Screensaver locks up when using molecules

Hello, thanks for your report.

I'm unable to replicate this in 7.04. Do other 3D screensavers work for you, or is it a reproducible problem with Molecules only? Is your video hardware configured to work properly with other OpenGL applications?

Hi, I went down the list of screensavers and they all worked until I
came to this one. I couldn't check out the rest after that. Everything
works great in all the other programs. I even played video. I am going
to burn another CD to see if something could be wrong but when I put it
through the testing process it said it was ok. Right now I will have to
reinstall it so its not locked up. John, thanks for the prompt reply.
PS, I do love this version compared to others I have used.

Murat Güneş wrote:
> Hello, thanks for your report.
>
> I'm unable to replicate this in 7.04. Do other 3D screensavers work for
> you, or is it a reproducible problem with Molecules only? Is your video
> hardware configured to work properly with other OpenGL applications?
>
> ** Changed in: gnome-screensaver (Ubuntu)
> Assignee: (unassigned) => Murat Güneş
> Status: Unconfirmed => Needs Info
>
>

Hi, I went down the list of screensavers and they all worked until I
came to this one. I couldn't check out the rest after that. Everything
works great in all the other programs. I even played video. I am going
to burn another CD to see if something could be wrong but when I put it
through the testing process it said it was ok. Right now I will have to
reinstall it so its not locked up. John, thanks for the prompt reply.
PS, I do love this version compared to others I have used.

Hi,

I have exactly the same problem: I cannot change the screensaver because as soon as I click on screensaver I get the ¨constructing molecules¨ message and my machine hangs. To get it going again I have to turn it off at the wall and reboot. What file is the screensaver stored in? If I knew that I edit the file and change to a less bug-ridden screensaver. This is extremely annoying. BTW, this is 7.04 I am using.

Hi, Glad to here someone had the same problem.
Since I could not change it after it froze and
when the screensaver came on everything would
lock up I reformatted the computer and
reinstalled the OS. Then the first thing I did
was to up the time before the screensaver came on
and picked the one that had parts flying around.
It don't bother me since it does not create any
other problem. But I still don't know of a
fix. I don't know what file its in since I was
having to much fun with the rest of it. John

At 10:07 AM 6/10/2007, you wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I have exactly the same problem: I cannot change the screensaver because
>as soon as I click on screensaver I get the ¨constructing molecules¨
>message and my machine hangs. To get it going again I have to turn it
>off at the wall and reboot. What file is the screensaver stored in?
>If I knew that I edit the file and change to a less bug-ridden
>screensaver. This is extremely annoying. BTW, this is 7.04 I am using.
>
>--
>Screensaver locks up when using molecules
>https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/117482
>You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
>of the bug.

I had the same issue. Reformatting and reinstalling, in this case, is like killing a fly with a nuclear weapon.

Restart your machine, then edit the following file in a text editor:

/home/(your-username-here)/.gconf/apps/gnome-screensaver/%gconf.xml

Change the value under the them section to use a non-buggy screensaver, e.g.

<stringvalue>screensavers-endgame</stringvalue>

Now save and close the file, then start the Screensaver app, it will be on the one you specified and you are free to choose others. Just don't pick the molecule one again!

I have the same problem in Feisty on a machine with an old Rage128 card. Other GL screensavers work fine after adding GLCore to modules in xorg.conf, and molecule works fine on another machine.

Evidently this bug is a duplicate of Bug #106060, as all the symptoms are the same, and the hardware & software are the same.
Anyone looking for more information should be able to find it in that bug report. It showed up in updates distributed 04-10-2007.

I don't know about everyone's workload, but I would think that after more than 5 months since this crasher bug was reported,
someone could have removed or blocked the Molecule module so at least it won't bother users until it can be fixed to work. Not
everyone is capable of using the gconf editor to de-select Molecule so they don't have to re-install their operating system. :-)
It's like leaving a live bomb lying where kids play. Couldn't we at least put it away somewhere until we can defuse it? It's not
an essential part of the system - it's just an optional frill - so removing the option to choose it seems like a good workaround.

I'm currently using 8.10. Downgraded because my older computer - Dell GX240 - became really slow with 9.04. I mistakenly was scrolling through the Gnome screensavers and hit the molecule one. Now, I can't go back to even change the screensaver as it automatically freezes the whole computer. How can I reset the screensaver to at least "blank"?