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Linux: Anchor Wallet crashes immediately when installed in default /opt/Anchor Wallet path (space in installation directory) #1398

Description

@cpol-silver

Description

This issue may be related to the previously reported startup crash (SIGTRAP), but I found a different root cause.

On Kubuntu 24.04, Anchor Wallet 1.3.12 crashes immediately after startup when installed from the official .deb package.

The application never reaches the UI.

Environment

  • OS: Kubuntu 24.04 LTS
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Anchor Wallet: 1.3.12
  • Installation method: official GitHub .deb

Symptoms

Launching either from the desktop launcher or directly from the executable:

/opt/Anchor Wallet/anchor-wallet

produces:

LaunchProcess: failed to execvp:
/opt/Anchor

followed by

Trace/breakpoint trap (core dumped)

Running under gdb only shows a SIGTRAP with no useful stack trace.

Investigation

The executable itself is valid.

ldd reports no missing libraries.

The crash occurs before Electron initialization.

The interesting part is the message:

failed to execvp:
/opt/Anchor

Notice that the path is truncated at the first space.

This strongly suggests that somewhere an internal execvp() call is receiving:

/opt/Anchor

instead of

/opt/Anchor Wallet/anchor-wallet

or an equivalent properly quoted path.

I extracted app.asar and searched the application code, but I could not find any hardcoded /opt/Anchor references, suggesting the problem may occur in native code or Electron startup code.

Workaround

Copying the installation directory to a path without spaces completely fixes the issue.

Example:

sudo cp -a "/opt/Anchor Wallet" /opt/anchor-wallet

Then running

/opt/anchor-wallet/anchor-wallet

starts normally.

The wallet works correctly, including:

  • unlocking
  • signing transactions
  • Browser integration (Brave)
  • NFTHive transaction signing

Everything functions normally after moving the directory.

Expected behavior

The application should launch correctly from the default installation path created by the official .deb package.

Actual behavior

The application crashes immediately because an internal process appears to execute /opt/Anchor instead of the full executable path.

Possible cause

The installation directory created by the package contains a space:

/opt/Anchor Wallet

Some internal execvp() invocation may not correctly quote or escape the executable path.

Since renaming the installation directory removes the problem entirely, the issue appears to be related to path handling rather than missing libraries or Electron compatibility.

Hopefully this helps identify the source of the startup crash.

Platform

Desktop (Linux)

Steps To Reproduce

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Relevant log output

Contact Details

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Anything else?

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Activity

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