Debian Bug report logs - #546291
gdm: erratically switches off computer without asking

version graph

Package: gdm; Maintainer for gdm is (unknown);

Reported by: axst@users.sourceforge.net

Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:12:02 UTC

Severity: normal

Tags: moreinfo

Found in version gdm/2.20.7-4lenny1

Done: Julien Cristau <jcristau@debian.org>

Bug is archived. No further changes may be made.

View this report as an mbox folder, status mbox, maintainer mbox


Report forwarded to debian-bugs-dist@lists.debian.org, Debian GNOME Maintainers <pkg-gnome-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>:
Bug#546291; Package gdm. (Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:12:05 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Acknowledgement sent to axst@users.sourceforge.net:
New Bug report received and forwarded. Copy sent to Debian GNOME Maintainers <pkg-gnome-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>. (Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:12:05 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Message #5 received at submit@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: axst@users.sourceforge.net
To: Debian Bug Tracking System <submit@bugs.debian.org>
Subject: gdm: erratically switches off computer without asking
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:05:27 +0200
Package: gdm
Version: 2.20.7-4lenny1
Severity: normal

The system is powered down immediately at unforeseeable times without even proper
shutdown, causing data loss and destroying recordable media being burned. This happens
around once or twice daily at irregular times. It is of no importance which programs are
running or if a screensaver is configured. It happens regardless of user activity, even in
the middle of the night.

It does not happen, however, as long as:
- GDM and X are not running at all
or:
- GDM is showing the greeter (i.e., X is running)
(I tested this for about a week each.)

--- i.e., it only happens in a user session

Once it has happened, the computer may even switch off once or twice a few seconds after
restarting. Then things calm down.

There are no discernable hardware problems such as overheating, fan failure or harddisk
failure. I have installed monitors.

-- System Information:
Debian Release: 5.0.3
  APT prefers stable
  APT policy: (500, 'stable')
Architecture: i386 (i686)

Kernel: Linux 2.6.26-2-686 (SMP w/2 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=C (charmap=UTF-8) (ignored: LC_ALL set to en_US.utf8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash

Versions of packages gdm depends on:
ii  adduser             3.110                add and remove users and groups
ii  debconf [debconf-2. 1.5.24               Debian configuration management sy
ii  gksu                2.0.0-8              graphical frontend to su
ii  gnome-session [x-se 2.22.3-2             The GNOME 2 Session Manager
ii  gnome-terminal [x-t 2.22.3-3             The GNOME 2 terminal emulator appl
ii  libart-2.0-2        2.3.20-2             Library of functions for 2D graphi
ii  libatk1.0-0         1.22.0-1             The ATK accessibility toolkit
ii  libattr1            1:2.4.43-2           Extended attribute shared library
ii  libc6               2.7-18               GNU C Library: Shared libraries
ii  libcairo2           1.6.4-7              The Cairo 2D vector graphics libra
ii  libdbus-1-3         1.2.1-5+lenny1       simple interprocess messaging syst
ii  libdbus-glib-1-2    0.76-1               simple interprocess messaging syst
ii  libdmx1             1:1.0.2-3            X11 Distributed Multihead extensio
ii  libfontconfig1      2.6.0-3              generic font configuration library
ii  libfreetype6        2.3.7-2+lenny1       FreeType 2 font engine, shared lib
ii  libglade2-0         1:2.6.2-1            library to load .glade files at ru
ii  libglib2.0-0        2.16.6-2             The GLib library of C routines
ii  libgnomecanvas2-0   2.20.1.1-1           A powerful object-oriented display
ii  libgtk2.0-0         2.12.12-1~lenny1     The GTK+ graphical user interface 
ii  libpam-modules      1.0.1-5+lenny1       Pluggable Authentication Modules f
ii  libpam-runtime      1.0.1-5+lenny1       Runtime support for the PAM librar
ii  libpam0g            1.0.1-5+lenny1       Pluggable Authentication Modules l
ii  libpango1.0-0       1.20.5-5             Layout and rendering of internatio
ii  librsvg2-2          2.22.2-2lenny1       SAX-based renderer library for SVG
ii  librsvg2-common     2.22.2-2lenny1       SAX-based renderer library for SVG
ii  libselinux1         2.0.65-5             SELinux shared libraries
ii  libwrap0            7.6.q-16             Wietse Venema's TCP wrappers libra
ii  libx11-6            2:1.1.5-2            X11 client-side library
ii  libxau6             1:1.0.3-3            X11 authorisation library
ii  libxdmcp6           1:1.0.2-3            X11 Display Manager Control Protoc
ii  libxext6            2:1.0.4-1            X11 miscellaneous extension librar
ii  libxi6              2:1.1.4-1            X11 Input extension library
ii  libxinerama1        2:1.0.3-2            X11 Xinerama extension library
ii  libxml2             2.6.32.dfsg-5+lenny1 GNOME XML library
ii  lsb-base            3.2-20               Linux Standard Base 3.2 init scrip
ii  metacity [x-window- 1:2.22.0-2           A lightweight GTK2 based Window Ma
ii  roxterm [x-terminal 1.11.1-1.1           multi-tabbed GTK+2 terminal emulat
ii  twm [x-window-manag 1:1.0.4-2            Tab window manager
ii  xterm [x-terminal-e 235-2                X terminal emulator
ii  zlib1g              1:1.2.3.3.dfsg-12    compression library - runtime

Versions of packages gdm recommends:
ii  gdm-themes                   0.6.1       Themes for the GNOME Display Manag
ii  whiptail                     0.52.2-11.3 Displays user-friendly dialog boxe
pn  xserver-xephyr | xnest       <none>      (no description available)
ii  xserver-xorg                 1:7.3+20    the X.Org X server
ii  zenity                       2.22.1-2    Display graphical dialog boxes fro

Versions of packages gdm suggests:
ii  libpam-gnome-keyring          2.22.3-2   PAM module to unlock the GNOME key
ii  locales                       2.7-18     GNU C Library: National Language (
ii  pm-utils                      1.1.2.4-1  utilities and scripts for power ma

-- debconf information:
  gdm/daemon_name: /usr/bin/gdm
* shared/default-x-display-manager: gdm




Information forwarded to debian-bugs-dist@lists.debian.org, Debian GNOME Maintainers <pkg-gnome-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>:
Bug#546291; Package gdm. (Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:45:03 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Acknowledgement sent to 546291@bugs.debian.org:
Extra info received and forwarded to list. Copy sent to Debian GNOME Maintainers <pkg-gnome-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>. (Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:45:03 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Message #10 received at 546291@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Josselin Mouette <joss@debian.org>
To: axst@users.sourceforge.net, 546291@bugs.debian.org
Subject: Re: Bug#546291: gdm: erratically switches off computer without asking
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:33:49 +0200
[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]
Le samedi 12 septembre 2009 à 11:05 +0200, axst@users.sourceforge.net a
écrit : 
> The system is powered down immediately at unforeseeable times without even proper
> shutdown, causing data loss and destroying recordable media being burned. 

This is a kernel or X driver bug.

What is your graphics hardware (it appears in lspci) and what is the
driver you are using?

-- 
 .''`.      Josselin Mouette
: :' :
`. `'   “I recommend you to learn English in hope that you in
  `-     future understand things”  -- Jörg Schilling
[signature.asc (application/pgp-signature, inline)]

Information forwarded to debian-bugs-dist@lists.debian.org, Debian GNOME Maintainers <pkg-gnome-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>:
Bug#546291; Package gdm. (Sun, 13 Sep 2009 07:51:48 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Acknowledgement sent to axst@users.sourceforge.net:
Extra info received and forwarded to list. Copy sent to Debian GNOME Maintainers <pkg-gnome-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>. (Sun, 13 Sep 2009 07:51:48 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Message #15 received at 546291@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: axst@users.sourceforge.net
To: 546291@bugs.debian.org
Subject: Re: Bug#546291: gdm: erratically switches off computer without asking
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2009 09:36:56 +0200 (CEST)
[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

I don't believe the problem is X's fault because it does not occur in GDM's graphical
login screen even if I leave the computer in this state for days; neither can it be the
kernel's fault because it does not happen in console mode (i.e. without GDM and X). It
only occurs in a graphical user session.

$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express DRAM Controller (rev 10)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31 Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 10)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31 Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 10)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 01)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 01)
03:00.0 SCSI storage controller: Advanced System Products, Inc ABP940-U / ABP960-U (rev 03)
03:02.0 Multimedia controller: Philips Semiconductors SAA7134/SAA7135HL Video Broadcast Decoder (rev 01)

I attach my /etc/X11/xorg.conf.

I'll test some things to narrow down the list of suspects:
1.  GDM configuration settings --- I'll leave the computer on not in GDM's login screen
    nor while I'm logged in in GDM but in a newly created default user's session
2.  power management (although I'm not using this)
3.  the window manager

Of course, I am open and grateful to any suggestions.

On Sat, 12 Sep 2009, Josselin Mouette wrote:

> Le samedi 12 septembre 2009 à 11:05 +0200, axst@users.sourceforge.net a
> écrit :
>> The system is powered down immediately at unforeseeable times without even proper
>> shutdown, causing data loss and destroying recordable media being burned.
>
> This is a kernel or X driver bug.
>
> What is your graphics hardware (it appears in lspci) and what is the
> driver you are using?
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[xorg.conf (text/plain, attachment)]

Information forwarded to debian-bugs-dist@lists.debian.org, Debian GNOME Maintainers <pkg-gnome-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>:
Bug#546291; Package gdm. (Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:36:04 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Acknowledgement sent to 546291@bugs.debian.org:
Extra info received and forwarded to list. Copy sent to Debian GNOME Maintainers <pkg-gnome-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>. (Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:36:04 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Message #20 received at 546291@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Josselin Mouette <joss@debian.org>
To: axst@users.sourceforge.net, 546291@bugs.debian.org
Subject: Re: Bug#546291: gdm: erratically switches off computer without asking
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:24:23 +0200
[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]
Le dimanche 13 septembre 2009 à 09:36 +0200, axst@users.sourceforge.net
a écrit : 
> I don't believe the problem is X's fault because it does not occur in GDM's graphical
> login screen even if I leave the computer in this state for days; neither can it be the
> kernel's fault because it does not happen in console mode (i.e. without GDM and X). It
> only occurs in a graphical user session.

Actually it could be your CPU or RAM. Please run a full memtest86, at
least.

In all cases a hardware lockup cannot be caused solely by userland.
-- 
 .''`.      Josselin Mouette
: :' :
`. `'   “I recommend you to learn English in hope that you in
  `-     future understand things”  -- Jörg Schilling
[signature.asc (application/pgp-signature, inline)]

Information forwarded to debian-bugs-dist@lists.debian.org, Debian GNOME Maintainers <pkg-gnome-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>:
Bug#546291; Package gdm. (Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:33:03 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Acknowledgement sent to axst@users.sourceforge.net:
Extra info received and forwarded to list. Copy sent to Debian GNOME Maintainers <pkg-gnome-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>. (Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:33:03 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Message #25 received at 546291@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: axst@users.sourceforge.net
To: 546291@bugs.debian.org
Subject: Re: Bug#546291: gdm: erratically switches off computer without asking
Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:24:15 +0200 (CEST)
[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi,

    Sorry for the delay.

On Mon, 14 Sep 2009, Josselin Mouette wrote:

> Le dimanche 13 septembre 2009 à 09:36 +0200, axst@users.sourceforge.net
> a écrit :
>> I don't believe the problem is X's fault because it does not occur in GDM's graphical
>> login screen even if I leave the computer in this state for days; neither can it be the
>> kernel's fault because it does not happen in console mode (i.e. without GDM and X). It
>> only occurs in a graphical user session.

I have narrowed it down: it only occurs in _my_ GDM session. If I create a new user and
login as this user, the problem does not occur.

> Actually it could be your CPU or RAM. Please run a full memtest86, at least.

The memory checked out alright. It would seem like a hradware problem, though --- if it
were not limited to my sessions. It has nothing to do with load, either --- the memory
test put the CPUs under quite some stress, and temperatures soared --- without causing any
problems. Then I did some video encoding with a lot of load as well as memory and harddisk
usage --- again without any problems.

> In all cases a hardware lockup cannot be caused solely by userland.

I do realise that. That is why I believe it must be some program with suid rights --- like
GDM.

Best wishes,

Axel
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Information forwarded to debian-bugs-dist@lists.debian.org, Debian GNOME Maintainers <pkg-gnome-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>:
Bug#546291; Package gdm. (Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:27:02 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Acknowledgement sent to Julien Cristau <jcristau@debian.org>:
Extra info received and forwarded to list. Copy sent to Debian GNOME Maintainers <pkg-gnome-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>. (Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:27:03 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Message #30 received at 546291@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Julien Cristau <jcristau@debian.org>
To: axst@users.sourceforge.net, 546291@bugs.debian.org
Subject: Re: Bug#546291: gdm: erratically switches off computer without asking
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 14:25:20 +0100
[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]
tag 546291 moreinfo
kthxbye

On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 21:24:15 +0200, axst@users.sourceforge.net wrote:

> Hi,
> 
>      Sorry for the delay.
> 
> On Mon, 14 Sep 2009, Josselin Mouette wrote:
> 
> > Le dimanche 13 septembre 2009 à 09:36 +0200, axst@users.sourceforge.net
> > a écrit :
> >> I don't believe the problem is X's fault because it does not occur in GDM's graphical
> >> login screen even if I leave the computer in this state for days; neither can it be the
> >> kernel's fault because it does not happen in console mode (i.e. without GDM and X). It
> >> only occurs in a graphical user session.
> 
> I have narrowed it down: it only occurs in _my_ GDM session. If I create a new user and
> login as this user, the problem does not occur.
> 
> > Actually it could be your CPU or RAM. Please run a full memtest86, at least.
> 
> The memory checked out alright. It would seem like a hradware problem, though --- if it
> were not limited to my sessions. It has nothing to do with load, either --- the memory
> test put the CPUs under quite some stress, and temperatures soared --- without causing any
> problems. Then I did some video encoding with a lot of load as well as memory and harddisk
> usage --- again without any problems.
> 
> > In all cases a hardware lockup cannot be caused solely by userland.
> 
> I do realise that. That is why I believe it must be some program with suid rights --- like
> GDM.
> 
Even for programs running as root, a power down without proper shutdown
should never happen.  Do you still have this problem today?  If so
maybe dmesg or syslog has a clue?

Cheers,
Julien
[signature.asc (application/pgp-signature, inline)]

Added tag(s) moreinfo. Request was from Julien Cristau <jcristau@debian.org> to control@bugs.debian.org. (Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:27:06 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Reply sent to Julien Cristau <jcristau@debian.org>:
You have taken responsibility. (Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:39:09 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Notification sent to axst@users.sourceforge.net:
Bug acknowledged by developer. (Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:39:09 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


Message #37 received at 546291-done@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Julien Cristau <jcristau@debian.org>
To: axst@users.sourceforge.net
Cc: 546291-done@bugs.debian.org
Subject: Re: Bug#546291: gdm: erratically switches off computer without asking
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:37:46 +0100
[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]
On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 15:23:22 +0100, axst@users.sourceforge.net wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> Thanks for writing. Unfortunately I have had to change the technical setup of my computer
> due to unrelated reasons (incompatibility). After that, the problem never occurred
> anymore. When it still occurred, nothing in /var/log showed any problem --- the computer
> just turned itself off and had to be switched back on manually.
> 
> Thank you for all your trouble trying to help me. Kind regards,
> 
Thanks for the followup, I'll close the bug as unreproducible then.
Happy to hear you don't have this problem any more.

Cheers,
Julien
[signature.asc (application/pgp-signature, inline)]

Bug archived. Request was from Debbugs Internal Request <owner@bugs.debian.org> to internal_control@bugs.debian.org. (Thu, 22 Apr 2010 07:40:17 GMT) (full text, mbox, link).


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