keybase / keybase/client

KBFS doesn't work on macOS X 11 Big Sur (still works with <=6.0.1)

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#25,379 3 comments 2 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Description

(Reporting this separately as to point out that latest release for newer macOS broke the functionality for older macOS versions)

Encountered already known issue with Keybase startup where KBFS fails to install after an auto-update on 16-inch 2019 MacBookPro (Big Sur 11.6).

200013643-9c8b31ba-ee5e-4828-a8c0-c3b6652a4f5d

Looks like the latest official release (which is 6.0.3-20221212203703+608e46df72 at the time of reporting this) will error out on startup whereas things used to work as expected just some odd week ago.

Relates to: https://github.com/keybase/client/issues/25226 (where macOS X 13 Ventura users claim that latest release fixed their issue)

Some good news

Was able to restore full functionality by downgrading to 6.0.1-20220606201228+4a1945f0a3 (a version that I could still acquire from the official site via https://prerelease.keybase.io/darwin-test/index.html).

Note that Keybase will still insist on updating you to latest version which you can disable via ~/Library/Application Support/Keybase/updater.json by setting the property auto there to false. You are then of course cursed to say "No" to update proposals from Keybase popups (am yet to figure out how to suppress that).

Fancy way of flipping the switch:

sed -i.bak 's|\("auto": \)true|\1false|g' ~/Library/Application\ Support/Keybase/updater.json

What was tried to get 6.0.3 working (without luck):

  1. The machine was restarted (as prompted)
  2. kbfs was uninstalled, Keybase restarted and kbfs reinstalled

What was tried out of desperation afterwards (continuation of previous luck-free vibes):

  1. tried latest nightly build of 6.1.1 (6.1.1-20221222205724+77ac5ff807).
  2. (UPDATE) tried latest nightly build of 6.2.0 (6.2.0-20230419192817+1cb35a0b19).

My log id: 576775d4181cb5637d7b851c

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the provided log id 576775d4181cb5637d7b851c and compare the reported 6.0.3 behavior on macOS Big Sur 11.6 with the working 6.0.1 version. Review the related issue #25226 and the tested 6.1.1 and 6.2.0 builds. Done means KBFS installs and starts successfully on the reported Big Sur system without requiring a downgrade.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
go, macos
Domain
desktop, operating-systems
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
30/100

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