After failing in the usual way to update my four Solus VMs over the weekend, I found some time to try again yesterday. Budgie and Plasma both failed again, but with a different error than before: the Linux firmware completed with just one timeout, but the resulting package did not match what was in the repository.

I was encouraged by GNOME and Xfce both updating without any drama, and at normal speeds. Afterwards, I tried the Budgie update again, and this time it also completed normally and at the usual download speed. Same with Plasma. So, apparently it depends on when an update is started whether it will succeed.

NOTE: I didn't use Harvey's workaround for these VMs, because they didn't need to be updated right away, and I was particularly interested in whether - and when - the situation would be resolved and normal updates once again became possible. That appears to be a work in progress.

ALSO NOTED: This morning I updated my Xfce laptop as well, and that proceeded without a problem. At a normal speed - which is very fast for Xfce - and no errors of timeouts. Again, this was without a workaround of any kind.

We have determined that the issue is that the package size is over the CDN's file size limit of 512 MB, causing constant cache misses. This has been addressed by splitting linux-firmware into several subpackages instead of lumping them all into one huge package. This update will go to Stable in the next sync.

Note: Installing the package update will take a significant amount of time (likely between 8 and 15 minutes). Many file conflict warnings will also appear if the update is done in the terminal; these can be completely ignored.

    EbonJaeger We have determined that the issue is that the package size is over the CDN's file size limit of 512 MB, causing constant cache misses. This has been addressed by splitting linux-firmware into several subpackages instead of lumping them all into one huge package. This update will go to Stable in the next sync.

    thanks for the update

      EbonJaeger Note: Installing the package update will take a significant amount of time (likely between 8 and 15 minutes). Many file conflict warnings will also appear if the update is done in the terminal; these can be completely ignored.

      Even if you put that info in next sync notes, at least 10 people will post that update is slow or hangs and that something must be wrong 🙃

        Would be good to have a mechanism in place that informs users on updating about those special cases/hiccups without the need to consult forum/social media posts. Something like a pre-update notification/summary.

        If the CDN problems hadn't happened, nobody would have noticed anything and no discussions would have arisen.
        I would therefore carry on without making any major efforts and wait to see what happens in the future....

        If this has been covered elsewhere, please excuse the question.
        After Friday 28th updates. The large file that was causing throttling has been split up to allow a reasonable download speed again.
        Just for reference, does the
        wget https://packages.getsol.us/shannon/l/linux-firmware/linux-firmware-20250211-88-1-x86_64.eopkg
        sudo mv linux-firmware-20250211-88-1-x86_64.eopkg /var/cache/eopkg/packages
        fix need to be used on any clean install of Solus 4.7 until we move to the 4.8 iso ? Wondering if this needs pinning somewhere to keep "failing to install updates reliably" complaints to a minimum.

          BuzzPCSOS
          No. They do not need that command they would update to the current situation with split packages, that will download fast but take 8-15 minutes to install for the first time.

            BuzzPCSOS If this has been covered elsewhere, please excuse the question.

            good questionswas wondering the same

                brent I was sitting here thinking about posting then you commented so did I

                All firmware updates all spread over forum I think it got out of hand and may be a little confusing
                to some. (sometimes I wish people would read alittle more at times..LOL)
                Heck I didnt do last weeks after people started posting I just waited did it earlier today without issues.

                    Axios All firmware updates all spread over forum I think it got out of hand and may be a little confusing
                    to some. (sometimes I wish people would read alittle more at times..LOL)

                    agree responses got out of hand for sure. there was 1 main thread about it, spread to 2. but felt like 20 replies that didn't see the other threads and the mains thread about slo-o-o-o-ow. Once Harvey rolled out the commands, I was updated in seconds.

                    that said, I had an update this morning I could not wait 1/2 hour for to finish so did it when I got home. I thought that was an anomaly and saw the next round of responses and knew I'd be fine when I had more time to wait.

                    Axios Heck I didnt do last weeks after people started posting I just waited did it earlier today without issues.

                    today was like an unintentional sequel to last week 🙂. glad you got updated though. haven't waited a week in a long time. it would be just a matter of time before I would cave in to those update balloons 🙂