[Xfce-bugs] [XFCE 0000201]: some apps (gconf/multithreaded?) freeze or crash on startup when launched from the xfdesktop menu

[xfce-bugs at xfce.org]

The following bug has been RESOLVED.
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http://bugs.xfce.org/view_bug_page.php?f_id=0000201
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Reporter:                   Halcyon
Handler:                    kelnos
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Project:                    XFCE
Bug ID:                     0000201
Category:                   general
Reproducibility:            always
Severity:                   block
Priority:                   high
Status:                     resolved
Resolution:                 fixed
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Date Submitted:             2004-05-22 04:49 GMT
Last Modified:              2004-06-18 16:03 GMT
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Summary:                    some apps (gconf/multithreaded?) freeze or crash on startup when launched from the xfdesktop menu
Description: 
Gnome Terminal freezes when launched from Desktop Menu but works fine when
launched from Panel Launcher or from the Panel Desktop Menu Plugin. 
LinNeighborhood has a similar problem where it cannot mount when launched
from the Desktop Menu but works perfectly when launched from a Panel
Launcher or from the Panel Desktop Menu Plugin. This only affects the CVS
version of XFDesktop. Ver 4.0.5 works fine.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 kelnos - 2004-05-22 07:05 GMT 
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this is known.  unfortunately, the cause is rather unknown, and a fix is
probably going to involve a bit of a rewrite, which i'm in the middle of
now.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 kelnos - 2004-05-22 07:14 GMT 
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by the way... could you clarify what you mean in what you think the problem
is?  i'm not sure that you're on the right track, but i'm not so far in
the rewrite that i wouldn't abandon it if someone were to come up with a
fix...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Halcyon - 2004-05-24 03:46 GMT 
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Since the LinNeighborhood error is saying that the waitpid failed, I'm
assuming it has something to do with how the process is being executed. 
Since this isn't a problem in 4.0.5, could it be something added to the
code since then? Where in the code does the desktop menu run the programs?
If I can see how it's executing the chosen program, it would probably make
it easier for me to figure out what I was trying to say. ;)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 kelnos - 2004-05-24 05:41 GMT 
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ah, i see...  i doubt it's a problem with how it's being launched, though
the 'waitpid failed' is interesting (i've never seen that one before).  if
you're interested in how apps are launched, take a look at xfce_exec() in
xfce4/libxfcegui4/xfce-exec.c.  basically, it boils down to using
g_spawn_async_with_pipes() (from glib).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Halcyon - 2004-05-24 17:16 GMT 
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Also, I don't know if you noticed this, but the gnome-terminal problem only
occurs if there is not an already running gnome-terminal process.  If I
run gnome-terminal from the panel, leave it open, then open gnome-terminal
from the desktop menu, it works fine.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 kelnos - 2004-05-24 17:19 GMT 
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yeah, that's known.  more generally (at least with gtk 2.4 and
gnome-2.6-era apps), if gconfd is already running, it loads fine.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 kelnos - 2004-06-18 16:03 GMT 
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this should be fixed now in CVS.  fix went in yesterday, and from what i've
heard, it seems to be ok now.  please reopen if there are still problems.