[Aptitude-devel] Bug#834790: Bug#834790: aptitude hangs at "Loading cache" when unable to download package list

[Manuel A. Fernandez Montecelo]

Control: tags -1 + moreinfo


2016-08-19 10:36 Axel Beckert:
>Control: tag -1 - d-i
>
>Hi Kipp,
>
>Kipp Cannon wrote:
>> After doing an update (pressing "u"), if an entry in /etc/apt/sources.list
>> was invalid or the server did not respond, then upon returning from the
>> screen of package list download progress bars aptitude displays "Loading
>> cache" in a box and then stops and makes any further progress.  The program
>> is somewhat responsive, for example, pressing "q" presents an option to
>> quit the program, but it is impossible to use the program to install or
>> upgrade any software until all servers in sources.list are responding
>> again.
>[...]
>> How to reproduce:  put a typo in /etc/apt/sources.list, e.g., replace
>> "stretch" with "strecth", run aptitude, press "u".
>
>Thanks for the detailed bug report. Will try to reproduce it.

I tried to reproduce it, using a wrong domain name and a wrong suite
name ("unstable2"), and failed to get the behaviour that you describe.
It doesn't get stuck in "loading cache" -- it just shows errors, and one
can continue normally.

Perhaps it behaves as you describe if the domain name is valid but the
server takes long time to reply, or if it's the only repository
configured in /etc/apt/sources.list or some special condition like that,
I don't have much time nor bandwidth to test combinations now.

But in that case, I think that for most of these possible conditions,
the errors would be clear enough for the user to know that s/he has to
rectify the file, and for that one probably will quit aptitude anyway,
or will occur to them that the typos and subsequent errors are the main
cause of aptitude being stuck, and will indicate to them that restarting
aptitude is necessary/advisable.


Cheers.
-- 
Manuel A. Fernandez Montecelo <manuel.montezelo at gmail.com>