Signal-desktop: Error migrating data during Signal Desktop upgrade on Mac

[corywright]

• [ ] I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates

---

Bug description

Describe here the issue that you are experiencing.

During migration of data for upgrade to Signal Desktop for Mac:

https://gist.github.com/9dcd11b14fb12afc4518b5df59247e9c

Steps to reproduce

• using hyphens as bullet points
• list the steps
• that reproduce the bug

Actual result: Describe here what happens after you run the steps above (i.e. the buggy behaviour)
Expected result: Describe here what should happen after you run the steps above (i.e. what would be the correct behaviour)

Screenshots

Platform info

Operating System: My Operating System A
Browser: My Browser X.Y.Z

Signal version: Z.Y.Y

Link to debug log

https://gist.github.com/9dcd11b14fb12afc4518b5df59247e9c

[scottnonnenberg]

Hey there! Sorry you're running into trouble! Can you take a look at the attachments in your conversation with the contact with a phone number ending in 340? What can you tell us about the attachments in that conversation?

2017-10-31T17:50:07.618Z exporting conversation 1509471867593 (+[REDACTED]340)
2017-10-31T17:50:09.083Z writeAttachments: error exporting conversation 1509471867593 (+[REDACTED]340) : InvalidModificationError: The object can not be modified in this way.

[scottnonnenberg]

Also, you can reenable the Chrome app for use with these commands in the DevTools (go to chrome://extensions in your browser, find Signal, then click the background.html link, then enter this text in the Console tab):

window.storage.put('migrationEnabled', false);
window.storage.put('migrationState', 0);
window.storage.put('migrationEverCompleted', false);

Wait a bit, then:

window.location.reload();

[fncnt]

Hi! I got sent here from support. It appears that I have the same issue. Here's my debug log:
https://gist.github.com/anonymous/69883958f8504214740fc71df457b80d

I checked the export folder for the group in question (ID 1509374754238) and there are 10 attachments (all PNGs or JPGs) exported (the actual group having 10 attachments as well). The catch is that some of the exported images are from another conversation and got named undefined.png or _object Object_.jpeg.
I'm trying to pin down which conversation they originate from...

[scottnonnenberg]

@fncnt Your example attachment filenames are _extremely_ valuable. Those will help me track things down. Thanks!

[fncnt]

@scottnonnenberg I didn't scroll up all the way in that conversation. The files I mentioned are part of the group. I just didn't wait long enough until Signal loaded the messages from the database... Sorry about that! (Files named _object Object_.jpeg just seem to be really old, they appear in other exported conversations as well)

There are 3 pictures in this conversation which didn't get exported. All of them are displayed within Signal in a wrong orientation (compared to my file manager).

[fongaboo]

Just curious. Are you running an alternate build of Android on whatever device you have the mobile app version of Signal running on? I reported a problem a while ago that images would sometimes appear horizontally flipped and OWS suspected it was related to me running LineageOS. So wondering if there is a connection.

[scottnonnenberg]

Flipped images happen with images taken on iOS devices as well. There's some metadata we don't properly honor.

[fncnt]

@fongaboo I'm running Signal-Android on a stock ROM (but the images originate from an iOS device) but I don't see how this should be related to this issue on the desktop.

@scottnonnenberg the wrong orientation of the pictures was just a wild guess regarding the cause of InvalidModificationError.

[fongaboo]

ah k. was just going further down the rabbit hole.

[corywright]

@scottnonnenberg From the best I can tell, all the attachments in my conversation with that person are pictures, videos, or screenshots from an iPhone, all with the standard IMG_XXXX naming scheme. One of the recent videos was .mp4 and another was .mov. Nothing looks unusual about them.

[andrazznidar]

Something goes wrong during my export also. The directory size stops at around 1,14 GB, so there is write access to the target directory. There are also tens of GB of free space.

Here are the interesting parts of the debug log:
https://gist.github.com/andrazznidar/5cc97e590e6ce38fa8119cfef064d26a

[scottnonnenberg]

When you've installed 0.44.2 of the Chrome App, just released to the Chrome Web Store, try to migrate again. It should help make those exports more reliable.

[corywright]

@scottnonnenberg I upgraded the extension to 0.44.2 and tried the export again, and unfortunately it's still failing: https://gist.github.com/anonymous/9d635c3ac8a17208187db3503e2d452a

What other data can I give you to help debug this?

[scottnonnenberg]

I think I'm going to include extensive logging to the DevTools console in 0.44.3 (not to the debug log) which will help us get to the bottom of this. Watch for that update!

[scottnonnenberg]

This is a duplicate of #1616. Let's move the conversation there.

[Paul-Spiegel]

Tried to migrate data. Got the following error message: Something went wrong!
Make sure you have chosen the correct directory that contains your saved Signal data. Its name should begin with 'Signal Export.' You can also save a new copy of your data from the Chrome App.
If these steps don't work for you, please submit a debug log (View -> Debug Log) so that we can help you get migrated!

Can someone help me solve this problem using language a layman can understand?

[scottnonnenberg-signal]

@Paul-Spiegel First, let's start with what you're trying to do. What data are you trying to import into Signal Desktop? Signal Desktop import is designed for one data source only - your previous Signal Desktop data, from when it was a Chrome App (instead of a standalone app).

Second, that specific request for the View -> Debug Log is hugely important to help us figure out what's happening. Please upload that debug log then paste the resultant URL here.

[Paul-Spiegel]

Hi, Scott!

Thanks for getting back to me. All I really want to do is use Signal again as a standalone application on my Macintosh desktop, complimenting the app on my iPhone. I did so earlier, but something has changed. When I open Signal, I get the error message at Exhibit A. Searching for the debug log gives me Exhibit B. The URL for the debug log  https://debuglogs.org/413ed0639eba439b871db8c92b0b54dd6c734dfbc2b4c4d1682564eace10213cis as linked. I gather this log is now posted publicly online.

As I said, all I want to do is use Signal again on my desktop. It would be nice to import my contacts as well. Can you help, please?

EXHIBIT A

EXHIBIT B

On Jul 17, 2019, at 10:52 AM, Scott Nonnenberg [e-mail] wrote:

@Paul-Spiegel https://github.com/Paul-Spiegel First, let's start with what you're trying to do. What data are you trying to import into Signal Desktop? Signal Desktop import is designed for one data source only - your previous Signal Desktop data, from when it was a Chrome App (instead of a standalone app).

Second, that specific request for the View -> Debug Log is hugely important to help us figure out what's happening. Please upload that debug log then paste the resultant URL here.

—
You are receiving this because you were mentioned.
Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Desktop/issues/1617?email_source=notifications&email_token=ALN6E4LLKNJJZZDYMITGUJLP75L6RA5CNFSM4EBUVIQKYY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGOD2GB26Q#issuecomment-512499066, or mute the thread https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ALN6E4NL6VZFKXPVSA25UV3P75L6RANCNFSM4EBUVIQA.

[scottnonnenberg-signal]

@Paul-Spiegel Sadly your Exhibit A and B didn't come through, since GitHub doesn't accept attachments from emails.

Looking at your log, I see a couple other things to discuss. First, you're on 1.17.1, which is about 9 months old. The current version is 1.25.3. But your update infrastructure is having problems:

Error: Error: Cannot update while running on a read-only volume. The application is on a read-only volume.

Is Signal.app in /Applications on your machine? Or somewhere else?

Your next error is more troubling, and much less common error. How did you originally install Signal Desktop?

INFO  2019-07-17T05:51:12.719Z sql channel error with call removeAll: Error: SQLITE_ERROR: no such module: fts5