Brave-browser: Can't import from Chrome while Chrome is running

[goocreations]

Description

In the new beta, when using the "Import bookmarks and settings" option under Linux (Ubuntu) and one selects a profile from Chrome, the following message shows:

_To finish importing, close all Chrome windows._

Although Chrome is closed and not showing at all under the process list. This only happens on Linux, Windows works fine. Might be something wrong with the code that detects if Chrome is running.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Have Chrome open and then open Brave.
2. Go to Settings -> Import bookmarks and settings
3. Select one of the detected Chrome Profiles. A popup dialog will show with the message "To finish importing, close all Chrome windows."

Expected result:

Settings from Chrome being imported.

Reproduces how often:

Easily reproduced

Brave version (brave://version info)

Brave 0.57.6 Chromium: 71.0.3578.31 (Official Build) beta (64-bit)
Revision c88fdf2a4ce19a713615ca4fbde7a0d0b5fe2363-refs/branch-heads/3578@{#427}
OS Linux

Reproducible on current release:

• Does it reproduce on brave-browser dev/beta builds?
  Both beta and dev

Website problems only:

• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Shields?
  No
• Is the issue reproducible on the latest version of Chrome?
  No

Additional Information

[a2research]

Same problem, cannot import bookmarks and settings with error message: "To finish importing, close all Chrome windows." when Chrome not running.

Brave 0.57.6 Chromium: 71.0.3578.31 (Official Build) beta (64-bit)
Revision c88fdf2a4ce19a713615ca4fbde7a0d0b5fe2363-refs/branch-heads/3578@{#427}
OS Linux Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS
Chrome Version 70.0.3538.110 (Official Build) (64-bit)

[subat0mik]

Same issue.

Version 0.58.16 Chromium: 71.0.3578.98 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS

[acramatte]

I had the same issue trying to import everything from my old brave.

Somehow by not checking the 'Browsing history' from the items to import it ended up working. I could then re-do the import and this time check the 'Browsing history' and now everything has been imported.

Not sure if that helps.

Old Brave: 0.25.304 with Muon 8.1.8
New Brave: Version 0.58.16 Chromium: 71.0.3578.98 (Official Build) (64-bit)
MacOS X High Sierra 10.13.4

[srirambv]

Cant reproduce this issue. @goocreations @subat0mik @amilleranalytics do you guys have Google Hangouts extension running on your Chrome? If so there might be a background process running it which has locked the Chrome process.

[goocreations]

No, no Hangouts extension installed or running. I tried this by restarting Ubuntu and not opening Chrome at all. I also checked the process list and as far as I can see there is no Chrome-related process running.

Any reason why Chrome must be closed? Seems like a read operation. If nothing is written to Chrome, then why not just import with Chrome "running"? Haven't checked the code, so might be a stupid suggestion.

[jessehonig]

I had the same issue. I fixed it by disabling and removing my DuckDuckGo extension from my Chrome Browser and then refreshing my Brave page.

[goocreations]

Ahh, DuckDuckGo might be the issue.

[a2research]

Unfortunately, I do not have the DuckDuckGo extension installed on
Chrome or Brave.  Still unable to import Chrome bookmarks into Brave :-(.

I was able to import my Chrome bookmarks by first exporting them from
Chrome to an HTML file and then importing the file into Brave.  But the
"unable to import Chrome bookmarks error" in this this ticket still
manifests, which would be very off-putting to new users.

Brave logoBrave
Version 0.58.21 Chromium: 71.0.3578.98 (Official Build) (64-bit)

Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS

On 1/20/19 7:39 AM, jessehonig wrote:
>

I had the same issue. I fixed it by disabling and removing my
DuckDuckGo extension from my Chrome Browser and then refreshing my
Brave page.

—
You are receiving this because you were mentioned.
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[jmd1011]

New user trying to switch -- can agree, it's very off-putting. :(

Is there no resolution?

[jeremy-flusin]

If anyone on Ubuntu is still encountering this issue :

On Ubuntu, Chrome has a process on the top-right corner bar which keeps the lock file :

After killing it by right-clicking, I was able to import my settings. If it does not work, try remove your lock file located at : ~/.config/google-chrome/SingletonLock

That is to say that it's not a problem with Brave itself, btw.

[BikashPandey17]

On Windows, the issue might be because chrome continues running background apps even when it is closed. Turning this feature off in chrome -> settings -> system(Advanced) worked for me.
Link-> (chrome://settings/system)

[bsclifton]

@jeremy-flusin great solution - that is what I've had to do also (on macOS, Linux, and Windows). Depending on the platform, the Chrome profile directory is different.

Sometimes, launching and then exiting Chrome would be enough to properly clean it up. But there were several times where this wouldn't work

[bsclifton]

We should be able to fix this - I believe we put a check in place for the Muon import, that would remove the files. Would need to investigate more

Definitely not a bug with Brave, but something we can handle more elegantly (by trying to delete the lock file)

cc: @rebron for prioritization

[juanaguillon]

I solved it.
Entry to google chrome and disable all extensions and aplications.

Try again importing on brave.

Hope you help.

[bsclifton]

Bumping up to a P3 since this seems to be broken for many users and import is an important feature

[debugster]

If anyone on Ubuntu is still encountering this issue :

On Ubuntu, Chrome has a process on the top-right corner bar which keeps the lock file :

After killing it by right-clicking, I was able to import my settings. If it does not work, try remove your lock file located at : ~/.config/google-chrome/SingletonLock

That is to say that it's not a problem with Brave itself, btw.

Removing the SingletonLock file solved my issue. Thanks.

[GeetaSarvadnya]

Verification passed on

Brave | 1.10.71 Chromium: 81.0.4044.138 (Official Build) dev (64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 8c6c7ba89cc9453625af54f11fd83179e23450fa-refs/branch-heads/4044@{#999}
OS | Windows 10 OS Version 1803 (Build 17134.1006)

• Verified the STR from the description
• Verified that settings, bookmarks, and extensions are imported to brave even when chrome is opened

---

Verification passed on

Brave | 1.10.71 Chromium: 81.0.4044.138 (Official Build) dev (64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 8c6c7ba89cc9453625af54f11fd83179e23450fa-refs/branch-heads/4044@{#999}
OS | Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

• Verified the test plan from the description
• Verified that settings, bookmarks, and extensions are imported to brave even when chrome is opened

---

Verification PASSED on macOS 10.15.5 Catalina x64 using the following build:

Brave | 1.10.86 Chromium: 83.0.4103.61 (Official Build) (64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 94f915a8d7c408b09cc7352161ad592299f384d2-refs/branch-heads/4103@{#561}
OS | macOS Version 10.15.5 (Build 19F101)

• ensured that importing from brave://welcome worked without issues while Chrome is opened
• ensured that importing from brave://settings/importData worked without issues while Chrome is opened
• ensured that passwords, history, extensions, bookmarks are being imported
• ensured that you can use the imported passwords without any issues
• checked brave://settings/siteData and ensured cookies weren't being imported