Subject: Re: .emacs.desktop has become unportable between GUI and TTY.

From: Alan Mackenzie <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2014 09:02:33 +0000

>> This lack of portability is a bug.  Sharing a desktop file between GUI
>> and TTY sessions is the sort of thing Emacs should be able to do without
>> batting an eylid.

>At least in theory, saving&restoring the frameset already takes care
>of this. If it is failing, that's a bug.

>If you have a repeatable way to trigger this problem, please report it
>here so wen can work together to fix it.

With a throwaway userid, in a Linux tty (virtual terminal), start Emacs
and create a ~/.emacs containing the single line

    (desktop-save-mode 1)

Evaluate this form with C-x C-e.

With .emacs in the current window, visit a new file in a new frame with
C-x 5 C-f asdf <RET>, put some random text into the new buffer and save
it with C-x C-s.  Exit Emacs with C-x C-c.

With the same userid, in X Windows, open a terminal and start Emacs (with
no command line arguments).  This produces the aforementioned error
messages:

    Error (frameset): Font `tty' is not defined [2 times]
    Warning (frameset): Attempt to delete the sole visible or iconified frame

.  Only one frame is currently open.

Now close this Emacs session with C-x C-c, and attempt to start another
session on the tty.  In the *scratch* buffer (apparently) appear the
following error messages:

    (emacs:3488): GConf-WARNING **: Client failed to connect to the D-BUS daemon:
    Unable to autolaunch a dbus-daemon without a $DISPLAY for X11

, the pair being repeated 9 times (for a total of twenty messages).  Each
one started directly below where the previous one ended (as though a Unix
file was being displayed on a device expecting MS-DOS line terminators).
This Emacs is unusable, some control characters not being interpreted.
For example, on typing M-x, "^[x" gets displayed in the minibuffer
region, and the minibuffer is not active.  C-x C-c works, however.

>    J

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).