Ubuntu
evolution package

Evolution crashes when I click on the calendar icon

Asked by Winnewbie

Hi

I've begun to use Evolution in the past week. Evolution crashes or closes, depending on your perspective when I click the calendar icon. Is this due to an improper setting somewhere, or is it a bug, or do I need to populate it first before using it for example? Please advise. Thanks

Mike

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Solved
For:
Ubuntu evolution Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Solved by:
Arnaudus
Solved:
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
Arnaudus (a-lerouzic) said : 		#1

Hi!

It seems to be a known bug, it really looks like bug #293797 . You are welcome to add up information to this bug if you can.

Revision history for this message
Winnewbie (mike-reardon) said : 		#2

Hi

Yes it would seem to be the same bug. What more information is needed to help? If it is a known bug, what is the normal expectation for a related fix?

I have an Ubuntu 8.1 installed since last week. It is on a Toshiba Tecra M2 laptop with a NVIDIA card.

Mike

Revision history for this message
Best Arnaudus (a-lerouzic) said : 		#3

Hi,

The bugs has been tagged as "incomplete" because a developer wanted a detailed crash report. Quotation:

-------------------
 If you are running the Ubuntu Stable Release you might need to enable apport in /etc/default/apport and restart.

 If you are using Ubuntu with the Gnome desktop environment - launch nautilus and navigate to your /var/crash directory and double click on the crash report you wish to submit.
-------------------

If you feel like doing that, it will probably help a lot and change the status of the bug to "confirmed". Otherwise you can just leave a message saying that you can reproduce the bug, with your precise version of Ubuntu and Evolution.

You might also be interested in this workaround:

------------------
Disabling ATK obviously hides the behaviour. At least for me evolution now runs stable.
------------------

I'm not sure exactly how to "disable ATK". I would say: in System -> Preferences -> Assistive technologies. Is the box ticked? Mine is not. It seems that the bug occurs only when this box is ticked.

Otherwise, if the bug is validated (confirmed), it can take a while to get fixed. Generally is has to be reported upstream (to the development team of Gnome, and then to the Evolution team). Then according to the time they have and to the complexity of the bug, they can fix it more or less rapidly, and include the fix in the next version of Evolution, which will be released with the next version of Gnome, which is likely to be released in the next Ubuntu... 6 months if you're lucky, most likely more. Even if the bug is fixed tomorrow in Evolution, it always takes a long while for the developement versions to get included in the official distributions.

Hope it helps!

Revision history for this message
Winnewbie (mike-reardon) said : 		#4

Hi

I would help with a detailed report if I knew how to produce it.

I'm not sure how you 'enable' apport ...

I launch Nautilus, navigated to the directory in question and at first found nothing. I then clicked view and check off to see hidden files and still nothing.

I have Ubuntu 8.10 - the Intrepid Ibex - released in October 2008 with Evolution 2.24.1 Groupware Suite

I assume disabling ATK is Assistive Technologies, in any case my check box was ticked. I ticked it off (no pun intended). I went back into Evolution, click on the Calendar icon and it continues to crash or close Evolution.

I understand that I now have to wait. Or continue my search for an Outlook alternative on Linux since I need something for daily work. Please advise meantime if there is anything else I can do. Thanks

Revision history for this message
Arnaudus (a-lerouzic) said : 		#5

Hi,

For the bug report: someone else reported that the crash was not generating any automatic report. I guess you can forget about it for now, it looks like a complicated bug. The more complicated the bug, the longer it may take to fix...

In any case, I think it is fair to add up a comment to the bug report, quoting the line you wrote about your version of Ubuntu and Evolution, saying that you can reproduce the bug and you could not generate an automatic bug report. You can also click on "change" on the top, to indicate that you are affected by the bug. And then hope that someone will have time to go deeper with this bug --I'm amazed by the amount of bugs reported for Evolution, it is still a young software.

Too bad for ATK. Have you tried to restart your session and to try again? It seems that ATK is somewhat involved (otherwise, everyone would have the bug, which is not the case).

For your second question (alternative to Outlook), you should write another question with a proper title, and clearly link to the bug to explain why you cannot use Evolution. Personally, I use Thunderbird as a mail reader, but I don't need any calendar thing. The lack of outlook express equivalent has been a long time criticism against Linux systems, and Evolution is supposed to fill that gap. Of course, when Evolution does not work... :(

Sorry not to be more helpful.

Revision history for this message
Winnewbie (mike-reardon) said : 		#6

Hi

I understand. I will do so.

The amount of bug report may be related to the fact that Evolution is the closest alternative to Outlook functionality. Thunderbird, for example matches up nicely on the email side but may not address related calendar, contact and tasks needs. Its calendar sister helps a little.

Some may recall Outlook began as a scheduler, then email to what it is today - somewhat of a small PIM based on email communication.

Thanks for the help

Revision history for this message
Winnewbie (mike-reardon) said : 		#7

Hi

Previously I restarted from earlier changes suggested. I shutdown completely last night. This morning I went into Evolution and clicked on the Calendar network and it worked. It would seem your ATK suggestion did the after a cold re-boot. Thanks

Mike

Revision history for this message
Winnewbie (mike-reardon) said : 		#8

Thanks Arnaudus, that solved my question.

Revision history for this message
Winnewbie (mike-reardon) said : 		#9

Disabling ATK then performing a cold boot did the trick. Note previously disabling ATK and immediately clicking Calendar in Evolution, or after a warm boot didn't work.

Revision history for this message
CranberryKid (dass-sasent) said : 		#10

Hello, the fix works for me also. Turning off Assistive Technologies Under System, Preferences, thanks

Ubuntu
Release 8.10 (intrepid)
Kernell Linux 2.6.27.7-generic
GNOME 2.24.1

Hardware
Memory: 1.9 GB
Processor 0: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+
Processor 1: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+

System Status
Available disk space: 58.9 GB
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
:~$ apt-cache policy evolution
evolution:
  Installed: 2.24.1-0ubuntu2
  Candidate: 2.24.1-0ubuntu2
  Version table:
 *** 2.24.1-0ubuntu2 0
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/main Packages
        500 http://mirrors.kernel.org intrepid/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status