Ark fails to produce zip archive instead making gzip with the zip suffix

[Sam Rog]

Same as with the https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ark/+bug/1388532

Ubuntu 14.10

Package ark (4:4.14.2-0ubuntu1~ubuntu14.10~ppa1)

Ark: 2.19

Steps to reproduce:

1) Compress a file to the .zip format with the Ark. Either from the Ark or from the file manager context menu.
2) Unpack the .zip file with the 'unzip'command

There is an error message (Test.zip)

Archive: Test.zip
  End-of-central-directory signature not found. Either this file is not
  a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive. In the
  latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on
  the last disk(s) of this archive.
unzip: cannot find zipfile directory in one of Test.zip or
        Test.zip.zip, and cannot find Test.zip.ZIP, period.

The file command is telling:

file Test.zip
Test.zip: gzip compressed data, last modified: Sun Nov 2 11:54:49 2014, from Unix

The Ubuntu package ark (4:4.14.1-0ubuntu1) has a patch 'use_libarchive_for_zip_files'. When compiling the Ark without the patch the Ark is compressing to the .zip format.

Then the file is identified as:

file Test.zip
Test.zip: Zip archive data, at least v2.0 to extract

and the unzip can unpack it:

unzip Test.zip
Archive: Test.zip
  inflating: Test.txt

[jfp (ubuntujfp)]

How to replicate:

WRONG On Kubuntu 14.10
$ ark -v
Qt: 4.8.6
KDE Development Platform: 4.14.1
Ark: 2.19
$ touch oink
$ ark --changetofirstpath --add --autofilename zip oink
$ file oink.zip
oink.zip: gzip compressed data, last modified: Mon Nov 3 12:19:19 2014, from Unix

RIGHT On Kubuntu 14.04
$ ark -v
Qt: 4.8.6
KDE Development Platform: 4.13.3
Ark: 2.19
$ touch oink
$ ark --changetofirstpath --add --autofilename zip oink
$ file oink.zip
oink.zip: Zip archive data, at least v2.0 to extract

[Sam Rog (samrog131)]

The 'use_libarchive_for_zip_files' is coming from the Debian: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=748198

The Utopic Ark has been merged with the Debian: http://changelogs.ubuntu.com/changelogs/pool/universe/a/ark/ark_4.14.1-0ubuntu1/changelog :

ark (4:4.13.2-0ubuntu1) utopic; urgency=medium

  [ Rohan Garg ]
  * Merge with debian, no remaining changes

The Trusty Ark has not merged with the Debian: http://changelogs.ubuntu.com/changelogs/pool/universe/a/ark/ark_4.13.3-0ubuntu0.1/changelog

So it doesn't have the patch 'use_libarchive_for_zip_files'

[Ingo Siegert (thebigear)]

This Bug is quite annoying, as you do not notice it. The Archive is correctly generated and I can unpack it.
But when I send this file to others, they cannot unpack it!!

My System:
Kubuntu 14.10:
Qt: 4.8.6
KDE: 4.14.2
Ark: 2.19

[Sam Rog (samrog131)]

Workarounds:

1) Build the Ark without the Debian 'use_libarchive_for_zip_files' patch.

or

2) Download an older package - You could download&install packages from the Trusty: http://packages.ubuntu.com -> http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?ke...ll&section=all

Kubuntu forums: https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showthread.php?66769-Ark-fails-to-produce-zip-archive-instead-making-gzip-with-the-zip-suffix&p=362212&viewfull=1#post362212

[Sam Rog (samrog131)]

Should be

2) Download an older package - You could download&install packages from the Trusty: http://packages.ubuntu.com -> http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=ark&searchon=names&suite=all&section=all

[Mahendra Tallur (mahen)]

Hi ! Bug still affects the LTS users (Kubuntu 14.04 LTS with the KDE backports PPA enabled). Can people using Kubuntu 15.10 confirm it was fixed meanwhile ?

Result is that Windows users cannot read the archives sent to them. Maybe it's too late to fix it anyway. for the current LTS.

Out of curiosity, Is there a way to help put the focus on some bugs like this that seem to be understood, have important consequences on users, that could supposedly be worked around easily but which remain unfixed ? Especially for LTS releases.

I guess it's very difficult as developers are flooded with bug reports, I clearly do not blame them !

Best regards.

[Flames_in_Paradise (ellisistfroh-deactivatedaccount)]

@mahen:

> Out of curiosity, Is there a way to help put the focus on some bugs like this that seem to be understood, have important consequences on users, that could supposedly be worked around easily but which remain unfixed ? Especially for LTS releases.

This would be the "onehundredpapercuts" - project within Ubuntu, which is not applicable for ppa's.

If this bug made it into the release ongoing, it needs reporting against the package in the release:

https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ark/+bugs?orderby=-id&start=0

If it was done, this is a duplicate. By marking it so, the number of affected users will be transferred.

[noric (riccardo-ric)]

Hello,
I just wanted to say that there is an easy workaround for this bug in 14.04 LTS.
See https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35371#c98

The resulting line in that file would be:
MimeType=application/x-java-archive;application/zip;

As Mahendra Tallur says here above, so important bugs should be fixed in an LTS release. Otherwise it defeats the purpose of LTS itself: isn't LTS supposed to receive bugfix-only updates? This is indeed a bugfix. Anyway, I don't exactly understand what Flames_in_Paradise meant to say. I'd be curious to understand why the patch (successfully implemented in the following releases) isn't being backported to 14.04.

Best regards.

[Eric Forgeot (eforgeot)]

I agree, it doesn't look very professional to get this kind of bug unfixed in a LTS release.

[Simon Quigley (tsimonq2)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Kubuntu better. We are sorry that we do not always have the capacity to look at all reported bugs in a timely manner. There have been many changes in Kubuntu since that time you reported the bug and your problem may have been fixed with some of the updates. It would help us a lot if you could test it on a currently supported Kubuntu version. If you test it and it is still an issue, kindly upload the updated logs by running only once:
apport-collect 1388538

and any other logs that are relevant for this particular issue.