Brave Browser - strange behaviour

df8oe · July 17, 2021, 8:15am

Today I got a very strange behaviour with brave browser. After upgrating on 10 machines with identical software packages installed on 8 everything works as before. On 2 brave-dev cannot open any sites that are called via names. Sites I can reach via IP-address work. This affects only brave-dev, brave-nightly and brave-beta. Package brave-bin works flawlessly. Downgrading the brave packages does not solve the issue - it must be related to another package that changes behaviour. A friend of me phoned me some minutes ago and told me that his brave-dev has stopped working, too. He is working with the same EndeavourOS installation as I do - it happens after the update last night. I asked some other whoc also have this installation to make an update and test - there everything works as before.

I do ot have a solution but ideas and have pened this thread for everyone who runs into same trouble - maybe we can find the reason together. My workaround is to use brave-bin instead of brave-dev-bin (both using the same config-Folder!!!), but I fear the issue will step into the next updates so that brave would be unusable.

My ideas:

IP based sites work.
every page that uses name resolution does no longer work
EDIT: TOR-mode is affected, too
only brave is affected, not opera, vivaldi, chromium, google-chrome, firefox. And only the nightly, dev and beta branch of brave.

There must be a package have changed its behaviour that was upgraded yesterday evening.
Here is a list of all packages that are upgraded:

[2021-07-16T23:56:44+0200] [ALPM] upgraded imath (3.0.5-1 -> 3.1.0-1)
[2021-07-16T23:56:45+0200] [ALPM] upgraded alembic (1.8.2-1 -> 1.8.2-2)
[2021-07-16T23:56:45+0200] [ALPM] upgraded openexr (3.0.5-1 -> 3.0.5-2)
[2021-07-16T23:56:45+0200] [ALPM] upgraded vulkan-icd-loader (1.2.182-1 -> 1.2.183-1)
[2021-07-16T23:56:45+0200] [ALPM] upgraded ca-certificates-mozilla (3.67-1 -> 3.68-1)
[2021-07-16T23:56:45+0200] [ALPM] upgraded opencolorio (2.0.1-2 -> 2.0.1-3)
[2021-07-16T23:56:45+0200] [ALPM] upgraded fmt (7.1.3-1 -> 8.0.0-2)
[2021-07-16T23:56:45+0200] [ALPM] upgraded openimageio (2.2.15.1-4 -> 2.2.15.1-5)
[2021-07-16T23:56:45+0200] [ALPM] upgraded jack2 (1.9.18-2 -> 1.9.19-1)
[2021-07-16T23:56:48+0200] [ALPM] upgraded blender (17:2.93.1-2 -> 17:2.93.1-3)
[2021-07-16T23:56:48+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libwacom (1.10-1 -> 1.11-1)
[2021-07-16T23:56:49+0200] [ALPM] upgraded qt5-base (5.15.2+kde+r209-1 -> 5.15.2+kde+r210-1)
[2021-07-16T23:56:49+0200] [ALPM] upgraded qt5-wayland (5.15.2+kde+r28-1 -> 5.15.2+kde+r29-1)
[2021-07-16T23:56:51+0200] [ALPM] upgraded js78 (78.11.0-1 -> 78.12.0-1)
[2021-07-16T23:56:51+0200] [ALPM] upgraded tdb (1.4.3-4 -> 1.4.4-1)
[2021-07-16T23:56:51+0200] [ALPM] upgraded nss (3.67-1 -> 3.68-1)
[2021-07-16T23:56:52+0200] [ALPM] upgraded kio (5.84.0-1 -> 5.84.0-2)
[2021-07-16T23:56:57+0200] [ALPM] upgraded calligra (3.2.1-15 -> 3.2.1-16)
[2021-07-16T23:56:59+0200] [ALPM] upgraded ceph-libs (15.2.12-2 -> 15.2.12-3)
[2021-07-16T23:57:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded chromium (91.0.4472.114-1 -> 91.0.4472.164-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-pillow (8.3.0-1 -> 8.3.1-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded cinnamon (5.0.4-1 -> 5.0.5-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded cython2 (0.29.23-1 -> 0.29.24-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:08+0200] [ALPM] upgraded opencv (4.5.3-1 -> 4.5.3-2)
[2021-07-16T23:57:08+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gmic (2.9.7-5 -> 2.9.8-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:09+0200] [ALPM] upgraded darktable (2:3.6.0-1 -> 2:3.6.0-2)
[2021-07-16T23:57:10+0200] [ALPM] upgraded mercurial (5.8-2 -> 5.8.1-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:10+0200] [ALPM] upgraded pacman (6.0.0-3 -> 6.0.0-5)
[2021-07-16T23:57:10+0200] [ALPM] upgraded devtools (20210202-1 -> 20210202-2)
[2021-07-16T23:57:11+0200] [ALPM] upgraded evince (40.2-1 -> 40.3-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:15+0200] [ALPM] upgraded firefox (89.0.2-1 -> 90.0-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:15+0200] [ALPM] upgraded firefox-i18n-de (89.0.2-1 -> 90.0-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:16+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-setuptools (1:57.1.0-1 -> 1:57.2.0-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:16+0200] [ALPM] upgraded flake8 (1:3.9.2-1 -> 1:3.9.2-2)
[2021-07-16T23:57:16+0200] [ALPM] upgraded freeimage (3.18.0-10 -> 3.18.0-11)
[2021-07-16T23:57:16+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gimp-plugin-gmic (2.9.7-5 -> 2.9.8-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:16+0200] [ALPM] upgraded mutter (40.2.1-1 -> 40.3-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:16+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gst-plugins-bad-libs (1.18.4-8 -> 1.18.4-9)
[2021-07-16T23:57:16+0200] [ALPM] upgraded vulkan-headers (1:1.2.182-1 -> 1:1.2.183-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:17+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gnome-shell (1:40.2-1 -> 1:40.3-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:17+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gnome-shell-extensions (40.2-1 -> 40.3-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:17+0200] [ALPM] upgraded mpg123 (1.28.0-1 -> 1.28.2-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:17+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gst-plugins-bad (1.18.4-8 -> 1.18.4-9)
[2021-07-16T23:57:18+0200] [ALPM] upgraded hplip (1:3.21.4-1 -> 1:3.21.6-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:18+0200] [ALPM] upgraded inxi (3.3.04.1-1 -> 3.3.05.1-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:18+0200] [ALPM] upgraded talloc (2.3.2-1 -> 2.3.3-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded smbclient (4.14.5-1 -> 4.14.6-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:23+0200] [ALPM] installed kodi (19.1-5)
[2021-07-16T23:57:26+0200] [ALPM] upgraded krita (4.4.5-2 -> 4.4.5-3)
[2021-07-16T23:57:26+0200] [ALPM] upgraded less (1:581.2-1 -> 1:590-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:27+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-mpg123 (1.28.1-1 -> 1.28.2-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:27+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-nss (3.67-1 -> 3.68-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:27+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-tdb (1.4.3-1 -> 1.4.4-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:27+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libmp4v2 (4.1.6-1 -> 5.0.0-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:27+0200] [ALPM] upgraded mkinitcpio (30-1 -> 30-2)
[2021-07-16T23:57:27+0200] [ALPM] upgraded mkvtoolnix-cli (58.0.0-2 -> 58.0.0-5)
[2021-07-16T23:57:27+0200] [ALPM] upgraded mkvtoolnix-gui (58.0.0-2 -> 58.0.0-5)
[2021-07-16T23:57:27+0200] [ALPM] upgraded mongo-c-driver (1.17.4-2 -> 1.17.5-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:29+0200] [ALPM] upgraded nodejs (16.4.2-1 -> 16.5.0-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:29+0200] [ALPM] upgraded noto-fonts-emoji (20200916-1 -> 20210625-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:32+0200] [ALPM] upgraded octave (6.2.0-1 -> 6.3.0-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:32+0200] [ALPM] upgraded okular (21.04.3-1 -> 21.04.3-2)
[2021-07-16T23:57:33+0200] [ALPM] upgraded openscenegraph (3.6.5-7 -> 3.6.5-8)
[2021-07-16T23:57:33+0200] [ALPM] upgraded ostree (2021.2-1 -> 2021.3-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:33+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-http-message (6.32-2 -> 6.33-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:33+0200] [ALPM] upgraded plasma-systemmonitor (5.22.3-1 -> 5.22.3-2)
[2021-07-16T23:57:33+0200] [ALPM] upgraded polari (40.0-1 -> 40.1-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:34+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-jeepney (0.6.0-4 -> 0.7.0-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:34+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-texttable (1.6.3-3 -> 1.6.4-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:34+0200] [ALPM] upgraded rhash (1.4.1-1 -> 1.4.2-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:34+0200] [ALPM] upgraded ruby (3.0.1-1 -> 3.0.2-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:35+0200] [ALPM] upgraded samba (4.14.5-1 -> 4.14.6-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:36+0200] [ALPM] upgraded sssd (2.5.1-1 -> 2.5.2-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:43+0200] [ALPM] upgraded vivaldi (4.0.2312.38-1 -> 4.0.2312.41-1)
[2021-07-16T23:57:43+0200] [ALPM] upgraded yay (10.2.3-1 -> 10.3.0-1)
[2021-07-17T00:00:16+0200] [ALPM] upgraded brave-dev-bin (1.27.99-1 -> 1.28.84-1)
[2021-07-17T00:01:15+0200] [ALPM] upgraded ccextractor (0.89-1 -> 0.90-1)
[2021-07-17T00:01:39+0200] [ALPM] upgraded hplip-plugin (3.21.4-1 -> 3.21.6-1)
[2021-07-17T00:02:20+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libglade (2.6.4-7 -> 2.6.4-8)
[2021-07-17T00:03:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded sdbus-cpp (0.8.3-3 -> 0.8.3-4)

I already have downgraded all qt5- related packages and both nss related packages and sssd without success. But the package that cuases the issue definitely is hidden in this list… There are many packages that can be excluded (cannot affect this). I hope there is someone with the same issue and we can compare the list of upgraded packages to find the package which causes this. I am not 100% sure, but I think the issue is not related to brave, because of a downgrading of brave-dev to a version that has worked yesterday (or a version that is aged two months) does not help.

df8oe · July 17, 2021, 1:59pm

OK - I got it. After digging into this thread: After today's update, Chrome-based browsers (Chrome, Opera, Vivaldi) will not open web pages I tried stopping systemd-resolved and voilà: all braves are brave again . There exists a nsswitch.conf.pacnew but that does not solve the issue. I cannot say where the issue resides but stopping systemd-resolved fixes the problem. For me only the mentioned brave browsers are affected. All others worked fine.

Edit:
To be more precise:
I changed one line in /etc/nsswitch.conf and everything works (even with systemd-resolved running):

From
hosts: files mymachines myhostname resolve [!UNAVAIL=return] dns
to
hosts:files mymachines myhostname dns resolve [!UNAVAIL=return]

zoli62 · July 17, 2021, 11:45pm

It helped, thank you very much. At Vivaldi, however, this phenomenon has occurred a few times even after applying the change you found. How did you realize this could be a solution?

df8oe · July 18, 2021, 9:42am

It was a happy mix of knowledge, luck and try&error. At all I do not know if it is a bug and if so, where it is located (systemd-libs or browsers). At he moment it is a stable workaround (maybe solution). I will observe the arch bug tracking…

jruschme · July 20, 2021, 5:37pm

Interesting. In my case, I found that the offending nsswitch option is “myhostname”. If I remove that, then everything seems to work fine. In fact, I was able to move the resolve entry to the front of the list as is recommended by the libnss_resolve man page.

On a side note, if you’ve updated your hostname at any point, make sure the contents of /etc/hostname and the entry in /etc/hosts match.