[Fix available] Window manager xfwm 4.13.0 broken after last mesa update

[rodrigosantellan]

Hi,
Today the mesa driver was updated in my linux mint 19 xfce with the packages that is shown in the attachments.
After that my window manager was broken with this error: These settings cannot work with your current window manager (unknown)
After a lot of tinkering I stumbled with xfwm4 --compositor=off and running xfwm4-tweaks-settings and disable all composite options and everything started working.
My worries is that I couldn't find anybody that has the same problem and now I'm scared that next update will break my machine.
Has this hapend to anybody ?
Regards

[ajgringo619]

What compositor were you using before? I'm about to test these updates with compton.

EDIT: working here, although I did have to reenable compositing after I rebooted.

[kevinbowen]

I experienced the same breakage and wasted a half day on the issue.

I had my window manager set to xfvm4+compositing (I'm running Mint Xfce 19.1). I ended up re-installing.

Even on a fresh install, I still received errors around these packages:

Setting up libegl1:amd64 (1.0.0-2ubuntu2.3) ...
Setting up libglx0:amd64 (1.0.0-2ubuntu2.3) ...
Setting up libegl1-mesa:amd64 (19.0.2-1ubuntu1.1~18.04.1) ...
Setting up libgl1:amd64 (1.0.0-2ubuntu2.3) ...

I didn't see any errors related to these packages on my previous, old installation; but, I did see some libegl1-mesa errors in my .xsession-errors log. Just now, I had to re-apply updates and turn off compositing again and it looks like the updates were applied without issue .Very frustrating experience.

My box _appears_ to be working now. Off to try another reboot...

[pinaz]

I think I'm seeing a variation of the same thing. It is a mess and I don't have a solution at present short of reinstalling Mint again. (I pine for the stability of Mint 17.)

Sample symptoms are:

The window manager bar at the base of the screen often disappears a second after logging in.

Only sometimes does the start menu appear in response to the start key.

Terminal windows have a solid black background instead of the customary translucent one.

Keystrokes to a given window are either ignored entirely or are only accepted when the mouse cursor is directly above the window (rather than the normal whenever the window has focus).

GUI programs like LibreOffice when run appear as a small window that has been resized to tiny dimensions.

No window resizing controls are available on any window.

GUI keyboard shortcuts like Alt-F4 to close a window no longer work.

When I Ctrl-F1 to get a proper terminal, xfvm4 reports no display.

If I try to run xfvm4 in a GUI terminal, I once got an error message:

intel_mipmap_tree.c:1285 intel_miptree_match_image: Assertion: 'image->TexObject->Target == mt->target' failed.

Hardware is a Thinkpad T510.

[kevinbowen]

"intel_mipmap_tree.c:1285 intel_miptree_match_image: Assertion: 'image->TexObject->Target == mt->target' failed."

This is the exact same error that I was getting when I tried to restart xfwm. My laptop is a Lenovo T520

[ajgringo619]

Can anyone here try switching to compton and see if the problems go away? I can't duplicate these issues.

[kevinbowen]

Can anyone here try switching to compton and see if the problems go away? I can't duplicate these issues.

I turned on compositing, selected "Xfwm4 + Compton" settings and successfully rebooted. However, I did see an unusual amount of screen flickering/flashing as the box was booting. Usually, there isn't any and the screen would remain black until the Mint logo appears.

[ajgringo619]

Can anyone here try switching to compton and see if the problems go away? I can't duplicate these issues.

I turned on compositing, selected "Xfwm4 + Compton" settings and successfully rebooted. However, I did see an unusual amount of screen flickering/flashing as the box was booting. Usually, there isn't any and the screen would remain black until the Mint logo appears.

I turn off the Mint splash screens so I can see what's happening during the boot sequence. Is everything else working OK?

[pinaz]

Changing from "Xfwm4 + Compositing" to "Xfwm4 + Compton" seems to restore basic operation for me... fingers crossed.

For others encountering this problem like myself who also didn't know how to "try switching to compton", here were the steps that I used.

Boot the computer, and log in. If the start menu doesn't work (which is often), Ctrl-Alt-F1 to get a terminal window and "sudo shutdown -r now" to reboot the computer again.

When the start menu finally happens to work, pick Settings -> Desktop Settings.

In the resultant window, under Window Manager (only header I see), change the "Manager" setting from "Xfwm4 + Compositing" to "Xfwm4 + Compton" and click "Close".

Restart computer again.

At this point, it appears to operate like it did prior to the "mesa" package updating.

As another data point, I have another Linux Mint 19.1 XFCE machine (same T510 hardware) that had not been exposed to the latest updates. I updated everything but the "mesa" package, and it works as is (using the install default of "Xfwm4 + Compositing").

[kevinbowen]

Is everything else working OK?

Yes.Things appear to be OK now.

I've rebooted a couple of times without seeing any further problems.

[Crippled]

That's strange. I don't notice any difference or issue with the last update today. I just have Xfwm4 enable.

[Mint Lounger]

Yep, I just updated today, and now Mint loads w/o a toolbar, and I can't load the start menu. It's suddenly useless. Fortunately, my system is dual boot and I was able to get on the 'net via Windows. Now what do we do to get Mint up and running as usual?

[ajgringo619]

Changing from "Xfwm4 + Compositing" to "Xfwm4 + Compton" seems to restore basic operation for me... fingers crossed.

At least your system is working again. I had switched awhile back due to a problem with key lagging when using the XFCE terminal.

[kevinbowen]

Changing from "Xfwm4 + Compositing" to "Xfwm4 + Compton" seems to restore basic operation for me... fingers crossed.

At least your system is working again. I had switched awhile back due to a problem with key lagging when using the XFCE terminal.

I actually just now ended up disabling Compton as it was continuously pegging my CPU% at ~96-98% and rendering my box unusable.

[ajgringo619]

Changing from "Xfwm4 + Compositing" to "Xfwm4 + Compton" seems to restore basic operation for me... fingers crossed.

At least your system is working again. I had switched awhile back due to a problem with key lagging when using the XFCE terminal.

I actually just now ended up disabling Compton as it was continuously pegging my CPU% at ~96-98% and rendering my box unusable.

I had something similar happened when I switched GPUs (from Radeon to Nvidia); not quite as bad as yours, but still noticeable. But whatever the problem was, it corrected itself.

[arsivci]

Similar problems here with XFCE, 19.1.

Open apps do not show in task bar (windows buttons not visible).
No window decorations (min/max buttons)
Can not maximize Firefox, bookmarks button not working.

Disabling compositor (xfwm 4 only) solved the problems without rebooting.

Peace,
t.

[MaurizioFerreira]

Similar problems with XFCE, Xfwm4 + compositing

I resolved using Timeshift, going back to yesterday status

Now I'm waiting for a new Mesa version

[clem]

Hi everybody,

- Use timeshift. I see people here wasting half a day, using windows, reinstalling... that's crazy. Restore yesterday's timeshift snapshot and you're done.

- If you're impacted by this issue, paste the output of "inxi -Gxx" here.

- Downgrade Xfwm 4.13.0 to the 4.12 version with "apt install xfwm4=4.12.4-0ubuntu1" and let us know if that helps.

Note to self: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... ug/1835315 could be related.

[raffael84]

Hello!

Nice surprise in the morning ... ... but that's what gives me the kicks and makes me feel like a hacker. If it's not to cold outside I'll go to H&M and get me a nice black hoodie.

For me (T450) the downgrade to 4.12.4 worked. It needs some patience though as missing functionality seems to be somewhat random. For example I could find ways to open the xfce-terminal but couldn't place the focus in there to type. Sometimes [Fn] didn't seem to work either keeping me from accessing the alternative terminal sessions. Eventually though it did work and downgrading, then rebooting solved the problem.

My g/f uses an old Acer TravelMate and for her xfwm4 4.13.0 seems to not cause any issues.

Above I saw another Thinkpad mentioned. Could it be related to that series?

What is the recommended procedure for poor people like me? I can deactivate updates for xfwm4 as a temporary ailment but I suppose that's not for the long run.

Cheers

Raffael

[clem]

Can you test 4.13.3 as well? Also don't forget to paste the output for inxi -Gxx. We can't fix this issue yet without more feedback from impacted people.