GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 748402
Bluefish constantly shows annoying messages
Last modified: 2015-06-01 16:36:58 UTC
Bluefish constantly shows the following message every few seconds or minutes, and it is very annoying: --------- File changed on disk Filename: ... changed on disk. Original modification time was ... New modification time is ... --> same as above Original size was ... bytes New size is ... bytes --> same as above --------- The file is edited only by one Bluefish copy, and there is no other application that opens that file. Any solutions?
Hmm this is not good. I've not seen this issue for a long time (I've seen this on remote files on a samba server version from 8 years ago). Can you give some details on the situation? Are the files on a local disk or on a remote filesystem? If so which protocol do you use (smb, sftp, sftp, etc.) If they are on a local disk, which filesystem are you using? (ext3, vfat, btrfs, etc.) Have you tried the latest Bluefish version (2.2.7) to see if that fixes the problem?
Hi, Olivier. Me again ;-) The files are on a local disk, and the file system is ext4. I'll install Bluefish 2.2.7 and see how it goes. Thanks.
Oops, I tried to install Bluefish 2.2.7 by adding this PPA "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/klaus-vormweg/bluefish/ubuntu trusty main" to my system. The system complained that "Untrusted package needs to be installed". And then I was kicked out after I pressed OK. Is there a better way of installing Bluefish 2.2.7?
Bad news. I upgraded to 2.2.7 successfully, but the problem persists. :-( Furthermore, when I hit ctrl-s to save the file, the same message also showed up.
(In reply to ylang from comment #3) just for the record, the recommended way to add this PPA is 'sudo apt-add-repository ppa:klaus-vormweg/bluefish' on the command line. This will add the PPA and its certificate to your system so the source is no longer untrusted
Thanks, Klaus. Followed you suggestion and successfully installed Bluefish 2.2.7. In addition, any idea about the "File changed on disk" message? The message shows up every few seconds and when I save a file, but there is apparently no other application which is editing the file. The message is really annoying.
(In reply to ylang from comment #6) Until it can be determined what is causing the problem for you, you should be able to disable the warning message in preferences. preferences/Files/Periodically check if file is modified on disk
Nope, although I have unchecked "Periodically check if file is modified on disk", the message still shows up randomly as well as sometimes when I try to save the file.
I also found that if I am editing more than one files (by creating new tabs, not new windows), the message often shows up when I switch to another files.
Are the files on an externally connected drive? Is the disk encrypted? What desktop are you using, i.e. Gnome, KDE, other?
1. The files are on a local disk, and the file system is ext4. 2. The disk is NOT encrypted. 3. The OS is the standard Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, so I guess the desktop is Unity.
BTW, does it have anything to do with SAMBA? I found this: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/ubuntu-63/bluefish-annoying-message-785162/ Because I do have SAMBA installed on the computer.
(In reply to ylang from comment #12) Shouldn't be an issue because your files are not on an smb share. Does this happen with all files or only some files? Do you see any problems with your system time settings?
are you OK compiling Bluefish from source (or even from subversion?)? If so, I'll add some extra debug info to find the cause of this problem.
@Jim. 1. What do you mean by "problem with system time setting"? If you mean the time displayed on Ubuntu's system tray, it looks and runs OK. 2. Hard to tell if the problem happens with certain or all files, because it happened randomly. It is difficult to reproduce the problem. I'll keep collecting more information though. @ Olivier I'll use Bluefish a little more before I decide to install it from source. Just see how it works.
(In reply to ylang from comment #15) I was thinking if your system time was skewed that it might be causing the false messages. As a workaround, did you try settting "preferences/Files/File properties to check on disk modifications" to "Nothing"?
Just did. Will see how it goes. BTW, what's the difference between "Periodically check if file is modified on disk" and "File properties to check on disk for modification"?
Bad news again. After setting "File properties to check on disk for modification" to "Nothing", the message "Filename: ... changed on disk." still show up whenever I save the file.
After setting the following: 1. Uncheck "Periodically check if file is modified on disk 2. File properties to check on disk for modification: Nothing 3. Uncheck "Show warning for files with very long lines" there is no automatic pop-up massages (thank God). However, now every time when I save the file, there is still "File changed on disk" message showing up and I have to click "Continue save" to proceed. How can I set Bluefish not to check for file modification and save the file directly?
Suggestion for Bluefish developers: Please consider removing the whole functionality about checking for file modifications. Just let users be responsible for such matter.
(In reply to Jim Hayward from comment #16) > (In reply to ylang from comment #15) > > I was thinking if your system time was skewed that it might be causing the > false messages. > > As a workaround, did you try settting "preferences/Files/File properties to > check on disk modifications" to "Nothing"? Another observation: This happens only on one of my three computers. What do I need to check to see what the differences are among the three computers?
Well, that was wrong: other machines also have the same problem.
Am I the only one here? I seem to be talking to myself. Anyone, please help.
I've added an option in the development version to disable the "modified on disk" check completely. You can now choose between "Never", "Only during save" and "Periodically and during save". But it still puzzles me that you see problems with this setting, especially since you see it on multiple machines. I've never seen any problems with this features, except years ago when there was a bug in the GVFS smb:// driver for files on a samba share. So I'm still interested how this happens. Are these all default Ubuntu 14.04 installs? Any specific mount options, filesystems, anything you can think of that is not default that might have an impact on how modification times are read or stored for files?
Where can I get the development version and how to install it? Thanks.
OK, the cause of the problem may have been identified! I am using Insync (https://www.insynchq.com/) to sync my computers, and maybe Insync modify some of the file's information during the periodical sync'ing process and Bluefish determines that the file is modified. According to the issue (https://support.insynchq.com/t/file-changed-on-disk-message/1535) from the Insync forum, such a problem affects Emacs and Sublime Text, too. Now I will turn to Insync to find some solutions. And if it is possible, please let me know how Bluefish determines if a file has been updated. Such information would be very helpful for Insync people to resolve the problem. Guys, thanks a million for helping to solve the problem, and I really appreciate it.
here you can find how to install Bluefish from the development source code: http://bfwiki.tellefsen.net/index.php/Compiling_Bluefish_from_source#Compiling_bluefish_straight_from_subversion alternatively there are some snapshots available with daily snapshots, such as for Ubuntu Bluefish checks the last modified time and the size of a file.
Upgraded, and now Bluefish works perfectly. Thanks a lot, Olivier.