[Bug 444067] [NEW] Strange GConf Error breaks GUI after update to karmic

[iblue]

Public bug reported:

Binary package hint: libgconf2-4

Hi,

After updating from 9.04 (jaunty) to 9.10 (karmic), the desktop is not
usable anymore. I keep getting strange error messages. When trying to
start gnome-terminal, firefox, or any applets in the taskbar, I get the
following error message in the terminal or in some popup:

GConf Error: Failed to contact configuration server; some possible causes are that you need to enable TCP/IP networking for ORBit, or you have stale NFS locks due to a system crash. See http://projects.gnome.org/gconf/ for information. (Details -  1: Server ping error: IDL:omg.org/CORBA/COMM_FAILURE:1.0)
GConf Error: Failed to contact configuration server; some possible causes are that you need to enable TCP/IP networking for ORBit, or you have stale NFS locks due to a system crash. See http://projects.gnome.org/gconf/ for information. (Details -  1: Server ping error: IDL:omg.org/CORBA/COMM_FAILURE:1.0)
GConf Error: Failed to contact configuration server; some possible causes are that you need to enable TCP/IP networking for ORBit, or you have stale NFS locks due to a system crash. See http://projects.gnome.org/gconf/ for information. (Details -  1: Server ping error: IDL:omg.org/CORBA/COMM_FAILURE:1.0)
GConf Error: Failed to contact configuration server; some possible causes are that you need to enable TCP/IP networking for ORBit, or you have stale NFS locks due to a system crash. See http://projects.gnome.org/gconf/ for information. (Details -  1: Server ping error: IDL:omg.org/CORBA/COMM_FAILURE:1.0)
[...]

Solution:
iblue at raven:~$ sudo -s
Password:
root at raven:~# groups iblue
iblue : adm disk dialout cdrom plugdev lpadmin admin sambashare mythtv
root at raven:~# usermod -G admin,iblue iblue

And after rebooting everything works as usual.

I have no idea why this works.

You can reproduce this bug (at least on my machine) by creating a new user:
# useradd foobar
And setting a few groups:
# usermod -G adm disk dialout cdrom plugdev lpadmin admin sambashare mythtv -a foobar
Then log in via gdm and you get this strange error.

** Affects: gconf (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

-- 
Strange GConf Error breaks GUI after update to karmic
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/444067
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