ssh tunnel + copy and paste = window crashes

Matthieu Herrb matthieu.herrb at laas.fr
Fri Jul 29 15:57:18 PDT 2005


Horacio E. Castillo wrote:
> Summary:
> 
> Remote xterm and emacs windows crash when doing copy and paste. When I 
> say remote I mean that the programs are running in remote computers and 
> display in the local one through an ssh tunnel.
> 
> All the problems disappear if I add an additional ssh tunneling step and 
> display at another computer.  I don't know much about computers, but 
> this fact makes me suspect that this is a problem with the X server at 
> this particular machine, and not a problem with xterm, emacs or ssh. 
> Please correct me if I'm wrong.
> 
> I've updated X.org to the latest version (6.8.2) available for my 
> CentOS4 Linux distribution, but it didn't help. I tried checking Google 
> and the CentOS mailing lists and forums, but I couldn't find anything 
> relevant.  I'm at the end of my wits here, thinking of dropping CentOS4 
> entirely, although this is really the only problem I'm  having with it. 
> But unfortunately I need to work remotely, so it's important for me.
> 
> Can anyone provide any pointers, suggestions, places to look at? If more 
> information about my setup is necessary, just let me know where to find 
> it and I'll post it.
> 
> ##################################################################################################### 
> 
> Details:
> 
> I'm running CentOS4 in my local desktop machine. The remote machines are 
> running: MandrakeLinux 9.2 in a laptop, RHL 7.3 and RHL 9.0 in two other 
> desktops, and I can also connect to a Solaris machine.
> 
> For the moment, I'm sitting at my CentOS4 local desktop.
> 
> A) One way of producing the crash:
> 
> A1) On window #1, I log into a remote machine running either RHL 7.3, 
> RHL 9, MandrakeLinux 9.2, or Solaris, using "slogin -X".
> 
> A2) Once logged into the remote machine, I start emacs, and an emacs 
> window pops up on my screen. I write a few words there.
> 
> A3) I try to select some text on the emacs window, by left clicking and 
> painting it, but the emacs process crashes (the window disappears), and 
> on window #1 I get the message:
> [ ]$ X protocol error: BadWindow (invalid Window parameter) on protocol 
> request 38
> 
> A4) All my local windows keep working fine.
> 
> 
> B) Another way of producing a crash
> 
> B1) On window #1, I log into a remote machine running either RHL 7.3, 
> RHL 9, Solaris, or MandrakeLinux 9.2, using slogin -X.
> 
> B2) Once logged into the remote machine, I start xterm, the xterm pops 
> up on my screen (let's call this window #2).
> 
> B3) I write some text on window #2, and then I select it by "painting" 
> on it.
> 
> B4) I focus back on window #1 by left clicking on it, and attempt to 
> paste the text there by center clicking.
> 
> If the remote machine is RHL7.3, RHL9, or MandrakeLinux 9.2:
> The text does not get pasted. Instead, the xterm (window #2) crashes 
> (disappears), and on window #1 I get the message:
> [ ] $ xterm: warning, error event received:
> X Error of failed request: BadAtom (invalid Atom parameter)
> Major opcode of failed request: 18 (X_ChangeProperty)
> Atom id in failed request: 0x174
> Serial number of failed request: 187
> Current serial number in output stream: 189
> 
> If the remote machine is Solaris:
> The xterm doesn't crash (or sometimes it crashes later), but the text 
> *does not* get pasted in window #1.
> 
> B5) All my local windows keep working fine.
> 
> 
> C) However, adding an extra ssh tunneling step, everything works fine:
> 
> If I sit at my MandrakeLinux 9.2 laptop, and I login remotely into 
> CentOS (displaying an xterm on the laptop), and from there I login 
> remotely into any of the other machines (displaying everything on the 
> laptop), I can do A) and B) with no problem. No window crashes, and all 
> the "copy and paste" attempts work fine. So here I'm doing the same 
> thing, plus one extra ssh tunneling step (from the Mandrake laptop into 
> the CentOS desktop), and it works. This makes me suspect it's a problem 
> with the CentOS4 X server.
> 
> Details about configuration:
> 
> local machine: Dell Dimension 8400, Pentium 4 640, HT, EM64T
> 
> [castillh at nonino ~]$ uname -a
> Linux nonino 2.6.9-11.ELsmp #1 SMP Wed Jun 8 16:59:12 CDT 2005 x86_64 
> x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
> [castillh at nonino ~]$ X -version
> 
> X Window System Version 6.8.2
> Release Date: 9 February 2005
> X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 6.8.2
> Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.9-5.0.5.EL x86_64 [ELF]
> Current Operating System: Linux nonino 2.6.9-11.ELsmp #1 SMP Wed Jun 8 
> 16:59:12 CDT 2005 x86_64
> Build Date: 08 June 2005
> Build Host: monk.karan.org
> 
>        Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.X.Org
>        to make sure that you have the latest version.
> Module Loader present
> OS Kernel: Linux version 2.6.9-11.ELsmp (buildcentos at x8664-build) (gcc 
> version 3.4.3 20050227 (Red Hat 3.4.3-22)) #1 SMP Wed Jun 8 16:59:12 CDT 
> 2005
> [castillh at nonino ~]$ more /var/log/Xorg.setup.log
> 
> X Window System Version 6.8.1
> Release Date: 17 September 2004
> X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 6.8.1
> Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.9-1.675_EL x86_64 [ELF]
> Current Operating System: Linux nonino.phy.ohiou.edu 2.6.9-5.0.5.ELsmp 
> #1 SMP Tue Apr 19 17:06:07 CDT 2005 x86_64
> Build Date: 17 February 2005
> Build Host: x8664-build
> 
>        Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.X.Org
>        to make sure that you have the latest version.
> Module Loader present
> OS Kernel: Linux version 2.6.9-5.0.5.ELsmp (buildcentos at x8664-build) 
> (gcc version 3.4.3 20050227 (Red Hat 3.4.3-22)) #1 SMP Tue Apr 19 
> 17:06:07 CDT 2005
> Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
>        (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
>        (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
> (++) Log file: "/dev/null", Time: Wed Apr 27 16:58:58 2005
> (++) Using config file: "/tmp/tmpL1mF_Exorg.config"
> (WW) RADEON: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:1:0:1) 
> found
> 
> ######################################################################################## 
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance for any help,
> 
Use ssh -Y instead of ssh -X, or set ForwardX11Trusted Yes in 
.ssh/config. For more details, see the ssh_config(5) manual page, and
look at the X security extension documentation.


-- 
Matthieu Herrb



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