Trouble updating chromium snap

snapd
1

I’m having trouble (often) updating chromium regularly.

guiverc@d960-ubu2:~/.config/hexchat$   snap refresh
error: cannot perform the following tasks:
- Run configure hook of "chromium" snap if present (run hook "configure": 
-----
/usr/share/fonts/X11: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 5 dirs
/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi: caching, new cache contents: 358 fonts, 0 dirs
/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1: caching, new cache contents: 8 fonts, 0 dirs
/usr/share/fonts/X11/encodings: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 1 dirs
/usr/share/fonts/X11/encodings/large: caching, new cache contents: 0 fonts, 0 dirs
<redacted>
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/monoid: caching, new cache contents: 5 fonts, 0 dirs
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts: caching, new cache contents: 60 fonts, 0 dirs
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/nanum: caching, new cache contents: 12 fonts, 0 dirs
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/noto: 
<exceeded maximum runtime of 5m0s>
-----)

I’ve seen the same from other user (eg. https://askubuntu.com/questions/1300249/updating-chromium-fails-times-out-as-snap-package) and maybe it’s just how we use our boxes

(I usually suspend boxes overnight; rebooting only when required, say every 10 days, though I often close chromium & firefox before I suspend at night as extensions I use cause ram-leaks & this nullifies the leak/thrashing issue.

I’m on hirsute, and I update (apt) my box 2-3 times per day, but only snap refresh when I get sick of the nagging & count-down of days… quitting chromium & trying snap refresh… if this issue occurs a few times (exceeded maximum runtime of), I just re-load chromium & return to ignoring the nagging).

Eventually I’ll succeed

guiverc@d960-ubu2:~/.config/hexchat$   snap refresh
chromium 89.0.4389.82 from Canonical✓ refreshed

or I just be very patient on next reboot, letting it update before I start chromium (most of what I do is in firefox anyway)

I suspect it relates to my older box (2009 dell)

  • dell [optiplex] 960 (c2q-q9400, 8gb, amd/ati cedar radeon hd 5000/6000/7350/8350)

This issue doesn’t worry me, but I’m reporting.

2

It’s not clear to me what’s being done with the fonts when Chromium is being installed. In my case the installation (on a pretty old machine) also stops with the same 5 minute timeout when processing fonts in the same folder /usr/share/fonts/truetype/noto . The folder is actually one of the largest under /usr/share/fonts/truetype.

Two workarounds are possible:

  • sudo snap remove chromium and later sudo snap install chromium
  • alternatively moving the content of /usr/share/fonts/truetype or possibly only /usr/share/fonts/truetype/noto to a temporary location should allow snap to refresh Chromium without hitting a timeout, the folder should be restored afterwards, please note that after the fonts are moved your session might show unreadable characters and it might be difficult to restore the folder, if so a solution to that might be connecting remotely through SSH.

In general it looks like either Chromium package should be fixed or snap should be allowing more time than just 5 minutes.

1 Like
3

This still occurs… (just happened again). I usually just try again, and second (& sometimes third time) it resolves itself, updates & the refresh warnings for chromium disappear.

My box sits on development meaning it’s now jammy

/usr/share/fonts/truetype/lyx: caching, new cache contents: 12 fonts, 0 dirs
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/malayalam: caching, new cache contents: 10 fonts, 0 dirs
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/material-design-icons-iconfont: caching, new cache contents: 1 fonts, 0 dirs
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/monoid: caching, new cache contents: 5 fonts, 0 dirs
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts: caching, new cache contents: 60 fonts, 0 dirs
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/nanum: caching, new cache contents: 12 fonts, 0 dirs
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/noto: 
<exceeded maximum runtime of 5m0s>

The issue doesn’t worry me; I just work around it (have been doing so for many cycles, usually only encountering it maybe once a fortnight), but if firefox is going to be a snap (I upgraded to impish way too early so mine is still a deb package), I wonder if it’ll hit more users…

I suspect relates to

  • old box being used (2009 dell)
  • spinning rust drive (slow)
  • I’ve additional fonts; so more to cache?? compounding issue?

Thanks @olin000 for suggestion… I don’t mind with chromium, but I may need a solution if it occurs when my firefox migrates to snap package.