Merge pull request #4212 from balena-io/fix-race

patch: hold request for metadata while waiting for flasher

lib/gui/app/app.ts

@@ -142,7 +142,8 @@ export let requestMetadata: any;
 // start the api and spawn the child process
 spawnChildAndConnect({
 	withPrivileges: false,
-}).then(({ emit, registerHandler }) => {
+})
+	.then(({ emit, registerHandler }) => {
 		// start scanning
 		emit('scan', {});
 
@@ -160,6 +161,9 @@ spawnChildAndConnect({
 		registerHandler('drives', (data: any) => {
 			setDrives(JSON.parse(data));
 		});
+	})
+	.catch((error: any) => {
+		throw new Error(`Failed to start the flasher process. error: ${error}`);
 	});
 
 let popupExists = false;

lib/gui/app/components/source-selector/source-selector.tsx

@@ -423,6 +423,14 @@ export class SourceSelector extends React.Component<
 						// this will send an event down the ipcMain asking for metadata
 						// we'll get the response through an event
 
+						// FIXME: This is a poor man wait while loading to prevent a potential race condition without completely blocking the interface
+						// This should be addressed when refactoring the GUI
+						let retriesLeft = 10;
+						while (requestMetadata === undefined && retriesLeft > 0) {
+							await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1050)); // api is trying to connect every 1000, this is offset to make sure we fall between retries
+							retriesLeft--;
+						}
+
 						metadata = await requestMetadata({ selected, SourceType, auth });
 
 						if (!metadata?.hasMBR && this.state.warning === null) {