@rockedge :-
Right, Erik. Let's get you sorted out, shall we?
When you say "it wants to update but it of course can't", I'm going to hazard a guess that you're getting that wee red-shaded box up near the Menu 'hamburger' symbol.....saying something like an update is available, but Chrome cannot update?
See, the 'normal' internal updater for Linux Chrome, where it updates 'in-situ' (like Firefox) has never worked the way it does under Windows & Mac. Google have set the .deb package up to install a daily cron job, which operates in tandem with a URL to a dedicated Google repo that then 'adds' a repository to your package manager. Chrome updates then come down the pipe along with system updates.
This is how it's designed to work for mainstream distros, where everybody is just a 'user', with dedicated home directories. The normal system locations for Chrome installation don't work for us because of running-as-root and the need to run the browser as user 'spot'; it basically chucks a giant spanner in the works!
So; this is why the specific Puppy 'Chrome-portable updater' has been developed.
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Initially, I built the updater to work in tandem with manual input by the user. The user checks the Chrome blog to see if a new version is available; if it is, they then run the update script manually.
Member "baraka'' was the one who first got me looking into this. A couple of weeks ago, he posted about a modified updater which checks for a new version FOR you. I don't know quite how he found it - the URL he discovered appears to be a part of Google's own internal developer network - but it gives a blank web-page with just a version number in the top left-hand corner. There's one of these web-pages for every 'channel' and platform that Chrome supports; 15-18 in total, covering 'stable', 'beta' AND 'Canary' channels.
Importantly, this allowed the two of us to automate the 'version-check' part of things. (It's also why I re-built the thing a few months ago, so that just one, single directory needs to be changed. Everything else remains 'as-is'.)
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I would download the current version of the portable from my MEGA a/c (link in the first post). Swap your 'PROFILE' directory over from your existing one. Then, fire it up.
At launch, the wrapper-script now checks this URL for a new version. If no update, it just launches as normal. If an update is discovered, it then pops-up a wee GUI, asking if you want to update to the new version. If you say 'No', it launches as normal. If you say 'Yes' (which most will do), it then launches the portable updater script for you.
Once this has run through, the new version will launch automatically without the need for user input.....all ready to go.
Let me know how you get on with it. Unless this develops any major hiccups, it will remain the 'current' version in my repo, because it should henceforth update itself when YOU want it to.
Mike.