[LAU] amarok crashes

[Gabriel M. Beddingfield]

Hi Kevin,

On Tue, 24 Aug 2010, Kevin Cosgrove wrote:

> I've been having trouble with amarok crashes; every 8-10 songs I
> get a segfault.  This is primarily on one of my computers, the

Which audio engine are you using?

> What can I do folk?  How can I troubleshoot this?  I've already
> changed out nearly all the hardware (for other reasons) and nearly
> all the software.

The first thing you need is a backtrace.  Unfortunately, 
I've found that getting a half-way decent backtrace on 
modern distros is a big PITA.  I usually do it like this:

   0. Install gdb.

   1. Enable core dumps (/etc/security/limits.conf)
      (Log off/on for changes to take effect)

   2. Install some "debug" packages that you think
      may be appropriate.  E.g. if amarok has a debug
      package:  score!

   3. Start amarok from a command line.

   4. When it crashes, note any messages on the console
      screen.

   5. The core dump will be in your current present
      working directory (`pwd`).  It will either be
      named 'core' or 'core.PID' where PID is the
      process ID number for the amarok application
      that crashed.

   6. Get a backtrace like this:

      $ gdb --core=/path/to/core $(which amarok)
      (wait for gdb to be "ready")

      gdb> bt full

   7. Inspect the back-trace for something obvious.
      (E.g. if you see "PortAudio" or "PA", then
      install the portaudio debug packages and retry.
      If you see "Jack" then try to install jack
      debug packages and retry.  "Gst" for Gstreamer...)

   8. Send the back-trace to your distro, this list,
      the developers of amarok, or the devs of the
      audio engine.

-gabriel