mention that in each case when there was a crash, I moved the mouse very rapidly from one screen to the other.

Thanks for all the testing; it's very helpful.

When you move the mouse rapidly between screens, does it crash every time? If not, does it seem to make crashes happen more quickly?

Rapid movement does not cause a problem each time, but it seems that each time there is a problem, it was during rapid movement.

Right now I'm testing the Synergy 1.4.x deb - I'm trying hard to avoid removing the limits because of my setup here.

It suddenly occurs to me that my setup here may be an additional issue -- conflict over what the edge hit means. I have GNOME on top of elightenment window manager, with multiple workspaces/desktops (3 workspaces in a 3x1 array, each workspace contains a 2x2 array of virtual desktops). When inside a workspace I like to mouse between each set of 2x2 desktops and I'd wouldn't have access to my left windows if I were to remove the limits - any movement to the left would push me onto the other screen.

So the issue might be contention between enlightenment and synergy over the meaning of the mouse hit at the left edge...?

I'd switch to a different window manager if I could find one that switches between virtual desktops when I hit the edge of the current desktop. In fact no others seem to allow virtual desktops inside a workspace, or perhaps I'm reading the documentation incorrectly.

Thanks for your patience. I'll report back when I have further details.

-- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe "Don't blame the rainbows for the rain." -- The Moody Blues

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E77EB60.8030208@pobox.com BTS author: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com

1.4.4 crashed after about 4 hours. I am now running Debian unstable, 1.3.6.

I'm trying switchDelay=500 to see if that helps slow things down. I don't see any visible effect from using the option when I test it -- that is, I don't see any delay in switching between screens.

-- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E77EDF9.10103@debian.org BTS author: Jeff Licquia licquia@debian.org

On 09/19/2011 06:51 PM, Moshe Yudkowsky wrote:

I'd switch to a different window manager if I could find one that switches between virtual desktops when I hit the edge of the current desktop. In fact no others seem to allow virtual desktops inside a workspace, or perhaps I'm reading the documentation incorrectly.

I know it would be painful to your current mode of working, but it might also help if you could run a "standard" GNOME desktop, with the default workspace layout and no edge limits on synergy. If you got through, say, a whole day without crashing, that might tell us something.

I should have mentioned this before, too, but could you run synergys with "-d DEBUG1 -l " and send me the resulting log once it crashes again?

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E77EFAC.9060803@pobox.com BTS author: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com

Jeff Licquia wrote, On 09/19/2011 08:35 PM:

I should have mentioned this before, too, but could you run synergys with "-d DEBUG1 -l " and send me the resulting log once it crashes again?

In progress.

I know it would be painful to your current mode of working, but it might also help if you could run a "standard" GNOME desktop, with the default workspace layout and no edge limits on synergy. If you got through, say, a whole day without crashing, that might tell us something

I'm desperate enough to do that next.

-- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe "So many of them, and so few of us, how are we ever going to bury them all?" Robert Frezza, Fire in a Faraway Place

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E77F6E1.1040102@pobox.com BTS author: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com

I should also mention that the problem only seems to happen as I move from right (Linux server) to left (MacOS client).

-- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe signature v1.0

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E785A52.1010308@pobox.com BTS author: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com

This morning both machines were in screensaver mode. Moving the mouse resulted in an immediate crash - I don't know what machine "had" the mouse.

Log to follow direct to Jeff.

-- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe "Mother, can't you hear the hissing/Of the bullets all too plain. I may be numbered with the missing,/But never, never with the slain." -- "Just Behind the Battle, Mother"

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E78675F.10801@pobox.com BTS author: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com

When looking through the various logs, I noticed that at each crash the entry "gmd_slave_xioerror_handler" and a notation about fatal and restart appeared in the logs (daemon.log, syslog, etc.).

That's a generic error message AFAICT from searching the web, but it got me to thinking: I'd had a crash earlier when I plugged in my xsane-supported scanner. I'd put it off as unrelated... I then wondered if it were USB related, (if the USB hotplug of a the scanner caused a crash, could the USB keyboard/mouse cause a crash?), but USB hotplugs of flash drives did not crash gdm.

Reading through the web I decided to try downgrading to nvidia-kernel-dkms/testing.

This has fixed (a) my problem with the scanner and (b) fixed my problem with bug #641991. I'm going to continue working with this version of nvidia and report back. I'm at synergy 1.3.6 at the present time.

-- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe "Thanks to radio, TV, and the press we can now develop absurd misconceptions about peoples and governments we once hardly knew existed." -- Charles Fair, From the Jaws of Victory

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E7899CF.5060108@pobox.com BTS author: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com

I've just spent a couple of hours attempting to get nvidia to work; I've given up and gone back to unstable as my nvidia-kernel-dkms/unstable.

So: I withdraw my prior remarks about nvidia. I did get a gdm crash and I don't know why. I'm going to try a 1000ms switch delay, maybe that will work.

-- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe "Oh, they couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..." General John Sedgwick, 9 May 1864

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E79E52B.5050702@pobox.com BTS author: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com

I found that 1.3.6 (current unstable) crashes in a few short minutes of usage,even if I remove the "limits" that restrict the window for movement.

At present I'm trying 1.3.7 from the synergy website, which is their "stable," and I'm using no limits as well as 100ms delays at the borders.

-- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe "Every morning you will see the wolf lying on the pasture side by side with a sheep. The only problem is that every morning it will be a different sheep." -- Mohammed Wattad, M.K.

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E7FF481.8000709@debian.org BTS author: Jeff Licquia licquia@debian.org

severity 642039 normal thanks

We've transmitted some logs. At this point, I'm not convinced that there isn't some issue with the X server or video driver here, and I can't reproduce the problem. So I'm dropping the severity to normal.

[epakai]

BTS_msg_id: 4E88F47A.2070800@debian.org BTS author: Jeff Licquia licquia@debian.org

I gave Moshe a few days to make sure his new-found stability wasn't a fluke; since there's been no news since then, I think we can conclude the problem was xorg-related, and not synergy-related. Please reopen or file a new bug if this comes back.

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: working after xorg update Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2011 05:13:10 -0500 From: Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com Organization: The Institute To: Jeff Licquia licquia@debian.org

My latest update, which included xorg updates, seems to have fixed some minor and not-so-minor annoyances (xsane no longer crashes Gnome). Synergy 1.4.4 worked well for a day but seemed a bit slow at times, reason unknown; I've just loaded 1.3.7 from the website's deb and we'll see if that works just as well.

In other words, at this point I believe the problem was fixed by xorg updates.

If something interesting comes up I'll be in touch. -- Moshe Yudkowsky moshe@pobox.com www.pobox.com/~moshe "There was an crash on the expressway this morning. Fortunately, all the traffic was backed up." -- Eli Yudkowsky