Bug 467235 - Clicking appstream link for app not available in any repos gets discover stuck on Loading screen instead of showing expected "this app isn't available" screen
Summary: Clicking appstream link for app not available in any repos gets discover stuc...
Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME
Alias: None
Product: Discover
Classification: Applications
Component: discover (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 5.27.2
Platform: Other Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Plasma Bugs List
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2023-03-12 09:58 UTC by David
Modified: 2025-11-09 03:47 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:


Attachments
what I see (84.62 KB, image/png)
2023-04-13 23:45 UTC, Aleix Pol
Details

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Description David 2023-03-12 09:58:24 UTC
SUMMARY
If I click a weblink for discover like appstream://org.kde.ksysguard, it opens discover but hangs on a loading screen without showing any message of what's impeding me from installing the app.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Launch discover.
2. Open this page in your web browser: https://apps.kde.org/ksysguard/
3. Click the big button that says "Install on linux" and which has the breeze discover icon.

OBSERVED RESULT
Launches discover, but it gets stuck saying "Loading".

EXPECTED RESULT
Should let me install the app. If anything is missing, should tell me what's wrong.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Debian GNU/Linux 12
KDE Plasma Version: 5.27.2
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.103.0
Qt Version: 5.15.8
Kernel Version: 6.1.0-6-amd64 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11
Processors: 20 × 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-12700H
Memory: 62.5 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® Graphics
Manufacturer: SLIMBOOK
Product Name: Executive

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Comment 1 Nate Graham 2023-03-13 21:27:03 UTC
On my Fedora KDE 37 system Discover loads in under a second.

Does this long loading process happen when you launch Discover normally, or only when launching it with a URL, via the button on that website? How about if you launch it by running `xdg-open appstream://org.kde.ksysguard` in a terminal window?
Comment 2 David 2023-03-14 16:35:00 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #1)
> On my Fedora KDE 37 system Discover loads in under a second.
> 
> Does this long loading process happen when you launch Discover normally, or
> only when launching it with a URL, via the button on that website? How about
> if you launch it by running `xdg-open appstream://org.kde.ksysguard` in a
> terminal window?

By "Loading process" I mean the discover app already launched, and usable if you click other buttons, but stuck on saying "Loading" when it should show me something to install KSysGuard.

This is what I get from doing executing the command in the terminal and then clicking the discover window:
david@debian:~$ xdg-open appstream://org.kde.ksysguard
david@debian:~$ fetch ratings! false
adding empty sources model QStandardItemModel(0x557bf5fe2dc0)
Comment 3 Nate Graham 2023-03-15 14:52:11 UTC
Hmm, what does `appstreamcli search org.kde.ksysguard` say?

Can you successfully search for "KsysGuard" within Discover?
Comment 4 David 2023-03-15 16:25:52 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #3)
> Hmm, what does `appstreamcli search org.kde.ksysguard` say?
> 
> Can you successfully search for "KsysGuard" within Discover?

I can search for it in discover's search bar, but it doesn't return any results that would involve the application "ksysguard", only things like "page that looks more like ksysguard ..." for the new system monitor.
Comment 5 Nate Graham 2023-03-15 16:35:08 UTC
Thanks. And what does `appstreamcli search org.kde.ksysguard` say?
Comment 6 David 2023-03-15 16:45:20 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #5)
> Thanks. And what does `appstreamcli search org.kde.ksysguard` say?

This is what it shows  after I installed ksysguard from source through the cmake script:
Identifier: org.kde.ksysguard [desktop-application]
Name: KSysGuard
Summary: Monitor running processes and system performance
Homepage: https://kde.org/plasma-desktop
Icon: utilities-system-monitor
Comment 7 Nate Graham 2023-03-15 16:47:34 UTC
> This is what it shows  after I installed ksysguard from source through the cmake script:
Nono, that's not what I wanted. :) Does `appstreamcli search org.kde.ksysguard` display the same output *before* you compile and build ksysguard locally? If you purge all files for it, what does `appstreamcli search org.kde.ksysguard` say?
Comment 8 David 2023-03-15 17:02:06 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #7)
> > This is what it shows  after I installed ksysguard from source through the cmake script:
> Nono, that's not what I wanted. :) Does `appstreamcli search
> org.kde.ksysguard` display the same output *before* you compile and build
> ksysguard locally? If you purge all files for it, what does `appstreamcli
> search org.kde.ksysguard` say?

Don't know. I already installed it. The cmake script fails to execute 'make uninstall'. And it seems it left something in my user folder, because if I boot into an earlier snapshot, ksysguard still shows up in the applications launcher, but kfind doesn't find anything 'ksysguard' in my user folder outside of the folder with the source code.
Comment 9 David 2023-03-15 17:11:40 UTC
For comparison, if instead of ksysguard I try krita, it does end up showing something in discover.
Comment 10 David 2023-03-15 17:15:07 UTC
Ok, so found another app that also hangs in loading:
https://apps.kde.org/amarok

The link is: appstream://org.kde.amarok.desktop

The command line says:
Unable to find component matching org.kde.amarok!
Comment 11 Nate Graham 2023-03-15 19:30:41 UTC
Ok. One final question before we apportion responsibility here: are KSysGuard and Amarok available in your Debian system's active repos right now such that you can use `apt` to install them?
Comment 12 David 2023-03-15 19:31:21 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #11)
> Ok. One final question before we apportion responsibility here: are
> KSysGuard and Amarok available in your Debian system's active repos right
> now such that you can use `apt` to install them?

No. That's why I'm trying to use discover.
Comment 13 Nate Graham 2023-03-15 20:10:46 UTC
I see. There may be some confusion here; Discover is simply a graphical front-end to the apps available on your system through distro packages, Flatpak, and Snap. If an app isn't available in those places, Discover won't be able to show it to you either.

That said, if an app isn't available and yo tell Discover to open it directly by its URL, it's supposed to show you a message to that effect, nod load forever.
Comment 14 Aleix Pol 2023-03-31 00:19:09 UTC
I also cannot reproduce the problem :(
Comment 15 David 2023-04-01 11:03:11 UTC
(In reply to Aleix Pol from comment #14)
> I also cannot reproduce the problem :(

Would it perhaps be reproducible if you pass the name of some non-existent app? e.g.
xdg-open appstream://org.kde.knonexistentsoftware
Comment 16 Aleix Pol 2023-04-13 23:45:47 UTC
Created attachment 158089 [details]
what I see

No, that's the page I immediately see.
Comment 17 Aleix Pol 2023-04-13 23:47:17 UTC
Would you be able to run `plasma-discover --backends packagekit appstream://org.kde.ksysguard` and tell us if you still see this same problem?
Comment 18 David 2023-04-16 12:36:32 UTC
(In reply to Aleix Pol from comment #17)
> Would you be able to run `plasma-discover --backends packagekit
> appstream://org.kde.ksysguard` and tell us if you still see this same
> problem?

Executing that command also gets discover stuck in "loading". It prints the following to the terminal though:
fetch ratings! false
adding empty sources model QStandardItemModel(0x5626ce7bcf60)
took really long to fetch PackageKitBackend(0x5626ce780ae0)
Comment 19 john.liptrot 2025-10-10 19:18:10 UTC
(In reply to David from comment #15)
> (In reply to Aleix Pol from comment #14)
> > I also cannot reproduce the problem :(
> 
> Would it perhaps be reproducible if you pass the name of some non-existent
> app? e.g.
> xdg-open appstream://org.kde.knonexistentsoftware

Cannot reproduce with appstream://org.kde.knonexistentsoftware

David, Is this still an issue for you?

Operating System: KDE Linux 2025-10-10
KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.80
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.20.0
Qt Version: 6.9.2
Kernel Version: 6.17.1-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 2 × Intel® Pentium® 3805U @ 1.90GHz
Memory: 4 GiB of RAM (3.7 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: Intel® HD Graphics
Manufacturer: LENOVO
Product Name: 80EW
System Version: Lenovo B50-80
Comment 20 Bug Janitor Service 2025-10-25 03:47:40 UTC
🐛🧹 ⚠️ This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least 15 days. Please provide the requested information, then set the bug status to REPORTED. If there is no change for at least 30 days, it will be automatically closed as RESOLVED WORKSFORME.

For more information about our bug triaging procedures, please read https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Bug_triaging.

Thank you for helping us make KDE software even better for everyone!
Comment 21 Bug Janitor Service 2025-11-09 03:47:51 UTC
🐛🧹 This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least 30 days. Closing as RESOLVED WORKSFORME.