Writing my own Add-On: .deb installs and service running, but won't show in GUI

[tmm1]

I've written a very simple add-on based on the samples in the SDK. The .deb file installs successfully onto the device, and the service is running (after invoking `rn_nml -S` in postinst. But it does not show up as an installed app on the GUI. Has anyone seen something like this before?

I've extracted my generated .deb and compared it to others published by the community, and can't spot any differences which would cause this behavior.

[siigna · Accepted solution]

Alright, I tested out channels-dvr_1.0.5_all.deb on a fresh 6.6.0 VM.  Looks good from a quick glance:

If you enable System > Settings > Support > Secure Diagnostic Mode and give me the port I can poke around on your system and see what's going on.

[mdgm-ntgr]

Have you tried clearing your web browser cache, closing your web browser and reopening the web admin interface?

Have you reviewed the logs for any clues?

[tmm1]

Yes, refreshed cache and tried other browsers. No difference.

Also reviewed all the logs, it shows the debian package being installed successfully with no errors.

[siigna]

The app not showing under Installed Apps is usually an issue with the config.xml file.  Can you post an example of yours?

[tmm1]

Interesting, I guess that makes sense. I ran xmllint on it to confirm it was valid. Have tried adding and removing various properties but it didn't seem to help. Here's the latest version:

<Application resource-id="channels-dvr">
  <MinFirmwareVer>6.5.0</MinFirmwareVer>
  <Name>Channels DVR</Name>
  <Author>Fancy Bits, LLC</Author>
  <Version>1.0.5</Version>
  <Category>APP_CAT_MEDIA</Category>
  <LaunchURL>http://localhost:8089/</LaunchURL>
  <ConfigURL/>
  <RequireReboot>0</RequireReboot>
  <ReservePort>8089</ReservePort>
  <DebianPackage>channels-dvr</DebianPackage>
  <ServiceName>fvapp-channels-dvr.service</ServiceName>
  <Description lang="en-us">DVR backend for the Channels app on iOS and tvOS</Description>
</Application>

[siigna]

That config looks good to me.

Are you installing from the UI or via apt?  If from apt you might need to touch /apps/your_app/.localapp before it'll show up in the UI.

[tmm1]

From the UI. I verified that the .localapp file is in place.

[tmm1]

Here's the .deb if you want to try installing or extracting it: http://channels-dvr.s3.amazonaws.com/netgear/channels-dvr_1.0.5_all.deb

[siigna]

Interesting.  I did a quick test:

# mkdir /apps/channels-dvr
# cat > /apps/channels-dvr/config.xml << EOF
> <Application resource-id="channels-dvr">
>   <MinFirmwareVer>6.5.0</MinFirmwareVer>
>   <Name>Channels DVR</Name>
>   <Author>Fancy Bits, LLC</Author>
>   <Version>1.0.5</Version>
>   <Category>APP_CAT_MEDIA</Category>
>   <LaunchURL>http://localhost:8089/</LaunchURL>
>   <ConfigURL/>
>   <RequireReboot>0</RequireReboot>
>   <ReservePort>8089</ReservePort>
>   <DebianPackage>channels-dvr</DebianPackage>
>   <ServiceName>fvapp-channels-dvr.service</ServiceName>
>   <Description lang="en-us">DVR backend for the Channels app on iOS and tvOS</Description>
> </Application>
> EOF
# touch /apps/channels-dvr/.localapp

Let me test out the package real quick and see if I can track down the problem. 

[siigna · Accepted solution]

Alright, I tested out channels-dvr_1.0.5_all.deb on a fresh 6.6.0 VM.  Looks good from a quick glance:

If you enable System > Settings > Support > Secure Diagnostic Mode and give me the port I can poke around on your system and see what's going on.

[tmm1]

Looks like rebooting the NAS and reinstalling 1.0.5 worked. Something must have gotten in a broken state with my previous packages.