[SOLVED] Launching new instance of application from group in xfce4-pan

digifuzzy · 2023-02-09 04:51:31

xfce4-panel version 4.19.0

I have the Window Buttons panel widget set to Group windows by application. However, when attempting to start a new instance from an application group, it doesn't seem to always work.

For example, with a grouping of Thunar instances and I select Launch new instance, I get an error dialog showing:

Failed to open "(deleted)".
Error when getting information for file "/home/user/(deleted)": No such file or directory.

I can find no setting in thunar or xfce-settings that alters this behavior. A web search was not helpful.

Can the "Launch new instance" for Thunar be changed? Where?

Last edited by digifuzzy (2023-02-10 04:43:16)

Tamaranch · 2023-02-09 08:46:32

I don't think it's from a change in the "Launch a new instance" functionality, although you are using panel 4.19.0.
I can't reproduce this, but I have the impression that it comes from a weird configuration/initial state of Thunar that makes the way the panel launches a new instance not work in this case.
It would be interesting to know what's wrong, however I'm not sure what additional information to ask.
Maybe ToZ will have more ideas.

ToZ · 2023-02-09 11:33:23

I can't replicate this either. @digifuzzy, are you able to provide a producer? Something like the current state and directories of open thunar windows before the crash happens?

Since launch new instances usually launches the home directory, perhaps there is a mis-configuration with xdg. What are the contents of your ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs file?

digifuzzy · 2023-02-09 20:23:50

ToZ wrote:

Since launch new instances usually launches the home directory, perhaps there is a mis-configuration with xdg. What are the contents of your ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs file?

@ToZ - some secret sauce I was looking for...

Contents of ${HOME}/.config/user-dirs.dirs file is I believe taken from packaging and appears unaltered. All the identified folders exist in the home directory.

XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/Desktop"
XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR="$HOME/Downloads"
XDG_TEMPLATES_DIR="$HOME/Templates"
XDG_PUBLICSHARE_DIR="$HOME/Public"
XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="$HOME/Documents"
XDG_MUSIC_DIR="$HOME/Music"
XDG_PICTURES_DIR="$HOME/Pictures"
XDG_VIDEOS_DIR="$HOME/Videos"

Understand that this setup has evolved over time being a Gentoo system. There's probably digital cruft left over from past updates. I do clean things out now and again.

There doesn't seem to be a crash of thunar. It just spits out an error message saying folder (deleted) doesn't exist. I'm just unsure where to dig in settings to expose this value.

My impression is that this is some misconfiguration. But where exactly is confusing.

ToZ · 2023-02-09 22:38:55

That looks good.

Is it just thunar that behaves this way?
Any what version of thunar have you built and are running? And by extension re: build requirements, the versions of exo, libxfce4ui and libxfce4util?

digifuzzy · 2023-02-10 00:05:02

ToZ wrote:

Is it just thunar that behaves this way?
Any what version of thunar have you built and are running? And by extension re: build requirements, the versions of exo, libxfce4ui and libxfce4util?

Yes, just thunar is being difficult. Other applications behave as expected when selecting new instances. A scan with ack (see https://beyondgrep.com/) for 'thunar' references didn't reveal anything that seemed abnormal in xml files.

Versioning:
exo 4.18.0 (latest available from distribution)
libxfce4ui 4.18.1 (latest available from distribution)
libxfce4util 4.18.1 (latest available from distribution)
thunar 4.18.3 (latest available from distribution)

Dependency Graph - thunar

 * dependency graph for xfce-base/thunar-4.18.3
 `--  xfce-base/thunar-4.18.3  amd64 
   `--  dev-libs/glib-2.74.4  (>=dev-libs/glib-2.66.0) amd64 
   `--  x11-libs/gdk-pixbuf-2.42.10-r1  (>=x11-libs/gdk-pixbuf-2.40.0) amd64 
   `--  x11-libs/gtk+-3.24.35  (>=x11-libs/gtk+-3.24.0) amd64 
   `--  xfce-base/exo-4.18.0  (>=xfce-base/exo-4.17.0) amd64 
   `--  xfce-base/libxfce4ui-4.18.1  (>=xfce-base/libxfce4ui-4.17.6) ~amd64 
   `--  xfce-base/libxfce4util-4.18.1  (>=xfce-base/libxfce4util-4.17.2) ~amd64 
   `--  xfce-base/xfconf-4.18.0  (>=xfce-base/xfconf-4.12) amd64 
   `--  media-libs/libexif-0.6.24  (>=media-libs/libexif-0.6.19) amd64 
   `--  dev-libs/gobject-introspection-1.74.0  (dev-libs/gobject-introspection) amd64 
   `--  x11-libs/libnotify-0.8.1  (>=x11-libs/libnotify-0.7) amd64 
   `--  dev-libs/libpcre2-10.42-r1  (>=dev-libs/libpcre2-10.0) amd64 
   `--  xfce-base/xfce4-panel-4.19.0  (>=xfce-base/xfce4-panel-4.10) [~amd64 keyword] 
   `--  dev-libs/libgudev-237-r1  (dev-libs/libgudev) amd64 
   `--  dev-util/desktop-file-utils-0.26-r2  (>=dev-util/desktop-file-utils-0.20-r1) amd64 
   `--  x11-misc/shared-mime-info-2.2  (x11-misc/shared-mime-info) amd64 
   `--  gnome-base/gvfs-1.50.2-r1  (>=gnome-base/gvfs-1.18.3) amd64 
   `--  virtual/udev-217-r5  (virtual/udev) amd64 
   `--  dev-util/intltool-0.51.0-r3  (dev-util/intltool) amd64 
   `--  sys-devel/gettext-0.21.1  (sys-devel/gettext) amd64 
   `--  virtual/pkgconfig-2-r1  (virtual/pkgconfig) amd64

ToZ · 2023-02-10 00:42:42

And...... I just started experiencing the problem. xfce4-panel in debug mode. Thunar won't open new instance:

Thunar: Failed to open "(deleted)": Error when getting information for file “/home/toz/Development/(deleted)”: No such file or directory

And xfce4-terminal:

xfce4-terminal: Unknown option "(deleted)"

Firefox works. Mousepad works. Ristretto works. Restarting panel makes no difference.

Also, open new windows/instances from within the app works, so must be a panel bug.

Going to run a git bisect right now to see if I can identify the offending commit.

ToZ · 2023-02-10 00:52:40

I've gone all the way back to xfce4-panel 4.17.0 and the bug still exists. Perhaps its with one of the other libraries? Let me create a bug report with xfce4-panel and start there.

Edit: bug report

Note: for me, killing thunar (thunar -q) and existing xfce4-terminal processes (pkill xfce4-terminal) and the problem is gone.

Edit2: okay I think I know whats happening here - at least in my instance. If I rebuild/upgrade either thunar or xfce4-terminal, then I get the issue. I think its related to the fact that both have server/daemon components that run in the background, and there is some sort of lost connection when this happens. Restarting both by killing all running instances resets the proper connection.

@digifuzzy, can you confirm that the same is happening for you?

Last edited by ToZ (2023-02-10 02:52:36)

digifuzzy · 2023-02-10 04:41:58

ToZ wrote:

I've gone all the way back to xfce4-panel 4.17.0 and the bug still exists....
Note: for me, killing thunar (thunar -q) and existing xfce4-terminal processes (pkill xfce4-terminal) and the problem is gone.
Edit2: okay I think I know whats happening here - at least in my instance. If I rebuild/upgrade either thunar or xfce4-terminal, then I get the issue. I think its related to the fact that both have server/daemon components that run in the background, and there is some sort of lost connection when this happens. Restarting both by killing all running instances resets the proper connection.
@digifuzzy, can you confirm that the same is happening for you?

@ToZ - Okay...that worked. Curious.

Quitting thunar and killing terminal and things worked as expected. Thunar responded even when a terminal window is open.
We have a work-around so I'll mark this as solved.

Xfce Forum

Sub domains

#1 2023-02-09 04:51:31

[SOLVED] Launching new instance of application from group in xfce4-pan

#2 2023-02-09 08:46:32

Re: [SOLVED] Launching new instance of application from group in xfce4-pan

#3 2023-02-09 11:33:23

Re: [SOLVED] Launching new instance of application from group in xfce4-pan

#4 2023-02-09 20:23:50

Re: [SOLVED] Launching new instance of application from group in xfce4-pan

#5 2023-02-09 22:38:55

Re: [SOLVED] Launching new instance of application from group in xfce4-pan

#6 2023-02-10 00:05:02

Re: [SOLVED] Launching new instance of application from group in xfce4-pan

#7 2023-02-10 00:42:42

Re: [SOLVED] Launching new instance of application from group in xfce4-pan

#8 2023-02-10 00:52:40

Re: [SOLVED] Launching new instance of application from group in xfce4-pan

#9 2023-02-10 04:41:58

Re: [SOLVED] Launching new instance of application from group in xfce4-pan

Board footer