XEmacs suddenly doesn't work on my Mac

[Lynn David Newton]

Greetings,

I don't know how much support is available on this list any more, but
it does appear that people can report problems and get responses.

I'm running XEmacs beta (21.4 patch 22) on my up-to-date iMac running
El Capitan. (Mac OS X 10.11.5)

Yesterday I got a note that there was an update to XQuartz. I've never
had a problem with it, so routinely install updates.

After installing the new version, when I start XEmacs the usual way
(from a menu ... but I also tried it from a terminal command line), I
get this message on STDERR:

X server not responding
: "/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.zC9wJRhG9U/org.macosforge.xquartz:0.0"

(The com.apple.launchd.* component is different at different times.)

I can run xemacs -nw, but because of my startups it's not nice. And I
can run xemacs -nw -q, but who wants to do that except to debug?

I've used various Emacsen constantly since 1987 and XEmacs since it
was pre-beta in the early 90s on every platform. To me if an OS
doesn't run XEmacs, it's not a computer.

I've considered biting the bullet and switching over to GNU Emacs, but
I really, really don't want to do that. I *like* XEmacs the way it is,
and just want it to continue working for me. Besides which, I'm buried
in work and don't really have the time.

Boo hoo, right? But I thought I'd share that in case one of the local
wizards who is still around here has seen this and worked through it
and can share some information.

Much thanks to all who continue to support XEmacs.

[Raymond Toy]

Lynn> Greetings,
Lynn> I don't know how much support is available on this list any more, but
Lynn> it does appear that people can report problems and get responses.

Lynn> I'm running XEmacs beta (21.4 patch 22) on my up-to-date iMac running
Lynn> El Capitan. (Mac OS X 10.11.5)

Lynn> Yesterday I got a note that there was an update to XQuartz. I've never
Lynn> had a problem with it, so routinely install updates.

Lynn> After installing the new version, when I start XEmacs the usual way
Lynn> (from a menu ... but I also tried it from a terminal command line), I
Lynn> get this message on STDERR:

Lynn> X server not responding
Lynn> : "/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.zC9wJRhG9U/org.macosforge.xquartz:0.0"

Yeah, that happened to me recently as well when I updated
XQuartz. Just about every time I update XQuartz, xemacs stops working.
Since I build my own version, this has always been fixed by
recompiling xemacs again.

Since it sounds like you're using a binary installation, I don't have
real solution for you, however.

--
Ray, a long-time xemacs user

[Lynn David Newton]

Post by Raymond Toy
Lynn> X server not responding
Lynn> : "/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.zC9wJRhG9U/org.macosforge.xquartz:0.0"
Yeah, that happened to me recently as well when I updated
XQuartz. Just about every time I update XQuartz, xemacs stops working.
Since I build my own version, this has always been fixed by
recompiling xemacs again.

Hmm.

Post by Raymond Toy
Since it sounds like you're using a binary installation, I don't have
real solution for you, however.

Yeah, I think I'm using a binary installation. I used to recompile it
a couple of times a week and mess with it, but those days are in the
far distant past. It's been eight or ten years since I've recompiled
it myself.

Interesting point, though. Thanks.

[Stephen J. Turnbull]

Post by Lynn David Newton
I'm running XEmacs beta (21.4 patch 22) on my up-to-date iMac running
El Capitan. (Mac OS X 10.11.5)

I'm running XEmacs 21.5.recent, same version of Mac OS X on a MacBook
Pro. XQuartz is XQuartz 1.18.99.1 (xorg-server 1.18.99.1) (you can
copy-paste that from the X11 menu, About). I'm running the MacPorts
version. I may try installing the current versions of XQuartz from
xquartz.org next week, but I too have work to do....

Post by Lynn David Newton
After installing the new version, when I start XEmacs the usual way
(from a menu ... but I also tried it from a terminal command line), I

By "terminal", do you mean an X terminal such as xterm, or do you mean
Terminal.app?

Post by Lynn David Newton
X server not responding
: "/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.zC9wJRhG9U/org.macosforge.xquartz:0.0"

Neither Google nor the XQuartz tracker are helpful. :-( Just
guessing, but ...

Did you restart X? There could be a library mismatch such that the
new library is looking for X in all the wrong places. You could also
try rebooting (I know, it feels like Windows "a good reboot solves
most problems", but you're desperate, right?)

Perhaps you have multiple installations of X and XEmacs is linked to
the wrong libraries (which just happened to work before).

There is a really stupid bug in Mac OS X such that named socket names
have a really short length limit. Yes, it's so short that it's
conceivable that the above is too long. This bug bit TRAMP a while
back. TRAMP is written in LISP so I hacked around it, then Michael A
fixed it upstream pretty quick. X is another matter....

Are other X apps working?

Where did you get XQuartz, and in what form?

Post by Lynn David Newton
I've considered biting the bullet and switching over to GNU Emacs, but
I really, really don't want to do that. I *like* XEmacs the way it is,
and just want it to continue working for me. Besides which, I'm buried
in work and don't really have the time.

You can get an older version of XQuartz at
https://www.xquartz.org/releases/index.html.

You could also try the MacPorts or Homebrew versions (if you have one
of those distros installed already, but I wouldn't recommend

Good luck!

Steve

[Lynn David Newton]

Post by Stephen J. Turnbull

Post by Lynn David Newton
I'm running XEmacs beta (21.4 patch 22) on my up-to-date iMac running
El Capitan. (Mac OS X 10.11.5)

I'm running XEmacs 21.5.recent, same version of Mac OS X on a MacBook
Pro. XQuartz is XQuartz 1.18.99.1 (xorg-server 1.18.99.1) (you can
copy-paste that from the X11 menu, About).

Mine is 2.7.9 (xorg-server 1.17.4)

Post by Stephen J. Turnbull

Post by Lynn David Newton
After installing the new version, when I start XEmacs the usual way
(from a menu ... but I also tried it from a terminal command line), I

By "terminal", do you mean an X terminal such as xterm, or do you mean
Terminal.app?

Both xterm and Terminal.app. I have to redirect STDERR to a file to
catch it. Without that (as when I try to open it from a XQuartz menu
option), it just blinks.

Post by Stephen J. Turnbull

Post by Lynn David Newton
X server not responding
: "/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.zC9wJRhG9U/org.macosforge.xquartz:0.0"

Did you restart X?

Yes. Several times. Meanwhile we had a major storm and were without
electricity for eight or ten hours, so that also forced a reboot.
Actually, I've rebooted a couple of times, though I normally reboot
only once a month or less.

Post by Stephen J. Turnbull
Perhaps you have multiple installations of X and XEmacs is linked to
the wrong libraries (which just happened to work before).

Perhaps. I could check that.

Post by Stephen J. Turnbull
There is a really stupid bug in Mac OS X such that named socket names
have a really short length limit. Yes, it's so short that it's
conceivable that the above is too long. This bug bit TRAMP a while
back. TRAMP is written in LISP so I hacked around it, then Michael A
fixed it upstream pretty quick. X is another matter....
Are other X apps working?

Yes. All I tried was xterm, xlogo, xman, and xeyes. I don't actually
use any of them, but they all work.

Post by Stephen J. Turnbull
Where did you get XQuartz, and in what form?

That's an interesting question, and I'm embarrassed to say I don't
know the answer offhand. It's one of those things I got a long time
ago, I thought directly from whoever makes it. ... Got it from Apple
I thought. Dang, now that I'm trying to remember where that thingy
that tells me I have software updates is and what it's called, I can't
lay my hands on it.

Post by Stephen J. Turnbull

Post by Lynn David Newton
I've considered biting the bullet and switching over to GNU Emacs, but
I really, really don't want to do that. I *like* XEmacs the way it is,

You can get an older version of XQuartz at
https://www.xquartz.org/releases/index.html.

I may resort to that.

Post by Stephen J. Turnbull
You could also try the MacPorts or Homebrew versions (if you have one
of those distros installed already, but I wouldn't recommend

Yeah, Maybe MacPorts, but I'd rather try other options first.