Lack of Detailed Visual Feedback When Errors Appear

[SpeeQz1]

Distribution

Mint 22.3

Package version

6.6.7

Graphics hardware in use

No response

Frequency

Always

Bug description

Linux Mint appears to not give the user enough options for detailed debugging of a problem through its visual interfaces like the Software Sources app or the Update Manager and just gives generic errors.

This is an issue that was noticed after having to deal with a separate one when it comes to Steam:

(Example error for reference)

W: An error occurred during the signature verification. The repository is not updated and the previous index files will be used. GPG error: https://repo.steampowered.com/steam stable InRelease: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY F24AEA9FB05498B7 NO_PUBKEY 84706F31879D59CB
W: Failed to fetch https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/dists/stable/InRelease  The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY F24AEA9FB05498B7 NO_PUBKEY 84706F31879D59CB
W: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

Upon clicking the Refresh button this would produce a generic connection issue instead of giving the user the option to open and see what was the original error that caused it and instead they see only what the Update Manager reports.

Additionally upon trying to apply changes with Software Sources, by modifying Additional Repositories it will get stuck in a state where the interface buttons and status bar are grayed out and not responding, without giving the option to see what commands it is running and whether they are stuck.

Another similar case is when the Update Manager gets held up by a process and Linux Mint won't report which process is responsible.

Steps to reproduce

1. Ensure you have some sort of an error with the apt update command execution
2. Open the Update Manager
3. Click on Refresh

Expected behavior

User sees is given the option to see detailed error reporting of what exactly went wrong as, be it either in the format of a drop down text box or a pop up.

Additional information

No response

[cplittlfield]

I'm not sure what you are finding unclear in these messages.

The first message tells you that there is a problem with the Steam repository, https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/dists/stable/InRelease. The message further states that the repository is not properly signed. The proper response is to ask Steam why this is the case.

The second message says that the package management system is already in use. (Did you enable automatic updates, or are you running apt or dpkg in a terminal?) As the message itself explicitly tells you, the proper response is to wait until the package management system is free again.

Out of curiosity, what further information do you need, that these messages do not provide? What does "detailed error reporting" entail in these cases?

I have to add that these messages seem impressively informative to me. Throughout most of my career, I usually saw variations on "ERROR: An error has occurred." 😁

[SpeeQz1]

@cplittlfield the problem is not the actual contents of the messages or what the errors were about from the terminal, but rather the lack of access to to that information in the GUIs provided by Linux Mint.

The Steam error was listed nowhere in the Update Manager error reporting, and it just reported a simple network connection error. The user in this case would need to run sudo apt update from the terminal to see this error as it was not reported nor accessible from the GUI error pop up dialog.

The problem with the second error you mentioned is that it's not reporting specifically what software is holding it back. The best way to think of it is how when you open the System Monitor you can see what the process name and ID are, which is NOT present in the GUI error pop up as shown with the last image.

Edit:

Here is a demonstration of a very basic implementation.

[JosephMcc]

This has absolutely nothing to do with Cinnamon. These errors come from whatever individual tools are being used.

[SpeeQz1]

@JosephMcc

I must reiterate that the problems described here are not in any relation related to the actual contents of the errors themselves but rather the way that a user goes about acquiring that information inside Linux Mint.

Let me show an example of the thought process involved and what error Cinnamon is doing here with its pop up dialogs.

Situation A (What currently happens):

1. User opens Update Manager
2. User click "Refresh" button
3. Update Manager creates a graphical pop up dialog menu informing him that an error has appeared. The description of this error is a generic network error with nothing else provided.
4. User does not know what is the actual reason for this happening as the error provides nothing else.
5. User remembers that under the hood the Update Manager executes an apt update command when updating packages.
6. User runs sudo apt update in their terminal.
7. User sees that (in this specific example) Steam is causing an issue.

Situation B (what should actually be happening):

1. User opens Update Manager
2. User click "Refresh" button
3. Update Manager creates a graphical pop up dialog menu informing him that an error has appeared. The description of this error is a generic network error with nothing else provided.
4. User sees that the graphical error pop ip dialog has a Details button.
5. User sees the output of the terminal commands the Update Manager executed under the hood and sees the same Steam error.

The essence of the problem is that the user does not see the direct output of the commands executed under the hood by the Update Manager.

In this case I do not know how much control the manager has over error reporting, but if possible it should be able to give the user visually to see its output without the user having to make an assumption on how to see further information about the error in questiok.

This bug report has nothing to do with individual tools installed on the user's system but rather how much error information Linux Mint is making available to the user through the visual error pop up dialogs.

[JosephMcc]

User sees that the graphical error pop ip dialog has a Details button.
User sees the output of the terminal commands the Update Manager executed under the hood and sees the same Steam error.

This bug report has nothing to do with individual tools installed on the user's system but rather how much error information Linux Mint is making available to the user through the visual error pop up dialogs.

Again, this has nothing to do with Cinnamon. This would have to be implemented by the individual apps. Arguing you think it should be different doesn't change the reality of how things work.