I really don't know what

On Thu, Dec 28, 2006 at 03:52:33PM -0500, Rick Thomas wrote:
> Package: gnome-desktop
>
> I really don't know what package to file this bug report under. If I
> make it to "installation-reports", FJP will just say, "The installer
> did everything right, so I'm closing this report." which seems a
> little like the surgeon who said, "The operation was as success. Too
> bad, the patient died. But that's not my problem!"
>
> I'm picking "gnome-desktop" out of thin air, if only because I don't
> get this problem with KDE desktop manager. Will somebody who knows,
> please redirect it to the correct place!
Hi Rick,
while I do not know about the accuracy of your claim to the cause of the
error, I can make a point about Debian procedure: if you feel that a
Debian developer closed a bug report incorrectly and you can make a
claim that you feel this is incorrect, you can bring your case to the
Debian technical committee where this matter will be decided. And if the
committee agrees with you, then the Developer will then follow their
ruling.
Cheers,
Kev
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Rick Thomas wrote:
> Package: gnome-desktop
> The computer in question is an OldWorld PowerMac Apple Macintosh,
> "Beige G3" tower. This problem only happens on this machine. It does
> not occur on my G4 test box.
>
> I'd very much appreciate it if somebody else with a beige G3 would try
> it and let me know if they see the same problem.

Sorry; don't have one.

> However, after rebooting following the install, and logging in to
> gnome, it seems to be repeatedly trying to start/re-start something
> having to do with the appearance of the desktop. Things are very slow

> Finally, after 30 seconds or a minute, I get a pop-up that says
>
> Question
> The pannel encountered a problem while loading
> "OAFIID:GNOME_MixerApplet".
>
> Do you want to delete the applet from your configuration?
> [Don't delete] [Delete]
> If I click [Delete] it goes back to wiggling, but the popup doesn't
> reappear.
>
> After a couple of minutes of wiggling, I get a popup that says
>
> There was an error starting the GNOME Settings Daemon
> Some things such as themes, sounds, or background settings, may
> not work correctly.
>
> The Settings Daemon restarted too many times
>
> The last error message was:
> System Exception:IDL:Bonobo/GeneralError:1.0:
> Child process did not give an error message,
> unknown failure occurred.
>
> Gnome will try to restart the Settings Daemon next time you login.
> [close]
>
> When I click [close] the wiggling stops and everything is (as far as I
> can tell) normal until I log out
> and try to login again.
>
> Anybody got a clue?

Not really, but I'd suggest trying with a different (preferably
newly-created) user (even root {shudder}).

I'd also look for any gnome-related log files in /var/log and see if
they provide any clue.

I'd do an "aptitude update && aptitude dist-upgrade" to see if any newer
packages solve the problem.

I'd search the bug database and general Google for this issue.

--
Kent West
Westing Peacefully

--

Rick Thomas wrote:
>
> The computer in question is an OldWorld PowerMac Apple Macintosh,
> "Beige G3" tower. This problem only happens on this machine. It
> does not occur on my G4 test box.

I have a Beige G3 "Gossamer", not a tower, but it's practically the
same.

> I'd very much appreciate it if somebody else with a beige G3 would
> try it and let me know if they see the same problem.

I noticed the same behaviour a few months ago. As I generally run
Window Maker/GNUstep on that machine, I just ignored that as I thought
there is something broken in my configuration. I'll try to find out
what's wrong, but that won't happen in the forthcoming weeks.

Apparently this has nothing to do with the installation CDs, as my
machine has been running Debian for ages. One thing you could do, as
a startup, is to attach gdb to that applet and see what's crashing
it. That might give you a clue where to investigate further.

--

Rick Thomas writes:

> However, after rebooting following the install, and logging in to
> gnome, it seems to be repeatedly trying to start/re-start something
> having to do with the appearance of the desktop. Things are very
> slow (as if a process in continually crashing and restarting) and the
> appearance of the desktop cycles thru a series of subtle but
> disturbing changes that I'll call "wiggling" for want of a better word.

I have seen behaviour more or less like this when the clock was set
wrongly, i.e. to 1904 or something, so check that the clock setting is
reasonable. (I have no idea why a bogus clock setting upsets gnome so
much.)

Paul.

--

On Thu, 28 Dec 2006, Rick Thomas wrote:

> There was an error starting the GNOME Settings Daemon
> Some things such as themes, sounds, or background settings, may not
> work correctly.
> The Settings Daemon restarted too many times
>
> The last error message was:
> System Exception:IDL:Bonobo/GeneralError:1.0:
> Child process did not give an error message,
> unknown failure occurred.
> Gnome will try to restart the Settings Daemon next time you
> login.
> [close]
>
> When I click [close] the wiggling stops and everything is (as far as I can
> tell) normal until I log out
> and try to login again.

The fact that after closing this window the machine behaves normally
again, seems to suggest, that that's where you should search for the
problem. Try to find out what the Settings Daemon does, maybe try to start
it manually under strace and see where it fails? Or just starting it in
the foreground might give some output on the terminal, look for verbouse
or debugging mode. Or follow the advises above - try to select another
theme, see if your sound works, etc.

Don't have any etch with X here, so, cannot verify myself.

Thanks
Guennadi
---
Guennadi Liakhovetski

--