OK, I think I solved my problem. I use a script I wrote some years ago (named kpid) to kill tasks by name (at the time, I didn't know that killall could do that)--anyway, I thought my script was using kill -9, but instead it uses kill -15. So now I:
* kill -9 any remaining processes named noatun * kill -9 artsd * then I can restart noatun Sometimes it seems that artsd starts automatically before I start noatun--in the cases when it doesn't, it seems to get started by noatun. Sorry for the noise! Randy Kramer On Monday 21 June 2010 09:46:27 am Randy Kramer wrote: > Hmm, as is too often the case, after sending an email seeking, I > start to get some other clues--I found a suggestion to restart > arts--I tried that, still no luck so I'm still looking for help (but > maybe I have some kind of clue now). > > Randy Kramer > > On Monday 21 June 2010 09:38:55 am Randy Kramer wrote: > > Sorry this is so long--maybe I can summarize the problem here, then > > you can go on and read the background and a more detailed > > explanation of the problem: > > > > Sometimes after a program hangs (in this case noatun), I have > > trouble restarting it without rebooting my entire system. I do > > look for all the processes associated with the application (noatun, > > using ps -Al | grep noatun) and kill them, with either kill -9 or > > kill -15, but afterwards, when I try to start the application, I > > just get a spinning hourglass indication in the taskbox (on the > > taskbar) and a small bouncing blue ball elsewhere on the screen, > > both of which eventually disappear without having started the > > application. > > > > Hmm, maybe with that you don't even need the Background and Problem > > listed below. I've tried googling, but don't really have a good > > clue for what to google. > > > > A dead end (I think): > > > > Oh, wait, I might have a clue: now I try to start noatun in a > > terminal (with & or without) and I very quickly (sometimes) get > > exit 255--hmm, on the next try I didn't get the exit 255--what does > > exit 255 mean?: > > > > r...@s17:~$ noatun & > > [2] 11248 > > [1] Exit 255 noatun > > r...@s17:~$ > > > > Well, I haven't found out what exit 255 means, but I don't think it > > matters, it doesn't consistently happen, just sometimes. > > > > Background: > > > > This is surely not a Debian specific question, but I'll try asking > > here to see if anyone can give me one or more hints--I've tried to > > do some googling, but really don't have a good clue for what to > > google. > > > > I've had the same thing happen for applications besides Noatun > > (iirc) (and on Linuxes that I used before installing Debian 5.0), > > but because the current problem is Noatun, I'll mention Noatun in > > this example. > > > > I was running Noatun and it hung. It may have been something I > > did--specifically, at the time it hung, I had the playlist up and > > was unchecking checkboxes on the playlist. > > > > In an effort to restart noatun, I looked (using ps -Al | grep > > noatun) for all noatun processes and killed them with (the first > > time) kill -9. Later (on subsequent attempts), I tried kill -15. > > > > Either one wipes out all the processes with noatun in the name. > > > > The problem: > > > > Here's the problem: when I go to restart noatun, it won't restart. > > On the taskbar (is that the right name in KDE) I see a task labeled > > noatun seemingly attempt to start--I see an hourglass spinning, and > > elsewhere on my screen I see some sort of small bouncing blue ball, > > but after 15 seconds or so, both disappear and noatun hasn't > > restarted. If I go look at the processes using ps -Al | grep > > noatun, I find something like the following: > > > > s17:~# ps -Al | grep noatun > > 1 S 1000 11039 3039 0 80 0 - 8589 - ? 00:00:00 > > noatun 1 S 1000 11040 11039 0 80 0 - 9670 - ? > > 00:00:00 noatun 1 S 1000 11141 3039 0 80 0 - 8589 - ? > > 00:00:00 noatun 1 Z 1000 11142 11141 0 80 0 - 0 - > > ? 00:00:00 noatun <defunct> > > s17:~# > > > > If I wipe those out (using kill -9 or kill -15), they disappear, > > but when I try to noatun again I get the same result. > > > > In the past, the only way I found to recover from a situation like > > this was to reboot. (Potentially just restarting KDE might also > > solve the problem, but from my point of view, restarting KDE is as > > drastic a solution as rebooting, so when I think about restarting > > KDE I just go ahead and do a (cold) reboot with the hope of > > cleaning up any other possible "garbage" that might be floating > > around in my system.) > > > > I see that the one process is a Zombie. I've googled on things > > like zombie, process, noatun, restart, and combinations > > thereof--even a good suggestion on appropriate search terms might > > get me started here (of course, a nice clear explanation and course > > of action would be nicer). > > > > Thanks! > > Randy Kramer -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [email protected] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [email protected] Archive: http://lists.debian.org/[email protected]
