[Issue]: Downloading node.js version xxx (indefinitely & with no status)

[metal450]

What happened?

Steps:

1. Disabled Windows Defender real-time protection
2. Disabled system firewall
3. Installed NVM for Windows successfully
4. Launched an admin prompt
5. nvm install 12.16.2
6. The terminal displays Downloading node.js version 12.16.2 (64-bit)... indefinitely. It shows no error message and no status/progress - it just remains with that static message. If I check the system network activity, the amount of network traffic is so little that I'm unsure if it's really transferring (on a 500megabit connection, it's jumping between 0 and maybe 20k/sec or so, which may just be on the order of background system services/syncers/etc).

So it seems like the situation is either:

• The download is not working (in which case some error message should be shown), or
• It's just downloading extremely slowly (in which case there should be some progress/status output)

I'm inclined to think that it may be the second case, but given that it provides no progress output, I really have no way of knowing which issue it is. So it seems like the first fix would be to, at the very least, have some form of download progress shown - i.e. "transferred xxx kb so far...").

What did you expect to happen?

Node downloads should show some sort of progress so it can be determined if it's errored, hung, or just transferring really slowly.

Version

1.1.11 or newer (Default)

Which version of Windows?

Windows 10 (Default)

Which locale?

English (Default)

Which shell are you running NVM4W in?

Command Prompt

User Permissions?

Administrative Privileges, Elevated

Is Developer Mode enabled?

None

Relevant log/console output

No response

Debug Output

Running NVM for Windows with administrator privileges.

Administrator: C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe - nvm  debug
NVM4W Version:      1.1.11
NVM4W Path:         C:\Users\Metal450\AppData\Roaming\nvm\nvm.exe
NVM4W Settings:     C:\Users\Metal450\AppData\Roaming\nvm\settings.txt
NVM_HOME:           C:\Users\Metal450\AppData\Roaming\nvm
NVM_SYMLINK:        C:\Program Files\nodejs
Node Installations: C:\Users\Metal450\AppData\Roaming\nvm

Active Node.js Version: none
(run "nvm use <version>" to activate a version)

PROBLEMS DETECTED
-----------------
"Administrator: C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe - nvm  debug" is not an officially supported shell. Some features may not work as expected.



Find help at https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows/wiki/Common-Issues

Anything else?

No response

[coreybutler]

There is an outstanding PR for this, but monitoring downloads can be kind of finicky. Instead of trying to add this to NVM4W, we're going to put it in Runtime. See https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows/wiki/New-Features

[metal450]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Update: looks like it was indeed just a slow download (after leaving it for an hour, it eventually finished). So yeah, solution is to just show i.e. "n kb transferred," which would clarify that it's actually doing something :)

[DeBoogie]

What happened?

Steps:

1. Disabled Windows Defender real-time protection
2. Disabled system firewall
3. Installed NVM for Windows successfully
4. Launched an admin prompt
5. nvm install 12.16.2
6. The terminal displays Downloading node.js version 12.16.2 (64-bit)... indefinitely. It shows no error message and no status/progress - it just remains with that static message. If I check the system network activity, the amount of network traffic is so little that I'm unsure if it's really transferring (on a 500megabit connection, it's jumping between 0 and maybe 20k/sec or so, which may just be on the order of background system services/syncers/etc).

So it seems like the situation is either:

• The download is not working (in which case some error message should be shown), or
• It's just downloading extremely slowly (in which case there should be some progress/status output)

I'm inclined to think that it may be the second case, but given that it provides no progress output, I really have no way of knowing which issue it is. So it seems like the first fix would be to, at the very least, have some form of download progress shown - i.e. "transferred xxx kb so far...").

What did you expect to happen?

Node downloads should show some sort of progress so it can be determined if it's errored, hung, or just transferring really slowly.

Version

1.1.11 or newer (Default)

Which version of Windows?

Windows 10 (Default)

Which locale?

English (Default)

Which shell are you running NVM4W in?

Command Prompt

User Permissions?

Administrative Privileges, Elevated

Is Developer Mode enabled?

None

Relevant log/console output

No response

Debug Output

Running NVM for Windows with administrator privileges.

Administrator: C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe - nvm  debug
NVM4W Version:      1.1.11
NVM4W Path:         C:\Users\Metal450\AppData\Roaming\nvm\nvm.exe
NVM4W Settings:     C:\Users\Metal450\AppData\Roaming\nvm\settings.txt
NVM_HOME:           C:\Users\Metal450\AppData\Roaming\nvm
NVM_SYMLINK:        C:\Program Files\nodejs
Node Installations: C:\Users\Metal450\AppData\Roaming\nvm

Active Node.js Version: none
(run "nvm use <version>" to activate a version)

PROBLEMS DETECTED
-----------------
"Administrator: C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe - nvm  debug" is not an officially supported shell. Some features may not work as expected.



Find help at https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows/wiki/Common-Issues

Anything else?

No response

This problem occurs when nvm.exe uses IPv6. Disable IPv6 on your network adapter as a temporary workaround.

[metal450]

This problem occurs when nvm.ex

Should be in the instructions/documentation if that's the case.

[coreybutler]

I cannot confirm this, but IPv6 is known to slow connections down. IPv6 vs IPv4 is not a NVM4W concern, seeing as NVM4W relies on the operating system to provide a network connection. How users configure that is their business.

That said, I've added a debugging note in 4854ee0, and have updated the common issues to identify IPv6 as a potential cause for slow downloads. The common recommendation for slow connections on IPv6 is to disable IPv6 on Windows. This isn't much of a "fix", but that's the common strategy some Googling offered.

As for a progress meter, this is already on the roadmap for Runtime.