gnucash-user Digest, Vol 147, Issue 17

[Tommy Trussell]

On Fri, Jun 12, 2015 at 9:48 PM, Richard Dawson <rcdawson at att.net> wrote:

>
>
> On 06/12/2015 01:36 AM, Geert Janssens wrote:
> > Hi Richard,
> >
> > On Thursday 11 June 2015 17:57:08 Richard Dawson wrote:
> >> On 06/11/2015 07:30 AM, gnucash-user-request at gnucash.org wrote:
> >>> I believe you said you are running Linux Mint (version not
> >>> specified). If I recall, MOST of the versions of Mint are
> >>> derivatives of Ubuntu LTS versions, so that's why you're seeing the
> >>> version of GnuCash that was current in Debian when Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
> >>> was frozen in early 2014.
> >>>
> >>> The simplest way to get a more recent version of GnuCash is to go to
> >>> http://getdeb.net and follow the instructions for adding its
> >>> repository to your system.
> >>>
> >>> At GetDeb, BE CERTAIN to choose the right "upstream" version of
> >>> Ubuntu that your version of Mint is based on, or you may cause some
> >>> strange compatibility issues when you try to install the packages.
> >>> I am looking at the release notes for Mint 17.1 KDE, which says
> >>> "Linux Mint 17.1 is based on Ubuntu 14.04."
> >>> http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_rebecca_kde.php
> >>>
> >>> P.S.: if GetDeb works, and you appreciate the ease of installing the
> >>> latest GnuCash, consider a modest donation to GetDeb to pay for
> >>> their server expenses.
> >> A number of developments.  Just to refresh the record,
> >>
> >> I am using GnuCash 2.6.1, built from rev 76cba80+ on 2014-02-19 I am
> >> using Linux Mint KDE I am using the default storage - I think that it
> >> is uncompressed XML, since I can open the
> >> file with a text editor and what I see is quite readable.
> >>
> > Ok. That gives a good summary of your setup, thanks.
> >
> >> As suggested, I tried getdeb.net.  The version was labled, as I
> >> recall, 2.6.6-1, leading me to believe that it would be the latest
> >> version (2.6.6).  I purged the old version as directed, and installed
> >> from getdeb.  I ended up with 2.6.1, and still had the same problem.
> >>
> > 2.6.6 is currently indeed the most recent version and the one you'd want
> > to install.
> >
> > If you ended up with 2.6.1 again that means either your getdep
> > configuration was wrong (perhaps the wrong version of Ubuntu LTS?) or
> > the installation failed for some reason.
> >
> > Colin already suggested to try again from the command line in order to
> > get a more detail log of the installation attempt.
> >
> >> Next, swallowing my pride, I installed 2.6.6 on a Windows 7 machine
> >> using the installer found at gnuchash.org.  Using a copy of the
> >> gnucash data file, I ran the report.  It ran without a problem!
> >>
> > The Windows installer is working with older code to generate the
> > reports. That older code didn't have the bug you are experiencing.
> >
> >> On two linux machines, both Mint 17.1 KDE, I am unable to run the
> >> report with more than a number of records, unfortunately a
> >> considerably small number than the number of records in the file.
> >> What happens is that gnucash runs just long enough after starting the
> >> report for a message to appear in the report form saying that there
> >> was an error, then the program completely crashes, disappearing from
> >> the screen entirely.  The following is what I found in
> >> /temp/gnucash.trace immediately after the last crash:
> >>
> >> * 17:22:48  WARN <gnc.backend.dbi> [gnc_module_init_backend_dbi()] No
> >> DBD drivers found * 17:22:54  WARN <gnc.python> Unable to initialize
> >> Python module (unable to open /usr/share/gnucash/python/init.py) *
> >> 17:25:33  CRIT <GLib> Source ID 1451 was not found when attempting to
> >> remove it * 17:25:39  WARN <gnc.report.core> Failure running report:
> >> ERROR: In procedure apply-smob/1: ERROR: Wrong number of arguments to
> >> #<procedure display-error (_ _ _ _ _ _)> In unknown file:
> >>    ?: 19 [apply-smob/1 #<catch-closure 3184240>]
> >>    ?: 18 [call-with-input-string "(gnc:report-run 0)" ...]
> >> In ice-9/boot-9.scm:
> >> 2320: 17 [save-module-excursion #<procedure 2ca90c0 at
> >> ice-9/eval-string.scm:65:9 ()>] In ice-9/eval-string.scm:
> >>   44: 16 [read-and-eval #<input: string 2cf9b60> #:lang ...]
> >>   37: 15 [lp (gnc:report-run 0)]
> >> In report.scm:
> >>  766: 14 [gnc:report-run 0]
> >> In ice-9/boot-9.scm:
> >>  157: 13 [catch ignore #<procedure 2cafea0 at gnucash/main.scm:112:4
> >> ()> ...] In unknown file:
> >>    ?: 12 [lazy-catch #t #<procedure 2cafe40 at gnucash/main.scm:114:18
> >> ()> ...] In ice-9/boot-9.scm:
> >>  171: 11 [with-throw-handler #t #<catch-closure 31a6e80>
> >> #<catch-closure 31a6e60>] In unknown file:
> >>    ?: 10 [apply-smob/1 #<catch-closure 31a6e80>]
> >> In report.scm:
> >>  770: 9 [#<procedure 2cafed0 at report.scm:767:5 ()>]
> >>  749: 8 [gnc:report-render-html # #t]
> >> In html-document.scm:
> >>  196: 7 [gnc:html-document-render # #t]
> >> In ice-9/boot-9.scm:
> >>  102: 6 [#<procedure 3141440 at ice-9/boot-9.scm:97:6 (thrown-k .
> >> args)> vm-error ...] In unknown file:
> >>    ?: 5 [apply-smob/1 #<catch-closure 31a6e60> vm-error ...]
> >> In gnucash/main.scm:
> >>   98: 4 [dumper vm-error vm-run "VM: Stack overflow" ()]
> >> In unknown file:
> >>    ?: 3 [display-error #<stack 9c66cf0> #<output: file 2> ...]
> >> In ice-9/boot-9.scm:
> >>  106: 2 [#<procedure 3141440 at ice-9/boot-9.scm:97:6 (thrown-k .
> >> args)> wrong-number-of-args ...] 102: 1 [#<procedure 31414c0 at
> >> ice-9/boot-9.scm:97:6 (thrown-k . args)> wrong-number-of-args ...] In
> >> unknown file:
> >>    ?: 0 [apply-smob/1 #<catch-closure 3184220> wrong-number-of-args
> >> ...]
> >>
> >> So, it appears that the problem is not in the file, but rather either
> >> a bug in the linux implementation -- or maybe the Ubutu/Mint
> >> implementation.
> > More precisely it's a bug in gnucash 2.6.1 on linux. It has been fixed
> > in gnucash 2.6.2 or 2.6.3. So getting 2.6.6 installed on linux will get
> > rid of this for you.
> >
> >> So, I have been able to do what I set out to accomplish, but only
> >> using a Windows machine!  I would certainly prefer to be able use my
> >> Linux box for all tasks.  Any suggestions?
> > As I don't use Mint or Ubuntu, I can only suggest to try as Colin
> > proposed. Good luck!
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Geert
> >
> ------------------
>
> Thank you for your response.  I attempted the getdeb installation twice
> with the same, strange result.  I'll try it again at some point.  Or
> perhaps I'll attempt compiling from source, if I can find clear enough
> instructions.  Or perhaps I'll just wait for Ubuntu to update its
> repository.  I don't usually have to run this report, and I have been
> able to get done what I needed to do using the version installed on
> Windows.
>
> Thank you again,
>
> Richard


It's too bad you're having trouble with GetDeb. It sounds like it doesn't
work with Mint for some reason.

Mint is derived from Ubuntu LTS releases, but obviously uses its own
repository with some different packages. The next Ubuntu LTS version (which
you will see percolate to the next major release of Mint) is scheduled to
come out in 2016. You might check with the Mint maintainers to find out how
to get an update into Mint, bypassing Ubuntu's update process!

In order to stay as stable as possible for two to five years, an Ubuntu LTS
release only updates a few packages in between releases. (Web browsers,
email clients, a few other packages pre-identified as critical.) Other
packages require SRUs (see below).

There are two ways to get "official" updates into Ubuntu versions:

SRU: To get Ubuntu to issue a Stable Release Update (SRU), you would have
to convince someone official this is a critical issue (security holes or
major loss of data). I don't think the bugs between GnuCash 2.6.1 and 2.6.6
qualify, though someone may disagree.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates

BACKPORT: The easiest way to get a "semi-official" update is to create a
Backports request. [Does Mint use Ubuntu's backports repository? If it
doesn't this won't be of any use to Mint users.] The backports process is
similar to the SRU request process but the hurdle is MUCH lower -- any
member of the volunteer Backports team can test and approve a backports
request. If the most recent package compiles under 14.04 with little
effort, that's all it takes. Once a request gets approved, an updated
GnuCash would go into the Backports repository. Then all you would need to
do is check a backports checkbox in your software sources. see
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuBackports

I used to be a member of the Backports team, but lately inactive (it
generates a fair amount of email one needs to respond to). I will look into
this at some point, but almost certainly not this week.

If some other user of Ubuntu 14.04 sees this and wants to give it a go,
please follow the steps to create a Backports request
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuBackports and post the bug number to this
thread.