Ubuntu 18.04, failed to open Beetle PSX HW core (version `GLIBCXX_3.4.26' not found)

[exerf]

I have retroarch snap (1.9.0) installed on Ubuntu 18.04.

I recently installed the Beetle PSX HW core from within retroarch. However, the core fails to load. The retroarch log contains the following:

[ERROR] Failed to open libretro core: "/home/user/snap/retroarch/423/.config/retroarch/cores/mednafen_psx_hw_libretro.so"
[ERROR] Error(s): /snap/retroarch/423/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6: version `GLIBCXX_3.4.26' not found (required by /home/user/snap/retroarch/423/.config/retroarch/cores/mednafen_psx_hw_libretro.so)

Using the locate utility, I'm able to find various installations of libstdc++.so.6, including:

/snap/core/10583/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6
/snap/core/10583/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.21
/snap/core/10823/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6
/snap/core/10823/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.21
/snap/core18/1944/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6
/snap/core18/1944/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.25
/snap/core18/1988/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6
/snap/core18/1988/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.25
/snap/retroarch/418/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6
/snap/retroarch/418/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.25
/snap/retroarch/423/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6
/snap/retroarch/423/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.25
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.25

I'm assuming that, similar to what @hizzlekizzle explained in issue #41, the problem is that the version of libstdc++ compiled/linked into snap is too old. Running the strings utility on these libraries suggests that the latest supported version is GLIBCXX_3.4.25:

$ strings /snap/core18/1988/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.25 | grep GLIBCXX
GLIBCXX_3.4
GLIBCXX_3.4.1
GLIBCXX_3.4.2
GLIBCXX_3.4.3
GLIBCXX_3.4.4
GLIBCXX_3.4.5
GLIBCXX_3.4.6
GLIBCXX_3.4.7
GLIBCXX_3.4.8
GLIBCXX_3.4.9
GLIBCXX_3.4.10
GLIBCXX_3.4.11
GLIBCXX_3.4.12
GLIBCXX_3.4.13
GLIBCXX_3.4.14
GLIBCXX_3.4.15
GLIBCXX_3.4.16
GLIBCXX_3.4.17
GLIBCXX_3.4.18
GLIBCXX_3.4.19
GLIBCXX_3.4.20
GLIBCXX_3.4.21
GLIBCXX_3.4.22
GLIBCXX_3.4.23
GLIBCXX_3.4.24
GLIBCXX_3.4.25
GLIBCXX_DEBUG_MESSAGE_LENGTH

(The output is the same for /snap/retroarch/423/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.)

Is it possible for me to upgrade libstdc++ in snap?

Would upgrading to Ubuntu 20.04 help? I'd prefer not to do this yet, but if it is beginning to get in the way of running retroarch, then I may do that sooner rather than later.

For the record, the Beetle PSX core runs fine.

[hizzlekizzle]

yes, this is a known mismatch between the system building the snaps (based on xenial) and the one in our infrastructure that's building the libs (based on bionic). It will resolve itself relatively soon, once the snapcraft infrastructure dumps xenial for bionic (I believe this is supposed to happen in April?)

We had discussed trying to configure an older VM for building cores, but I believe that plan was discarded (some combination of difficulty/hassle and the also being used to build some things that require the newer version, IIRC).

[exerf]

Thanks for that update, @hizzlekizzle. So if I understand correctly, snapd will automatically update libstdc++ within the next couple months, and at that point the new libstdc++ library should satisfy the GLIBCXX_3.4.26 requirement of the Beetle PSX HW core?

As a separate question, why are there so many copies of libstdc++ in the snap layout? I assume that the 10583 and 10823 represent the current and previous versions of the /snap/core install, but what is the difference between the one(s) in /snap/core/ and /snap/core18/? And how are those different from the one(s) in /snap/retroarch/ (which, again, I assume 423 is the latest version and 418 is the previous)?

Thanks for your help!

[hizzlekizzle]

I don't really know, tbh. I just know they purposely build everything on the oldest LTS they can, for maximum compatibility with whichever random distro someone might be using, but it bites us in this case because our cores are built against something newer. It's admittedly a niche use-case, so I can't really blame the snap folks for the problem (it happens with centrally-built flatpak and appimage packages, too). You might try our official appimage package to see if that treats you any better, though.

[inactive123]

Hi @exerf ,

I just pushed this -

libretro/beetle-psx-libretro@4d97452

after the buildbot is done with this, I will give you a link to an artifact (basically the core with these changes), and you can check then if it works on your RetroArch Snap version.

[inactive123]

Try these - this is the x64 beetle psx hw version -

https://git.libretro.com/libretro/beetle-psx-libretro/-/jobs/183529/artifacts/download

This is the x86 beetle psx hw version -

https://git.libretro.com/libretro/beetle-psx-libretro/-/jobs/183530/artifacts/download

[hizzlekizzle]

works for me, yeah

[exerf]

Oh wow, thank you @twinaphex! I'll try this out shortly.

[exerf]

Yay, it works! Thank you SO MUCH, @twinaphex! 🎮 🎉

[gouchi]

@exerf please close this issue.

[exerf]

Sorry for the delay, @gouchi. I didn't see your message until now.