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I keep getting popups about internal system errors (see screenshot below) on irregular intervals (several times a day), that I don't know what to do about. If I continue through the dialog and try to report the error back to the Ubuntu project, I get a message stating that development on this version of Ubuntu has been completed, and that I should ask for help here if I don't know what to do about it.

I don't.

enter image description here

If I show the details of the error message, the "executable path" parameter shows /usr/share/apport/apport-gpu-error-intel.py.

Is this a bug I should report to Launchpad, or just a configuration error somewhere? If it's a bug, how do I collect the data I (and the devs) need?

Update in response to comment: I am running an ASUS N53SN, sporting an Intel Core i7 2630QM CPU and an NVidia GeForce 550M GPU.

Tomas Aschan
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    you are not alone my friend , me too . thanks for posting here . – Raja G May 24 '12 at 14:12
  • I've also noticed a lot of internal system errors since upgrading to 12.04, and clicking through does not send bugs to launchpad like it used to. Weird that apport/Cannonical think that askubuntu (a Q&A site) becomes the preferred destination for bug reports over launchpad (a bug reporting site) once development on an LTS version has "been completed". – adempewolff May 24 '12 at 14:25
  • @Tomas, I too experience this type of error reporting popups, but with various other applications. From the error it seems that your Intel GPU is triggering this window. What is your processor model and GPU model? – saji89 May 24 '12 at 14:32
  • @saji89: I'm running an ASUS N53SN, please see my update. – Tomas Aschan May 27 '12 at 21:38
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    @saji89 The mother board also has a built-in Intel graphics card, so I'm running bumblebee to help Ubuntu deal with that. – Tomas Aschan May 27 '12 at 21:40
  • Possible duplicate of http://askubuntu.com/questions/59444/how-can-i-report-a-bug-about-apport-gpu-error-intel-py-crashing – JJD Dec 15 '12 at 17:38
  • Did you checked the permission for the file > /usr/share/apport/apport-gpu-error-intel.py clear off all the crash report and do a restart and check whether you are getting the same again – Renju chingath Aug 02 '13 at 08:31
  • Happens to me too on different machines every time I give ubuntu a try. That's why I use the other OS. – mishap May 22 '14 at 21:16
  • @mishap: I haven't seen this error in a while now, and I think it's been fixed in recent releases. I've run 14.04 on several different computers since it was released and I've never seen it on this version, so it might be time to give Ubuntu a new chance if you feel like it =) – Tomas Aschan May 23 '14 at 07:44
  • @Tomas Lycken, I should definitely try again, if its the case. Thanks. – mishap May 26 '14 at 14:53

4 Answers4

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Potential Reason for These Unreportable Errors

I think I've figured this out. I think that this particular bug reporting avenue is a hangover from the alpha and beta development stages--when the developers wanted as many bug reports as possible, regardless of whether the user was willing to file a full launchpad bug report or not. Once 12.04 was released, the developers no longer wanted anonymous bug reports so they disable this ability. They only want bug reports that the user themselves manually takes the time to file.

This is understandable but I would consider it a bug that apport/ubuntu-bug is presenting the user with non-actionable information. When development stops and they no longer want a high volume of bug-reports turning off automatic bug reporting is one thing, but leaving the user without a path (at the very least a link) to report to launchpad, and without a way to save the information contained within the bug report should be rethought.

My Solution to Non-Actionable Error Reports

I know what I am going to do next time I get one of these unreportable/unsavable errors. I'm going to take a screenshot of the window, run apport-bug apport and file a bug saying that apport should not present the user with non-actionable information. At the very least the user should be able to save the report for their own use or for manually reporting a bug.

How to Proceed Regarding your GPU Bug

As for your problem, apport was running a script to debug GPU problems.

If you aren't actually noticing problems with your GPU other than these error messages I'd say you can safely ignore them.

If you are seeing any weird graphics related behavior, keep an eye on your logs--specifically xorg.0.log and syslog, but maybe the kernel logs as well. If you are noticing errors copy them down, and try to make a best guess (or ask) whether it is a driver problem, kernel problem or X11 problem. Then use apport to file the bug against what you determine to be the best package (for example for my nvidia driver I would enter apport-bug nvidia-current-updates), be as detailed as you can be in the resulting bug report and put the symptoms you experience and any errors you noticed into the description when you file the bug. More information about filing bugs is here and here. Good luck.

adempewolff
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    I've now submitted a bug to Launchpad. Feel free to confirm it, if that can maybe up its attention among the developers a little =) – Tomas Aschan May 28 '12 at 15:29
  • @TomasLycken only one suggestion: edit the bug so it follows standard bug report styling, ie answering the two big questions: "What is expected to/should happen?" (the user should be able to report or save the bug, or not see the option to do so), and "What actually happened?" – adempewolff May 28 '12 at 15:47
  • @TomasLycken and try to include another screenshot of the screen that suggests they go to Ask Ubuntu – adempewolff May 28 '12 at 15:48
  • Does it look better now? =) – Tomas Aschan May 28 '12 at 17:01
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    It does, although it is a little different from the dialogues I was thinking of, that basically say "Development is now finished for 12.04" and don't tell the user what they can do with their bugs. – adempewolff May 28 '12 at 17:22
  • I read here (see last comment on the bug report) that this problem was fixed in the package xdiagnose 3.4.3, but how can I install that package on 12.04? (or is it only for 12.014 as it sais "raring" ?) – user138784 Apr 11 '13 at 10:05
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Go ahead and run xdiagnose. Uncheck "Enable automatic crash bug reporting". You will never going to be bothered again by those messages.

Angel Mass
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    Ironic consequence: When I did this, I immediately got a popup stating that "The application xdiagnose has closed unexpectedly"... – Tomas Aschan Mar 21 '13 at 18:39
  • When I try to do that,I get a text that ends with: 'Error: Failure creating backup file for /etc/default/grub. Changes not applied. [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/etc/default/grub.bak'' – user138784 Apr 11 '13 at 09:20
  • (How do I get that in monospaced front in a grey box? I fail to do that) – user138784 Apr 11 '13 at 09:22
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If you're having NVidia drivers and experiencing frequent crashes and frozen desktops, try to switch to propitiatory NVidia driver instead of open source one.

Pradeeper
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This may help. Open the GParted program and check if the you see an error message on one of the Ubuntu partitions.

I recently wiped my mac partitions and installed Ubuntu on my hard drive. I see that Ubuntu has created a small 977 KB partition which has the flag bios_grub.

I wonder if that is what is causing the system errors. Macs do not have a BIOS.

zach
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  • Welcome to AskUbuntu :) You haven't given a solution to the question asked in your post, feel free to add one if possible at some point otherwise add this as a comment to the original question once you have the required reputation. – Oyibo Sep 29 '12 at 14:59