[tex-live] tlmgr working despite laptop wifi off ?!

jfbu jfbu at free.fr
Sun Dec 30 09:53:09 CET 2018


Hi Reinhard,

Le 30 déc. 2018 à 00:47, Reinhard Kotucha <reinhard.kotucha at web.de> a écrit :

> On 2018-12-29 at 23:42:47 +0100, jfbu wrote:
> 
>> Hi,
>> 
>> tonight (European time) something very weird happened.
>> 
>> I had turned off the wifi on my laptop to spare batteries,
>> but had forgotten that and decided to update my TL2018,
>> 
>> here is how it started (as one can see in transcript I hit Ctrl-C quickly)
>> 
>> $ tlmgr update --all
>> cannot contact mirror.ctan.org, returning a backbone server!
>> 
>> ^CNo connection to the internet.
>> Unable to download the checksum of the remote TeX Live database,
>> but found a local copy so using that.
>> 
>> You may want to try specifying an explicit or different CTAN mirror;
>> see the information and examples for the -repository option at
>> http://tug.org/texlive/doc/install-tl.html
>> (or in the output of install-tl --help).
>> 
>> 
>> BUT lo and behold it then continued....:
>> 
>> tlmgr: package repository http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/systems/texlive/tlnet (not verified: unknown)
>> tlmgr: saving backups to /usr/local/texlive/2018/tlpkg/backups
>> [1/9, ??:??/??:??] update: dtxgallery [345k] (15878 -> 49504) ... ^CTLPDB::_install_package: downloading did not succeed
>> 
>> 
>> (I hit CTRL-C in panick as seen above, as some aetheral power had taken control of my laptop)
>> 
>> (then I hit CTRL-C again on each package update:)
>> 
>> tlmgr: Installation of new version of dtxgallery failed, trying to unwind.
>> tlmgr: Restoring old package state succeeded.
>> done
>> [2/9, 00:19/29:19] update: ketcindy [15118k] (49309 -> 49502) ... ^CTLPDB::_install_package: downloading did not succeed
>> tlmgr: Installation of new version of ketcindy failed, trying to unwind.
>> tlmgr: Restoring old package state succeeded.
>> done
>> [3/9, 00:21/00:43] update: lstfiracode [58k] (49462 -> 49503) ... ^CTLPDB::_install_package: downloading did not succeed
>> tlmgr: Installation of new version of lstfiracode failed, trying to unwind.
>> tlmgr: Restoring old package state succeeded.
>> done
>> [4/9, 00:23/00:47] update: pdfx [5000k] (49333 -> 49487) ... ^CTLPDB::_install_package: downloading did not succeed
>> tlmgr: Installation of new version of pdfx failed, trying to unwind.
>> tlmgr: Restoring old package state succeeded.
>> done
>> [5/9, 00:26/00:40] update: pstricks [7001k] (49437 -> 49486) ... ^CTLPDB::_install_package: downloading did not succeed
>> tlmgr: Installation of new version of pstricks failed, trying to unwind.
>> tlmgr: Restoring old package state succeeded.
>> done
>> [6/9, 00:27/00:31] update: tablvar [173k] (49214 -> 49493) ... ^CTLPDB::_install_package: downloading did not succeed
>> tlmgr: Installation of new version of tablvar failed, trying to unwind.
>> tlmgr: Restoring old package state succeeded.
>> done
>> [7/9, 00:29/00:33] update: texlive-docindex [242k] (49466 -> 49490) ... ^CTLPDB::_install_package: downloading did not succeed
>> tlmgr: Installation of new version of texlive-docindex failed, trying to unwind.
>> tlmgr: Restoring old package state succeeded.
>> done
>> [8/9, 00:32/00:36] update: texlive-scripts [3965k] (49475 -> 49498) ... ^CTLPDB::_install_package: downloading did not succeed
>> tlmgr: Installation of new version of texlive-scripts failed, trying to unwind.
>> tlmgr: Restoring old package state succeeded.
>> done
>> [9/9, 00:33/00:33] update: xurl [45k] (49441 -> 49488) ... ^CTLPDB::_install_package: downloading did not succeed
>> tlmgr: Installation of new version of xurl failed, trying to unwind.
>> tlmgr: Restoring old package state succeeded.
>> done
>> tlmgr: action update returned an error; continuing.
>> running mktexlsr ...
>> done running mktexlsr.
>> tlmgr: package log updated: /usr/local/texlive/2018/texmf-var/web2c/tlmgr.log
>> tlmgr: An error has occurred. See above messages. Exiting.
>> 
>> 
>> Then, I turned on the wifi and tried again, and much to my
>> surprise, indeed the very same packages as listed above got updated
>> (about the timings, I moved my laptop to the more favourable
>> location in the room during ketcindy download which was more or
>> less stalled)
>> 
>> ~$ tlmgr update --all
>> tlmgr: package repository http://ctan.tetaneutral.net/systems/texlive/tlnet (verified)
>> tlmgr: saving backups to /usr/local/texlive/2018/tlpkg/backups
>> [1/9, ??:??/??:??] update: dtxgallery [345k] (15878 -> 49504) ... done
>> [2/9, 00:07/10:48] update: ketcindy [15118k] (49309 -> 49502) ... done
>> [3/9, 02:20/04:49] update: lstfiracode [58k] (49462 -> 49503) ... done
>> [4/9, 02:21/04:50] update: pdfx [5000k] (49333 -> 49487) ... done
>> [5/9, 02:40/04:09] update: pstricks [7001k] (49437 -> 49486) ... done
>> [6/9, 03:00/03:28] update: tablvar [173k] (49214 -> 49493) ... done
>> [7/9, 03:03/03:31] update: texlive-docindex [242k] (49466 -> 49506) ... done
>> [8/9, 03:05/03:31] update: texlive-scripts [3964k] (49475 -> 49509) ... done
>> [9/9, 03:17/03:17] update: xurl [45k] (49441 -> 49488) ... done
>> running mktexlsr ...
>> done running mktexlsr.
>> tlmgr: package log updated: /usr/local/texlive/2018/texmf-var/web2c/tlmgr.log
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> How is it possible that my mac book air could let tlmgr
>> simultaneously report no connection to the Internet and at the very
>> same time still find out which packages could get updated ?
> 
> As far as I understand, your first approach was to start tlmgr with
> WIFI turned off and your second approach was to start tlmgr with
> WIFI turned on.  What exactly do you mean with "simultaneously"?

I had my WIFI off and ran tlmgr in a Terminal window.
It reported no internet connection so I immediately tried to
abort it by a CTRL-C.

After this first CTRL-C, tlmgr resumed its work and then
(hence the simultaneously) initiated update of package

tlmgr: package repository http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/systems/texlive/tlnet (not verified: unknown)
tlmgr: saving backups to /usr/local/texlive/2018/tlpkg/backups
[1/9, ??:??/??:??] update: dtxgallery [345k] (15878 -> 49504) ... ^CTLPDB::_install_package: downloading did not succeed

but a bit stupidly I immediately CTRL-C'ed again and then again and again
for each of the 9 packages so I am not certain it would have downloaded it.

It appeared that tlmgr was in fact succesfully connecting to the Internet
despite my mac book air pretending the WIFI to be OFF and the
corresponding icon in menu-bar confirming it


I am certain of it, because at that location where I was the WIFI is very
poor and I often have to move near the entrance door, turn off and
back on the WIFI in order for the laptop to connect again.


And indeed this is what I did yesterday to reestablish connection
to my WIFI network. It took me at least thirty seconds, and after that
I executed tlmgr again, with success and very same packages updated.

> 
> It's a matter of fact that you can't update your TeX Live installation
> if the internet is not accessible. 

I read an article about physicists being convinced the left handed
people live in a 26-dimensional world and the right-handed ones in an
11-dimensional one, 

barring that explanation, I would say you are for sure right...


But somehow I observed that spooky behaviour of tlmgr
successfully downloading form the Internet (after having
reported "No internet connection") on a laptop where the
WIFI had been turned off ...

Perhaps some Mac OS X person has some idea.


For years I have turned off the WIFI each night on my laptop
to avoid Apple or the NSA sniffing all my data, (or try to
force install a system upgrade; they did manage to upload
10G without my consent for some such upgrade until
I found the hidden location where to turn that off), but
like cell phones I understand now that they are never
off the network even when pretending to be so.


Best,

Jean-François




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