i3-status freezes

Question

I'm running i3 windows manager on Debian 10 and I'm connecting to the computer through X2go as I'm working at home at the moment.

Since the upgrade from Debian 9 to Debian 10 (done recently) the i3-status bar freezes and I have to 'reload' i3 which is a slight pain.

Here is my .i3status.conf

general {
    interval        = 1
    colors          = true
    color_good      = '#88b090'
    color_degraded  = '#ccdc90'
    color_bad       = '#e89393'
}

# order += "volume master"
# order += "disk /"
# order += "disk /home"
# order += "disk /media/data"
# order += "ethernet br0"
# order += "cpu_temperature 0"
# order += "memory"
# order += "load"
order += "tztime local"

# ethernet br0 {
#     #if you use %speed, i3status requires root privileges
#     format_up = "%ip (%speed)"
#     format_down = ""
# }

tztime local {
    format = "%A %e.%B %H:%M:%S"
}

# load {
#     format = "%1min"
# }

# cpu_usage {
#     format = "%usage"
# }

# cpu_temperature 0 {
#   format = "%degrees°C"
# }

# disk "/" {
#   format = "/ %avail"
#   prefix_type = custom
# }

# disk "/home" {
#   format = "/home %avail"
#   prefix_type = custom
# }

# disk "/media/data" {
#   format = "/media/data %avail"
#   prefix_type = custom
# }

# volume master {
#     format = "VOL: %volume "
#     format_muted = "MUTE "
#     device = "default"
#     mixer = "Master"
#     mixer_idx = 0
# }

When it freezes the time isn't moving but I can still see the date and time just in a frozen state.

I've tried running i3status in a terminal and it's been running fine for a few weeks non-stop;

Here is the output (note this is when I had all my settings on in my config and I haven't had to restart it since);

 ~ % i3status
i3status: trying to auto-detect output_format setting
i3status: auto-detected "term"
/ 6.5 GB | /home 103.1 GB | /media/data 543.9 GB | 4.29 | Monday 28.September 09:10:16

I cannot replicate the problem but I think it might have something to do with when I exit X2go. When I exit X2go I keep the session running in the background, then the next day I connect to it. Now when it's in this state is when it typically freezes. Maybe i3-status doesn't like to be in an X2go session which has been detached but still running.

Update

After running the i3status.sh script it failed when I disconnected X2go shortly after work and I get the error;

i3status: trying to auto-detect output_format setting
i3status: falling back to "none"

I've added the following to my config -> general area to test

    output_format = "i3bar"

Update: Forced fail

Just managed to force it to fail, by exiting the X2go remote session (but keeping it going in the background), making a coffee (5minutes) and then rejoining the X2go session.

It still fails with output_format forced to i3bar. I don't get any error in i3status-err.log now.

I have to hit ++r to get it started again.

Answer 1

If the status bar freezes it is likely that the process has crashed and exited. You should check if i3status is running when the issue happens again.

You could also wrap i3status with your own script to troubleshoot the problem.

In your i3 config file replace the status_command with your own script:

# status_command i3status -c ~/.config/i3/i3status
status_command /home/YOURUSER/.config/i3/i3status.sh

Create ~/.config/i3/i3status.sh (and chmod +x):

#!/bin/bash
echo $(date) started >> /tmp/i3status.log
while :
do
    i3status 2> /tmp/i3status-err.log | while :
    do
        read line
        echo "$line"
        touch /tmp/i3status-last-seen.log
    done
    echo $(date) restarted >> /tmp/i3status.log
done

Or, if it's a bug of i3status, try this alternative:

https://github.com/altdesktop/i3-dstatus

Answer 2

I've also had this problem. In my case, it was hanging on a disk { clause for an inaccessible NFS mount. I removed that clause from ~/.config/i3status/config, and that fixed it.