bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Bastien]

I checked out and buil Emacs from master today 24-03-2019.

I started Gnus using my usual configuration (see
https://github.com/bzg/dotemacs/blob/master/emacs.el) and got this
error:

Debugger entered--Lisp error: (wrong-type-argument number-or-marker-p nil)
  <=(nil 6)
  gnus-get-unread-articles(nil nil)
  gnus-setup-news(nil nil nil)
  #f(compiled-function () #<bytecode 0x1556149e8b91>)()
  gnus-1(nil nil nil)
  gnus(nil)
  funcall-interactively(gnus nil)
  call-interactively(gnus record nil)
  command-execute(gnus record)
  execute-extended-command(nil "gnus" "gnus")
  funcall-interactively(execute-extended-command nil "gnus" "gnus")
  call-interactively(execute-extended-command nil nil)
  command-execute(execute-extended-command)

Starting Gnus *without* a .newsrc.eld file, I can list local groups
from my dovecot local IMAP server, but I get another weird behavior:
after leaving the summary buffer, the group I just left is listed one
more time; if I enter the group and leave it again, I get three groups
of the same name in the group buffer, etc.

To read Gnus using my .newsrc.eld file again, I tried to revert back
to Emacs 26.0.92 but now Emacs seems unable to read my .newsrc.eld at
all.  Is it possible that recent changes against Gnus changed the way
Gnus parses .newsrc.eld?

Copying Eric, as he seems to have been active on Gnus recently.

Thanks for your help,


In GNU Emacs 27.0.50 (build 1, x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, X toolkit, Xaw3d scroll bars)
 of 2019-03-24 built on guerry
Repository revision: 36535caf9621f984f7f95d4def09bdb0ae2f1d2a
Repository branch: master
Windowing system distributor 'The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.11906000
System Description: Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS

Recent messages:
Checking new news...done
Connecting to news...
Reading active file...done
Connecting to news...done
Updating buffer list...
Formats have changed, recompiling...done
Updating buffer list...done
Commands: m, u, t, RET, g, k, S, D, Q; q to quit; h for help
Mark saved where search started
Mark set

Configured features:
XAW3D XPM JPEG TIFF GIF PNG RSVG IMAGEMAGICK SOUND GPM DBUS GSETTINGS
GLIB NOTIFY INOTIFY GNUTLS LIBXML2 FREETYPE M17N_FLT LIBOTF XFT ZLIB
TOOLKIT_SCROLL_BARS LUCID X11 XDBE XIM THREADS PDUMPER LCMS2 GMP

Important settings:
  value of $LANG: fr_FR.UTF-8
  locale-coding-system: utf-8-unix

Major mode: Debugger

Minor modes in effect:
  eyebrowse-mode: t
  guide-key-mode: t
  pdf-occur-global-minor-mode: t
  hidden-mode-line-mode: t
  async-bytecomp-package-mode: t
  pixel-scroll-mode: t
  display-time-mode: t
  auto-insert-mode: t
  show-paren-mode: t
  shell-dirtrack-mode: t
  override-global-mode: t
  global-eldoc-mode: t
  electric-indent-mode: t
  mouse-wheel-mode: t
  menu-bar-mode: t
  file-name-shadow-mode: t
  global-font-lock-mode: t
  font-lock-mode: t
  auto-composition-mode: t
  auto-encryption-mode: t
  auto-compression-mode: t
  buffer-read-only: t
  line-number-mode: t
  transient-mark-mode: t

Load-path shadows:
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-maxima hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-maxima
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ox-md hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ox-md
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-feed hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-feed
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-agenda hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-agenda
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-core hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-core
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-sed hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-sed
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-loaddefs hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-loaddefs
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-ditaa hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-ditaa
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ox-org hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ox-org
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-picolisp hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-picolisp
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-sql hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-sql
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-fortran hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-fortran
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-calc hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-calc
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-css hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-css
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-faces hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-faces
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-asymptote hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-asymptote
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-latex hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-latex
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-R hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-R
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-makefile hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-makefile
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-plantuml hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-plantuml
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-exp hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-exp
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-hledger hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-hledger
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-vala hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-vala
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-timer hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-timer
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-lilypond hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-lilypond
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-pcomplete hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-pcomplete
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-org hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-org
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-entities hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-entities
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-macro hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-macro
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-shen hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-shen
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-mscgen hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-mscgen
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-colview hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-colview
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-ebnf hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-ebnf
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-compat hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-compat
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-shell hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-shell
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ox-odt hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ox-odt
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ox-icalendar hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ox-icalendar
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-io hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-io
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-matlab hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-matlab
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-sass hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-sass
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-lint hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-lint
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-screen hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-screen
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ox-ascii hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ox-ascii
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-tangle hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-tangle
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-gnuplot hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-gnuplot
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-python hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-python
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-emacs-lisp hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-emacs-lisp
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-table hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-table
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-ref hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-ref
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-comint hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-comint
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-processing hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-processing
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-stan hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-stan
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-duration hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-duration
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-octave hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-octave
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ox-latex hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ox-latex
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-J hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-J
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-datetree hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-datetree
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-eval hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-eval
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-macs hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-macs
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-crypt hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-crypt
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-scheme hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-scheme
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-lisp hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-lisp
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-footnote hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-footnote
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-dot hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-dot
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ox hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ox
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-ruby hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-ruby
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-ctags hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-ctags
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-src hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-src
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-protocol hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-protocol
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-java hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-java
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-lob hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-lob
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-clock hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-clock
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-perl hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-perl
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-indent hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-indent
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-ledger hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-ledger
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ox-beamer hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ox-beamer
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-id hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-id
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-install hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-install
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-sqlite hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-sqlite
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ox-texinfo hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ox-texinfo
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ox-publish hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ox-publish
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-table hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-table
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-mobile hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-mobile
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-forth hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-forth
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-lua hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-lua
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-mouse hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-mouse
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ox-man hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ox-man
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-abc hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-abc
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-coq hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-coq
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-inlinetask hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-inlinetask
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-groovy hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-groovy
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-js hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-js
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-C hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-C
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-ocaml hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-ocaml
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-capture hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-capture
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-habit hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-habit
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-archive hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-archive
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-list hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-list
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-awk hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-awk
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-clojure hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-clojure
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob-haskell hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob-haskell
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-element hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-element
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-plot hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-plot
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-attach hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-attach
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ob hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ob
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/ox-html hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/ox-html
~/install/git/org-mode/lisp/org-version hides /usr/local/share/emacs/27.0.50/lisp/org/org-version

Features:
(shadow bbdb-message mailalias orgalist ecomplete emacsbug
company-oddmuse company-keywords company-etags etags fileloop xref
project company-gtags company-dabbrev-code company-dabbrev
company-files company-capf company-cmake company-xcode company-clang
company-semantic company-eclim company-template company-bbdb company
origami origami-parsers elec-pair deuglify gnus-cus gnus-demon
gnus-diary nndiary gnus-fun gnus-kill gnus-logic gnus-mh mh-comp
mh-scan mh-gnus mh-e mh-compat mh-buffers mh-loaddefs gnus-registry
registry eieio-base gnus-salt gnus-topic gnus-uu yenc gnus-vm sendmail
misearch multi-isearch gnus-html url-queue browse-url url-cache mm-url
mm-archive sort smiley gnus-cite mail-extr gnus-async gnus-bcklg
gnus-dup qp gnus-ml nnfolder cursor-sensor utf-7 network-stream
dired-aux wdired gnus-dired cl-print debug backtrace nnnil org-bullets
eyebrowse dired-subtree dired-hacks-utils multi-term term ehelp
guide-key s popwin dash pdf-occur ibuf-ext ibuffer ibuffer-loaddefs
tablist tablist-filter semantic/wisent/comp semantic/wisent
semantic/wisent/wisent semantic/util-modes semantic/util semantic
semantic/tag semantic/lex semantic/fw mode-local cedet pdf-isearch
let-alist pdf-misc imenu pdf-tools compile cus-edit cus-start cus-load
pdf-view bookmark pdf-cache pdf-info tq pdf-util paredit tls gnutls
erc-services erc-networks erc-goodies erc erc-backend erc-compat pp
erc-loaddefs bbdb-gnus bbdb-mua bbdb-anniv bbdb-com bbdb bbdb-site
timezone gnus-icalendar gnus-alias gnus-delay gnus-draft gnus-agent
gnus-srvr gnus-score score-mode nnvirtual nntp gnus-cache gnus-msg
gnus-art mm-uu mml2015 nndraft nnmh notmuch hl-line notmuch-message
notmuch-hello notmuch-tree notmuch-show notmuch-print notmuch-crypto
notmuch-mua notmuch-draft notmuch-maildir-fcc notmuch-address
notmuch-company notmuch-parser notmuch-wash coolj notmuch-query
goto-addr thingatpt notmuch-tag crm notmuch-lib notmuch-compat mm-view
mml-smime smime dig org-caldav cl icalendar org-id url-dav url-http
url url-proxy url-privacy url-expand url-methods url-history mailcap
url-auth url-cookie url-domsuf url-gw nsm url-util xml org-duration
vc-git diff-mode disp-table ol-eww ol-rmail ol-mhe ol-irc ol-info
ol-gnus ol-docview doc-view jka-compr image-mode ol-bibtex bibtex
ol-bbdb ol-w3m org-agenda org-clock ob-gnuplot ob-R ob-plantuml
ob-scheme geiser-impl help-fns radix-tree geiser-custom geiser-base
geiser ob-ledger ob-ditaa ob-org ob-clojure ob-dot ob-shell
ox-koma-letter org-gnus nnir org-capture ox-beamer ox-md ox-rss ox-odt
rng-loc rng-uri rng-parse rng-match rng-dt rng-util rng-pttrn
nxml-parse nxml-ns nxml-enc xmltok nxml-util ox-latex ox-icalendar
ox-html table ox-ascii ox-publish ox org-element org ob ob-tangle
ob-ref ob-lob ob-table org-macro org-footnote org-src ob-comint
org-pcomplete org-list org-faces org-entities noutline outline
org-version ob-emacs-lisp org-table org-keys org-loaddefs find-func
gnus-sum gnus-group gnus-undo gnus-start gnus-cloud nnimap nnmail
mail-source utf7 netrc nnoo gnus-spec gnus-int gnus-range message rmc
puny rfc822 mml mml-sec epa derived epg mm-decode mm-bodies mm-encode
mail-parse rfc2231 mailabbrev gmm-utils mailheader gnus-win gnus
nnheader gnus-util rmail rmail-loaddefs rfc2047 rfc2045 ietf-drums
text-property-search time-date mail-utils mm-util mail-prsvr wid-edit
avl-tree generator ol ob-exp ob-core org-compat ob-eval org-macs pcase
appt diary-lib diary-loaddefs cal-menu calendar cal-loaddefs dired-x
dired dired-loaddefs helm-config helm-easymenu async-bytecomp helm
helm-source eieio-compat helm-multi-match helm-lib async edmacro
kmacro register-list whitespace cl-extra help-mode avoid pixel-scroll
time autoinsert paren server vxid-theme docker-tramp tramp-cache tramp
tramp-loaddefs trampver tramp-integration files-x tramp-compat
ucs-normalize shell pcomplete comint ansi-color ring parse-time
format-spec advice use-package use-package-ensure use-package-delight
use-package-diminish use-package-bind-key bind-key easy-mmode
use-package-core mule-util rx info package easymenu epg-config
url-handlers url-parse auth-source cl-seq eieio eieio-core cl-macs
eieio-loaddefs password-cache json subr-x map url-vars seq byte-opt gv
bytecomp byte-compile cconv cl-loaddefs cl-lib tooltip eldoc electric
uniquify ediff-hook vc-hooks lisp-float-type mwheel term/x-win x-win
term/common-win x-dnd tool-bar dnd fontset image regexp-opt fringe
tabulated-list replace newcomment text-mode elisp-mode lisp-mode
prog-mode register page menu-bar rfn-eshadow isearch timer select
scroll-bar mouse jit-lock font-lock syntax facemenu font-core
term/tty-colors frame cl-generic cham georgian utf-8-lang misc-lang
vietnamese tibetan thai tai-viet lao korean japanese eucjp-ms cp51932
hebrew greek romanian slovak czech european ethiopic indian cyrillic
chinese composite charscript charprop case-table epa-hook
jka-cmpr-hook help simple abbrev obarray minibuffer cl-preloaded
nadvice loaddefs button faces cus-face macroexp files text-properties
overlay sha1 md5 base64 format env code-pages mule custom widget
hashtable-print-readable backquote threads dbusbind inotify lcms2
dynamic-setting system-font-setting font-render-setting x-toolkit x
multi-tty make-network-process emacs)

Memory information:
((conses 16 1254342 132763)
 (symbols 48 48208 2)
 (strings 32 582441 5102)
 (string-bytes 1 15359636)
 (vectors 16 169982)
 (vector-slots 8 2957085 68108)
 (floats 8 433 883)
 (intervals 56 68483 26)
 (buffers 992 38))

-- 
 Bastien

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Eric Abrahamsen]

Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:

> I checked out and buil Emacs from master today 24-03-2019.
>
> I started Gnus using my usual configuration (see
> https://github.com/bzg/dotemacs/blob/master/emacs.el) and got this
> error:
>
> Debugger entered--Lisp error: (wrong-type-argument number-or-marker-p nil)
>   <=(nil 6)
>   gnus-get-unread-articles(nil nil)
>   gnus-setup-news(nil nil nil)
>   #f(compiled-function () #<bytecode 0x1556149e8b91>)()
>   gnus-1(nil nil nil)
>   gnus(nil)
>   funcall-interactively(gnus nil)
>   call-interactively(gnus record nil)
>   command-execute(gnus record)
>   execute-extended-command(nil "gnus" "gnus")
>   funcall-interactively(execute-extended-command nil "gnus" "gnus")
>   call-interactively(execute-extended-command nil nil)
>   command-execute(execute-extended-command)
>
> Starting Gnus *without* a .newsrc.eld file, I can list local groups
> from my dovecot local IMAP server, but I get another weird behavior:
> after leaving the summary buffer, the group I just left is listed one
> more time; if I enter the group and leave it again, I get three groups
> of the same name in the group buffer, etc.
>
> To read Gnus using my .newsrc.eld file again, I tried to revert back
> to Emacs 26.0.92 but now Emacs seems unable to read my .newsrc.eld at
> all.  Is it possible that recent changes against Gnus changed the way
> Gnus parses .newsrc.eld?
>
> Copying Eric, as he seems to have been active on Gnus recently.

This is frustrating -- this was the most important part of the patch,
and the part I thought I'd tested most thoroughly. At worst I think Gnus
may be trying to read .newsrc.eld using the wrong encoding, so I don't
think you will have lost anything permanently. (Still, I'm very sorry
this is causing you Gnus outage.)

First -- did you run "make bootstrap" before running this new version?
Second, can you tell me if your non-ascii group names are being saved in
.newsrc.eld in utf-8, or if they have literal byte sequences in them?

Thanks,
Eric

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Deus Max]

On Sun, Mar 24 2019, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:

> Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:
>
>> I checked out and buil Emacs from master today 24-03-2019.
>>
>> I started Gnus using my usual configuration (see
>> https://github.com/bzg/dotemacs/blob/master/emacs.el) and got this
>> error:
>>
>> Debugger entered--Lisp error: (wrong-type-argument number-or-marker-p nil)
>>   <=(nil 6)
>>   gnus-get-unread-articles(nil nil)
>>   gnus-setup-news(nil nil nil)
>>   #f(compiled-function () #<bytecode 0x1556149e8b91>)()
>>   gnus-1(nil nil nil)
>>   gnus(nil)
>>   funcall-interactively(gnus nil)
>>   call-interactively(gnus record nil)
>>   command-execute(gnus record)
>>   execute-extended-command(nil "gnus" "gnus")
>>   funcall-interactively(execute-extended-command nil "gnus" "gnus")
>>   call-interactively(execute-extended-command nil nil)
>>   command-execute(execute-extended-command)
>>
>> Starting Gnus *without* a .newsrc.eld file, I can list local groups
>> from my dovecot local IMAP server, but I get another weird behavior:
>> after leaving the summary buffer, the group I just left is listed one
>> more time; if I enter the group and leave it again, I get three groups
>> of the same name in the group buffer, etc.
>>
>> To read Gnus using my .newsrc.eld file again, I tried to revert back
>> to Emacs 26.0.92 but now Emacs seems unable to read my .newsrc.eld at
>> all.  Is it possible that recent changes against Gnus changed the way
>> Gnus parses .newsrc.eld?
>>
>> Copying Eric, as he seems to have been active on Gnus recently.
>
> This is frustrating -- this was the most important part of the patch,
> and the part I thought I'd tested most thoroughly. At worst I think Gnus
> may be trying to read .newsrc.eld using the wrong encoding, so I don't
> think you will have lost anything permanently. (Still, I'm very sorry
> this is causing you Gnus outage.)
>
> First -- did you run "make bootstrap" before running this new version?
> Second, can you tell me if your non-ascii group names are being saved in
> .newsrc.eld in utf-8, or if they have literal byte sequences in them?
>
Confirm for me, non-ascii group names are now being saved in literal
byte sequences in them. Here's an example:
"nnimap+AIA:Union/\316\224\316\243-\316\243\317\211\316\274\316\261\317\204\316\265\316\257\316\277\317\205"

Didn't have any such issues before. Compiled using "make bootstrap", 3
days ago (and today).

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Eric Abrahamsen]

Deus Max <deusmax@gmx.com> writes:

> On Sun, Mar 24 2019, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:
>
>> Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:
>>
>>> I checked out and buil Emacs from master today 24-03-2019.
>>>
>>> I started Gnus using my usual configuration (see
>>> https://github.com/bzg/dotemacs/blob/master/emacs.el) and got this
>>> error:
>>>
>>> Debugger entered--Lisp error: (wrong-type-argument number-or-marker-p nil)
>>>   <=(nil 6)
>>>   gnus-get-unread-articles(nil nil)
>>>   gnus-setup-news(nil nil nil)
>>>   #f(compiled-function () #<bytecode 0x1556149e8b91>)()
>>>   gnus-1(nil nil nil)
>>>   gnus(nil)
>>>   funcall-interactively(gnus nil)
>>>   call-interactively(gnus record nil)
>>>   command-execute(gnus record)
>>>   execute-extended-command(nil "gnus" "gnus")
>>>   funcall-interactively(execute-extended-command nil "gnus" "gnus")
>>>   call-interactively(execute-extended-command nil nil)
>>>   command-execute(execute-extended-command)
>>>
>>> Starting Gnus *without* a .newsrc.eld file, I can list local groups
>>> from my dovecot local IMAP server, but I get another weird behavior:
>>> after leaving the summary buffer, the group I just left is listed one
>>> more time; if I enter the group and leave it again, I get three groups
>>> of the same name in the group buffer, etc.
>>>
>>> To read Gnus using my .newsrc.eld file again, I tried to revert back
>>> to Emacs 26.0.92 but now Emacs seems unable to read my .newsrc.eld at
>>> all.  Is it possible that recent changes against Gnus changed the way
>>> Gnus parses .newsrc.eld?
>>>
>>> Copying Eric, as he seems to have been active on Gnus recently.
>>
>> This is frustrating -- this was the most important part of the patch,
>> and the part I thought I'd tested most thoroughly. At worst I think Gnus
>> may be trying to read .newsrc.eld using the wrong encoding, so I don't
>> think you will have lost anything permanently. (Still, I'm very sorry
>> this is causing you Gnus outage.)
>>
>> First -- did you run "make bootstrap" before running this new version?
>> Second, can you tell me if your non-ascii group names are being saved in
>> .newsrc.eld in utf-8, or if they have literal byte sequences in them?
>>
> Confirm for me, non-ascii group names are now being saved in literal
> byte sequences in them. Here's an example:
> "nnimap+AIA:Union/\316\224\316\243-\316\243\317\211\316\274\316\261\317\204\316\265\316\257\316\277\317\205"
>
> Didn't have any such issues before. Compiled using "make bootstrap", 3
> days ago (and today).

Actually, I'm fairly sure that that's how Gnus has always done it, and I
tried not to disturb that. But obviously I've done something wrong along
the way and I think one part of Gnus is using a decoded version of the
group name, and another part is using the encoded version.

Are you seeing duplicate group names? Would you check
(text-properties-at (line-beginning-position)) on both of the duplicated
groups, and tell me the value of the 'gnus-group property' for both?

Thanks,
Eric

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Deus Max]

On Sun, Mar 24 2019, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:

> Deus Max <deusmax@gmx.com> writes:
>
>> On Sun, Mar 24 2019, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:
>>
>>> Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:
>>>
>>>> I checked out and buil Emacs from master today 24-03-2019.
>>>>
>>>> I started Gnus using my usual configuration (see
>>>> https://github.com/bzg/dotemacs/blob/master/emacs.el) and got this
>>>> error:
>>>>
>>>> Debugger entered--Lisp error: (wrong-type-argument number-or-marker-p nil)
>>>>   <=(nil 6)
>>>>   gnus-get-unread-articles(nil nil)
>>>>   gnus-setup-news(nil nil nil)
>>>>   #f(compiled-function () #<bytecode 0x1556149e8b91>)()
>>>>   gnus-1(nil nil nil)
>>>>   gnus(nil)
>>>>   funcall-interactively(gnus nil)
>>>>   call-interactively(gnus record nil)
>>>>   command-execute(gnus record)
>>>>   execute-extended-command(nil "gnus" "gnus")
>>>>   funcall-interactively(execute-extended-command nil "gnus" "gnus")
>>>>   call-interactively(execute-extended-command nil nil)
>>>>   command-execute(execute-extended-command)
>>>>
>>>> Starting Gnus *without* a .newsrc.eld file, I can list local groups
>>>> from my dovecot local IMAP server, but I get another weird behavior:
>>>> after leaving the summary buffer, the group I just left is listed one
>>>> more time; if I enter the group and leave it again, I get three groups
>>>> of the same name in the group buffer, etc.
>>>>
>>>> To read Gnus using my .newsrc.eld file again, I tried to revert back
>>>> to Emacs 26.0.92 but now Emacs seems unable to read my .newsrc.eld at
>>>> all.  Is it possible that recent changes against Gnus changed the way
>>>> Gnus parses .newsrc.eld?
>>>>
>>>> Copying Eric, as he seems to have been active on Gnus recently.
>>>
>>> This is frustrating -- this was the most important part of the patch,
>>> and the part I thought I'd tested most thoroughly. At worst I think Gnus
>>> may be trying to read .newsrc.eld using the wrong encoding, so I don't
>>> think you will have lost anything permanently. (Still, I'm very sorry
>>> this is causing you Gnus outage.)
>>>
>>> First -- did you run "make bootstrap" before running this new version?
>>> Second, can you tell me if your non-ascii group names are being saved in
>>> .newsrc.eld in utf-8, or if they have literal byte sequences in them?
>>>
>> Confirm for me, non-ascii group names are now being saved in literal
>> byte sequences in them. Here's an example:
>> "nnimap+AIA:Union/\316\224\316\243-\316\243\317\211\316\274\316\261\317\204\316\265\316\257\316\277\317\205"
>>
>> Didn't have any such issues before. Compiled using "make bootstrap", 3
>> days ago (and today).
>
> Actually, I'm fairly sure that that's how Gnus has always done it, and I
> tried not to disturb that. But obviously I've done something wrong along
> the way and I think one part of Gnus is using a decoded version of the
> group name, and another part is using the encoded version.
>
> Are you seeing duplicate group names? Would you check
> (text-properties-at (line-beginning-position)) on both of the duplicated
> groups, and tell me the value of the 'gnus-group property' for both?
>
> Thanks,
> Eric

I didn't see any duplicate groups in my .newsrc.eld file.
Output on above nnimap group (with literal byte sequences) is:
(fontified t)

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Bastien]

Hi Eric,

good luck with fixing this.

Eric Abrahamsen <eric@ericabrahamsen.net> writes:

> This is frustrating -- this was the most important part of the patch,
> and the part I thought I'd tested most thoroughly. At worst I think Gnus
> may be trying to read .newsrc.eld using the wrong encoding, so I don't
> think you will have lost anything permanently. (Still, I'm very sorry
> this is causing you Gnus outage.)
>
> First -- did you run "make bootstrap" before running this new version?

No.  I regularily build Emacs from the master branch but I only use
`make' to compile it then.  I had no idea I had to `make bootstrap'.
Why was it necessary after your commit?

> Second, can you tell me if your non-ascii group names are being saved in
> .newsrc.eld in utf-8, or if they have literal byte sequences in them?

There is no literal byte sequence in the .newsrc.eld file that I was
able to backup, right after I got this Gnus initialization error.

Now I recompiled an Emacs from before your commit.  Starting with my
backup does trigger this error:

Debugger entered--Lisp error: (wrong-type-argument stringp nil)
  intern(nil [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ...])
  gnus-make-hashtable-from-newsrc-alist()
  gnus-read-newsrc-el-file("/home/guerry/.newsrc.el")
  gnus-read-newsrc-file(nil)
  gnus-setup-news(nil nil nil)
  #f(compiled-function () #<bytecode 0x1559c202fd35>)()
  gnus-1(nil nil nil)
  gnus(nil)
  funcall-interactively(gnus nil)
  call-interactively(gnus record nil)
  command-execute(gnus record)
  execute-extended-command(nil "gnus" "gnus")
  funcall-interactively(execute-extended-command nil "gnus" "gnus")
  call-interactively(execute-extended-command nil nil)
  command-execute(execute-extended-command)

... so I suspect I did not save my .newsrc.eld in time to properly use
it with a stable Emacs (too bad).

I hope I will be able to find my group subscriptions and my marks.

I'm trying to better understand a few things, can you educate me?

What is the Gnus "active" file?
Where is it on my computer?
What is the .newsrc.eld file?
What is the difference between .newsrc.eld and the active file?

Thanks,

-- 
 Bastien

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Colin Baxter]

>>>>> Deus Max <deusmax@gmx.com> writes:

    > On Sun, Mar 24 2019, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:
    >> Deus Max <deusmax@gmx.com> writes:
    >> 
    >>> On Sun, Mar 24 2019, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:
    >>> 
    >>>> Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:
    >>>> 
    >>>>> I checked out and buil Emacs from master today 24-03-2019.
    >>>>> 
    >>>>> I started Gnus using my usual configuration (see
    >>>>> https://github.com/bzg/dotemacs/blob/master/emacs.el) and got
    >>>>> this error:
    >>>>> 
    >>>>> Debugger entered--Lisp error: (wrong-type-argument
    >>>>> number-or-marker-p nil) <=(nil 6) gnus-get-unread-articles(nil
    >>>>> nil) gnus-setup-news(nil nil nil) #f(compiled-function ()
    >>>>> #<bytecode 0x1556149e8b91>)() gnus-1(nil nil nil) gnus(nil)
    >>>>> funcall-interactively(gnus nil) call-interactively(gnus record
    >>>>> nil) command-execute(gnus record) execute-extended-command(nil
    >>>>> "gnus" "gnus") funcall-interactively(execute-extended-command
    >>>>> nil "gnus" "gnus") call-interactively(execute-extended-command
    >>>>> nil nil) command-execute(execute-extended-command)
    >>>>> 
    >>>>> Starting Gnus *without* a .newsrc.eld file, I can list local
    >>>>> groups from my dovecot local IMAP server, but I get another
    >>>>> weird behavior: after leaving the summary buffer, the group I
    >>>>> just left is listed one more time; if I enter the group and
    >>>>> leave it again, I get three groups of the same name in the
    >>>>> group buffer, etc.
    >>>>> 
    >>>>> To read Gnus using my .newsrc.eld file again, I tried to
    >>>>> revert back to Emacs 26.0.92 but now Emacs seems unable to
    >>>>> read my .newsrc.eld at all.  Is it possible that recent
    >>>>> changes against Gnus changed the way Gnus parses .newsrc.eld?
    >>>>> 
    >>>>> Copying Eric, as he seems to have been active on Gnus
    >>>>> recently.
    >>>> 
    >>>> This is frustrating -- this was the most important part of the
    >>>> patch, and the part I thought I'd tested most thoroughly. At
    >>>> worst I think Gnus may be trying to read .newsrc.eld using the
    >>>> wrong encoding, so I don't think you will have lost anything
    >>>> permanently. (Still, I'm very sorry this is causing you Gnus
    >>>> outage.)
    >>>> 
    >>>> First -- did you run "make bootstrap" before running this new
    >>>> version?  Second, can you tell me if your non-ascii group names
    >>>> are being saved in .newsrc.eld in utf-8, or if they have
    >>>> literal byte sequences in them?
    >>>> 
    >>> Confirm for me, non-ascii group names are now being saved in
    >>> literal byte sequences in them. Here's an example:
    >>> "nnimap+AIA:Union/\316\224\316\243-\316\243\317\211\316\274\316\261\317\204\316\265\316\257\316\277\317\205"
    >>> 
    >>> Didn't have any such issues before. Compiled using "make
    >>> bootstrap", 3 days ago (and today).
    >> 
    >> Actually, I'm fairly sure that that's how Gnus has always done
    >> it, and I tried not to disturb that. But obviously I've done
    >> something wrong along the way and I think one part of Gnus is
    >> using a decoded version of the group name, and another part is
    >> using the encoded version.
    >> 
    >> Are you seeing duplicate group names? Would you check
    >> (text-properties-at (line-beginning-position)) on both of the
    >> duplicated groups, and tell me the value of the 'gnus-group
    >> property' for both?
    >> 
    >> Thanks, Eric

    > I didn't see any duplicate groups in my .newsrc.eld file.  Output
    > on above nnimap group (with literal byte sequences) is: (fontified
    > t)

Sorry to butt in, but I have a slightly different gnus issue with Emacs
27.0.50 (build 1, i686-pc-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 3.14.5) of
2019-03-24. Before building, I had deleted all the .elc files in
lisp/gnus. When I launch gnus it fetches the gmane news and imap mail
satisfactory, but throws a warning on nnrss feeds I've not seen before:

Warning: Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:AnnPhys" 2059 1 y; Warning -
invalid active: "nnrss:JMO" 284 1 y; Warning - invalid active:
"nnrss:PRA" 307 1 y; Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:PRL" 852 1 y;
Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:ProcRSocA" 141 1 y; Warning - invalid
active: "nnrss:JPhysA" 133 1 y

I don't get this warning using emacs-26.1. I'm using Debian 3.16.59-1
(2018-10-03) i686 GNU/Linux.

Best wishes,

Colin.

-- 
Colin Baxter
m43cap@yandex.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GnuPG fingerprint: 68A8 799C 0230 16E7 BF68  2A27 BBFA 2492 91F5 41C8
---------------------------------------------------------------------

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Bastien]

Hello,

Colin Baxter <m43cap@yandex.com> writes:

> Warning: Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:AnnPhys" 2059 1 y; Warning -
> invalid active: "nnrss:JMO" 284 1 y; Warning - invalid active:
> "nnrss:PRA" 307 1 y; Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:PRL" 852 1 y;
> Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:ProcRSocA" 141 1 y; Warning - invalid
> active: "nnrss:JPhysA" 133 1 y

FWIW, I also had the same kind of warnings with 27.0.50.

-- 
 Bastien

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Colin Baxter]

>>>>> Bastien  <bzg@gnu.org> writes:

    > Hello, Colin Baxter <m43cap@yandex.com> writes:

    >> Warning: Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:AnnPhys" 2059 1 y;
    >> Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:JMO" 284 1 y; Warning - invalid
    >> active: "nnrss:PRA" 307 1 y; Warning - invalid active:
    >> "nnrss:PRL" 852 1 y; Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:ProcRSocA"
    >> 141 1 y; Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:JPhysA" 133 1 y

    > FWIW, I also had the same kind of warnings with 27.0.50.

    > -- Bastien
    
Thanks. Sorry you had earlier mentioned this.

Best wishes,
Colin.

-- 
Colin Baxter
m43cap@yandex.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GnuPG fingerprint: 68A8 799C 0230 16E7 BF68  2A27 BBFA 2492 91F5 41C8
---------------------------------------------------------------------

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Basil L. Contovounesios]

Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:

> I'm trying to better understand a few things, can you educate me?
>
> What is the Gnus "active" file?

It is like an index; see (info "(gnus) The Active File").

> Where is it on my computer?

I believe it lives on the remote server, and is perhaps/probably cached
during operation and depending on your configuration.

> What is the .newsrc.eld file?

A Gnus startup file; see (info "(gnus) Startup Files").

> What is the difference between .newsrc.eld and the active file?

The former locally records personal state, whereas the latter remotely
records server state.

Disclaimer: this is just my shallow understanding as a user, not an
expert.

-- 
Basil

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Eric Abrahamsen]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 711 bytes --]


On 03/25/19 12:24 PM, Colin Baxter wrote:
>>>>>> Bastien  <bzg@gnu.org> writes:
>
>     > Hello, Colin Baxter <m43cap@yandex.com> writes:
>
>     >> Warning: Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:AnnPhys" 2059 1 y;
>     >> Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:JMO" 284 1 y; Warning - invalid
>     >> active: "nnrss:PRA" 307 1 y; Warning - invalid active:
>     >> "nnrss:PRL" 852 1 y; Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:ProcRSocA"
>     >> 141 1 y; Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:JPhysA" 133 1 y
>
>     > FWIW, I also had the same kind of warnings with 27.0.50.

This part of the bug, thankfully, is fairly simple, and I think the
attached patch will fix it. Will one or more of you apply this and give
it a shot?



[-- Warning: decoded text below may be mangled, UTF-8 assumed --]
[-- Attachment #2: gnus-active-fix.patch --]
[-- Type: text/x-patch, Size: 1155 bytes --]

diff --git a/lisp/gnus/gnus-group.el b/lisp/gnus/gnus-group.el
index f1202e176e..8c2411f4d9 100644
--- a/lisp/gnus/gnus-group.el
+++ b/lisp/gnus/gnus-group.el
@@ -4029,7 +4029,7 @@ gnus-group-list-active
 		 (insert "       *: "
 			 (gnus-group-decoded-name group)
 			 "\n"))
-       (list 'gnus-group (gethash group gnus-active-hashtb)
+       (list 'gnus-group group
 	     'gnus-unread t
 	     'gnus-level (inline (gnus-group-level group)))))
     (goto-char (point-min))))
diff --git a/lisp/gnus/gnus-start.el b/lisp/gnus/gnus-start.el
index 82141e0221..5a78df9fe4 100644
--- a/lisp/gnus/gnus-start.el
+++ b/lisp/gnus/gnus-start.el
@@ -2145,9 +2145,12 @@ gnus-active-to-gnus-format
 	(condition-case ()
 	    (if (and (stringp (progn
 				(setq group (read cur)
-				      group (if (numberp group)
-						(number-to-string group)
-					      (symbol-name group)))))
+				      group (cond ((numberp group)
+						   (number-to-string group))
+						  ((symbolp group)
+						   (symbol-name group))
+						  ((stringp group)
+						   group)))))
 		     (numberp (setq max (read cur)))
 		     (numberp (setq min (read cur)))
 		     (null (progn

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Eric Abrahamsen]

On 03/25/19 07:36 AM, Bastien wrote:
> Hi Eric,
>
> good luck with fixing this.
>
> Eric Abrahamsen <eric@ericabrahamsen.net> writes:
>
>> This is frustrating -- this was the most important part of the patch,
>> and the part I thought I'd tested most thoroughly. At worst I think Gnus
>> may be trying to read .newsrc.eld using the wrong encoding, so I don't
>> think you will have lost anything permanently. (Still, I'm very sorry
>> this is causing you Gnus outage.)
>>
>> First -- did you run "make bootstrap" before running this new version?
>
> No.  I regularily build Emacs from the master branch but I only use
> `make' to compile it then.  I had no idea I had to `make bootstrap'.
> Why was it necessary after your commit?

My commit changed the definition of some macros, and some *elc files
with the older definitions are still hanging around. This does happen
from time to time when you're running master, though in this case it
coincides with a real bug. You can also just delete all the *elc files
in lisp/gnus and run regular "make". This will fix some of the problems
you're seeing, though from the backtrace below and your previous report
it looks like you've also maybe got a literal "nil" as a group name in
your newsrc.eld.

>> Second, can you tell me if your non-ascii group names are being saved in
>> .newsrc.eld in utf-8, or if they have literal byte sequences in them?
>
> There is no literal byte sequence in the .newsrc.eld file that I was
> able to backup, right after I got this Gnus initialization error.

But there are group names with properly-encoded non-ascii names? There
shouldn't be, which is why I'm curious.

> Now I recompiled an Emacs from before your commit.  Starting with my
> backup does trigger this error:
>
> Debugger entered--Lisp error: (wrong-type-argument stringp nil)
>   intern(nil [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
> 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ...])
>   gnus-make-hashtable-from-newsrc-alist()
>   gnus-read-newsrc-el-file("/home/guerry/.newsrc.el")
>   gnus-read-newsrc-file(nil)
>   gnus-setup-news(nil nil nil)
>   #f(compiled-function () #<bytecode 0x1559c202fd35>)()
>   gnus-1(nil nil nil)
>   gnus(nil)
>   funcall-interactively(gnus nil)
>   call-interactively(gnus record nil)
>   command-execute(gnus record)
>   execute-extended-command(nil "gnus" "gnus")
>   funcall-interactively(execute-extended-command nil "gnus" "gnus")
>   call-interactively(execute-extended-command nil nil)
>   command-execute(execute-extended-command)
>
> ... so I suspect I did not save my .newsrc.eld in time to properly use
> it with a stable Emacs (too bad).
>
> I hope I will be able to find my group subscriptions and my marks.

I don't think you will have lost any data! There's probably just a bogus
group name or two in your newsrc.eld file which is preventing Gnus from
starting up. If you feel comfortable doing this, would you send me your
.newsrc.eld file off list?

Sorry for this train wreck...

> I'm trying to better understand a few things, can you educate me?
>
> What is the Gnus "active" file?
> Where is it on my computer?
> What is the .newsrc.eld file?
> What is the difference between .newsrc.eld and the active file?

Basil's explanations are correct, I'll just add that you've only got
one.newsrc.eld file, recording marks for all the groups you're
subscribed to, but each of your backends produces its own active file,
saying what groups it contains, and what the newest messages are. For
nntp you request it from the server. For nnml it lives on your computer
(I think it goes under (concat gnus-home-directory "News/")). For
nnimap, the server sends Gnus a list of groups and Gnus munges the list
into something that *looks* like an active file. Gnus knows if you have
new mail by comparing the active file information with your.newsrc.eld
information.

Eric

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Eric Abrahamsen]

On 03/25/19 07:04 AM, Deus Max wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 24 2019, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:
>
>> Deus Max <deusmax@gmx.com> writes:
>>
>>> On Sun, Mar 24 2019, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:
>>>
>>>> Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:
>>>>
>>>>> I checked out and buil Emacs from master today 24-03-2019.
>>>>>
>>>>> I started Gnus using my usual configuration (see
>>>>> https://github.com/bzg/dotemacs/blob/master/emacs.el) and got this
>>>>> error:
>>>>>
>>>>> Debugger entered--Lisp error: (wrong-type-argument number-or-marker-p nil)
>>>>>   <=(nil 6)
>>>>>   gnus-get-unread-articles(nil nil)
>>>>>   gnus-setup-news(nil nil nil)
>>>>>   #f(compiled-function () #<bytecode 0x1556149e8b91>)()
>>>>>   gnus-1(nil nil nil)
>>>>>   gnus(nil)
>>>>>   funcall-interactively(gnus nil)
>>>>>   call-interactively(gnus record nil)
>>>>>   command-execute(gnus record)
>>>>>   execute-extended-command(nil "gnus" "gnus")
>>>>>   funcall-interactively(execute-extended-command nil "gnus" "gnus")
>>>>>   call-interactively(execute-extended-command nil nil)
>>>>>   command-execute(execute-extended-command)
>>>>>
>>>>> Starting Gnus *without* a .newsrc.eld file, I can list local groups
>>>>> from my dovecot local IMAP server, but I get another weird behavior:
>>>>> after leaving the summary buffer, the group I just left is listed one
>>>>> more time; if I enter the group and leave it again, I get three groups
>>>>> of the same name in the group buffer, etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> To read Gnus using my .newsrc.eld file again, I tried to revert back
>>>>> to Emacs 26.0.92 but now Emacs seems unable to read my .newsrc.eld at
>>>>> all.  Is it possible that recent changes against Gnus changed the way
>>>>> Gnus parses .newsrc.eld?
>>>>>
>>>>> Copying Eric, as he seems to have been active on Gnus recently.
>>>>
>>>> This is frustrating -- this was the most important part of the patch,
>>>> and the part I thought I'd tested most thoroughly. At worst I think Gnus
>>>> may be trying to read .newsrc.eld using the wrong encoding, so I don't
>>>> think you will have lost anything permanently. (Still, I'm very sorry
>>>> this is causing you Gnus outage.)
>>>>
>>>> First -- did you run "make bootstrap" before running this new version?
>>>> Second, can you tell me if your non-ascii group names are being saved in
>>>> .newsrc.eld in utf-8, or if they have literal byte sequences in them?
>>>>
>>> Confirm for me, non-ascii group names are now being saved in literal
>>> byte sequences in them. Here's an example:
>>> "nnimap+AIA:Union/\316\224\316\243-\316\243\317\211\316\274\316\261\317\204\316\265\316\257\316\277\317\205"
>>>
>>> Didn't have any such issues before. Compiled using "make bootstrap", 3
>>> days ago (and today).
>>
>> Actually, I'm fairly sure that that's how Gnus has always done it, and I
>> tried not to disturb that. But obviously I've done something wrong along
>> the way and I think one part of Gnus is using a decoded version of the
>> group name, and another part is using the encoded version.
>>
>> Are you seeing duplicate group names? Would you check
>> (text-properties-at (line-beginning-position)) on both of the duplicated
>> groups, and tell me the value of the 'gnus-group property' for both?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Eric
>
> I didn't see any duplicate groups in my .newsrc.eld file.
> Output on above nnimap group (with literal byte sequences) is:
> (fontified t)

Sorry, I meant duplicate groups appearing in your *Group* buffer, not
your.newsrc.eld file.

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Colin Baxter]

>>>>> Eric Abrahamsen <eric@ericabrahamsen.net> writes:

    > On 03/25/19 12:24 PM, Colin Baxter wrote:
    >>>>>>> Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:
    >> 
    >> > Hello, Colin Baxter <m43cap@yandex.com> writes:
    >> 
    >> >> Warning: Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:AnnPhys" 2059 1 y;
    >> >> Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:JMO" 284 1 y; Warning -
    >> invalid >> active: "nnrss:PRA" 307 1 y; Warning - invalid active:
    >> >> "nnrss:PRL" 852 1 y; Warning - invalid active:
    >> "nnrss:ProcRSocA" >> 141 1 y; Warning - invalid active:
    >> "nnrss:JPhysA" 133 1 y
    >> 
    >> > FWIW, I also had the same kind of warnings with 27.0.50.

    > This part of the bug, thankfully, is fairly simple, and I think
    > the attached patch will fix it. Will one or more of you apply this
    > and give it a shot?

Ok, I've applied the patch to emacs-27.0.50 and gnus opens the nnrss feeds
satisfactorily - as it does with my other newsgroups and the imap
emails. There are no errors or warnings at all. I did `make clean' and
deleted lisp/gnus/*.elc files before the final `make', so I may have
gone overboard in the build.

Best wishes,

Colin.

-- 
Colin Baxter
m43cap@yandex.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GnuPG fingerprint: 68A8 799C 0230 16E7 BF68  2A27 BBFA 2492 91F5 41C8
---------------------------------------------------------------------

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Eric Abrahamsen]

Colin Baxter <m43cap@yandex.com> writes:

>>>>>> Eric Abrahamsen <eric@ericabrahamsen.net> writes:
>
>     > On 03/25/19 12:24 PM, Colin Baxter wrote:
>     >>>>>>> Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:
>     >> 
>     >> > Hello, Colin Baxter <m43cap@yandex.com> writes:
>     >> 
>     >> >> Warning: Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:AnnPhys" 2059 1 y;
>     >> >> Warning - invalid active: "nnrss:JMO" 284 1 y; Warning -
>     >> invalid >> active: "nnrss:PRA" 307 1 y; Warning - invalid active:
>     >> >> "nnrss:PRL" 852 1 y; Warning - invalid active:
>     >> "nnrss:ProcRSocA" >> 141 1 y; Warning - invalid active:
>     >> "nnrss:JPhysA" 133 1 y
>     >> 
>     >> > FWIW, I also had the same kind of warnings with 27.0.50.
>
>     > This part of the bug, thankfully, is fairly simple, and I think
>     > the attached patch will fix it. Will one or more of you apply this
>     > and give it a shot?
>
> Ok, I've applied the patch to emacs-27.0.50 and gnus opens the nnrss feeds
> satisfactorily - as it does with my other newsgroups and the imap
> emails. There are no errors or warnings at all. I did `make clean' and
> deleted lisp/gnus/*.elc files before the final `make', so I may have
> gone overboard in the build.

There's no such thing as overboard when you're cleaning out dead files!

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Deus Max]

On Mon, Mar 25 2019, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:

> On 03/25/19 07:04 AM, Deus Max wrote:
>> On Sun, Mar 24 2019, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:
>>
>>> Deus Max <deusmax@gmx.com> writes:
>>>
>>>> On Sun, Mar 24 2019, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I checked out and buil Emacs from master today 24-03-2019.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I started Gnus using my usual configuration (see
>>>>>> https://github.com/bzg/dotemacs/blob/master/emacs.el) and got this
>>>>>> error:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Debugger entered--Lisp error: (wrong-type-argument number-or-marker-p nil)
>>>>>>   <=(nil 6)
>>>>>>   gnus-get-unread-articles(nil nil)
>>>>>>   gnus-setup-news(nil nil nil)
>>>>>>   #f(compiled-function () #<bytecode 0x1556149e8b91>)()
>>>>>>   gnus-1(nil nil nil)
>>>>>>   gnus(nil)
>>>>>>   funcall-interactively(gnus nil)
>>>>>>   call-interactively(gnus record nil)
>>>>>>   command-execute(gnus record)
>>>>>>   execute-extended-command(nil "gnus" "gnus")
>>>>>>   funcall-interactively(execute-extended-command nil "gnus" "gnus")
>>>>>>   call-interactively(execute-extended-command nil nil)
>>>>>>   command-execute(execute-extended-command)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Starting Gnus *without* a .newsrc.eld file, I can list local groups
>>>>>> from my dovecot local IMAP server, but I get another weird behavior:
>>>>>> after leaving the summary buffer, the group I just left is listed one
>>>>>> more time; if I enter the group and leave it again, I get three groups
>>>>>> of the same name in the group buffer, etc.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To read Gnus using my .newsrc.eld file again, I tried to revert back
>>>>>> to Emacs 26.0.92 but now Emacs seems unable to read my .newsrc.eld at
>>>>>> all.  Is it possible that recent changes against Gnus changed the way
>>>>>> Gnus parses .newsrc.eld?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Copying Eric, as he seems to have been active on Gnus recently.
>>>>>
>>>>> This is frustrating -- this was the most important part of the patch,
>>>>> and the part I thought I'd tested most thoroughly. At worst I think Gnus
>>>>> may be trying to read .newsrc.eld using the wrong encoding, so I don't
>>>>> think you will have lost anything permanently. (Still, I'm very sorry
>>>>> this is causing you Gnus outage.)
>>>>>
>>>>> First -- did you run "make bootstrap" before running this new version?
>>>>> Second, can you tell me if your non-ascii group names are being saved in
>>>>> .newsrc.eld in utf-8, or if they have literal byte sequences in them?
>>>>>
>>>> Confirm for me, non-ascii group names are now being saved in literal
>>>> byte sequences in them. Here's an example:
>>>> "nnimap+AIA:Union/\316\224\316\243-\316\243\317\211\316\274\316\261\317\204\316\265\316\257\316\277\317\205"
>>>>
>>>> Didn't have any such issues before. Compiled using "make bootstrap", 3
>>>> days ago (and today).
>>>
>>> Actually, I'm fairly sure that that's how Gnus has always done it, and I
>>> tried not to disturb that. But obviously I've done something wrong along
>>> the way and I think one part of Gnus is using a decoded version of the
>>> group name, and another part is using the encoded version.
>>>
>>> Are you seeing duplicate group names? Would you check
>>> (text-properties-at (line-beginning-position)) on both of the duplicated
>>> groups, and tell me the value of the 'gnus-group property' for both?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Eric
>>
>> I didn't see any duplicate groups in my .newsrc.eld file.
>> Output on above nnimap group (with literal byte sequences) is:
>> (fontified t)
>
> Sorry, I meant duplicate groups appearing in your *Group* buffer, not
> your.newsrc.eld file.

Yes, I have this weirdness under "Deleted Items".
On my web interface there is only the top-most group, with no subgroups
as "Greek Holidays". As for the subgroup name with the long hash
attached, I would never have created such a group name. it is an
artefact.

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Deus Max]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 598 bytes --]

On Mon, Mar 25 2019, Deus Max wrote:

>>>
>>> I didn't see any duplicate groups in my .newsrc.eld file.
>>> Output on above nnimap group (with literal byte sequences) is:
>>> (fontified t)
>>
>> Sorry, I meant duplicate groups appearing in your *Group* buffer, not
>> your.newsrc.eld file.
>
> Yes, I have this weirdness under "Deleted Items".
> On my web interface there is only the top-most group, with no subgroups
> as "Greek Holidays". As for the subgroup name with the long hash
> attached, I would never have created such a group name. it is an
> artefact.

I forgot to add the screenshot:


[-- Attachment #2: Gnus Groups --]
[-- Type: image/png, Size: 21788 bytes --]

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Bastien]

Hi Basil and Eric,

thanks a lot for these explanations.  I will see if I can make
suggestions against the Gnus manual to help people understand this
more easily.

Best,

-- 
 Bastien

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Basil L. Contovounesios]

Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:

> Hi Basil and Eric,
>
> thanks a lot for these explanations.  I will see if I can make
> suggestions against the Gnus manual to help people understand this
> more easily.

TIA. :)

-- 
Basil

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Eric Abrahamsen]

"Basil L. Contovounesios" <contovob@tcd.ie> writes:

> Bastien <bzg@gnu.org> writes:
>
>> Hi Basil and Eric,
>>
>> thanks a lot for these explanations.  I will see if I can make
>> suggestions against the Gnus manual to help people understand this
>> more easily.
>
> TIA. :)

Yup, that would be great.

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Colin Baxter <m43cap@yandex.com> writes:

> Ok, I've applied the patch to emacs-27.0.50 and gnus opens the nnrss feeds
> satisfactorily - as it does with my other newsgroups and the imap
> emails. There are no errors or warnings at all. I did `make clean' and
> deleted lisp/gnus/*.elc files before the final `make', so I may have
> gone overboard in the build.

OK, sounds like the problems reported here were fixed at the time, so
I'm closing this bug report.  If that's a mistake, please reopen.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

bug#34983: 27.0.50; Gnus cannot start

[Eric Abrahamsen]

Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:

> Colin Baxter <m43cap@yandex.com> writes:
>
>> Ok, I've applied the patch to emacs-27.0.50 and gnus opens the nnrss feeds
>> satisfactorily - as it does with my other newsgroups and the imap
>> emails. There are no errors or warnings at all. I did `make clean' and
>> deleted lisp/gnus/*.elc files before the final `make', so I may have
>> gone overboard in the build.
>
> OK, sounds like the problems reported here were fixed at the time, so
> I'm closing this bug report.  If that's a mistake, please reopen.

Yes, these patches (and those for #35130) have all gone into master.