9 ms·

Ubuntu LTS updating failing all over the world

30 points by anderstrier 10y ago

anderstrier 10y ago
Symptoms: apt-get update hangs, and the appstreamcli process is using 100% CPU. Fix described here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/appstream/+bug/1579712/comments/24 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/appstream/+bug/157...
feylikurds 10y ago
It is appstream, fix is: cd /tmp && mkdir asfix cd asfix wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/appstream_0.9.4-1ubuntu1_amd64.deb wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/libappstream3_0.9.4-1ubuntu1_amd64.deb sudo dpkg -i libappstream3*.deb sudo dpkg -i appstream*.deb
- fit2rule 10y ago
  Can confirm, this fixed it. However, now gotta do the same thing on all the grandma's and neighbors' laptops .. fml ..
noobermin 10y ago
Here comes the expected complaint: Ubuntu is supposed to be the user friendly distro, right? It seems an unfair thing to say until you experience it, or your loved one does. My SO uses gnome-ubuntu, and I am at a loss to explain why firefox crashes multiple times a week on her PC. On my gentoo box? I think the browser hasn't crashed randomly in...months? And I am on ~arch at least for firefox so they are the same version afaik. Gentoo doesn't have as many devoted, paid testers from what I understand as Canonical does, so how is their stability relatively worse?
- cyphar 10y ago
  I actually put Arch on my SOs laptop, because I knew that Ubuntu would probably break in some way in a couple of months. But I'd probably go with openSUSE if I needed to reinstall GNU/Linux (the community has put a lot of work into stability as well as having up to date software).
  - noobermin 10y ago
    Does arch have something like Software in their gnome 3? My SO isn't as into tech stuff and I wanted it to be easier for them to install stuff without having to google or know apt/emerge/pacman
    - smonff 10y ago
      Yes, it is possible to use package management GUIs in Arch. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman/Tips_and_tricks#Graphical_front-ends https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman/Tips_and_tricks#...
    - cyphar 10y ago
      Yeah, there's front-ends for pacman. They're usually ... okay. The only issue is that you usually need to install stuff from the AUR (which won't ever get updated by default unless your GUI supports yaourt).
  - dingaling 10y ago
    The main problem that I have with unattended Ubuntu for family is that eventually /boot fills-up with old kernels and updates start to fail. I don't believe they have resolved this despite having been a problem for years.
    - scintill76 10y ago
      How necessary is it to have a separate /boot partition these days though? I have one because my root is LUKS-encrypted, but I think Grub could handle booting from an unencrypted ext4 root. I guess it would still fill up eventually, but maybe not before a re-install for other reasons.
      - cyphar 10y ago
        On UEFI systems, the /boot partition needs to be FAT32. So there's that. :P
carlesfe 10y ago
Editorialized title?
- AgentME 10y ago
  Is it not accurate? Turns out updates had been broken for me too for a while because of this problem.
  - carlesfe 10y ago
    Given that the original title "Refresh hangs indefinitely, appstreamcli using 100% CPU" wouldn't probably have made the front page, yes, I'd say it has been editorialised for added sensationalism, like "failing all over the world" For me, that is not accurate. If OP wanted to give a bit more context other than the original title, they could have changed it without adding the sensationalist part, for example, "Ubuntu bug breaks apt-get update" or similar.
zaggynl 10y ago
This is why you wait for a service pack or point release before using a new version of an OS.
- sliken 10y ago
  Doesn't help much. Ubuntu-14.04 LTS had a similar problem last week where network manager crashes and you can't get to the network to fix it.
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    FFS, we are not going to beat Windows by recreating it!
orblivion 10y ago
This afternoon, without applying any of the workaround fixes, I somehow was able to apt update and upgrade appstream. Did they somehow make a server-side fix?

30 points by anderstrier 10y ago

Symptoms: apt-get update hangs, and the appstreamcli process is using 100% CPU. Fix described here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/appstream/+bug/1579712/comments/24 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/appstream/+bug/157...

feylikurds 10y ago

It is appstream, fix is: cd /tmp && mkdir asfix cd asfix wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/appstream_0.9.4-1ubuntu1_amd64.deb wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/libappstream3_0.9.4-1ubuntu1_amd64.deb sudo dpkg -i libappstream3*.deb sudo dpkg -i appstream*.deb

fit2rule 10y ago
Can confirm, this fixed it. However, now gotta do the same thing on all the grandma's and neighbors' laptops .. fml ..

noobermin 10y ago

Here comes the expected complaint: Ubuntu is supposed to be the user friendly distro, right? It seems an unfair thing to say until you experience it, or your loved one does. My SO uses gnome-ubuntu, and I am at a loss to explain why firefox crashes multiple times a week on her PC. On my gentoo box? I think the browser hasn't crashed randomly in...months? And I am on ~arch at least for firefox so they are the same version afaik. Gentoo doesn't have as many devoted, paid testers from what I understand as Canonical does, so how is their stability relatively worse?

cyphar 10y ago
I actually put Arch on my SOs laptop, because I knew that Ubuntu would probably break in some way in a couple of months. But I'd probably go with openSUSE if I needed to reinstall GNU/Linux (the community has put a lot of work into stability as well as having up to date software).
- noobermin 10y ago
  Does arch have something like Software in their gnome 3? My SO isn't as into tech stuff and I wanted it to be easier for them to install stuff without having to google or know apt/emerge/pacman
  - smonff 10y ago
    Yes, it is possible to use package management GUIs in Arch. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman/Tips_and_tricks#Graphical_front-ends https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman/Tips_and_tricks#...
  - cyphar 10y ago
    Yeah, there's front-ends for pacman. They're usually ... okay. The only issue is that you usually need to install stuff from the AUR (which won't ever get updated by default unless your GUI supports yaourt).
- dingaling 10y ago
  The main problem that I have with unattended Ubuntu for family is that eventually /boot fills-up with old kernels and updates start to fail. I don't believe they have resolved this despite having been a problem for years.
  - scintill76 10y ago
    How necessary is it to have a separate /boot partition these days though? I have one because my root is LUKS-encrypted, but I think Grub could handle booting from an unencrypted ext4 root. I guess it would still fill up eventually, but maybe not before a re-install for other reasons.
    - cyphar 10y ago
      On UEFI systems, the /boot partition needs to be FAT32. So there's that. :P

carlesfe 10y ago

Editorialized title?

AgentME 10y ago
Is it not accurate? Turns out updates had been broken for me too for a while because of this problem.
- carlesfe 10y ago
  Given that the original title "Refresh hangs indefinitely, appstreamcli using 100% CPU" wouldn't probably have made the front page, yes, I'd say it has been editorialised for added sensationalism, like "failing all over the world" For me, that is not accurate. If OP wanted to give a bit more context other than the original title, they could have changed it without adding the sensationalist part, for example, "Ubuntu bug breaks apt-get update" or similar.

zaggynl 10y ago

This is why you wait for a service pack or point release before using a new version of an OS.

sliken 10y ago
Doesn't help much. Ubuntu-14.04 LTS had a similar problem last week where network manager crashes and you can't get to the network to fix it.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  FFS, we are not going to beat Windows by recreating it!

orblivion 10y ago

This afternoon, without applying any of the workaround fixes, I somehow was able to apt update and upgrade appstream. Did they somehow make a server-side fix?