Keep getting messages about internal system errors

12.04 apport

17,163

Solution 1

Potential Reason for These Unreportable Errors

I think I've figured this out. I think that this particular bug reporting avenue is a hangover from the alpha and beta development stages--when the developers wanted as many bug reports as possible, regardless of whether the user was willing to file a full launchpad bug report or not. Once 12.04 was released, the developers no longer wanted anonymous bug reports so they disable this ability. They only want bug reports that the user themselves manually takes the time to file.

This is understandable but I would consider it a bug that apport/ubuntu-bug is presenting the user with non-actionable information. When development stops and they no longer want a high volume of bug-reports turning off automatic bug reporting is one thing, but leaving the user without a path (at the very least a link) to report to launchpad, and without a way to save the information contained within the bug report should be rethought.

My Solution to Non-Actionable Error Reports

I know what I am going to do next time I get one of these unreportable/unsavable errors. I'm going to take a screenshot of the window, run apport-bug apport and file a bug saying that apport should not present the user with non-actionable information. At the very least the user should be able to save the report for their own use or for manually reporting a bug.

How to Proceed Regarding your GPU Bug

As for your problem, apport was running a script to debug GPU problems.

If you aren't actually noticing problems with your GPU other than these error messages I'd say you can safely ignore them.

If you are seeing any weird graphics related behavior, keep an eye on your logs--specifically xorg.0.log and syslog, but maybe the kernel logs as well. If you are noticing errors copy them down, and try to make a best guess (or ask) whether it is a driver problem, kernel problem or X11 problem. Then use apport to file the bug against what you determine to be the best package (for example for my nvidia driver I would enter apport-bug nvidia-current-updates), be as detailed as you can be in the resulting bug report and put the symptoms you experience and any errors you noticed into the description when you file the bug. More information about filing bugs is here and here. Good luck.

Solution 2

Go ahead and run xdiagnose. Uncheck "Enable automatic crash bug reporting". You will never going to be bothered again by those messages.

Solution 3

If you're having NVidia drivers and experiencing frequent crashes and frozen desktops, try to switch to propitiatory NVidia driver instead of open source one.

17,163

Tomas Aschan

I am an engineering physicist from Stockholm, Sweden, with a passionate interest in programming and software architecture. Since creating my first program at age 12 (a VB6 app that showed a smiley when a button was clicked) I've spent many hours in front of my computer, watching screen casts and reading blogs about programming as well as trying all the new concepts out in my own programs. With a Master's degree in Engineering Physics from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, I have deepened my modelling and reasoning skills, as well as had the opportunity to try out many different technologies and tools. I am currently working as a software engineer at Spotify, mostly massaging data to enable our internal research into developer productivity.

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Tomas Aschan almost 2 years

I keep getting popups about internal system errors (see screenshot below) on irregular intervals (several times a day), that I don't know what to do about. If I continue through the dialog and try to report the error back to the Ubuntu project, I get a message stating that development on this version of Ubuntu has been completed, and that I should ask for help here if I don't know what to do about it.

I don't.

If I show the details of the error message, the "executable path" parameter shows /usr/share/apport/apport-gpu-error-intel.py.

Is this a bug I should report to Launchpad, or just a configuration error somewhere? If it's a bug, how do I collect the data I (and the devs) need?

Update in response to comment: I am running an ASUS N53SN, sporting an Intel Core i7 2630QM CPU and an NVidia GeForce 550M GPU.
- mx7 about 12 years
  
  you are not alone my friend , me too . thanks for posting here .
- saji89 about 12 years
  
  @Tomas, I too experience this type of error reporting popups, but with various other applications. From the error it seems that your Intel GPU is triggering this window. What is your processor model and GPU model?
- Tomas Aschan about 12 years
  
  @saji89: I'm running an ASUS N53SN, please see my update.
- Tomas Aschan about 12 years
  
  @saji89 The mother board also has a built-in Intel graphics card, so I'm running bumblebee to help Ubuntu deal with that.
- JJD over 11 years
  
  Possible duplicate of askubuntu.com/questions/59444/…
- Renju chingath almost 11 years
  
  Did you checked the permission for the file > /usr/share/apport/apport-gpu-error-intel.py clear off all the crash report and do a restart and check whether you are getting the same again
- mishap about 10 years
  
  Happens to me too on different machines every time I give ubuntu a try. That's why I use the other OS.
- Tomas Aschan about 10 years
  
  @mishap: I haven't seen this error in a while now, and I think it's been fixed in recent releases. I've run 14.04 on several different computers since it was released and I've never seen it on this version, so it might be time to give Ubuntu a new chance if you feel like it =)
- mishap about 10 years
  
  @Tomas Lycken, I should definitely try again, if its the case. Thanks.
Tomas Aschan about 12 years

I've now submitted a bug to Launchpad. Feel free to confirm it, if that can maybe up its attention among the developers a little =)
adempewolff about 12 years

@TomasLycken only one suggestion: edit the bug so it follows standard bug report styling, ie answering the two big questions: "What is expected to/should happen?" (the user should be able to report or save the bug, or not see the option to do so), and "What actually happened?"
adempewolff about 12 years

@TomasLycken and try to include another screenshot of the screen that suggests they go to Ask Ubuntu
Tomas Aschan about 12 years

Does it look better now? =)
adempewolff about 12 years

It does, although it is a little different from the dialogues I was thinking of, that basically say "Development is now finished for 12.04" and don't tell the user what they can do with their bugs.
Oyibo over 11 years

Welcome to AskUbuntu :) You haven't given a solution to the question asked in your post, feel free to add one if possible at some point otherwise add this as a comment to the original question once you have the required reputation.
Tomas Aschan over 11 years

Ironic consequence: When I did this, I immediately got a popup stating that "The application xdiagnose has closed unexpectedly"...
John about 11 years

When I try to do that,I get a text that ends with: 'Error: Failure creating backup file for /etc/default/grub. Changes not applied. [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/etc/default/grub.bak''
John about 11 years

(How do I get that in monospaced front in a grey box? I fail to do that)
John about 11 years

I read here (see last comment on the bug report) that this problem was fixed in the package xdiagnose 3.4.3, but how can I install that package on 12.04? (or is it only for 12.014 as it sais "raring" ?)