displayconfig-gtk crashed with IndexError in _syncXorgConfig()

fixed by manualy editing xorg.conf, the problem was reconstructed on feisty upgrade

I have the same problem with gutsy live cd. I think I clicked on the test button when no information was showing on the window... just the widgets.

Installed Hardy Alpha on a Virtualbox virtual machine, and it runs at 800x600.

System/Preferences/ScreenResolution only offers 800x600 and 640x480, so I tried System/Administration/ScreensAndGraphics (why the split? it is far less than clear).

ScreensAndGraphics loads up with all values blank in both tabs and in all the pulldowns. Clicking on update will bring up this crash.

I just had the same problem on hardy-alpha3

I have nvidia 6600gt graphics card, and 2 1280*1024 lcd screens connected...
default behavior is to mirror the screen...

starting displayconfig-gtk gives all emtpy values in all boxes, only the default screen and extend default screen radiobutten are selected (which is the first button in a radiobuttongroup and probably default behaviour on a empty value
starting on the terminal gives this:
first:
*** Error: couldn't find any ServerLayout sections
after clicking the test button I get this error:
on_button_test_config_clicked()
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/displayconfiggtk/DisplayConfig.py", line 1039, in on_button_test_config_clicked
    (res, msg) = testX(self.xsetup,"/usr/share/displayconfig-gtk/servertestdialog-gtk")
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/displayconfiggtk/displayconfigcommon.py", line 50, in testX
    xsetup.writeXorgConfig(config_filename)
  File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/displayconfigabstraction.py", line 695, in writeXorgConfig
    self._syncXorgConfig()
  File "/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/displayconfigabstraction.py", line 657, in _syncXorgConfig
    server_layout = self.xorg_config.getSections("ServerLayout")[0]
IndexError: list index out of range

System/Preferences/ScreenResolution only offers 800x600 and 640x480.
I tried System/Administration/ScreensAndGraphics, but there are no screens or graphic cards in the combo boxes.

Hardy Alpha3

Screens and Graphics shows blank values, then crashes.

Gutsy Alpha 4 Desktop Session (i386).

No information was showing in the Screen and Graphics Preferences. I clicked the 'Test' button. Apport reported a crash.

Thinkpad T43p, ATI Mobility FireGL V3200 (Chipset: ATI RV380 (M24) - Similar to Radeon X600)

Same errors as described above, running Hardy Alpha 4 inside VirtualBox. Max resolution is 800x600, Screens and Graphics is completely blank, and crashes when you try "test".

hardy alpha 4.
exactly as described above, nothing was shown in the Screen and Graphics preferences, and clicking "Test" killed it.

"monitor and graphics" window opens but appears empty, no monitor data no driver data.

i have problem as "carlo"

I have the same problem as Keneo, events, Philipp Schroeder, Scott Wegner (I'm not using VirtualBox) and hatchetman82.

Same as Carlo. Hardy Heron Alpha 4 (i386) new install on P3-933 with Matrox G400 dual head video.

Happens on the laptop I have running Hardy, when ever I enable the external VGA adapter. I'm using the Nvidia binary driver.

With out this been fixed it makes a laughing stock out of Ubuntu on laptops :(

Have exact same problem on a AMD athlon XP 1800 machine, 512mb with a nvidia fx5200

Sorry forget to tell that I am running HardyHeron/Alpha4. It seems to have occurred after the recent kernel and compiz upgrade (but I could be mistaken).

See http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=434469

User ubunyou seems to confirm that with kernel 2.6.24-5-generic compiz desktop effects was functioning normally. (I think but I am not completely sure that also with kernel 2.6.24-7-generic compiz was working).

The problem is that I don't remember if under screen and graphics with kernel 2.6.24-7-generic all boxes contained no date, as is the case at the moment, but I am 100% sure that with 2.6.24-5-generic all options and date were available in screen and graphics. Since I adjusted the screen resolution from there.

So the issue probably started for me with kernel 2.6.24-8-generic.

Apologies in stead of "date" I meant "data" in the screen and graphics menu's.

Hardy Alpha4
 Blank config.
When I push the Test button is get a crash notice.

Can you upload the logs? I'm not at my hardy machine ATM so I cannot test.

Also experiencing this prob on Acer TM8204, ATI x1600. The xorg.conf file is generic and contains no "serverlayout" section. The exact symptoms have changed with each update to the X system. When X does select a driver it selects the generic VESA driver and show a max mode of 1280x1024 and only a refresh rate of 61! This is a widescreen monitor 1680x1050. WIthout installing a proprietary driver I do not remember being offered a widescreen resolution, nor a correct refresh rate of 60!

Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 Alpha 4
root@2HewittRand-desktop:~# sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
xserver-xorg postinst warning: overwriting possibly-customised configuration
   file; backup in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.20080221092256
root@2HewittRand-desktop:~#

Today's update fixed this for me.
you can close the bug as it relates to me. thanks.

there is also a problem with hardy heron that it always keep the same wrong resolution everytime i turn on x server

Not fixed on my laptop though.

@Zupop
That belongs in a different bug.

This crashed on me again today.

not fix in alpha5

confirming for alpha 5

happens on alpha 5 on Lenovo T61 ThinkPad.

May be related: in system->preferences->screen resolution, it says:
resolution 1680x1050
refresh rate: 0 Hz <---------- not right!

Also maybe related... the new Hardy Heron background picture comes up with bands of colour rather than gradual gradation, suggesting a lower bits/pixel than should be (though photos look ok to me on the screen).

I just had the same problem on hardy-alpha5 ... 8-((

I have nvidia 6200 graphics card, and 1280*1024 lcd screen connected...

starting displayconfig-gtk gives all emtpy values in all boxes...

System/Preferences/ScreenResolution only offers 800x600 and 640x480.

when I use my KVM the screen resolution changes to 800 x 600 something. I cant make it default or generic before putting my KVM it crashes immediately.

Confirmed on Hardy Heron up to date.

Cheers!

ditto

Same problem of "Irios" (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/displayconfig-gtk/+bug/147721/comments/4) except for the fact that i appaered clicking on the test button.

I'm using an hardy heron alpha up to date

Confirming. For me on ATI Mobility Radeon 7500, displayconfig-gtk shows everything empty though.

This may be related to https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/displayconfig-gtk/+bug/137194

Hardy Alpha5 (fresh install, all updates) crashes;
displayconfig-gtk displays no values (empty widgets as said before);
"test" does nothing (as it seems);
after closing "displayconfig" the crash was reported;

confirmed here too on Alpha5. I also found it funny that all fields are empty.
I found it out when trying to attach a second monitor to my X600.

confirmed with hardy alpha 5 when clicking the "test" button.
graphics cards is vmplayer (vmware) 64 bit host.

adding me cc, sorry for the bogus comment, launchpad rfe: adding cc without adding comment

Confirmed on hardy heron alpha 6

Confirmed, I had to reinstall the ati driver. I noticed that both the kernel module 8.47 that I installed and the repository version, 8.45 were both loaded. I think in the upgrade that the package manager updated the fglrx module without checking that a newer/different version was already installed and some conflicts arose out of that ... Just a thought.

fresh install from hardy a6 iso: works for me with graphics card: vmplayer (vmware) 64 bit linux host.

Confirmed on hardy alpha 6 with the current updates and nvidia driver. i386.

displayconfig-gtk has grown obsolete since Gutsy. We knew this would happen due to information about the direction that upstream was going by making more and more of xorg.conf's contents optional, and shift to more use of Xrandr for configuration. In recent months, we've been working on migrating to a new Xrandr-based replacement, which is now available in Hardy Beta.

The move to Xrandr and trimming down of xorg.conf has been planned since before Gutsy, and we knew it was under way when Gutsy started. As a general rule, these are GOOD changes for the end user, as it means the end of days of having to manually edit your xorg.conf. Today, Xorg has the abilities to auto-detect nearly everything with your video setup (and even can guess at your input devices too, although that's newish). Following Debian, we've been gradually dropping techie bits and pieces from xorg.conf, like sync rates, resolutions, modules, fonts, monitor layouts. We even experimented briefly during Hardy with not even listing the driver (it worked, but caused some unexpected side effects so we pulled back from that). In general we have found that for the vast majority of people, these changes are beneficial - their hardware is all automatically detected and set up correctly, and if they wish to make tweaks to resolution or whatever, they can do it at run time using tools like 'xrandr'.

Now, there are still some corner cases where things don't "just work". For instance, some monitors fail to provide valid EDID data about what resolutions they support, or mistakenly use 'cm' rather than 'mm' when reporting physical size. Or, some video cards come up with their tv-out turned on, which confuses X when it tries picking resolutions. Or the resolution is right, but the modeline is wrong, resulting in swishing or sync issues or so on. In these cases, rather than expecting the user to configure their way around the problem, what we've been doing is fixing up the xserver with "quirks" - hardware-specific fixups that lets X take special cases when dealing with that hardware, so everything "just works" and you don't have to think about it.

A particularly exciting consequence of this video hotplugging capability is that today with some video drivers like -intel, you can plug in your laptop to a projector, and it gets detected and set up and "just works", although there are still a variety of problems and sometimes you have to poke it a bit with xrandr to get matching resolutions and so on. But it's come a long way and bodes well for the future.

Anyway, there is an unfortunate downside to all of this, and that is that it breaks displayconfig-gtk. displayconfig-gtk was designed in the days before all this hotplugging, back when you could make the assumption that the entire configuration of the system was captured 100% completely and accurately in xorg.conf. Thus, this tool is designed to read in the xorg.conf, present a GUI representation of its contents, allow you to fiddle and tweak, and then write back out a static xorg.conf, specifying every detail including down to sync rates and mode lines.

Perhaps even more troublesome for many is the fact that the way m...

Forgot to add, I've posted the latest version (not yet in Hardy) of the xrandr gui tool here:

  http://people.ubuntu.com/~bryce/Testing/XrandrGui/

Changes are mostly cosmetic tweaks, but includes a few xrandr 1.2 checks and so on.

Current screenshot: http://people.ubuntu.com/~bryce/Testing/XrandrGui/xrandrgui-03.png
(It says Unknown only because I have this connected to a KVM; most people should see a real monitor name.)

Hi,

Thanks Bryce for your extensive review.

I'm opening a bug task for kde-guidance, as I think
that is where the real bug is, and while this won't
affect users of the xrandr tool, and it can never work
for displayconfig-gtk there is still a need to document
the bug for guidance-backends.

Thanks,

James

Most of the comments on this bug are about crashes due to a lack of a serverlayout section in xorg.conf. That should be fixed now. This particular crash (the original traceback) is not, but I can look at this to fix it to at least not crash after we get the beta out the door.

I've been having problems with Hardy and VMWare Workstation 6. The vmware virtual video card usually ends up configured 640x480, with a dpi of 120 or more. This makes the resolution config dialog too big to fit on the screen, which makes clicking on "Apply" difficult. I'm not sure what the appropriate fix would be. If the dialog were more compact or scrollable, it would help. It would be nice if Xorg and VMWare would cooperate a little better.

@Bob Bagwil: Thanks for the feedback, and that's a good point about the resolution config dialog size. I had shrunk it down a bit, but hadn't tested against 640x480. However I don't think it would be difficult to shrink it down further. Could you open a new bug report against gnome-control-center assigned to me for this? Thanks.

This bug was fixed in the package kde-guidance - 0.8.0svn20080103-0ubuntu8

---------------
kde-guidance (0.8.0svn20080103-0ubuntu8) hardy; urgency=low

  [ Andreas Wenning ]
  * Added kubuntu_18_kde-powermanager_unique-check.patch:
    - Fixed guidance-power-managers check for being a unique app.
  * Added kubuntu_19_kde-powermanager_gpmhelper.patch
    (LP: #151444, #111143, #128666):
    - Added gpmhelper.py to listen for HAL button-events and issue
      dcop calls to guidance-power-manager.
    - guidance-power-manager will now start gpmhelper.py.
    - Patched setup.py to build/install gpmhelper.py
  * Changed debian/rules and debian/kde-guidance-powermanager.install
    to install gpmhelper.py
  * Added depends for kde-guidance-powermanager to python-gobject as
    this is the only mainloop to work with DBusGMainLoop.

  [ Scott Kitterman ]
  * Update kubuntu_12_powermanager_survive_no_brightness.patch so it correctly
    catches the error (LP: #183656)
  * Add kubuntu_20_displayconfig_no_resolutions.patch so displayconfig doesn't
    crash if current display size or refresh rate can't be fetched and similar
    changes for displayconfig-restore(LP: #147721, #110853)
  * Add kubuntu_21_powermanager_new_names.patch to use new hal keys
    (LP: #204768)
    - Patch thanks to Mikael Gerdin

 -- Scott Kitterman <email address hidden> Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:04:50 -0400