Ubuntu one sync takes too long for 2 small files

[spencerrecneps]

Binary package hint: ubuntuone-client

I just set up wxbanker to sync my config and bank.db files (2 files total) via Ubuntu One. Total file sizes are ~150 bytes and ~50 kb respectively. Every time I close wxbanker (even if I have made no changes), Ubuntu One syncs the files. This process takes at least 30 minutes and sometime stalls out entirely.

I am running an up-to-date Natty on an MSi U100 with working wifi connection.

For what it's worth, the same problem appears to be occurring on my up-to-date Maverick box.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: ubuntuone-client 1.5.8-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.41-generic 2.6.38.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Fri Apr 8 18:48:30 2011
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Alpha i386 (20110302)
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: ubuntuone-client
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[spencerrecneps (spencerjgardner)]

I just had another thought in relation to this problem. When I run:

u1sdtool --waiting | wc -l

I get a ridiculously high file count (last night it was over 500, today it was over 1000). Is it possible that the way wxBanker is reading/writing data to the database is causing U1 to sync once for every single read/write access to the database? This could cause the queue to stack up with hundreds of versions of the same bank.db file for every little change. It looked to me like the log was just repeatedly uploading the bank.db file and this is the only explanation I can think of.

[Mohsin Falak (fi8er1)]

Thanks for the bug report. It seems that the file you have uploaded is having a problem with the infrastructure of ubuntu 1, alarmingly increasing the size of the file. Which eventually leads to late syncing. For now it is recommended that you make changes to the file on your computer and then sync it to the cloud.

[spencerrecneps (spencerjgardner)]

So, am I understanding correctly that this is an issue with the way the application is coded? Not knowing the inner workings of U1, I'm not sure how to help the wxBanker devs figure out why it's behaving this way.

[spencerrecneps (spencerjgardner)]

I've subscribed wxBanker devs. Maybe they can shed some light on the issue.

[Michael Rooney (mrooney)]

Hello! wxBanker author here, thanks for subscribing me. FWIW, I have my wxBanker files symlinked to my Dropbox directory with no problems, it only syncs once per change, and on close as you mention. It is using a sqlite database and occasionally committing, nothing too crazy.

It is possible that there's an action which causes a bunch of commits to occur that aren't batched, but I wouldn't expect U1 syncs to stack for the same file, should that queue be a set that de-dupes based on filename?

[spencerrecneps (spencerjgardner)]

I think Michael is on to something. I just synced my Pictures directory and imported some photos in Shotwell and noticed that U1 was syncing multiple versions of my imported photos. Is there nothing in place currently to de-dupe an upload queue?

[spencerrecneps (spencerjgardner)]

As a test, I just ran wxBanker with U1 sync disconnected. After I closed wxBanker (making no changes) and reconnected U1 sync, I still have over 500 files waiting to upload. I'm not sure where this leaves things, but maybe this clarifies the problem somewhat.

[Lucio Torre (lucio.torre)]

When u1 finds a close_write it will hash the file to see if it changed. If it did it will interrupt pending uploads and start a new one. So if you just save on application exit things should work smootly.

Could you please uploads your log files from ~/.cache/ubuntuone/log so we can see whatas going on?

thanks

[Michael Rooney (mrooney)]

Unsubscribing wxBanker Devs as it doesn't seem currently actionable by us but please resubscribe if it turns out to be.

[spencerrecneps (spencerjgardner)]

I've produced the attached log files from a fresh boot. I haven't done anything except boot up, start wxBanker, close wxBanker, wait for the ~500 file syncs to finish, and then copy the log files for upload. I hope this helps.

[Alfred (alfred-egger)]

I can confirm this problem, as it takes really long to synchronize small files (5-10 MiB) across several computers, sometimes I have to reconnect multiple times to get all files synced. I have added a tar archive of all log files.

This problem is a reason not to buy any Ubuntuone packages at the moment.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.