bug#9889: 24.0.90; emacsclient fails to start on OSX

bug#9889: 24.0.90; emacsclient fails to start on OSX

[Randal L. Schwartz]

This bug report will be sent to the Bug-GNU-Emacs mailing list
and the GNU bug tracker at debbugs.gnu.org.  Please check that
the From: line contains a valid email address.  After a delay of up
to one day, you should receive an acknowledgement at that address.

Please write in English if possible, as the Emacs maintainers
usually do not have translators for other languages.

Please describe exactly what actions triggered the bug, and
the precise symptoms of the bug.  If you can, give a recipe
starting from `emacs -Q':


Attempting to use "emacsclient" in a shell window.

Got this:

emacsclient: can't find socket; have you started the server?
To start the server in Emacs, type "M-x server-start".
emacsclient: No socket or alternate editor.  Please use:

             --socket-name
             --server-file      (or environment variable
             --EMACS_SERVER_FILE)
             --alternate-editor (or environment variable
             --ALTERNATE_EDITOR)

Same message even after I try another M-x server-start.


If Emacs crashed, and you have the Emacs process in the gdb debugger,
please include the output from the following gdb commands:
    `bt full' and `xbacktrace'.
For information about debugging Emacs, please read the file
/Users/merlyn/Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/Resources/etc/DEBUG.


In GNU Emacs 24.0.90.9 (x86_64-apple-darwin10.8.0, NS
apple-appkit-1038.36)
 of 2011-10-27 on dhcp173.corp.mediatemple.net
Windowing system distributor `Apple', version 10.3.1038
configured using `configure  '--with-ns' '--without-x' '--without-dbus'
'--prefix=/tmp/emacs''

Important settings:
  value of $LC_ALL: nil
  value of $LC_COLLATE: nil
  value of $LC_CTYPE: nil
  value of $LC_MESSAGES: nil
  value of $LC_MONETARY: nil
  value of $LC_NUMERIC: nil
  value of $LC_TIME: nil
  value of $LANG: 
  value of $XMODIFIERS: nil
  locale-coding-system: nil
  default enable-multibyte-characters: t

Major mode: Shell

Minor modes in effect:
  shell-dirtrack-mode: t
  show-paren-mode: t
  global-auto-revert-mode: t
  display-time-mode: t
  tooltip-mode: t
  mouse-wheel-mode: t
  tool-bar-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
  line-number-mode: t
  transient-mark-mode: t

Recent input:

Recent messages:
dabbrev-expand: No dynamic expansion for `$TMP' found
Mark saved where search started
Mark set
History item: 1 [5 times]
Restarting server [2 times]
History item: 1
History item: 2
History item: 1
Mark set
Mark activated
Quit

Load-path shadows:
None found.

Features:
(shadow sort gnus-util mail-extr message rfc822 mml mml-sec mm-decode
mm-bodies mm-encode mail-parse rfc2231 rfc2047 rfc2045 ietf-drums
mm-util mail-prsvr mailabbrev mail-utils gmm-utils mailheader emacsbug
man assoc dabbrev help-mode view mule-util pcmpl-unix vc-git ansi-color
multi-isearch conf-mode newcomment shell org-wl org-w3m org-vm org-rmail
org-mhe org-mew org-irc org-jsinfo org-infojs org-html format-spec
org-exp ob-exp org-exp-blocks org-agenda org-info org-gnus org-docview
org-bibtex bibtex org-bbdb org ob-emacs-lisp ob-tangle ob-ref ob-lob
ob-table org-footnote org-src ob-comint ob-keys ob ob-eval org-pcomplete
pcomplete comint ring org-list org-faces org-compat org-entities
org-macs noutline outline easy-mmode cal-menu calendar cal-loaddefs
dired-aux dired jka-compr uniquify warnings advice help-fns
advice-preload paren avoid autorevert time cus-start cus-load server
objj-mode derived objc-c-mode cc-mode byte-opt bytecomp byte-compile
cconv macroexp cc-langs cl cc-fonts easymenu cc-guess cc-menus cc-cmds
cc-styles cc-align cc-engine cc-vars cc-defs regexp-opt time-date
tooltip ediff-hook vc-hooks lisp-float-type mwheel ns-win tool-bar dnd
fontset image fringe lisp-mode register page menu-bar rfn-eshadow timer
select scroll-bar mouse jit-lock font-lock syntax facemenu font-core
frame cham georgian utf-8-lang misc-lang vietnamese tibetan thai
tai-viet lao korean japanese hebrew greek romanian slovak czech european
ethiopic indian cyrillic chinese case-table epa-hook jka-cmpr-hook help
simple abbrev minibuffer loaddefs button faces cus-face files
text-properties overlay sha1 md5 base64 format env code-pages mule
custom widget hashtable-print-readable backquote make-network-process ns
multi-tty emacs)

-- 
Randal L. Schwartz - Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc. - +1 503 777 0095
<merlyn@stonehenge.com> <URL:http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/>
Smalltalk/Perl/Unix consulting, Technical writing, Comedy, etc. etc.
See http://methodsandmessages.posterous.com/ for Smalltalk discussion

bug#9889: 24.0.90; emacsclient fails to start on OSX

[Stefan Monnier]

> Attempting to use "emacsclient" in a shell window.

Did you start the Emacs server from the same shell?
Do you by any change set the $TMPDIR in your shell initialization files?


        Stefan

bug#9889: 24.0.90; emacsclient fails to start on OSX

[Randal L. Schwartz]

>>>>> "Stefan" == Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> writes:

>> Attempting to use "emacsclient" in a shell window.
Stefan> Did you start the Emacs server from the same shell?
Stefan> Do you by any change set the $TMPDIR in your shell initialization files?

This is launched as Emacs.app

The userinterface sets a TMPDIR yes.

But this worked before, so something has changed.

If you need me to bisect, I'll have to remember when the last time it
worked was (probably a month ago).

-- 
Randal L. Schwartz - Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc. - +1 503 777 0095
<merlyn@stonehenge.com> <URL:http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/>
Smalltalk/Perl/Unix consulting, Technical writing, Comedy, etc. etc.
See http://methodsandmessages.posterous.com/ for Smalltalk discussion

bug#9889: 24.0.90; emacsclient fails to start on OSX

[Stefan Monnier]

>>> Attempting to use "emacsclient" in a shell window.
Stefan> Did you start the Emacs server from the same shell?
Stefan> Do you by any change set the $TMPDIR in your shell initialization files?
> This is launched as Emacs.app
> The userinterface sets a TMPDIR yes.

Both the emacsclient and the Emacs server need to have the same TMPDIR
because they communicate via the $TMPDIR/emacs<UID>/server socket.
So if TMPDIR is not the same, you'll have to pass a -s arg to
emacsclient to specify explicitly which socket to use.

I.e. please check whether this is indeed the source of the problem.

> But this worked before, so something has changed.

Could be that the TMPDIR has changed.  But also emacsclient/server used
to ignore TMPDIR.  I can't remember when this was changed (I think it
was in Emacs-23).


        Stefan

bug#9889: 24.0.90; emacsclient fails to start on OSX

[Randal L. Schwartz]

>>>>> "Stefan" == Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> writes:

>> But this worked before, so something has changed.

Stefan> Could be that the TMPDIR has changed.

I don't think so.  The emacsclient is being invoked from within a shell
window in the emacs.  So I know they share the same $TMPDIR, and in
fact, in $TMPDIR, I see the socket.

Stefan>   But also emacsclient/server used
Stefan> to ignore TMPDIR.  I can't remember when this was changed (I think it
Stefan> was in Emacs-23).

Well, I know it worked about a month ago, and I've been tracking HEAD.
I guess I'll have to try to bisect this out.  Lots of long compiling
ahead for me. :(

-- 
Randal L. Schwartz - Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc. - +1 503 777 0095
<merlyn@stonehenge.com> <URL:http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/>
Smalltalk/Perl/Unix consulting, Technical writing, Comedy, etc. etc.
See http://methodsandmessages.posterous.com/ for Smalltalk discussion

bug#9889: 24.0.90; emacsclient fails to start on OSX

[Randal L. Schwartz]

>>>>> "Randal" == Randal L Schwartz <merlyn@stonehenge.com> writes:

>>>>> "Stefan" == Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> writes:
>>> But this worked before, so something has changed.

Stefan> Could be that the TMPDIR has changed.

Randal> I don't think so.  The emacsclient is being invoked from within a shell
Randal> window in the emacs.  So I know they share the same $TMPDIR, and in
Randal> fact, in $TMPDIR, I see the socket.

Stefan> But also emacsclient/server used
Stefan> to ignore TMPDIR.  I can't remember when this was changed (I think it
Stefan> was in Emacs-23).

Randal> Well, I know it worked about a month ago, and I've been tracking HEAD.
Randal> I guess I'll have to try to bisect this out.  Lots of long compiling
Randal> ahead for me. :(

Ugh, I rolled back a whole year, and it still failed.

Then I started poking around... apparently, I was picking up
/usr/bin/emacsclient somehow instead of the emacsclient I had been
building.  Something is reinserting /bin:/usr/bin in front of my PATH as
a subshell is starting.  Once I forced the proper emacsclient,
everything worked again.

So, no bug... just a stupid config problem that I still have to sort out.

-- 
Randal L. Schwartz - Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc. - +1 503 777 0095
<merlyn@stonehenge.com> <URL:http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/>
Smalltalk/Perl/Unix consulting, Technical writing, Comedy, etc. etc.
See http://methodsandmessages.posterous.com/ for Smalltalk discussion

bug#9889: 24.0.90; emacsclient fails to start on OSX

[Stefan Monnier]

> So, no bug... just a stupid config problem that I still have to sort out.

Great (for me, anyway), I can close the bug,


        Stefan