[Bug 532047] Re: Plymouth text-mode splash causes X to crash on first run due to shared tty7

[John S. Gruber]

@Niccolo

Welcome.

I don't think this old bug report is a way to get this problem solved as
it is already closed. Since you have already looked for a current bug
report and can't find one I'd suggest you file a new one yourself.
Please don't be shy.  I'd suggest you use the approach at
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Reporting since `ubuntu-bug xorg` will collect
a lot of pertinent information automatically. That page has lots of
useful advice.

WRT your question about viewing your xorg log files yourself, I would
would suggest starting gedit and navigate to /var/log/ and the files you
want to examine. askubuntu.com is great for getting answers to this kind
of question, by the way. Here on Launchpad is the best place to get bugs
worked on.

@Jorge

The message about the quit signal is just like the ones that occurred
with this sort of bug. It might be good to see if there is an error in
the still older xorg log.

@Both

I think closed bugs don't appear on developers' lists so a new bug
report is much better, as Steve Langasek suggested to someone above. In
addition gdm was involved in this old bug but now lightdm is used for
the sign on screen so this really is a brand new bug even though there
are probably events in common and the symptoms are the same.

If you are both having the same problem on Precise perhaps one of you
can file the bug and the other can mark it as affecting him as well .
You both should attach the logs produced by `ubuntu-bug xorg` to help
move the bug toward triaging.

Thanks.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/532047

Title:
  Plymouth text-mode splash causes X to crash on first run due to shared
  tty7

Status in X.Org X server:
  Invalid
Status in “plymouth” package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in “xorg-server” package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: plymouth

  Lucid adopted the Plymouth graphical splash service that uses the
  Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) facilities to provide a flicker-free
  graphical splash during start-up. For older video chipsets and drivers
  (e.g. intel i815) that *do not* support KMS plymouth falls back to
  using a text console (using the text plugin). It attaches to tty7 and
  outputs Linux terminfo control codes to draw a colour progress-bar at
  the bottom of the display.

  There is an unfortunate interaction between plymouth and X. X also
  uses tty7. When the X/GDM log-in screen appears for the first time
  plymouth is still running. A script triggers a quit message to the
  plymouth daemon. It seems that plymouth is waiting for either the "2"
  key or "Enter" key to be pressed, whereupon a SIGQUIT (signal 3) is
  sent to tty7. This causes both plymouth *and* X to terminate.

  So, if a password contains "2" or the user logs in by pressing "Enter"
  after typing their password, the user experience is that X 'crashes'
  (however, gdb reveals that X receives SIGQUIT).

  Some stray plymouth control codes can be witnessed on tty7 if X is
  stopped and tty7 console is on-screen.

  Upstart (/sbin/init) then restarts gdm (which launches X) and the
  second session performs correctly.

  *** A temporary workaround is to disable the plymouth-splash upstart
  job ***

  sudo mv /etc/init/plymouth-splash.conf /etc/init/plymouth-
  splash.conf.disabled

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