Conda update -n base conda freezes computer and kills itself

Users conda
1

Running minconda on 12 core i7 machine, 32 gig memory, in linux. Update conda command took long time, eventually froze whole computer and stopping all running processes in 3 work space. Drive light was on continuously. conda terminal eventually killed itself.

base) tom@mydesktop: ~ $ conda update -n base conda
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done
Solving environment: unsuccessful attempt using repodata from current_repodata.json, retrying with next repodata source.
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): done
Solving environment: \ Killed

Not new to anaconda/miniconda. Has never happened over 3 year or so period.

Am trying again

2

2nd try ran for 2 hours and still “solving environment”. I removed and reinstalled miniconda. so-far-so-good. Adding processes. Not tried anything much thus far.

3

This sometimes helps. But if you started with conda < 23.11 it’s probably best to reinstall miniconda.

conda update -n base -c defaults conda --repodata-fn=repodata.json
4

Alternative to reinstalling is to use Micromamba temporarily to operate on the base environment (e.g., something like Conda update fails due to Python version in "base" environment - Stack Overflow). My first guess is that there’s been some mixing of Conda Forge packages in an otherwise defaults-centric base environment.

But yes, as @DanielHolth pointed out, adjusting the channel priorities may also be important. I.e., Miniconda and Anaconda base’s should prioritize defaults. Along these lines it may be possible that an ad hoc installation was done of some particular package, and now that Conda needs to upgrade it, it doesn’t know where to find it. So, be sure to check a conda list -n base to see where all your packages come from and compare this to what you actually have configured to search (conda config --get channels).

Another tip is that the intensive running sometimes is not the solving per se but rather the derivation of an explanation of why a solution could not be found. So, you may want to temporarily disable that branch of execution by setting the unsatisfiable_hints configuration parameter to false:

conda config --set unsatisfiable_hints false