Re: Help with crashing X server

[tlaronde%polynum.com@localhost]

Hello,

On Sun, Mar 21, 2010 at 04:29:32PM -0400, Adam Plumb wrote:
> hi all, I'm running NetBSD 5.0.1 amd64 with the X server from the
> install CD (i.e. I did a Full Installation).  I'm new to NetBSD and am
> trying to figure out this X server crash I get consistently.
> 
> To reproduce it, I start the X server with startx and twm as the
> window manager (which one doesn't make a difference) and then I exit
> either by clicking Exit from the twm main menu or Ctrl+Alt+Backspace.
> If I try to startx again from the console, it will go into X and then
> crash within a couple seconds.  This happens every single time, and it
> only happens if I quit out of X then restart X.  Once X crashes I
> can't use the mouse or keyboard, I can't Ctrl+Alt+Backspace out, and I
> can't even ssh into the machine from another computer (I had started
> the sshd daemon).

I have the same problem on NetBSD 3.1.1 i386, with Xorg modular (1.3.0
in pkgsrc), and blackbox or twm.

I have had message about:

usl_detachtimeout

that, looking in the sources, comes from wsdisplay.

I had too, with blackbox, from time to time the problem of a cursor
stuck in a window (node not frozen; could switch to console and kill
app). I thought the fault was blackbox. I think now that there is a
problem in the interaction between wsdisplay and X.

When the node freezes, it seems that I was on the edge of the app,
scrolling, that is in the border between the app window and root.

In the wsdisplay usl source, the only thing that from a cursory look
that seems strange for me is a :

#if defined (COMPAT_FREEBSD)

I have it in my kernel config while not using it. I don't know what this
does and if there is a problem with the path taken. Since I don't use
FreeBSD binaries, I will recompile a kernel without it just to see.

Hope this gives some clues to developers,
-- 
Thierry Laronde (Alceste) <tlaronde +AT+ polynum +dot+ com>
                 http://www.kergis.com/
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