Re: XScreensaver locks up whole system.
On Tue, Aug 03, 1999 at 10:22:49AM +1000, Dan Everton wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 02, 1999 at 01:21:03PM -0500, Stephen Pitts wrote:
> > Kinda offtopic suggestion, but rebuild your kernel with
> > the "magic SysReq" key option, then Alt-SysRq-K will
>
> Well, unfortunately, magic sysrq is already compiled in and did nothing.
> Tried everything from Alt-SysRq-K to Alt-SysRq-l. Nothing.
>
> > kill all prorams on the current VC. Running xscreensaver
> > in the gdb debugger will let you find out where
> > it crashed and what might have caused the crash.
>
> It's not actually xscreensaver that causes the crash. It's one of the
> programs that comes with it called "penetrate". It's a screensaver that
> simulates a game of Missile Command (oh nostalgia).
>
> > Try this:
> > 1. Use "apt-get source xscreensaver" to download
> > the xscreensaver source. You'll also need the
> > lesstif dev package.
> > 2. Rebuilt xscreensaver with debugging info
> > Adding 'export CFLAGS=-g' right above the first
> > ./configure line in debian/rules should work.
> > should work.
> > 3. Startx and switch to another virtual console.
> > Log in as the user that started the x server,
> > and type "export DISPLAY=:1". Then start
> > xscreensaver with "gdb xscreensaver".
> > 4. Type "run args", where args are the command
> > line arguments to xscreensaver. Wait until
> > it crashes, then use the SysRq combo to
> > kill the xserver. Go back to the gdb console
> > and type 'where'. That will tell you where it
> > crashed.
> > --
> > Stephen Pitts
> > smpitts@midsouth.rr.com
> > webmaster - http://www.mschess.org
>
> I'll try the above debugging stuff. But I don't know if I'll get useful
> information out because the last few times I've tried to run the program, it
> has locked the system so hard it doesn't respond to pings.
>
> Dan
Well, after following the debugging procedure outlined above I've got
nothing. Basically, the program refuses to crash unless it's being displayed
by the xserver (xserver-svga 3.3.3.1-10). It can run just fine for ages
while the X server is not on screen, but as soon as I switch back to the
xserver, the whole systems locks (if I happen to catch the penetrate program
in it's end of level display).
Any other hints?
Dan
--
Dan Everton <z1159684@cit.gu.edu.au> | "Have you tried thinking like a shower?"
www.psynet.net/fada | KBHR's Chris in the Morning
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