Re: Gnus frequently hangs at "nnimap read 0k from imap.gmail.com"

[Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org>]

Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org> writes:

> since about one or two months, Gnus frequently hangs when retrieving
> new mail from Gmail.  I use demons checking for new mail every few
> minutes of idle time.
>
> (add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods
> 	     '(nnimap "Gmail"
> 		      (nnimap-address "imap.gmail.com")))
>
> (require 'gnus-demon)
> (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-scan-news 15 5)
>
> When Gnus hangs, *Messages* shows:
>
>   20130625T141848.814> nnimap read 0k from imap.gmail.com
>
> I can easily hit `C-g' to quit, and then a `g' will usually work fine
> again.  I also use two other IMAP accounts, but this problem seems to
> occur only with Gmail.

It seems I've been wrong.  Although the message above suggests its a
gmail problem, hitting C-g with debug-on-error set to t, I get such a
backtrace that tells me that we're actually hanging while getting new
news from the nntp server news.eclipse.org.

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
Debugger entered--Lisp error: (quit)
  signal(quit nil)
  byte-code("\b\204\a.\301 \210\302\303\304\"\207" [debug-on-quit nntp-close-server signal quit nil] 3)
  byte-code("\306\b	\n#\210\v\205.\0\307\v\310\311#.\312\216\310\313\314\217.*\310\207" [-group -server -connectionless nntp-connection-timeout -timer nntp-with-open-group-internal nntp-possibly-change-group run-at-time nil #[nil "\b.\n	;\203.\0\306	!\202.\0	\307\211.\x1c.\x1d.\2037.\r\211A.@\211.\2037.	\v\211A@\262.=\203.\0\v@.\307\211.\204.\0\f\205S.\310\f!\311>\203G.\f\202S.\312\313\f!!\210\314\v\n\".\307-\211.\x0f\205^.\313.\x0f!\211.\x10\205q.\315.\x10!\316=\205q.\312.\x10!*\207" [nntp-server-buffer buffer nntp-connection-alist entry process alist get-buffer nil process-status (open run) nntp-kill-buffer process-buffer delq buffer-size 0 -process -buffer] 5] ((byte-code "\b\203\b.\301\b!\210\301\207" [-timer nnheader-cancel-timer] 2)) (funcall -bodyfun) ((quit (byte-code "\b\204\a.\301 \210\302\303\304\"\207" [debug-on-quit nntp-close-server signal quit nil] 3)))] 4)
  nntp-with-open-group-function(nil "Eclipse" nil #[nil "\306\b!\307	@@	@\"\310\311.^[.\x1dr.q\210\312.\x19).\205\347.\x0e.\205\347.r.q\210.\211.^[\2052.\313\314.^[!!)\203_.\nb\210\315.\x1c\203C.\316\202D.\317\312\320#\203P.\vT.\2029.`.\v.\x1aW\203_.\321 \210\202%.\322 \210.\x1c\204\225.ed{.\x1dr\bq\210\323 \210.\x1e\203\x7f.\324.\x1d!\202\201.\x0e.c\210eb\210*r\bq\210\325\f.\x1f\320#)\202\346.eb\210\315\326\312\320#\203\253.\310\224\311y\210`|\210\202\230.ed{.\x1dr\bq\210\323 \210.\x1e\203\303.\324.\x1d!\202\305.\x0e.c\210eb\210*r\bq\210\327\330	@8:\203\337.\330	@8\202\340.\f.\x1f\312\320$)),\207" [nntp-server-buffer infos last-point received method buf nntp-find-connection-buffer gnus-find-method-for-group 0 1 nil buffer-live-p get-buffer re-search-forward "^[.]" "^[0-9]" t nntp-accept-response nnheader-strip-cr erase-buffer mm-string-to-multibyte gnus-groups-to-gnus-format "^[.2-5]" gnus-active-to-gnus-format 4 nntp-retrieval-in-progress count buffer nntp-server-list-active-group string enable-multibyte-characters gnus-active-hashtb] 6])
  nntp-finish-retrieve-group-infos("Eclipse" (("nntp+Eclipse:eclipse.platform" 3 ((1 . 88998)) ((unexist) (seen (87239 . 87463) (87500 . 88082) (88084 . 88618) (88633 . 88931) (88935 . 88939) (88954 . 88970) (88972 . 88998)) (reply 87887)) "nntp:Eclipse") ("nntp+Eclipse:eclipse.tools.emf" 3 ((1 . 64863)) ((unexist) (seen (52299 . 53329) (53331 . 53344) (53346 . 55520) (55522 . 55616) (55618 . 55875) (55877 . 57349) (57351 . 58852) (58863 . 59243) (59245 . 59742) (59744 . 62436) (62438 . 62644) (62730 . 63862) (63888 . 64498) (64505 . 64575) (64647 . 64679) (64727 . 64863)) (reply 57415 57417 57419 60049 60051 60516 60638)) "nntp:Eclipse")) 2)
  gnus-finish-retrieve-group-infos((nntp "Eclipse" (nntp-address "news.eclipse.org")) (("nntp+Eclipse:eclipse.platform" 3 ((1 . 88998)) ((unexist) (seen (87239 . 87463) (87500 . 88082) (88084 . 88618) (88633 . 88931) (88935 . 88939) (88954 . 88970) (88972 . 88998)) (reply 87887)) "nntp:Eclipse") ("nntp+Eclipse:eclipse.tools.emf" 3 ((1 . 64863)) ((unexist) (seen (52299 . 53329) (53331 . 53344) (53346 . 55520) (55522 . 55616) (55618 . 55875) (55877 . 57349) (57351 . 58852) (58863 . 59243) (59245 . 59742) (59744 . 62436) (62438 . 62644) (62730 . 63862) (63888 . 64498) (64505 . 64575) (64647 . 64679) (64727 . 64863)) (reply 57415 57417 57419 60049 60051 60516 60638)) "nntp:Eclipse")) 2)
  gnus-read-active-for-groups((nntp "Eclipse" (nntp-address "news.eclipse.org")) (("nntp+Eclipse:eclipse.platform" 3 ((1 . 88998)) ((unexist) (seen (87239 . 87463) (87500 . 88082) (88084 . 88618) (88633 . 88931) (88935 . 88939) (88954 . 88970) (88972 . 88998)) (reply 87887)) "nntp:Eclipse") ("nntp+Eclipse:eclipse.tools.emf" 3 ((1 . 64863)) ((unexist) (seen (52299 . 53329) (53331 . 53344) (53346 . 55520) (55522 . 55616) (55618 . 55875) (55877 . 57349) (57351 . 58852) (58863 . 59243) (59245 . 59742) (59744 . 62436) (62438 . 62644) (62730 . 63862) (63888 . 64498) (64505 . 64575) (64647 . 64679) (64727 . 64863)) (reply 57415 57417 57419 60049 60051 60516 60638)) "nntp:Eclipse")) 2)
  gnus-get-unread-articles(nil nil nil)
  gnus-group-get-new-news(nil)
  call-interactively(gnus-group-get-new-news nil nil)
  command-execute(gnus-group-get-new-news)
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

Since I don't need to read groups from that server anymore, I've just
removed it and the hangs seem to be gone.

Well, still it would be nice if there was some sensible way for dealing
with unresponsive servers, e.g., like aborting after some seconds.  My
main problem with the hangs was that IRC servers to that I've been
connected using rcirc disconnect after some time if they cannot contact
the client anymore.  So if I didn't notice the hang, chances were high I
got accidentally kicked out of my running IRC sessions.

Bye,
Tassilo