Red Hat Bugzilla – Bug 110187
Metacity occasionally shows ALL windows on a single workspace when Alt-Tabbing
Last modified: 2007-11-30 17:10:33 EST
Description of problem: I use the Metacity window manager on a system upgraded from RHL9. I use 4 workspaces (which is the default). Occasionally, when I press Alt-Tab (after releasing the keys) to switch between windows, my disk will start grinding and all the windows of all 4 workspaces will briefly (a few seconds) appear at once (I believe they appear without their window decorations, i.e., close buttons, title bars, etc.) . After it settles down, everything seems to be working normally again. There doesn't seem to be any harmful impact, except for the annoyance and unusability while this is happening. I usually have to wait about 5-10 secs. for it to clear up (Athlon 750, 512M RAM). Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): 2.6.3-1 How reproducible: Occasionally (about once every few days). Steps to Reproduce: Unfortunately, I do not yet know how to reproduce this. It appears to be random. If I find a way to trigger it, I will post more info to this thread. Actual results: Session unusable until the problem goes away. Expected results: Windows should switch normally. Additional info: Never happened on RHL9. Thanks.
I'm experiencing something very similar to this on my box (Athlon 1 GHz currently underclocked to 750 MHz w/512 MB RAM & a Radeon 9000 Pro 128 MB DDR if it matters). On my box, this happens occasionally when I switch to a different workspace. I've never experienced it when alt-tabbing. When it happens to me, all of my windows (except GKrellM) on every workspace is shifted down and to the right a bit, as if they are being repositioned - like when a new app is launched. I don't remember if there is any swap paging going on during this, but I will try to pay attention to that an re-comment if it is doing so.
Ditto that, I do also get it when switching workspaces at times. Same behavior with the moved windows as well. They move down what seems to be the height of the title bar. IOW, if the title bar is 0.5cm from the top of the screen, the windows will get nudged down 0.5cm. Note that the disk grinding I noted isn't necessarily swap paging; I haven't been able to tell yet whether it's doing swapping, or a bunch of filesystem i/o.
I'm also seeing this. I also assigned keyboard shortcuts for switch to workspace 1,2,3,4, and it happens (sometimes) when using those as well. I also see the windows shifting, which is the most annoying part of this bug for me (I keep a dozen windows arranged on different workspaces, and the shift is time comsuming to correct). One other item... I noticed that this also happens (frequently) when I close a sticky window. I typically have seven sticky windows (4 gkrellm monitors and three gnome terminal). I hope that helps track this very annoying bug down.
I've had these happen to me whenever I close a window. Every window content shows up on the desktop (without the borders). Then everything disappears, and moves slight lower and to the right. I've had this happen whenever I close a gnome terminal or a nautilus window. I haven't noticed this happen with other windows. I have never had this happen when switching workspaces. And I've never had these happen consistently. A question to Comment #3, what is a sticky window? Is that when you put the window on all workspaces?
Dexter Ang: Yes, most window managers use the term "sticky" when refering to this attribute, which Metacity calls "Put on all workspaces".
It's apparent that the cause of what we are seeing is Metacity crashing and automatically reloading. I have reproduced the effect by manually killing the Metacity process. The question is why is it crashing?
The metacity crash when closing windows is bug 106357. The crash when switching windows or workspaces may be the same crash but may be different -- a stack might tell.
Does this happen with FC2?
Please reopen if still in FC2.
So far it has not happened with FC2, which I have been running since a few days after it was released.