Seemingly random crashing when I run it

[Zalbor]

For the past week or so, this has been happening more and more often...

The window will open, and it will start connecting to my account. And then it seems to freeze. If another window passes in front of amsn, it becomes blank as if I used an eraser. The indications that someone has logged on or off do appear on the lower right of the screen, but only about the top 1/4 of them. The icon is not responsive either, and the only solution is to "killall wish" and try again.
Today especially, it seems to happen all the time, so I can't use the program.

Using Ubuntu 6.06, updating daily from svn...

[Fenix-TX]

try rm .amsn (or mv if you want to have a backup) and run amsn again

[Zalbor]

I tried it again just before you replied (normally) and it worked. For trial's sake I tried with no .amsn directory and it worked too, but I doubt that says much as whether it works or not seems to be random... I just replaced my original .amsn dir and it worked again.
Not to say that the problem has been solved, of course. For all I know it will happen again next time I try, or it will work for the next 10 times and then crash again.

[kakaroto]

Hi,
it would be interesting to know the real reason behind this.. did you search the forum to see if anyone reported something similar ? maybe you should... there's also this issue with tcl/tk thread-enabled and kernel 2.6.. I guess you already know about it. If not, then look here : http://amsn.sourceforge.net/wiki/tiki-index.php?page=Known+Issues
but you're an ubuntu user and I think it's not thread enabled with ubuntu...
apart from that, if it happens again, try deleting the ~/.amsn and see if it works for the next few days...

[Zalbor]

This hasn't happened for some time, but it did again today... I used "killall wish" about 10 times in a row and it didn't start correctly. I moved .amsn to .amsn_bak and it worked in the first try, so I guess it probably has something to do with my options, skins or plugins. Are there any specific ones I should try changing to see if it's fixed? Or should I start chaning random things? (It will still not be clear if something fixes it, though).
As about threads, I read in another topic that if ps -A returns more than one "wish" line then I'm using threads. It returned just one, so I guess threads aren't the issue.
Maybe it's also related to this somehow, although it had never happened before and miraculously stopped happening: http://www.amsn-project.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1952

By the way: I'm now using Ubuntu 6.10 and tcl/tk8.5.

[Zalbor]

No such luck, after all. I tried it with an all-new .amsn directory a few times and had the same problem.

[vivia]

Try compiling with debug enabled and running it under gdb, it's explained in the FAQ... (Just be patient, the FAQ is still on sourceforge and I think it's down again :@)

[Zalbor]

I just tried that. No errors while the problem happens, but it still stalled and I had to use the "quit" command. (By the way, in case I've not mentioned it before, this only happens when I connect. If I just run the program and leave it without connecting, there's no problem).
However, threads were mentioned while debugging, in lines like "[New Thread -1213679424 (LWP 7145)]". So I guess it is a thread issue after all... Here is the whole output of the debugger anyway:

Code:

Starting program: /usr/bin/wish ./amsn
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
[Thread debugging using libthread_db enabled]
[New Thread -1214244672 (LWP 11513)]
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
[New Thread -1214456928 (LWP 11516)]
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
quit

Program received signal SIGTERM, Terminated.
[Switching to Thread -1214244672 (LWP 11513)]
---Type <return> to continue, or q <return> to quit---quit
Quit
(gdb) quit
The program is running.  Exit anyway? (y or n) y

(I tried to kill wish at that point).

EDIT: So I tried the suggestions about the thread issue. I'm using tcl/tk8.5 and I'm pretty sure it wasn't configured with --enable-threads. The line "export LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.2.5 && ./amsn" returned "/bin/bash: error while loading shared libraries: libdl.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory".

[vivia]

Try ./configure --help on both tcl and tk (though defaults on compilation work OK for me - this doesn't seem to be the issue)

Wait for the hang and type in gdb: bt full   (And of course we need the output)

[Zalbor]

D'oh... no wonder bt didn't work the first time, I thought I had to type it into bash.
Here is the output. Although I had to try and kill wish, otherwise I had no gdb prompt. If there was another way to get one, let me know.

Code:

(gdb) run
Starting program: /usr/bin/wish ./amsn
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
[Thread debugging using libthread_db enabled]
[New Thread -1213728576 (LWP 8477)]
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
[New Thread -1213940832 (LWP 8480)]
(no debugging symbols found)
(no debugging symbols found)
bt full

Program received signal SIGTERM, Terminated.
[Switching to Thread -1213728576 (LWP 8477)]
---Type <return> to continue, or q <return> to quit---bt full
0xffffe410 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
(gdb) bt full
#0  0xffffe410 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
No symbol table info available.
#1  0xb7da13fb in __read_nocancel () from /lib/tls/i686/cmov/libpthread.so.0
No symbol table info available.
#2  0xb7e6b3e0 in TclGetAndDetachPids () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#3  0xb7e20562 in Tcl_WriteRaw () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#4  0xb7e21e4e in Tcl_ChannelName () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#5  0xb7e2848f in Tcl_ExecObjCmd () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#6  0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#7  0xb7de0765 in Tcl_EvalObjv () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#8  0xb7de0ad8 in Tcl_EvalObjEx () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#9  0xb7de59e3 in Tcl_EvalObjCmd () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#10 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#11 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
---Type <return> to continue, or q <return> to quit---
No symbol table info available.
#12 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#13 0xb7e491e0 in TclObjInterpProc () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#14 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#15 0xb7ddff66 in Tcl_EvalEx () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#16 0xb7e53829 in Tcl_AfterObjCmd () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#17 0xb7e52d44 in Tcl_CreateTimerHandler () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#18 0xb7e39dd5 in Tcl_ServiceEvent () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#19 0xb7e3a0be in Tcl_DoOneEvent () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#20 0xb7e0c4a5 in Tcl_VwaitObjCmd () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#21 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#22 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
---Type <return> to continue, or q <return> to quit---
#23 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#24 0xb7e491e0 in TclObjInterpProc () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#25 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#26 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#27 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#28 0xb7e491e0 in TclObjInterpProc () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#29 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#30 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#31 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#32 0xb7e491e0 in TclObjInterpProc () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#33 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#34 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
---Type <return> to continue, or q <return> to quit---
No symbol table info available.
#35 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#36 0xb7e491e0 in TclObjInterpProc () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#37 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#38 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#39 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#40 0xb7e491e0 in TclObjInterpProc () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#41 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#42 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#43 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#44 0xb7e491e0 in TclObjInterpProc () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#45 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
---Type <return> to continue, or q <return> to quit---
#46 0xb7ddff66 in Tcl_EvalEx () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#47 0xb7de098f in Tcl_EvalObjEx () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#48 0xb7de59bb in Tcl_EvalObjCmd () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#49 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#50 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#51 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#52 0xb7e491e0 in TclObjInterpProc () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#53 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#54 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#55 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#56 0xb7e491e0 in TclObjInterpProc () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#57 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
---Type <return> to continue, or q <return> to quit---
No symbol table info available.
#58 0xb7ddff66 in Tcl_EvalEx () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#59 0xb7e53829 in Tcl_AfterObjCmd () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#60 0xb7e52d44 in Tcl_CreateTimerHandler () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#61 0xb7e39dd5 in Tcl_ServiceEvent () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#62 0xb7e3a0be in Tcl_DoOneEvent () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#63 0xb7e0c4a5 in Tcl_VwaitObjCmd () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#64 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#65 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#66 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#67 0xb7e491e0 in TclObjInterpProc () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#68 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
---Type <return> to continue, or q <return> to quit---
#69 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#70 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#71 0xb7e491e0 in TclObjInterpProc () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#72 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#73 0xb7de0765 in Tcl_EvalObjv () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#74 0xb7de0ad8 in Tcl_EvalObjEx () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#75 0xb7e4883f in Tcl_UplevelObjCmd () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#76 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#77 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#78 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#79 0xb7de09ef in Tcl_EvalObjEx () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#80 0xb7de522e in Tcl_CatchObjCmd () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
---Type <return> to continue, or q <return> to quit---
No symbol table info available.
#81 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#82 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#83 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#84 0xb7e491e0 in TclObjInterpProc () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#85 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#86 0xb7ddf111 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#87 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#88 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#89 0xb7e491e0 in TclObjInterpProc () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#90 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#91 0xb7e0e1c8 in TclExprFloatError () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
---Type <return> to continue, or q <return> to quit---
#92 0xb7e1486a in TclCompEvalObj () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#93 0xb7de09ef in Tcl_EvalObjEx () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#94 0xb7de849e in Tcl_IfObjCmd () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#95 0xb7ddefd5 in TclEvalObjvInternal () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#96 0xb7ddff66 in Tcl_EvalEx () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#97 0xb7e2d925 in Tcl_FSEvalFileEx () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#98 0xb7ebe371 in Tk_MainEx () from /usr/lib/libtk8.5.so
No symbol table info available.
#99 0x08048851 in main ()
No symbol table info available.
(gdb) quit
The program is running.  Exit anyway? (y or n) y

[JeeBee]

Check your config.log file. Perhaps there's information about whether threads were enabled.
I don't know how they can be enabled without you explicitly giving that option, as it does not seem
to be default, but anyways, check config.log if you can find anything.

Your gdb dump looks to me like you have threads enabled...
Also, try to explicitly configure like this:

Code:

  ./configure <your_favorite_options> --disable-threads

Who knows that might help ...

About the other error (LD_ASSUME_KERNEL), I wouldn't know, Vivia gave me this link:
http://lists.hellug.gr/pipermail/linux-greek-users/2006-June/064002.html
I cannot read Greek, so good luck with it  

Edit :: Make sure you're also using the wish executable that you think you are using (and not have two of them, one of which compiled with --enable-threads....)

[kakaroto]

I agree with JeeBee, this output :

Code:

  
#2  0xb7e6b3e0 in TclGetAndDetachPids () from /usr/lib/libtcl8.5.so 

 which is the last function called from Tcl means it creates threads and detaches the processes, which probably is the cause of the hang... I don't know why though it happens like this.. make sure you disable threads.. we never know. And also, make sure you run the wish executable you compiled...

[Zalbor]

I didn't actually compile it myself, I used packages made by someone on ubuntuforums. I guess they have threads enabled (I sent a PM to ask him, got no reply).
I did try to compile it myself first, but after a "sudo make install" which seemed to go well, amsn's configure script couldn't find 8.5 and chose 8.4 again. This doesn't happen with the packages...
EDIT: I noticed the tcl/tk8.5 script installed in /usr/local by default, while 8.4 was in /usr . I tried ./configure --prefix=/usr, but it still didn't work.

[vivia]

Now we are stuck on "...but it still didn't work". It should... you mean you compiled both tcl and tk with --prefix=/usr , then make and then sudo make install, and amsn keeps detecting 8.4?...

Go to the FAQ, there's a very detailed section on how to install tcl/tk 8.5 correctly. If you have it installed OK, check your symlinks: /usr/bin/wish should point to wish8.5 and /usr/bin/tclsh should point to tclsh8.5

Being a new power user (congrats! ), I suppose you can figure out how to compile tcl/tk by yourself if you search the forum a bit :p

[Zalbor]

If you have it installed OK, check your symlinks: /usr/bin/wish should point to wish8.5 and /usr/bin/tclsh should point to tclsh8.5

Thanks, that was part of the issue. After this I needed to re-install both of them, and then I realized I had to enable xft as well, which needed the -dev package installed. I ran amsn a few times since then, and it didn't seem to have problems. (Just saying all that so you know I'm not really a total noob! )
The problem now is that it's not letting me log on because (it says) I don't have tls, which was never an issue before. Nevertheless, the tcltls package is installed, and I tried to point it to /usr/lib/tls , /usr/lib/tls1.50 and /usr/lib itself; it still doesn't seem to thing tls is installed...

EDIT (hopefully final): And it's working!   It needed the change from 1.5 to 1.50 in the tls file, which you described in another thread. I connected and it's going well so far. Thanks a lot for the help (and the patience :p).
Of course I can't be 100% sure the problems are gone, as this one was fairly random and I've just tried it once since it got fixed, but everything makes sense so it's probably fine. Thanks again to everyone.