[Debian-olpc-devel] Bug#576110: sucrose-0.88: broken gconf defaults file causes Sugar not to start up ("Unknown favorites layout: None")

[Sascha Silbe]

Package: sucrose-0.88
Version: 0.88.0-1
Severity: important


Packages installed from debian.jones.dk (sid/sugar).

After upgrading from the current Sugar packages in sid (sucrose-0.88 0.87.2-1), Sugar refused to start up with the following traceback:

1270044468.464369 WARNING root: Unknown favorites layout: None
[...]
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/sugar-session", line 270, in <module>
    main()
  File "/usr/bin/sugar-session", line 253, in main
    home_window = homewindow.get_instance()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/jarabe/desktop/homewindow.py", line 186, in get_instance
    _instance = HomeWindow()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/jarabe/desktop/homewindow.py", line 61, in __init__
    self._home_box = HomeBox()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/jarabe/desktop/homebox.py", line 49, in __init__
    self._toolbar = HomeToolbar()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/jarabe/desktop/homebox.py", line 184, in __init__
    favorites_button = FavoritesButton()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/jarabe/desktop/homebox.py", line 261, in __init__
    self._update_icon()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/jarabe/desktop/homebox.py", line 296, in _update_icon
    self.props.named_icon = favoritesview.LAYOUT_MAP[self._layout]\
KeyError: None


After a few hours of debugging, I got it narrowed down ("you" in the text below references Jonas Smedegaard - it was part of an email I sent to debian-olpc-devel):

GConf is returning None for /desktop/sugar/desktop/favorites_layout. Now we get to the point where my gconf experience is lacking:
/usr/share/gconf/schemas/sugar.schemas contains a default setting ("ring-layout"), but this doesn't get applied. In fact gconftool-2 never reads any .schemas file, only /var/lib/gconf/defaults/%gconf-tree.xml. The latter file contains several "directories" for for /desktop/sugar/..., but no "entries" whereas it has lots of entries for /apps/metacity/....

This is on a fresh debootstrap'ed installation of Debian Squeeze that only ever has seen the current Sugar packages from Squeeze and your newly packaged ones. Except for starting up Sugar and changing views, it hasn't been used in any way (because there are no activities).

Where it gets interesting is that I still have the chroot I used for creating the installation - and there the defaults file contains all the /desktop/sugar/... entries! The recorded "mtime" of the entries is that of the upgrade from the Sugar packages in Squeeze to the ones from your repo.
The only difference between the two copies is that I've installed a few more packages on the "real" one, booted it, started up Sugar on it and installed your packages at a different time.

Can you make any sense out of this? Some gconf tool being called during package upgrade failed to do its job perhaps?

Clarification: The bug occured on the XO-1.5 (i.e. the "real" installation), and not inside the chroot.

Copy of the broken gconf file is attached.


-- System Information:
Debian Release: squeeze/sid
  APT prefers testing
  APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: i386 (i686)

Kernel: Linux 2.6.31.9-xo1.5-1-00636-ge8fbfa6 (PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash

Versions of packages sucrose-0.88 depends on:
ii  ethtool                      1:2.6.33-1  display or change Ethernet device 
ii  gdb                          7.0.1-2     The GNU Debugger
ii  lsb-release                  3.2-23      Linux Standard Base version report
ii  network-manager              0.8-1       network management framework daemo
ii  openssh-client               1:5.3p1-3   secure shell (SSH) client, for sec
ii  python-carquinyol-0.88       0.87.1-1+b1 Sugar graphical shell - datastore
ii  sugar-emulator-0.88          0.88.0-1    Sugar graphical shell - emulator
ii  sugar-session-0.88           0.88.0-1    Sugar graphical shell - window man
ii  sugar-tools-0.88             0.88.0-1    Sugar graphical shell - window man
ii  tzdata                       2010e-1     time zone and daylight-saving time
ii  wpasupplicant                0.6.10-2    client support for WPA and WPA2 (I
ii  x11-xserver-utils            7.5+1+b1    X server utilities

sucrose-0.88 recommends no packages.

Versions of packages sucrose-0.88 suggests:
pn  python-xklavier               <none>     (no description available)
ii  sugar-browse-activity-0.86 [s 115-1      web browsing activity for the Suga
pn  sugar-imageviewer-activity    <none>     (no description available)
pn  sugar-jukebox-activity        <none>     (no description available)
pn  sugar-pippy-activity          <none>     (no description available)
pn  sugar-read-activity           <none>     (no description available)
pn  sugar-write-activity          <none>     (no description available)

-- no debconf information
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: %gconf-tree.xml
Type: application/xml
Size: 92596 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/debian-olpc-devel/attachments/20100331/f6c64378/attachment-0001.xml>