complete crash of gnus - (wrong-type-argument number-or-marker-p nil)

complete crash of gnus - (wrong-type-argument number-or-marker-p nil)

[Benjamin Slade]

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Somehow my groups screen in Gnus got completely buggered up today. Then I
exited Gnus and tried to re-entered and I get an error:

(wrong-type-argument number-or-marker-p nil)
  gnus-group-change-level(nil nil nil nil t)
  eval-buffer(#<buffer .newsrc-dribble>)  ; Reading at buffer position
117784
  gnus-dribble-eval-file()
  gnus-setup-news(nil nil nil)
  byte-code(" \204 \204 \306 \210\202L\307\310!\210\311\n! \f\204
\203!\312 \210\313\314 #\210\307\315!\210 \2036\316\317\320\"\210\321
\210\322 !\210\323 \210\324\325!\210\326 \210\307\327!\210\314\207"
[dont-connect did-connect gnus-startup-file gnus-current-startup-file
gnus-slave gnus-use-dribble-file gnus-group-quit gnus-run-hooks
gnus-startup-hook gnus-make-newsrc-file gnus-dribble-read-file
gnus-setup-news nil gnus-setup-news-hook gnus-request-create-group "queue"
(nndraft "") gnus-start-draft-setup gnus-group-list-groups
gnus-group-first-unread-group gnus-configure-windows group
gnus-group-set-mode-line gnus-started-hook level gnus-agent] 4)
  gnus-1(nil nil nil)
  gnus(nil)
  call-interactively(gnus nil nil)
  command-execute(gnus)

[ stepping through, I get:

Debugger entered--entering a function:
* command-error-default-function((wrong-type-argument number-or-marker-p
nil) "" byte-code)

Debugger entered--entering a function:
* sml/-this-buffer-changed(1 2 0)
* command-error-default-function((wrong-type-argument number-or-marker-p
nil) "" byte-code)

and so on....]

I've tried restoring from a backup the .newsrc and .newsrc.eld files

What I would really like is just to get back a working gnus. What is the
best way of just resetting at this point?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"While corporations dominate society and write the laws,
  each advance in technology is an opening for them
  to further restrict its users."
                                                       --Stallman's Law
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*           {Choose freedom: choose GNU <http://www.gnu.org> & Linux
<http://www.whylinuxisbetter.net>.}*

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Re: complete crash of gnus - (wrong-type-argument number-or-marker-p nil)

[Arkady Grudzinsky]

On Wed, Sep 07 2016, Benjamin Slade wrote:

> Somehow my groups screen in Gnus got completely buggered up
> today. Then I exited Gnus and tried to re-entered and I get an
> error:
>
> (wrong-type-argument number-or-marker-p nil)
> gnus-group-change-level(nil nil nil nil t)
> eval-buffer(#<buffer .newsrc-dribble>) ; Reading at buffer
> position 117784
> gnus-dribble-eval-file()
> gnus-setup-news(nil nil nil)

It appears that your dribble (autosave) file is corrupted.

https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/gnus/Auto-Save.html

Normally, gnus asks whether to read it.  If it does, answer "n"
at startup.  If it doesn't ask, you may have the
gnus-always-read-dribble-file set to non-nil in your .gnus file.
Set it temporarily to nil, restart gnus, and answer "n" to the
question.

Or, perhaps, just delete the dribble file.

-- 
Arkady