NetSurf doesn't start after upgrade to 3.10

Yesterday I upgraded the NetSurf to the current Version 3.10 from the !Store.
I merged the !Boot folder and the !System folder as described in the readme file.
Unfortunately after this NetSurf start fails with this error:
“NetSurf core failed to initialise”

I also tried to downgrade to the previous version.
But also the 3.9 doesn’t work anymore.

My Hardware is a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B.
My OS is the RISC OS Pi bought from ROOL Store in 2016 (seems to be RISC OS 5.22)

The downgrade probably failed because you won’t be able to merge !Boot and !System with an older version using the !Boot and !system that came with version 3.09.

If you are feeling adventurous – it won’t be an easy job – the changes made by merging !Boot are listed in !Boot.log and the old files are in !Boot.backup. Similarly System.Log show the changes when merging !System and the old files are in System.backup. You may be able to see what changed and revert the changes.

I’d hope someone else came along and had an easier fix.

I’d suggest asking on the NetSurf Users mailing list, as there will be people there who can advise better.

That said, it would be useful to know what it’s unhappy about. Does it open a log file when it fails, and if it does, what is in it?

If there isn’t a log presented, what does the <Wimp$ScrapDir>.WWW.NetSurf.Log file contain?

I recently upgraded my !NetSurf 3.9 to 3.10 without issue and a major improvement. I did not do any of the !boot or !System updates seems they seemed to be the same from the earlier version.

But I notice and this might be the important bit that the user with the issue is using RISCOS 5.22 was that not the first RC candidate for the Pi. Which is now well out of date.

the user with the issue is using RISCOS 5.22 was that not the first RC candidate for the Pi

The Netsurf download page claims that anything from RISC OS 5.07 onwards should work.

A purchase date of 2016 suggests it was probably RC14, which was one of the later RC builds (RC15 followed in 2017, with 5.24 arriving in 2018). Out of date? Yes. Ridiculously so? No.

Ok fair enough. I just seem to remember having RISC OS 5.22 when I got the Pi 1 a few months after it first came out. Can’t check at moment since, I have no access to my Pi currently.

Although this doesn’t really help with the original problem, I have just installed NetSurf 3.10 on 5.22 (13-Apr-15) in RPCEmu, and it has worked fine. I tried it with and without doing the Boot and System merge.

Have a look at Scrap.Scrapdirs.Scrapdir.WWW.NetSurf.Log to see if it gives a better idea why it failed to start.

Good morning,

Will take a look at this log file later.

Maybe it’s really time for an OS (and hardware?) upgrade. I had also issues with !PackMan in the past (seems to be fixed now). Unfortunately the Webkit based browsers won’t work on my machine, since my system freezes for some minutes if I try to start them.

It‘s also Risc OS 5.21 and not 5.22.

The log files contains:
It can‘t find a cache control file and creates a new one.
Then the „Netsurf failed to initalise core“ error without details but with a line number in the source code.
frontend/riscos/gui.c#2157

I am not a C programmer but maybe a look in the source code of NetSurf will give more information what is does there.

The error seems to happen in this merthod netsurf_init()

Here is the method.
Must be one of the line starting with
ret = something
failing.
I hate such useless error messages.. Why don‘t they log at least some status code?

https://github.com/netsurf-browser/netsurf/blob/master/desktop/netsurf.c

Given by the last log before crash It seems to be failing while initialising the cache?

https://github.com/netsurf-browser/netsurf/blob/ed84f7a0188d8c983db4a186b1240d955ee08705/content/fs_backing_store.c

In that case if the cache is the problem you could try:

download netsurf

move yourhdd.$.!boot.Resources.!Cache somewhere safe

copy netsurf_zip_file.!boot.Resources.!Cache to yourhdd.$.!boot.Resources.!Cache

try netsurf again.

I write this reply in NetSurf 3.10 (Build Date: 24 May 2020)
I moved the !Cache directory to another place and just clicked on the NetSurf app icon.
After some seconds it started.
So the error was related to caching.

I think I should report this to the NetSurf developers as a bug. Even a broken cache file should never prevent the browser from working.

I am interested to take a look, how the HTML and CSS support of NetSurf improved within the last updated.

Is there a shortcut to copy error messages from message boxes in RISC OS?

I tried to open !Cache.Caches.Default.NetSurf and the RISC OS Filer says “Broken directory”.
What means this? Is this some sort of file system corruption? (would be fixed by running chkdsk on Windows or fsck on Unix systems)

I tried to open !Cache.Caches.Default.NetSurf and the RISC OS Filer says “Broken directory”. What means this? Is this some sort of file system corruption?

Yes, the filing system is corrupt.

(would be fixed by running chkdsk on Windows or fsck on Unix systems)

DiscKnight on RISC OS. The full version, which will fix as well as check, can be purchased through the PlingStore.

Is there no free alternative?
It’s not that I am to poor or to cheap to buy useful apps.
But I have no payment method that works for !Store.

I tried the checkmap command.
It reports that just that directory is broken.

It’s strange that there is an utility similiar to fsck on RISC OS that can only detect fs errors but not fix them.

I hope I don’t get a file system corruption on an important file any day.
Then I have to get some Visa credit card or debit card.

Can I at least delete the broken !Cache directory?
Filer can’t delete it.
Maybe there some command like “rm -f” to force file deletion?

Or, you could drop us an email (rcomp) and ask to pay by paypal. It isn’t something we normally offer (due to fees), but if someone really can’t find a card to pay with, then we could make an exception.

Also, I don’t know if it still the case, but the cache on Netsurf when used with SD card was mostly a negative performance thing. The amount of time it took to write to the cache on SD outweighted most gains. Add to that the size of the cache and wear and tear on the SD, and it was best to simply not install (ie. delete) !Cache altogether.

Note – this was what I found about five years ago – I don’t know if the cache system has changed/improved in the last few versions.

@Andrew
Thank you for your offer.
There is no contact at the !Store website.
I know that you lucky britains don’t have such imprint legal crap like in germany,
but there should be at least a contact email address if some customer has a question or an issue.

Can I contact you by using this email address
rci at rcomp.co.uk
?
I found this at the R-Comp homepage.
But the copyright of the page says 1996. So I am not sure if this address is still current.

Can I at least delete the broken !Cache directory? Filer can’t delete it.

That’s because the disk map is broken…

Maybe there some command like “rm -f” to force file deletion?

*Wipe <file> F is the equivalent, but only if the disc map isn’t broken.

It’s strange that there is an utility similiar to fsck on RISC OS that can only detect fs errors but not fix them.

It’s the way things worked out, unfortunately. Someone put their own time in to develop DiscKnight as there’s wasn’t a tool from Acorn, and now it exists, there’s little point ROOL or ROD reinventing that wheel. £15 isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, and you get free updates. I doubt it makes anyone rich!

I don’t know if the cache system has changed/improved in the last few versions.

NetSurf 3.10 includes “much improved content caching, both in memory and disc caching”, but whether that can overcome the fact that we’re using SD Cards for storage is another matter.

I know that you lucky britains don’t have such imprint legal crap like in germany,
but there should be at least a contact email address if some customer has a question or an issue.

Limited companies must give their company number, registered office, and similar legal crap, but I don’t think PlingStore is run as a limited entity (the “.org.uk” suggests a non profit organisation) so doesn’t need to.