int open_terminal(const char *name, int mode) {
int fd, r;
+ unsigned c = 0;
- if ((fd = open(name, mode)) < 0)
+ /*
+ * If a TTY is in the process of being closed opening it might
+ * cause EIO. This is horribly awful, but unlikely to be
+ * changed in the kernel. Hence we work around this problem by
+ * retrying a couple of times.
+ *
+ * https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/554172/comments/245
+ */
+
+ for (;;) {
+ if ((fd = open(name, mode)) >= 0)
+ break;
+
+ if (errno != EIO)
+ return -errno;
+
+ if (c >= 20)
+ return -errno;
+
+ usleep(50 * USEC_PER_MSEC);
+ c++;
+ }
+
+ if (fd < 0)
return -errno;
if ((r = isatty(fd)) < 0) {