GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 55398
GIMP freezes if tool options window not left open at first
Last modified: 2009-08-15 18:40:50 UTC
When running GIMP for the first time after the initial setup dialogs a number of windows such as the toolbox, layers etc. are shown. If all of the windows except the toolbox window are closed, and then a new canvas is created, if one selects the paintbrush tool (and probably others) GIMP becomes unresponsive. This behaviour can be averted by NOT immediately closing the Tool Options window, and selecting each tool in turn from the toolbox. The Tool Options window can then be closed, and GIMP can be used as normal. This action only ever needs to be performed once on a GIMP installation.
I just tried all the steps that you described (start a fresh install, close all windows except the toolbox, open a new image, select the paintbrush) and I had no problems. I could paint with the paintbrush or any other tools, and everything worked fine. Are you using a version of the Gimp that you compiled from the sources or a binary package supplied with Mandrake 8.0? There could be a problem in the Mandrake package because your report looks a bit similar to bug #55735, which also mentions Mandrake 8.0. Please add a comment to this bug report, specifying exactly which version of the Gimp you are using. It would also be nice if you could try another package or to compile it from sources and check if the problem still exists.
I have tried both the binary rpms from LM7.2 and LM8.0 distributions, both of which exhibit the same problem when running on LM8.0. I will try the binary rpm from LM8.0 on my LM7.2 system, and try to compile from source if I get time.
It would be helpful to know exactly where the Gimp process locks up. If you experience this problem under Mandrake 8.0, please try to attach gdb to the running process and see where it is stuck. If you are not familiar with gdb, start it and then try "help attach" and "help where". If you get a stack trace, attach it to this bug report so that we can analyze it. By the way, it is interesting to know that the same error occurs when compiling from sources. Henri, did you compile from the source RPM distributed by Mandrake, or from the original Gimp sources? Maybe they are slightly different?
Oops! Sorry, I posted the second part of the previous comment in the wrong bug report. It was meant to go to bug #55735. That's what happens when you have serveral windows open and do a lot of cut and paste... Anyway, it is interesting to know that an old package from LM 7.2 is affected by the same problems, so the bug could be in some libraries distributed with LM 8.0, and not in the Gimp itself. Maybe there is a problem in the Glib or GTK+ packages included in LM 8.0? Or maybe some broken GTK theme? Are you using a non-default theme? And as I wrote in the first part of the previous comment, a stack trace could be useful. If you can run the LM 8.0 binary on LM 7.2 and report what you find, that would also be great.
Mandrake provided an update advisory on June 13 that sounds like it might cure this problem (Mandrake's default GTK theme). Will test and get back to you: http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/security/2001/MDKA-2001-010.php3
You promised to get back after having tried the proposed update...
Sorry for the delay; hadn't tried the proposed fix until today. Fixes the problem. Thanks.
*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 55735 ***