AppImage packaging is either too leaky or not leaky enough

[CounterPillow]

On Arch Linux:

$ ./prusacontrol_0.9.4.415_beta.AppImage 
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./PrusaControl-master/main.py", line 10, in <module>
  File "./PrusaControl-master/controller.py", line 21, in <module>
ImportError: /usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1: undefined symbol: FT_Done_MM_Var
$ objdump -T /usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1 | grep FT_Done_MM_Var
0000000000000000      DF *UND*  0000000000000000              FT_Done_MM_Var

Either include all of your dependencies or none of them.

[probonopd]

Specifically, either bundle both of or none of Harfbuzz and FreeType. At least this seems to be the conclusion from earlier discussions. In the https://github.com/AppImage/AppImages/ project we no longer bundle libharfbuzz and libfreetype as per AppImageCommunity/pkg2appimage@9082bbe

References:

• No longer bundle libharfbuzz and libfreetype AppImageCommunity/pkg2appimage#323
• linuxdeployqt blacklists libfontconfig probonopd/linuxdeployqt#261 (comment)
• Created in Debian Jessie, Got undefined symbol error in Fedora probonopd/linuxdeployqt#157 (comment)

[tracernz]

Also hitting this.

$ ./prusacontrol_0.9.4.415_beta.AppImage
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./PrusaControl-master/main.py", line 10, in <module>
  File "./PrusaControl-master/controller.py", line 21, in <module>
ImportError: /usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1: undefined symbol: FT_Done_MM_Var
$ pacman -Q fontconfig
fontconfig 2.13.0+10+g58f5285-1
$ objdump -T /usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1 | grep FT_Done_MM_Var
0000000000000000      DF *UND*	0000000000000000              FT_Done_MM_Var
$ pacman -Q freetype2
freetype2 2.9.1-1
$ objdump -T /usr/lib/libfreetype.so | grep FT_Done_MM_Var
000000000001c150 g    DF .text	0000000000000026  Base        FT_Done_MM_Var

[buddyabaddon]

I am also hitting this error :(

$ ./prusacontrol_0.9.4.415_beta.AppImage
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "./PrusaControl-master/main.py", line 10, in
File "./PrusaControl-master/controller.py", line 21, in
ImportError: /usr/lib64/libfontconfig.so.1: undefined symbol: FT_Done_MM_Var
$ equery l fontconfig
* Searching for fontconfig ...
[IP-] [ ] media-libs/fontconfig-2.13.0-r4:1.0
$ equery l freetype
* Searching for freetype ...
[IP-] [ ] media-libs/freetype-2.9.1-r3:2

[probonopd]

@tracernz @buddyabaddon which OS and version are you on? I think I gave the solution in #93 (comment), can you confirm?

[castaway]

@tracernz @buddyabaddon which OS and version are you on? I think I gave the solution in #93 (comment), can you confirm?

How do we confirm this? Personally I'm just running the AppImage, not building it.. or did I misunderstand your suggestion?

[probonopd]

@castaway you could extract the AppImage, remove the libraries, and try if the application runs then:

# Download the AppImage
wget -c "https://github.com/prusa3d/PrusaControl/releases/download/v0.9.4/PrusaControl_0.9.4_415_beta_64bit.AppImage"

# Make the AppImage executable
chmod +x PrusaControl_0.9.4_415_beta_64bit.AppImage

# Extract the contents of the AppImage
./PrusaControl_0.9.4_415_beta_64bit.AppImage --appimage-extract

# Delete the library in question
find squashfs-root/ -iname '*freetype*' -delete

# Run the extracted AppImage to see if the error is resolved
./squashfs-root/AppRun

[castaway]

./squashfs-root/AppRun

Aha! Done, and yes that now runs just fine, thanks!

Can I repack it easily from this state?

[probonopd]

Easy:

# Get appimagetool
wget -c "https://github.com/AppImage/AppImageKit/releases/download/continuous/appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage"

# Make it executable
chmod +x appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage 

# Convert AppDir into AppImage
./appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage squashfs-root/

# Test whether it works
./PrusaControl-x86_64.AppImage 

[castaway]

wget -c "https://github.com/AppImage/AppImageKit/releases/download/continuous/appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage"

AppImage of the AppImage tool, of course!

[tak-21]

@probonopd: thx!!!
One more question please: Under Ubuntu 18.10 with gnome I can right-click the app and add it as a favourit. When I click this icon which was added to the bar, the program starts and/but there is another icon showing up which represents the now running program. This behaviour is different when I start e.g. firefox. It is just cosmetics but can this be "fixed"?

[probonopd]

You need to launch it through a desktop file. Tools like the optional appimaged daemon or AppImageLauncher can do this for you automatically.