Signal-desktop: Signal doesn't start after upgrading to electron 9.1.0

[Flupkees]

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

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Bug Description

Signal doesn't start after upgrading to electron 9.1.0
Downgrading electron to 9.0.5 solves it.

Steps to Reproduce

1. upgrade to electron 9.1.0
2. shut down signal or reboot (not sure whether reboot is necessary, but I happened to reboot for another reason)
3. start signal
4. See that nothing happens
5. downgrade to electron 9.0.5
6. run signal
7. securely and privately communicate as usual!

Actual Result:

Signal doesn't start and there's no indication whatsoever why. Looking at journalctl, I get:

Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:815:32)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Object.Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1004:10)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:967:30)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Object. (/usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/node_modules/@journeyapps/sqlcipher/lib/sqlite3.js:4:15)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at require (internal/modules/cjs/helpers.js:74:18)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Module.require (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:852:19)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Function.Module._load (electron/js2c/asar.js:769:28)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:690:27)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Function.o._resolveFilename (electron/js2c/browser_init.js:281:679)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Module._resolveFilename (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:797:17)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: -
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: - /usr/lib/electron/resources/default_app.asar/main.js
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: - /usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/main.js
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: - /usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/ts/sql/Server.js
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: - /usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/node_modules/@journeyapps/sqlcipher/lib/sqlite3.js
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: Require stack:
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: Error: Cannot find module '/usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/node_modules/@journeyapps/sqlcipher/lib/binding/electron-v9.1-linux-x64/node_sqlite3.node'
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: Unhandled Error
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:815:32)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Object.Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1004:10)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:967:30)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Object. (/usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/node_modules/@journeyapps/sqlcipher/lib/sqlite3.js:4:15)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at require (internal/modules/cjs/helpers.js:74:18)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Module.require (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:852:19)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Function.Module._load (electron/js2c/asar.js:769:28)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:690:27)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Function.o._resolveFilename (electron/js2c/browser_init.js:281:679)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: at Module._resolveFilename (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:797:17)
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: -
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: - /usr/lib/electron/resources/default_app.asar/main.js
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: - /usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/main.js
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: - /usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/ts/sql/Server.js
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: - /usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/node_modules/@journeyapps/sqlcipher/lib/sqlite3.js
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: Require stack:
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: Unhandled Error: Error: Cannot find module '/usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/node_modules/@journeyapps/sqlcipher/lib/binding/electron-v9.1-linux-x64/node_sqlite3.node'
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: config/get: Successfully read ephemeral config file
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: x-attr dependncy did not load successfully
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: config/get: Successfully read user config file
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: userData: /home/[USERNAME-EDITED]/.config/Signal
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: SIGNAL_ENABLE_HTTP undefined
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: SUPPRESS_NO_CONFIG_WARNING undefined
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: NODE_APP_INSTANCE undefined
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: HOSTNAME undefined
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: ALLOW_CONFIG_MUTATIONS undefined
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: NODE_CONFIG {}
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: NODE_CONFIG_DIR /usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/config
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: NODE_ENV production
Jul 07 12:13:35 desktopk signal-desktop.desktop[2920]: Set Windows Application User Model ID (AUMID) { appUserModelId: 'org.whispersystems.signal-desktop' }

I had upgraded electron from 9.0.5 to 9.1.0 half an hour earlier. After downgrading to 9.0.5 signal starts as usual.

Platform Info

Signal Version:

v.1.34.3

Operating System:

Arch Linux, let me know if you want to know more.

[Mushoz]

Can confirm and reproduce the issue. I am also running arch, and since the update to electron 9.1.0 Signal refuses the start with a similar log as posted above.

[aDogCalledSpot]

Starting signal-desktop from the command line gives me a very similar message. The most important information is probably this:

Unhandled Error
Error: Cannot find module '/usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/node_modules/@journeyapps/sqlcipher/lib/binding/electron-v9.1-linux-x64/node_sqlite3.node'
Require stack:
- /usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/node_modules/@journeyapps/sqlcipher/lib/sqlite3.js
- /usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/ts/sql/Server.js
- /usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/main.js
- /usr/lib/electron/resources/default_app.asar/main.js
-
    at Module._resolveFilename (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:797:17)
    at Function.o._resolveFilename (electron/js2c/browser_init.js:281:679)
    at Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:690:27)
    at Function.Module._load (electron/js2c/asar.js:769:28)
    at Module.require (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:852:19)
    at require (internal/modules/cjs/helpers.js:74:18)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/usr/lib/signal-desktop/app.asar/node_modules/@journeyapps/sqlcipher/lib/sqlite3.js:4:15)
    at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:967:30)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1004:10)
    at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:815:32)

[Edu4rdSHL]

It's a bug from the ArchLinux side, they need to rebuild the package because it's linked with the old electron version.

[kpcyrd]

This has been fixed with the 1.34.3-2 update, please report Arch Linux specific issues in the Arch Linux bugtracker instead.

[Flupkees]

Ah, great to see that it's fixed! Updated both electron and signal and everything works fine again.

@kpcyrd Was there a way for me to know that this was an Arch Linux specific issue?

[pythoneer]

it is already in the Arch Linux bugtracker https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/67214

[josh-signal]

The version of electron that Signal officially supports is listed in our package.json: https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Desktop/blob/development/package.json#L207