Bug 451800 - Changes between 5.24.2 and 5.24.3 cause some widgets to crash, bringing down Plasmashell
Summary: Changes between 5.24.2 and 5.24.3 cause some widgets to crash, bringing down ...
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: plasmashell
Classification: Plasma
Component: generic-crash (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 5.24.3
Platform: Manjaro Linux
: NOR crash
Target Milestone: 1.0
Assignee: Plasma Bugs List
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2022-03-22 18:22 UTC by Tony Green
Modified: 2024-05-30 10:54 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:


Attachments
Crash report from Reddit user (5.96 KB, text/plain)
2022-03-22 18:22 UTC, Tony Green
Details
Crash report caused by WebSlice widget crashing Plasmashell (15.31 KB, text/vnd.kde.kcrash-report)
2022-03-29 11:16 UTC, Tony Green
Details
Tarball containing WebSlice files (18.96 KB, application/x-bzip)
2022-03-29 11:17 UTC, Tony Green
Details

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Description Tony Green 2022-03-22 18:22:09 UTC
Created attachment 147669 [details]
Crash report from Reddit user

SUMMARY
***

When I upgraded to 5.24.3 and re-started, my desktop crashed, throwing out a crash report (which sadly I failed to file a bug for at the time). After analysing the report I discovered that the Webslice widget was crashing and with it, taking down plasmashell. Removing that widget allowed me to continue.

A poster on Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/comments/tjx3uq/kde_desktop_crashing_on_startup/) today posted a similar problem and with my guidance was able to get their desktop working. This time it turned out to be the Digital Clock widget. As that user posted their crash backtrace I'm adding that here.

So it seems that some (API?) change in 5.24.3 is causing some widgets to crash, fatally for plasmashell.

It seems worrying that a crashing widget can do this, but there may well be something in the desktop integration which makes this inevitable...


STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Use an older Plasma version and add a Webslice widget to the desktop.
2. Upgrade to 5.24.3 and restart


OBSERVED RESULT

Desktop crashes on startup

EXPECTED RESULT

Desktop shouldn't crash

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
 
Linux/KDE Plasma: 
(available in About System)
KDE Plasma Version:  5.24.3
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.91.0
Qt Version: 5.15.3

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Comment 1 Tony Green 2022-03-22 23:36:33 UTC
Something I forgot to mention. The most recent version of Webslice *doesn't* crash the desktop (though it doesn't seem to work). I assume what's available as the "legacy" version when downloading widgets is the problematic one, though as I've had that widget on my desktop for some years it could be an even older one. I can dig through my backups to find out the date it was installed if necessary.

However, the fact that a newer version doesn't cause the problem doesn't mitigate this problem as other people will also have had similarly long-installed widgets and may not know how to recover from a crashed desktop.
Comment 2 Nate Graham 2022-03-27 16:50:26 UTC
Hmm, the crash backtrace doesn't contain any KDE code in it. Not sure how to proceed.
Comment 3 Tony Green 2022-03-27 18:22:03 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #2)
> Hmm, the crash backtrace doesn't contain any KDE code in it. Not sure how to
> proceed.

Probably my fault for not reading what the other user posted.

I should be able to restore my config from a backup and get a fresh crash which (hopefully) will be more useful. Leave it with me and I'll sort that out as soon as time permits.
Comment 4 Tony Green 2022-03-29 11:16:09 UTC
Created attachment 147818 [details]
Crash report caused by WebSlice widget crashing Plasmashell

By temporarily restoring from a pre-upgrade backup I have forced my Plasmashell to crash, thus recreating the original crash report I had previously lost. I hope this will be more useful at diagnosing the problem.

My clue that it may have been WebSlice came from the line showing a problem in /usr/lib/libQt5WebEngineCore.so.5 (a lucky find/guess).

The version of WebSlice which caused this problem was installed in 2018. This may be what's available as the "legacy" version when adding new widgets, but in case it's useful in diagnosing this problem I will upload a tarball of the widget's files as installed on the problem setup.
Comment 5 Tony Green 2022-03-29 11:17:12 UTC
Created attachment 147819 [details]
Tarball containing WebSlice files
Comment 6 Tony Green 2022-03-29 11:18:25 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #2)
> Hmm, the crash backtrace doesn't contain any KDE code in it. Not sure how to
> proceed.

Fresh backtrace created and attached. I hope this will help. Thanks.