bug#7608: 23.2; Session support works intermittently in GNOME

[Reuben Thomas <rrt@sc3d.org>]

Emacs’s session support in GNOME seems to work sometimes but not others.

When it works correctly, the following things happen:

1. Having clicked “Log out”, GNOME warns me that an application, Emacs,
is still running. I click “Log out anyway”, and am logged out.

2. On logging back in, Emacs is run, but desktop complains that another
Emacs seems to be using the desktop file. I type “y” to load the desktop
file anyway, and everything works fine.

When things don’t work, the most common symptom is that Emacs is simply
not run when I log back in.

Occasionally, I get no prompt from GNOME when I log out; when that
happens, I believe that Emacs is never run when I log back in.

Even in this case, all I have to do is run Emacs and then tell desktop
that yes, I do want to load the desktop file, but it just makes for a
regular minor annoyance.

If I can help diagnose what is going on, I’d be happy to help.

I don’t see any mention of improved session support in the plans for
either 23.3 or 24; this is a pity, as given the huge amount of
modernisation work that has gone on under the hood, it’d be great to
have this obvious bit of polish applied, so that the premier FSF editor
works smoothly with the premier FSF desktop.


In GNU Emacs 23.2.1 (i686-pc-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 2.21.6)
 of 2010-09-01 on rhenium, modified by Debian
Windowing system distributor `The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.10900000
configured using `configure  '--build' 'i686-linux-gnu' '--build' 'i686-linux-gnu' '--prefix=/usr' '--sharedstatedir=/var/lib' '--libexecdir=/usr/lib' '--localstatedir=/var/lib' '--infodir=/usr/share/info' '--mandir=/usr/share/man' '--with-pop=yes' '--enable-locallisppath=/etc/emacs23:/etc/emacs:/usr/local/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp:/usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp:/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp:/usr/share/emacs/site-lisp:/usr/share/emacs/23.2/leim' '--with-x=yes' '--with-x-toolkit=gtk' '--with-toolkit-scroll-bars' 'build_alias=i686-linux-gnu' 'CFLAGS=-DDEBIAN -g -O2' 'LDFLAGS=-g' 'CPPFLAGS=''

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: en_GB.UTF-8
  value of $XMODIFIERS: nil
  locale-coding-system: utf-8-unix
  default enable-multibyte-characters: t

Major mode: Autoconf

Minor modes in effect:
  show-paren-mode: t
  savehist-mode: t
  minibuffer-electric-default-mode: t
  iswitchb-mode: t
  icomplete-mode: t
  global-auto-revert-mode: t
  desktop-save-mode: t
  mouse-wheel-mode: t
  file-name-shadow-mode: t
  global-font-lock-mode: t
  font-lock-mode: t
  blink-cursor-mode: t
  auto-encryption-mode: t
  auto-compression-mode: t
  column-number-mode: t
  line-number-mode: t
  transient-mark-mode: t

Recent input:
y <C-M-S-down> C-g C-g C-g <help-echo> M-x r e p o 
r t - e m a c s - b u g <return>

Recent messages:
Ispell process killed
Starting new Ispell process [british+accs] ...
Loading vc-cvs...done
Loading make-mode...done
Ispell process killed
Starting new Ispell process [british+accs] ...
Desktop: 4 buffers restored, 8 to restore lazily.
ispell.el is already loaded
For information about GNU Emacs and the GNU system, type C-h C-a.
Mark set
Quit [3 times]

Load-path shadows:
/home/rrt/local/share/emacs/site-lisp/lua-mode hides /usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/lua-mode/lua-mode
/home/rrt/.emacs.d/elpa/dictionary-1.8.7/link hides /usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/dictionary-el/link
/home/rrt/.emacs.d/elpa/dictionary-1.8.7/connection hides /usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/dictionary-el/connection
/home/rrt/.emacs.d/elpa/dictionary-1.8.7/dictionary-init hides /usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/dictionary-el/dictionary-init
/home/rrt/.emacs.d/elpa/dictionary-1.8.7/dictionary hides /usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/dictionary-el/dictionary
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/css-mode/css-mode hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/css-mode/css-mode
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/tex-info hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/tex-info
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/context-nl hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/context-nl
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/context-en hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/context-en
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/latex hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/latex
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/tex-mik hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/tex-mik
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/dictionary-el/lpath hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/lpath
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/tex-buf hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/tex-buf
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/tex-jp hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/tex-jp
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/tex-bar hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/tex-bar
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/tex hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/tex
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/multi-prompt hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/multi-prompt
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/tex-fptex hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/tex-fptex
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/tex-font hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/tex-font
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/tex-fold hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/tex-fold
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/texmathp hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/texmathp
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/context hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/context
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/font-latex hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/font-latex
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/bib-cite hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/bib-cite
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/toolbar-x hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/toolbar-x
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/auctex/tex-style hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/auctex/tex-style
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-init hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-init
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-parse hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-parse
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-info hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-info
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-html hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-html
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-other hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-other
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/psgml/psgml hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/psgml/psgml
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-charent hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-charent
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-sysdep hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-sysdep
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-ids hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-ids
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-dtd hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-dtd
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-api hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-api
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-edit hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/psgml/psgml-edit
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/cdargs hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/cdargs
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/cmake-data/cmake-mode hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/cmake-mode
/usr/share/emacs/23.2/site-lisp/debian-startup hides /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/debian-startup
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/css-mode/css-mode hides /usr/share/emacs/23.2/lisp/textmodes/css-mode
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/dictionaries-common/flyspell hides /usr/share/emacs/23.2/lisp/textmodes/flyspell
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/dictionaries-common/ispell hides /usr/share/emacs/23.2/lisp/textmodes/ispell
/usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/rst hides /usr/share/emacs/23.2/lisp/textmodes/rst
/usr/share/emacs23/site-lisp/ruby1.8-elisp/ruby-mode hides /usr/share/emacs/23.2/lisp/progmodes/ruby-mode

Features:
(shadow sort mail-extr message sendmail ecomplete rfc822 mml mml-sec
password-cache mm-decode mm-bodies mm-encode mailcap mail-parse rfc2231
rfc2047 rfc2045 qp ietf-drums mailabbrev nnheader gnus-util netrc
time-date mm-util mail-prsvr gmm-utils wid-edit mailheader canlock sha1
hex-util hashcash mail-utils emacsbug make-mode parse-time vc-cvs vc-git
face-remap filladapt flyspell autoconf autoconf-mode
auto-dictionary-autoloads dictionary-autoloads js2-mode-autoloads
package reporter completing-help ff-paths uniquify paren savehist
minibuf-eldef iswitchb icomplete autorevert time cus-start cus-load
desktop server change-mode advice help-fns advice-preload php-mode
derived etags cc-langs cl cl-19 cc-mode cc-fonts cc-menus cc-cmds
cc-styles cc-align cc-engine cc-vars cc-defs speedbar sb-image ezimage
dframe easymenu assoc lua-mode regexp-opt comint ring whitespace
etags-update smart-quotes edmacro kmacro ispell ffap psgml-init
muse-autoloads emacs-goodies-el emacs-goodies-custom
emacs-goodies-loaddefs easy-mmode bbdb-autoloads preview-latex tex-site
auto-loads tooltip ediff-hook vc-hooks lisp-float-type mwheel x-win
x-dnd font-setting tool-bar dnd fontset image fringe lisp-mode register
page menu-bar rfn-eshadow timer select scroll-bar mldrag 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 loaddefs button
minibuffer faces cus-face files text-properties overlay md5 base64
format env code-pages mule custom widget hashtable-print-readable
backquote make-network-process dbusbind system-font-setting
font-render-setting gtk x-toolkit x multi-tty emacs)

-- 
http://rrt.sc3d.org/