sometimes GNOME screen lock fails to unlock after password entered

Hi,

Thank you for reporting this bug to make Ubuntu even better.

I have failed so far to re-produce this bug. Every time my Ubuntu GNOME Trusty Tahr system goes to Screen Saver mode, I can re-login very normally without any issue at all.

I just tested on Ubuntu GNOME Trusty Tahr 20140226 - i386 but as stated, no success to re-produce this one.

Sorry, I meant the lock screen!

I recently was trying to train some friends to install and/or upgrade Ubuntu GNOME and most of them got confused when the "screensaver/lock-screen" window appeared - enough so that they'd assume the installation or upgrade was frozen so they'd do a hard reset :^(

I know that it's only necessary to press Esc but those who are not aware of that will be tempted to do a hard reset ......... this is NOT good!

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

This bug has been reported on the Ubuntu ISO testing tracker.

A list of all reports related to this bug can be found here:
http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/reports/bugs/1285258

I reported this on the iso tracker because I feel it's not just enough to know that a user must press Esc to view the progress of the installation.

New users need to be alerted regarding what needs to be done.

It renders the system temporarily or permanently unusable.

In my case, the lock screen fails to let me log in when entering the correct password, so I have to restart the computer to gain access again. I understand this is a similar bug. I've just upgraded from Saucy to Trusty.

I've seen this for a couple of days, Today's update, 2014-06-06 didn't help.
$ uname -a
Linux ws6 3.13.0-24-generic #47-Ubuntu SMP Fri May 2 23:30:00 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

My experience:
1. On a dual display system with the sreensaver active, I move the mouse and the screensaver clears.
2. Whichever screen the mouse pointer is on gets the password dialog box.
3. I click in the dialog box, but typing doesn't enter bullets, I don't get the blinking text cursor in the dialog.
4. Sometimes after moving the mouse to the other screen I could enter my password. More often, I have to hit Ctrl-Alt-F1 to get tty1, which works, then then pkill X, losing any unsaved work. I suspect that I may just be impatient, but for now I've disabled locking.

Screen saver unresponsive for me has well on occasion. When unresponsive, nothing further can be done to restore normal behaviour. I just kill gnome-session from a terminal and login fresh. Happened 5 times in ten days. Switched from 12.04 to 14.04 ~10 days ago, no problems before that.

Two screen setup, nfs mounted filesystem for locked-out account. Using proprietary nvdia driver installed via apt-get. Home still mounted ok when I log in in other ways.

Hi, same issue here, I cannot unlock gnome-screen-saver (Ubuntu 14.04.1).
It might be related to my dual screen setup (with nvidia drivers): when I move the mouse, the screen where I have the mouse shows my background for a second and then turn black again.
Ctrl+F1 ; killall gnome-screensaver ; Ctrl+F7 to get back to my session.
xscreensave works OK.
I can give you more specific details about my setup, just ask.

BoZ

Please:
1. Report this bug to <https://bugzilla.gnome.org/>.
2. Paste the new report URL here.
3. Set this bug status back to "confirmed".

Thank you.

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

@ Divya Shettar

If you really want to fix this bug yourself, feel free to assign it to you again.

Not sure if this is the same bug but, on 16.04.1, if the screen saver kicks and I don't type the correct password within three tries, I am no longer allowed to type in, I see a spinning wheel that never stops even after many minutes, and I end up having to reboot the machine to recover control. This is quite frustrating.

nope its not the same bug

On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 8:23 AM, hsg <email address hidden> wrote:

> Not sure if this is the same bug but, on 16.04.1, if the screen saver
> kicks and I don't type the correct password within three tries, I am no
> longer allowed to type in, I see a spinning wheel that never stops even
> after many minutes, and I end up having to reboot the machine to recover
> control. This is quite frustrating.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are a bug assignee.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1285258
>
> Title:
> failing to unlock screensaver
>
> Status in Ubuntu GNOME:
> New
> Status in gnome-shell package in Ubuntu:
> Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> There seem to be two distinct errors when unlocking gnome-screensaver.
> Both prevents you from logging in. The first is the most serious.
>
> 1) When I move the mouse, the lock screen appears. Whatever I type it
> only activates the top right menu. I'm completely unable to login. I
> used power button to restart the computer.
>
> 2) Most common is that you can type your password, but the rotating-
> pause-animation never stops. You can cancel this with the button and
> usually you can get passed the screensave on the second attempt.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
> Package: gnome-screensaver (not installed)
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-12.32-generic 3.13.4
> Uname: Linux 3.13.0-12-generic i686
> NonfreeKernelModules: wl
> ApportVersion: 2.13.2-0ubuntu5
> Architecture: i386
> Date: Wed Feb 26 17:54:36 2014
> InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-02-26 (0 days ago)
> InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-GNOME 14.04 "Trusty Tahr" - Alpha i386
> (20140226)
> SourcePackage: gnome-screensaver
> UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-gnome/+bug/1285258/+subscriptions
>

I had this issues with experimental 17.04 on a motion computing device.This Slate has a Wacom pen display, the input with osd works without attached keyboard, no problem with 16.04 16.10 so far
but after installing 17.04 and the first time the lock screen appeared i couldnt unlock with my password. There was no osd input so i had to use an external usb keyboard.when entered password it put it back to lock screen again, needed to power off

Ok, I'm focusing this bug on only one issue since that issue is still a problem with 17.04.

Patrick or anyone, if you're still experiencing the other issue, please file a new bug. "1) When I move the mouse, the lock screen appears. Whatever I type it only activates the top right menu. I'm completely unable to login. I used power button to restart the computer."

endees, please file a new bug for that issue.

I haven't seen this bug for very long, but I have a suspicion of what it is.

Now-a-days I use SSD-drives. They are much faster than HDDs. Although, if I run Virtualbox or dd it takes several seconds to unlock the screensaver. I suspect that the screensaver is trying to reach a library or data in the file system on the harddisk and is prevented to do this when other disk operations pending. Sometimes I wait until operation is finished.

HDDs are slower and you need to wait a bit longer.

If your system is frozen on resume/unlock, please see bug 1262201.

My system is responsive in the sense: If I move the mouse pointer, the pointer moves.

I experience this bug some times too. The system isn't frozen; it's just that the unlock operation either gets "stuck" or maybe it just takes a very long time. I reported the issue to GNOME recently at
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/782619

I can't login when I changed keyboard layout from English US.

If I lock screen with English layout then I could login in.

It seems language changer doesn't work on Unlock screen.

I clicked [Switch user...] button and default login works OK.

Ubuntu 16.04
GNOME Shell 3.18.5

Almas: Please see bug 1652618 instead.

Ubuntu 16.04, GNOME shell 3.18.5

I have the same issue. I often meet this issue when I unlock the screen before the black screen returns to the original screen. In short, when I unlock it very quickly, this issue happened.

Screen is successfully unlocked, but the only thing I get is a single mouse pointer and black screen. I can move my mouse, but nothing is on the screen but black.

I've been experiencing this problem for several months. The lock screen appears, but the keyboard doesn't respond. Sometimes I can type a few characters in the password field before it stops responding. I can move my mouse and click the button on the top right of the screen to re-lock and try again. Eventually it works.

gnome shell: 3.26.2
gdm: 3.26.2.1

I have a similar problem in Ubuntu 20.10. Sometimes after resuming, I can type the password but I cannot enter the session.

ii gdm3 3.38.1-2ubuntu1.1 amd64
ii gnome-shell 3.38.1-1ubuntu1 amd64

It happens with both xorg and wayland.

Next time the problem happens, please:

1. Wait 10 seconds.

2. Reboot.

3. Run this command:

   journalctl -b-1 > prevboot.txt

   and attach the resulting text file here.

Actually, since Ubuntu 16.04 GNOME reached end-of-life in April 2019 this really should close. If you experience similar issues in 20.10 then please open a new bug by running:

  ubuntu-bug gnome-shell