[SOLVED] "Oh no! Something has gone wrong" after update to FC16

[Doug Hutcheson]

I have just upgraded FC15 to FC16. When I try to log in, I get the message "Oh No! Something has gone wrong ...". By moving the mouse cursor to the top left corner of the screen, I get to see all the windows from my last session side-by-side as I would expect, but returning the cursor to the top left corner just brings back the "Oh, no!" message.

After two or three attempts like this, my session starts correctly.

I cannot find anything in the logs which seems to report an error and the message is dumbed-down to the Windoze level of uselessness, giving no clue as to what is causing the problem. Can anyone tell me where I should start looking for this? Maybe a log file I have missed?

[droidhacker]

1) What is your hardware, especially GPU?
2) Why did you install F16 which is already one foot in the grave and not F17 which is brand new and more likely to support your hardware?

[Doug Hutcheson]

Thanks for responding, droidhacker.

Originally Posted by droidhacker

1) What is your hardware, especially GPU?

Lenovo T61 with Quadro NVS 140M, 512 MB memory. I am using the proprietary Nvidia driver.

Originally Posted by droidhacker

2) Why did you install F16 which is already one foot in the grave and not F17 which is brand new and more likely to support your hardware?

I was working on the principle that FC16 has been around longer and is more likely to have the bugs ironed out. I will be interested to see if my problem is specific to FC16. I am not excited about the prospect of installing FC17 just to see if the problem goes away. On the contrary, I don't want to bring in additional FC17 issues until I have solved the current crop of FC16 behaviours (well, only this one anomalous behaviour so far - everything else seems fine).

My question really is "how the heck do I figure out the cause of the 'Oh, no' message? Is there a log I should be reviewing, where the explanation will be found?"

I am used to FCx giving useful error messages, which can be used to track down the underlying issue, but I can find no obvious path to follow with this 'Oh, no' message. It is even less useful than the much-hated Micro$oft 'paperclip' help advisor from years ago, which at least had a stab at being helpful, bless its twisted little heart.

On the up-side, FC16 seems to be stable enough, once it lets me have a session without complaining.

[Dan]

Just throwing a guess at this ... but try using the available extension to disable the ripple effect.

[Doug Hutcheson]

Thanks for responding, Dan.

Originally Posted by Dan

disable the ripple effect.

I'm not sure where to look for available extensions, or what 'ripple effect' refers to. My user experience does not include any obvious ripple effect on the graphical display, which is my first throught. Can you clarify what it is that you are suggesting I look for?

I was expecting the "Oh, no" message to be thrown up by the graphical display manager, rather than by a specific application, as the message covers the body of the screen and prevents me from accessing any of my running apps. As mentioned above, if I move the cursor to the top left corner of the screen, I see all my running application windows in miniature and they appear to be functioning correctly.

Unfortunately, I don't know where to start looking for a log record that would explain the reason for the message being displayed. I could see nothing suspicious in boot.log, messages, or Xorg.0.log. Is there somewhere else I should be looking?

The fact that the problem goes away after two or three attempts to log in bears all the hallmarks of a transient error, which makes it a needle in a haystack to track down and my area of expertise does not include debugging X-related problems.

[Dan]

The easiest way to test this is to use the super key (windows key) on your keyboard to bring up the overlay mode. If it borks, your issue is not the ripple, if it doesn't, it probably is the ripple.

If it is the ripple, use the illustration below to install the correct extension to disable the ripple and try the test again.

[Doug Hutcheson]

Originally Posted by Dan

use the super key (windows key) on your keyboard to bring up the overlay mode.

You learn something every day! This is the first time I have found a use for the Windows key on my keyboard: I have been using the hot corner to bring up the overlay all this time. Thanks for that.

I installed the extension as you suggested, then logged out and in again. Everything worked and I had no "Oh, no" message, so I think you have solved it for me. Of course, one login does not make an exhaustive test ...

Thank you for your help - much appreciated.

[Dan]

Anytime. Glad it's working.

[Doug Hutcheson]

I have updated to FC17 and find the same "Oh, no!" behaviour. Looking under Advanced Settings/Shell Extensions, I saw the noripple extension shown as 'Off': I switched it to 'On', but the behaviour persists. Every time I shut down due to some other problem, at restart I have to log in at least twice before the session works. Any idea what this new issue could be?

[Dan]

Bob mentioned in this thread that the multiple-login issue may be a current working bug.

http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=281783

Direct links:

http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=281783
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=280021
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=823098

Looks like it's still an on-going problem.

[Doug Hutcheson]

Thanks for your time, Dan.

Originally Posted by Dan

Bob mentioned in this thread that the multiple-login issue may be a current working bug.
<snip>
Looks like it's still an on-going problem.

Bugzilla 823098 could be the same issue, but there is no mention of their getting the dreaded "Oh, no!..." error screen. I think I will raise this as a new bug and refer to 823098, in case they need to be folded into one bug report.

I'm really reluctant to repave my machine and try to get all my software reinstalled and all my data etc. restored from backup, especially since the interface to deja-dup has changed (I am no longer sure of what deja-dup is getting up to when I invoke it: see Fedora Forum post). Part of my reluctance is due to the fact that my problems may not be caused by a glitch local to my machine, but by the inherent nature of FC17. It would p*** me off to repave, recover and reinstall, only to find the problems were still there! "8-/

Perhaps we could continue this conversation over at this thread, where I am discussing the FC17 version of this issue?

[Dan]

Ok. Continue there, and I'll close this one.