blocklist will not update in ubuntu 11.04

[mark watling]

Binary package hint: transmission

fresh install of ubuntu 11.04 using gnome desktop. blocklist rules will not update.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: transmission-gtk 2.13-0ubuntu8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic i686
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: i386
Date: Mon May 2 10:47:21 2011
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/transmission-gtk
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release i386 (20110427.1)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_CA:en
 LANG=en_CA.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: transmission
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Charles Kerr (charlesk)]

One change made in 2.1x was that Transmission no longer has a "default" blocklist. The default was removed because the Transmission team doesn't know anything about where its contents come from. I'm not saying the old default was bad... only that, since the Transmission team doesn't know, we don't want to imply an endorsement.

Have you specified a blocklist URL for Transmission to use?

[Charles Kerr (charlesk)]

We'd like to figure out what's causing this bug for you, but we haven't heard back from you in a while. Could you please provide the requested information? Thanks!

[salemboot (salemboot)]

Honestly can't you guys just test the program? That's probably why the original author of this bug didn't reply. He thought it was obvious you needed to just see for yourself.

It's not working in 32bit or 64bit Natty (11.04).

using: http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/level1.gz
Even downloaded the file and uncompressed it.

In all actuality it's probably better to report it back to upstream, package maintainer, or just install Deluge.

Very respectfully...

[Charles Kerr (charlesk)]

It's working for me, which is why I was asking for more information than just "it's not working."

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please answer these questions:

* Is this reproducible?
* If so, what specific steps should we take to recreate this bug?

This will help us to find and resolve the problem.

[salemboot (salemboot)]

Just following up.,

It now seems to be accepting URLs.

For those still experiencing trouble see the following link:
https://forum.transmissionbt.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10795&sid=30b758b550e5755ef5474f2a6441ad29&start=15

Very respectfully...

[Charles Kerr (charlesk)]

The link provided by salemboot is a forum post that gives the URL for a third-party blocklist... which is why I asked back in comment #2 if the OP had specified a blocklist URL for Transmission to use :)

Are there any remaining issues in this ticket?

[Rolf Leggewie (r0lf)]

I can only speak for the version in lucid, but yes, it seems that one isn't updating, either. And I don't see an option to specify a blocklist as an option. When I click on the update button the program tells me "blocklist now has 0 rules" when it's finished.

[ropers (ropers)]

What's throwing people off here is that if you're using an older version of Ubuntu (10.04 LTS) in my case, there is no field to specify the URL to download the blocklist from. So all the user ever sees is that the update blocklist button now no longer works -- it produces the said "Update succeeded! \ Blocklist now has 0 rules." message.

It's a bad idea to break that functionality for LTS users without offering less savvy users a way forward, and yes, in that sense, leaving Ubuntu LTS users stranded with Transmission 1.93 (10621) and a non-working update button is a Ubuntu LTS bug.
A currently possible workaround is to install this PPA: https://launchpad.net/~transmissionbt/+archive/ppa
and update Transmission to a newer version --currently 2.33 (12565)-- which does have the URL field next to the "Enable blocklist" button that the earlier version lacks. (It appears the URL is hardcoded in the earlier version.)

This bug is just a result of insufficient testing and insufficient support -- particularly for the so-called "Long Term Support" version of Ubuntu.

[Krzysztof Klimonda (kklimonda)]

There are two bugs in this report. I can't test if blocklist updating works as intented on 11.04 right now (can't find the LiveCD anywhere) but can confirm that the bug exists in 10.04. I'll nomiate the bug for lucid, and talk with upstream (and probably with other ubuntu devs) about the best way to fix it (or where to host blocklist file until 10.04 reaches EOL).

[Rolf Leggewie (r0lf)]

lucid has seen the end of its life and is no longer receiving any updates. Marking the lucid task for this ticket as "Won't Fix".

[Rolf Leggewie (r0lf)]

does this ever occur in trusty or later?

It works for me in trusty now while I was able to reproduce the problem in lucid. What I do see is a discrepancy between the numbers in the "Update Blocklist" window telling me the blocklist has X rules and the resulting window in preferences saying it has Y rules.

[Rolf Leggewie (r0lf)]

closing as unreproducible