xcffib fails to update under NixOS

[Thlr]

Hi,

Lately (I believe it's been a week), I haven't been able to update my system because of a build error (supposedly) from your repository. Here are the logs I'm getting :

error: builder for '/nix/store/b5vg4gcqqszwrmh694sms6zmka692rrs-python3.10-xcffib-1.1.2.drv' failed with exit code 1;
       last 10 log lines:
       > _XSERVTransSocketUNIXCreateListener: ...SocketCreateListener() failed
       > _XSERVTransMakeAllCOTSServerListeners: server already running
       > (EE)
       > Fatal server error:
       > (EE) Cannot establish any listening sockets - Make sure an X server isn't already running(EE)
       > =========================== short test summary info ============================
       > FAILED test/test_python_code.py::TestXcffibTestGenerator::test_XcffibTest_generator - AssertionError: couldn't connect to xvfb
       > ERROR test/test_connection.py::TestConnection::test_wrap - AssertionError: couldn't connect to xvfb
       > ==================== 1 failed, 36 passed, 1 error in 48.29s ====================
       > /nix/store/3yfs41f4b60jya2gk6xikx4s97zsxjr0-stdenv-linux/setup: line 1573: pop_var_context: head of shell_variables not a function context
       For full logs, run 'nix log /nix/store/b5vg4gcqqszwrmh694sms6zmka692rrs-python3.10-xcffib-1.1.2.drv'.
error: 1 dependencies of derivation '/nix/store/9689gb58p74cvhrrv282lkpsmc7lx76k-python3.10-qtile-0.22.1.drv' failed to build
error: 1 dependencies of derivation '/nix/store/3wvnj4mi57n9xwrzpvzdzraccay43hk3-qtile-0.22.1.drv' failed to build
error: 1 dependencies of derivation '/nix/store/61qa4k72v8jr9090cv8g10w922a08ihk-system-path.drv' failed to build
error: 1 dependencies of derivation '/nix/store/sh8ylcsv16m5ipn1m4p1vb1c84hn8vj0-xsession.drv' failed to build
error: 1 dependencies of derivation '/nix/store/1bm31kk070wlhwy3c6prl21dypnsfgs5-nixos-system-lancey-tlarue-23.05.20230211.e5530ab.drv' failed to build

Setup:
NixOS 22.11 with home-manager
Qtile 0.22.1

I have tried already to ask in the Qtile repository and they redirected me here qtile/qtile#4157

[tych0]

Seems like the problem is:

_XSERVTransMakeAllCOTSServerListeners: server already running

can you talk a little bit about the environment that the tests are running in? Are they running in parallel? I don't really know anything about nix.

[Thlr]

The reason it fails seems logical since I am running this from my desktop environment.
What happens is that I want to upgrade my system, which in NixOS sometimes means re-building stuff if it's not cached. Therefore the tests fail because they - apparently - need to run in a non-graphical environment.

I managed to get the build to pass by disabling my desktop environment (my X server) and then running the upgrade.

I don't believe there is anything wrong with your test suite. It's simply an annoyance related to NixOS. It is not a big deal right now but it may be a major pain point for me if every time I want to update my packages I need to shut down my X server.

[tych0]

What's interesting is, it should try to work around existing displays. Relevant code is here: https://github.com/tych0/xcffib/blob/master/module/testing.py#L31

I run the test suite in a graphical environment regularly and have for years. That's why I wonder if this is a race somehow?

Anyway, if you happen to get to the bottom of it, I'm happy to take a patch to work around the issue.

[Thlr]

Noted, if this happens again surely I will try to look into it. In the mean time I have a work around at least.

Thanks!