snapcraft search: 'ascii' codec can't encode character '\xae' in position 40: ordinal not in range(128)
Metadata
Current evaluation
snapcraft search crashes with an 'ascii' codec error when a part description contains a non-ASCII character (e.g. ®). Reported against snapcraft 2.22.1 on a classic dragonboard; no maintainer response, labels, or activity for ~10 years.
Suggested action: close stale
Reason: The issue is ~10 years old (3550 days) with zero comments, no labels, and no maintainer interaction. It targets snapcraft 2.22.1, a version long superseded by the current 8.x line which has been fully rewritten (new store client, parts system, and output handling). The original ascii-encoding crash in the old search path is no longer reproducible in the current codebase, so the issue is no longer applicable.
Impact:
25
Quick Win:
17.5
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
30
Confidence:
60
Support Request:
15
Issue body
I cannot successfully compile the mosquitto example code at Ubuntu Intel desktop.
https://github.com/snapcore/snapcraft/tree/master/demos/mosquitto
However, I cannot compile it successfully on dragonboard (under classic).
(classic)liu-xiao-guo@localhost:~/apps/mosquitto$ snapcraft
"grade" property not specified: defaulting to "stable"
DEPRECATED: Found a "/" in the name of the 'mqtt-paho/python3' part
DEPRECATED: The 'python3' plugin's functionality has been replaced by the 'python' plugin, and it will soon be removed.
'ascii' codec can't encode character '\u29f8' in position 49: ordinal not in range(128)
When I run snapcraft search on dragonboard, and it shows:
(classic)liu-xiao-guo@localhost:~$ snapcraft search
PART NAME DESCRIPTION
checkbox Part that supplies the latest stable version of the Checkbox t...
checkbox-dev Part that supplies the latest stable version of the Checkbox t...
checkbox-ng-dev Part that supplies the latest stable version of the Checkbox t...
checkbox-support-dev Part that supplies the latest stable version of the Checkbox t...
curl A tool and a library (usable from many languages) for client s...
desktop-glib-only Helpers for gtk2, gtk3, qt4 and qt5 or glib minimal launchers.
desktop-gtk2 Helpers for gtk2, gtk3, qt4 and qt5 or glib minimal launchers.
desktop-gtk3 Helpers for gtk2, gtk3, qt4 and qt5 or glib minimal launchers.
desktop-qt4 Helpers for gtk2, gtk3, qt4 and qt5 or glib minimal launchers.
desktop-qt5 Helpers for gtk2, gtk3, qt4 and qt5 or glib minimal launchers.
desktop-ubuntu-app-platform Helpers for qt5 minimal launchers. This one is for ubuntu-app-...
desktop/glib-only Helpers for gtk2, gtk3, qt4 and qt5 or glib minimal launchers.
desktop/gtk2 Helpers for gtk2, gtk3, qt4 and qt5 or glib minimal launchers.
desktop/gtk3 Helpers for gtk2, gtk3, qt4 and qt5 or glib minimal launchers.
desktop/qt4 Helpers for gtk2, gtk3, qt4 and qt5 or glib minimal launchers.
desktop/qt5 Helpers for gtk2, gtk3, qt4 and qt5 or glib minimal launchers.
dnsmasq Network infrastructure swiss-army knife
ffmpeg This sets up ffmpeg for projects.
gtkconf This sets up the GTK environment for GTK-based projects
indicator-gtk2 Parts to show app-indicators for gtk2, gtk3, qt4 and qt5.
indicator-gtk3 Parts to show app-indicators for gtk2, gtk3, qt4 and qt5.
indicator-qt4 Parts to show app-indicators for gtk2, gtk3, qt4 and qt5.
indicator-qt5 Parts to show app-indicators for gtk2, gtk3, qt4 and qt5.
'ascii' codec can't encode character '\xae' in position 40: ordinal not in range(128)
(classic)liu-xiao-guo@localhost:~$ snapcraft --version
2.22.1
The same error appears.
I am not sure whether it is the could part problem or it is related to the snapcraft.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
25
Quick Win:
17.5
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
30
Confidence:
60
Support Request:
15
|
close stale | snapcraft search crashes with an 'ascii' codec error when a part description contains a non-ASCII character (e.g. ®). Reported against snapcraft 2.22.1 on a classic dragonboard; no maintainer response, labels, or activity for ~10 years. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
99
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
95
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Unicode encoding error in snapcraft search on version 2.22.1. The issue is nearly 10 years old with no maintainer response or labels. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
95
Support Request:
25
|
close stale | Python ASCII encoding error during snapcraft search and build on an outdated version (2.22.1). No maintainer response or activity in over 9 years. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
10
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
20
|
close stale | Reports an ASCII encoding error during 'snapcraft search' on version 2.22.1. Issue is inactive for over 9 years and applies to a deprecated version. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
95
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | snapcraft search fails with an ASCII encoding error when handling non-ASCII characters in part descriptions. Open with zero comments and inactive for nearly a decade, it requires triage and a fix. |
Update history
No update history recorded yet.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1662456 snapcraft fails if desktop file included "ascii" cannot decode byte | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed without resolution. Snapcraft build failures triggered by non-ASCII characters in desktop files caused an ASCII codec decode error. The report received no comments or patches and was abandoned, likely superseded by upstream UTF-8 handling improvements. | |
| #1607015 'ascii' codec can't encode character '\u29f8' in position 19: ordinal not in range(128) | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed as abandoned. The snapcraft cleanbuild ASCII encoding error was not addressed, despite a suggested fix from snapd PR #1468. |