GNU bug report logs - #12647
24.2.50; emacs --daemon broken in tty

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Toby Cubitt <tsc25 <at> cantab.net>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: 24.2.50; emacs --daemon broken in tty
Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2012 17:44:58 +0200

"emacsclient -c" throws an error if "emacs --daemon" is started outside
of X windows, . This is on a recent bzr checkout (from today).

Steps to reproduce:

1. switch to a linux virtual tty

2. emacs -Q --daemon

3. switch to X windows

4. emacsclient -c aborts with the following error:

   Waiting for Emacs...
   *ERROR*: Wrong type argument: stringp, nil


(This bug breaks the Gentoo emacs daemon init scripts.)

Note that "emacsclient -nw" does still open tty frames successfully on a
daemon started from a tty. And running "emacs --daemon" from within X
windows allows emacsclient to create both types of frame successfully.


In GNU Emacs 24.2.50.1 (i686-pc-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 3.4.4)
 of 2012-10-14 on c3po
Bzr revision: handa <at> gnu.org-20121014080652-4o4ptkifsi2xqtk4
Windowing system distributor `The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.11202000
Configured using:
 `configure '--prefix=/usr' '--host=i686-pc-linux-gnu'
 '--mandir=/usr/share/man' '--infodir=/usr/share/info'
 '--datadir=/usr/share' '--sysconfdir=/etc' '--localstatedir=/var/lib'
 '--disable-dependency-tracking' '--program-suffix=-emacs-24-vcs'
 '--program-transform-name=s/emacs-[0-9].*/emacs-24-vcs/'
 '--infodir=/usr/share/info/emacs-24-vcs'
 '--enable-locallisppath=/etc/emacs:/usr/share/emacs/site-lisp'
 '--with-crt-dir=/usr/lib/gcc/i686-pc-linux-gnu/4.5.4/../../../../lib'
 '--with-gameuser=games' '--without-compress-info' '--without-hesiod'
 '--without-kerberos' '--without-kerberos5' '--with-gpm' '--with-dbus'
 '--without-gnutls' '--without-xml2' '--without-selinux'
 '--without-wide-int' '--without-sound' '--with-x' '--without-ns'
 '--without-gconf' '--without-gsettings' '--with-toolkit-scroll-bars'
 '--without-gif' '--without-jpeg' '--with-png' '--with-rsvg'
 '--without-tiff' '--with-xpm' '--without-imagemagick' '--with-xft'
 '--without-libotf' '--without-m17n-flt' '--with-x-toolkit=gtk3'
 'GENTOO_PACKAGE=app-editors/emacs-vcs-24.2.9999' 'EBZR_BRANCH=trunk'
 'EBZR_REVNO=110543' '--build=i686-pc-linux-gnu'
 'build_alias=i686-pc-linux-gnu' 'host_alias=i686-pc-linux-gnu'
 'CFLAGS=-march=prescott -O2 -pipe -O2' 'LDFLAGS=-Wl,-O1
 -Wl,--as-needed' 'CPPFLAGS=''

Important settings:
  value of $LANG: en_GB.utf-8
  locale-coding-system: utf-8-unix
  default enable-multibyte-characters: t


-- 
Dr T. S. Cubitt
Mathematics and Quantum Information group
Department of Mathematics
Complutense University
Madrid, Spain

email: tsc25 <at> cantab.net
web:   www.dr-qubit.org

Message #8 received at 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Glenn Morris <rgm <at> gnu.org>
To: Toby Cubitt <toby-dated-1351439087.748fe4 <at> dr-qubit.org>
Cc: 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Daniel Colascione <dancol <at> dancol.org>
Subject: Re: bug#12647: 24.2.50; emacs --daemon broken in tty
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2012 03:00:21 -0400

Toby Cubitt wrote:

> "emacsclient -c" throws an error if "emacs --daemon" is started outside
> of X windows, . This is on a recent bzr checkout (from today).
>
> Steps to reproduce:
>
> 1. switch to a linux virtual tty
>
> 2. emacs -Q --daemon
>
> 3. switch to X windows
>
> 4. emacsclient -c aborts with the following error:
>
>    Waiting for Emacs...
>    *ERROR*: Wrong type argument: stringp, nil

This is due to the various changes related to display handling in
r110444 (cygw32). The specific error is from x-initialize-window-system,
which cannot find a display (don't ask me why getenv DISPLAY doesn't
work here). In the past, frame.el set x-display-name, but it does not do
that any more. Presumably it was doing it for a reason.

The following example frame.el change makes it work again, but someone
should check this area.

--- lisp/frame.el   2012-09-17 12:07:36 +0000
+++ lisp/frame.el   2012-10-16 06:54:40 +0000
@@ -655,6 +655,7 @@
       (error "Don't know how to create a frame on window system %s" w))
 
     (unless (get w 'window-system-initialized)
+      (or x-display-name (setq x-display-name display))
       (funcall (cdr (assq w window-system-initialization-alist)))
       (put w 'window-system-initialized t))
 

Message #11 received at 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca>
To: Glenn Morris <rgm <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org,
	Toby Cubitt <toby-dated-1351439087.748fe4 <at> dr-qubit.org>
Subject: Re: bug#12647: 24.2.50; emacs --daemon broken in tty
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:20:06 -0400

> This is due to the various changes related to display handling in
> r110444 (cygw32).  The specific error is from x-initialize-window-system,
> which cannot find a display (don't ask me why getenv DISPLAY doesn't
> work here).

He said he started "emacs --daemon" outside of X windows, so DISPLAY is
not set.

> In the past, frame.el set x-display-name, but it does not do
> that any more.

Where did it do it?

> The following example frame.el change makes it work again, but someone
> should check this area.

To a large extent x-display-name should disappear, replaced by explicit
parameters, since it doesn't make much sense in a multi-display context.
So this part of the code is pretty ugly.  Your patch is probably OK in
the sense that it doesn't seem to make things significantly worse.


        Stefan

Message #14 received at 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Glenn Morris <rgm <at> gnu.org>
To: Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca>
Cc: 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org,
	Toby Cubitt <toby-dated-1351439087.748fe4 <at> dr-qubit.org>
Subject: Re: bug#12647: 24.2.50; emacs --daemon broken in tty
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:47:11 -0400

Stefan Monnier wrote:

>> In the past, frame.el set x-display-name, but it does not do
>> that any more.
>
> Where did it do it?

In make-frame-on-display, right before calling
x-initialize-window-system. (Look at emacs-24.)

>> The following example frame.el change makes it work again, but someone
>> should check this area.
>
> To a large extent x-display-name should disappear

But not during a feature freeze.

> So this part of the code is pretty ugly.  Your patch is probably OK in
> the sense that it doesn't seem to make things significantly worse.

It was only an example change showing what the problem seems to be.
I'm not saying it is the right fix.

Message #17 received at 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca>
To: Glenn Morris <rgm <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org,
	Toby Cubitt <toby-dated-1351439087.748fe4 <at> dr-qubit.org>
Subject: Re: bug#12647: 24.2.50; emacs --daemon broken in tty
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2012 17:34:42 -0400

>>> In the past, frame.el set x-display-name, but it does not do
>>> that any more.
>> Where did it do it?
> In make-frame-on-display, right before calling
> x-initialize-window-system. (Look at emacs-24.)
>>> The following example frame.el change makes it work again, but someone
>>> should check this area.
>> To a large extent x-display-name should disappear
> But not during a feature freeze.

Agreed.

>> So this part of the code is pretty ugly.  Your patch is probably OK in
>> the sense that it doesn't seem to make things significantly worse.
> It was only an example change showing what the problem seems to be.
> I'm not saying it is the right fix.

We agreed above that we can't afford the right fix for the
feature freeze.


        Stefan

Message #20 received at 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Toby Cubitt <toby-dated-1351633432.99529b <at> dr-qubit.org>
To: Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca>
Cc: Glenn Morris <rgm <at> gnu.org>, 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#12647: 24.2.50; emacs --daemon broken in tty
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2012 23:42:36 +0200

On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 05:34:42PM -0400, Stefan Monnier wrote:
> >>> In the past, frame.el set x-display-name, but it does not do
> >>> that any more.
> >> Where did it do it?
> > In make-frame-on-display, right before calling
> > x-initialize-window-system. (Look at emacs-24.)
> >>> The following example frame.el change makes it work again, but someone
> >>> should check this area.
> >> To a large extent x-display-name should disappear
> > But not during a feature freeze.
> 
> Agreed.
> 
> >> So this part of the code is pretty ugly.  Your patch is probably OK in
> >> the sense that it doesn't seem to make things significantly worse.
> > It was only an example change showing what the problem seems to be.
> > I'm not saying it is the right fix.
> 
> We agreed above that we can't afford the right fix for the
> feature freeze.

I assume you agree that some interim fix is necessary then?

As I mentioned, this bug breaks stuff out there in the real world, such
as the Gentoo emacs init scripts. (These can be used to start emacs
daemons for users at bootup, so they always run emacs --daemon outside of
X, indeed usually before X has even been started).

Toby
-- 
Dr T. S. Cubitt
Mathematics and Quantum Information group
Department of Mathematics
Complutense University
Madrid, Spain

email: tsc25 <at> cantab.net
web:   www.dr-qubit.org

Message #28 received at 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Glenn Morris <rgm <at> gnu.org>
To: Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca>
Cc: 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org,
	Toby Cubitt <toby-dated-1351439087.748fe4 <at> dr-qubit.org>
Subject: Re: bug#12647: 24.2.50; emacs --daemon broken in tty
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 19:46:53 -0400

Stefan Monnier wrote:

> We agreed above that we can't afford the right fix for the
> feature freeze.

I was more hoping to get an answer to "why did this code change in the
first place during a feature freeze"? Ie, was it really necessary for
cygw32 that frame handling on all platforms be changed?

Message #31 received at 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Ulrich Mueller <ulm <at> gentoo.org>
To: 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#12647: 24.2.50; emacs --daemon broken in tty
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2012 01:56:24 +0200

[Sorry for the duplicate #12678, I had noticed too late that this bug
was already open for the issue.]

>> We agreed above that we can't afford the right fix for the
>> feature freeze.

> I assume you agree that some interim fix is necessary then?

Maybe r110444 could be reverted, until things are properly sorted out?

Message #34 received at 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Daniel Colascione <dancol <at> dancol.org>
To: Ulrich Mueller <ulm <at> gentoo.org>
Cc: 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#12647: 24.2.50; emacs --daemon broken in tty
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 17:23:28 -0700

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On 10/18/2012 4:56 PM, Ulrich Mueller wrote:
> [Sorry for the duplicate #12678, I had noticed too late that this bug
> was already open for the issue.]
> 
>>> We agreed above that we can't afford the right fix for the
>>> feature freeze.
> 
>> I assume you agree that some interim fix is necessary then?
> 
> Maybe r110444 could be reverted, until things are properly sorted out?

For the sake of one easy-to-fix-temporarily bug? I don't think that's the right
option.

The right fix for the feature freeze is to just set x-display-name the way we
did before. We'll be no worse off than we were in the last version.

[signature.asc (application/pgp-signature, attachment)]

Message #37 received at 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca>
To: Daniel Colascione <dancol <at> dancol.org>
Cc: 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Ulrich Mueller <ulm <at> gentoo.org>
Subject: Re: bug#12647: 24.2.50; emacs --daemon broken in tty
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 21:40:38 -0400

> The right fix for the feature freeze is to just set x-display-name the way we
> did before. We'll be no worse off than we were in the last version.

Yes, could you do that, please?


        Stefan

Message #40 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Daniel Colascione <dancol <at> dancol.org>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#12647: 24.2.50; emacs --daemon broken in tty
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:45:48 -0700

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On 10/18/2012 5:23 PM, Daniel Colascione wrote:
> On 10/18/2012 4:56 PM, Ulrich Mueller wrote:
>> [Sorry for the duplicate #12678, I had noticed too late that this bug
>> was already open for the issue.]
>>
>>>> We agreed above that we can't afford the right fix for the
>>>> feature freeze.
>>
>>> I assume you agree that some interim fix is necessary then?
>>
>> Maybe r110444 could be reverted, until things are properly sorted out?
> 
> For the sake of one easy-to-fix-temporarily bug? I don't think that's the right
> option.
> 
> The right fix for the feature freeze is to just set x-display-name the way we
> did before. We'll be no worse off than we were in the last version.
> 

I've installed a tweaked version of Glenn's patch. It appears to resolve the
problem.

[signature.asc (application/pgp-signature, attachment)]

Message #43 received at 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Ulrich Mueller <ulm <at> gentoo.org>
To: Daniel Colascione <dancol <at> dancol.org>
Cc: 12647 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#12647: 24.2.50; emacs --daemon broken in tty
Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2012 14:30:56 +0200

>>>>> On Fri, 19 Oct 2012, Daniel Colascione wrote:

>> The right fix for the feature freeze is to just set x-display-name
>> the way we did before. We'll be no worse off than we were in the
>> last version.

> I've installed a tweaked version of Glenn's patch. It appears to
> resolve the problem.

Thank you. I can confirm that I don't see the problem any more in the
current version (110601) from bzr.

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