IDE hangs on startup: "Error verifying signature: signature expired"

Development Tools IDE 2.x
1

My problem:IDE hangs on startup. Windows 11 comp. GPD Pocket 4. IDE 2.3.6

PS C:\Users\ja\AppData\Local\Programs\Arduino IDE> & ".\Arduino IDE"
PS C:\Users\ja\AppData\Local\Programs\Arduino IDE>
Arduino IDE 2.3.6
Checking for frontend application configuration customizations. Module path: C:\Users\ja\AppData\Local\Programs\Arduino IDE\resources\app\lib\backend\electron-main.js, destination 'package.json': C:\Users\ja\AppData\Local\Programs\Arduino IDE\resources\app\package.json
Setting 'theia.frontend.config.appVersion' application configuration value to: "2.3.6" (type of string)
Setting 'theia.frontend.config.cliVersion' application configuration value to: "1.2.0" (type of string)
Setting 'theia.frontend.config.buildDate' application configuration value to: "2025-04-09T11:26:55.498Z" (type of string)
Frontend application configuration after modifications: {"applicationName":"Arduino IDE","defaultTheme":{"light":"arduino-theme","dark":"arduino-theme-dark"},"defaultIconTheme":"none","electron":{"windowOptions":{},"showWindowEarly":true,"splashScreenOptions":{},"uriScheme":"arduino-ide"},"defaultLocale":"","validatePreferencesSchema":false,"reloadOnReconnect":true,"uriScheme":"theia","preferences":{"window.title":"${rootName}${activeEditorShort}${appName}","files.autoSave":"afterDelay","editor.minimap.enabled":false,"editor.tabSize":2,"editor.scrollBeyondLastLine":false,"editor.quickSuggestions":{"other":false,"comments":false,"strings":false},"editor.maxTokenizationLineLength":500,"editor.bracketPairColorization.enabled":false,"breadcrumbs.enabled":false,"workbench.tree.renderIndentGuides":"none","explorer.compactFolders":false},"appVersion":"2.3.6","cliVersion":"1.2.0","buildDate":"2025-04-09T11:26:55.498Z"}
Starting backend process. PID: 6104
Showing main window early
Using browser-only version of superagent in non-browser environment
Configuration directory URI: 'file:///c%3A/Users/ja/.arduinoIDE'
Configuring to accept webviews on '^.+\.webview\..+$' hostname.
2025-06-24T20:52:14.737Z root INFO Backend u.initialize: 14.8 ms [Finished 0.333 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.738Z root INFO Backend Object.initialize: 14.0 ms [Finished 0.333 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.738Z root INFO Backend a.initialize: 1.0 ms [Finished 0.333 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.738Z root INFO Backend a.initialize: 0.8 ms [Finished 0.333 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.738Z root INFO Backend u.initialize: 1.0 ms [Finished 0.333 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.739Z root INFO Backend l.initialize: 14.8 ms [Finished 0.333 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.743Z root INFO configured all backend app contributions
2025-06-24T20:52:14.743Z root INFO Backend l.onStart: 0.6 ms [Finished 0.339 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.743Z root INFO Backend d.onStart: 0.1 ms [Finished 0.339 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.743Z root INFO Backend a.onStart: 0.2 ms [Finished 0.339 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.744Z config INFO >>> Initializing CLI configuration...
2025-06-24T20:52:14.744Z root INFO Backend x.onStart: 0.2 ms [Finished 0.339 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.744Z config INFO Loading CLI configuration from c:\Users\ja\.arduinoIDE\arduino-cli.yaml...
2025-06-24T20:52:14.744Z daemon INFO Starting daemon from C:\Users\ja\AppData\Local\Programs\Arduino IDE\resources\app\lib\backend\resources\arduino-cli.exe...
2025-06-24T20:52:14.744Z root INFO Backend w.onStart: 0.2 ms [Finished 0.340 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.744Z discovery-log INFO start
2025-06-24T20:52:14.744Z discovery-log INFO start new deferred
2025-06-24T20:52:14.744Z root INFO Backend v.onStart: 0.1 ms [Finished 0.340 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.744Z root INFO Backend a.onStart: 0.0 ms [Finished 0.340 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.751Z root WARN The local plugin referenced by local-dir:/c%3A/Users/ja/.arduinoIDE/plugins does not exist.
2025-06-24T20:52:14.751Z root WARN The local plugin referenced by local-dir:C:\Users\ja\.arduinoIDE\plugins does not exist.
2025-06-24T20:52:14.751Z root WARN The local plugin referenced by local-dir:/c%3A/Users/ja/.arduinoIDE/deployedPlugins does not exist.
2025-06-24T20:52:14.753Z root INFO Theia app listening on http://127.0.0.1:50095.
2025-06-24T20:52:14.753Z root INFO Finished starting backend application: 9.2 ms [Finished 0.349 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.762Z config INFO Loaded CLI configuration: {"board_manager":{"additional_urls":[]}}
2025-06-24T20:52:14.762Z config INFO Loading fallback CLI configuration to get 'directories.data' and 'directories.user'
2025-06-24T20:52:14.790Z root INFO Resolve plugins list: 45.5 ms [Finished 0.386 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:14.802Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:14+02:00" level=info msg="arduino-cli version 1.2.0"
2025-06-24T20:52:14.802Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:14+02:00" level=info msg="Using config file: c:\\Users\\ja\\.arduinoIDE\\arduino-cli.yaml"
time="2025-06-24T22:52:14+02:00" level=info msg="Executing `arduino-cli daemon`"
2025-06-24T20:52:14.812Z daemon INFO Daemon is now listening on 127.0.0.1:50096
{"IP":"127.0.0.1","Port":"50096"}
2025-06-24T20:52:14.812Z daemon INFO Daemon is running.
2025-06-24T20:52:14.821Z config INFO Loaded fallback CLI configuration: {"directories":{"user":"C:\\Users\\ja\\Documents\\Arduino","data":"C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15"}}
2025-06-24T20:52:14.821Z config INFO Merged CLI configuration with the fallback: {"directories":{"user":"C:\\Users\\ja\\Documents\\Arduino","data":"C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15"},"board_manager":{"additional_urls":[]}}
2025-06-24T20:52:14.821Z config INFO Loaded the CLI configuration.
2025-06-24T20:52:14.822Z config INFO Mapped the CLI configuration: {"dataDirUri":"file:///c%3A/Users/ja/AppData/Local/Arduino15","sketchDirUri":"file:///c%3A/Users/ja/Documents/Arduino","additionalUrls":[],"network":"none","locale":"en"}
2025-06-24T20:52:14.822Z config INFO Validating the CLI configuration...
2025-06-24T20:52:14.826Z config INFO The CLI config is valid.
2025-06-24T20:52:14.826Z config INFO <<< Initialized the CLI configuration.
2025-06-24T20:52:14.827Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:14+02:00" level=info msg="Starting download" url="https://downloads.arduino.cc/libraries/library_index.tar.bz2"
2025-06-24T20:52:15.049Z root INFO Deploy plugins list: 305.2 ms [Finished 0.646 s after backend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:15.642Z root INFO creating connection for 1
2025-06-24T20:52:16.085Z root WARN A command editor.action.toggleStickyScroll is already registered.
Opening channel for service path '/services/electron-window'.
Opening channel for service path '/services/ide-updater'.
2025-06-24T20:52:16.136Z root INFO Start frontend contributions: 156.3 ms [Finished 1.369 s after frontend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:16.136Z root INFO Changed application state from 'init' to 'started_contributions'.
2025-06-24T20:52:16.143Z root INFO Changed application state from 'started_contributions' to 'attached_shell'.
2025-06-24T20:52:16.143Z root INFO >>> Restoring the layout state...
2025-06-24T20:52:16.157Z root INFO [291fe41f-44a3-4f4c-9677-bae7233467d0] Waiting for backend deployment: 29.6 ms [Finished 1.397 s after frontend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:16.430Z root INFO [hosted-plugin: 18844] PLUGIN_HOST(18844) starting instance
[Object: null prototype] {}
2025-06-24T20:52:16.798Z root INFO [291fe41f-44a3-4f4c-9677-bae7233467d0] Sync of 23 plugins: 641.2 ms [Finished 2.038 s after frontend start]
2025-06-24T20:52:16.936Z root ERROR Detected an error response during the gRPC core client initialization: code: 3, message: Error verifying signature: signature expired: is your system clock set correctly?
2025-06-24T20:52:16.939Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:16+02:00" level=info msg="Checking signature" index="C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\package_index.json" signatureFile="C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\package_index.json.sig" trusted=true
2025-06-24T20:52:16.939Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:16+02:00" level=info msg="Loading hardware from: C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\packages"
2025-06-24T20:52:16.940Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:16+02:00" level=info msg="Loading package builtin from: C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\packages\\builtin"
2025-06-24T20:52:16.940Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:16+02:00" level=info msg="Checking existence of 'tools' path: C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\packages\\builtin\\tools"
time="2025-06-24T22:52:16+02:00" level=info msg="Loading tools from dir: C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\packages\\builtin\\tools"
2025-06-24T20:52:16.940Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:16+02:00" level=info msg="Loaded tool" tool="builtin:ctags@5.8-arduino11"
2025-06-24T20:52:16.940Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:16+02:00" level=info msg="Loaded tool" tool="builtin:dfu-discovery@0.1.2"
time="2025-06-24T22:52:16+02:00" level=info msg="Loaded tool" tool="builtin:mdns-discovery@1.0.9"
time="2025-06-24T22:52:16+02:00" level=info msg="Loaded tool" tool="builtin:serial-discovery@1.4.1"
2025-06-24T20:52:16.940Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:16+02:00" level=info msg="Loaded tool" tool="builtin:serial-monitor@0.15.0"
2025-06-24T20:52:16.946Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:16+02:00" level=info msg="Loading libraries index file" index="C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\library_index.json"
2025-06-24T20:52:16.946Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:16+02:00" level=info msg="Adding libraries dir" dir="C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\libraries" isSingleLibrary=false location=ide
time="2025-06-24T22:52:16+02:00" level=info msg="Adding libraries dir" dir="C:\\Users\\ja\\Documents\\Arduino\\libraries" isSingleLibrary=false location=user
2025-06-24T20:52:16.947Z root ERROR Detected an error response during the gRPC core client initialization: code: 9, message: Loading index file: reading library_index.json: open C:\Users\ja\AppData\Local\Arduino15\library_index.json: The system cannot find the file specified.
2025-06-24T20:52:16.949Z root ERROR The primary packages indexes are missing. Running indexes update before initializing the core gRPC client The index of the cores and libraries must be updated before initializing the core gRPC client.
The following problems were detected during the gRPC client initialization:
[library-index] - code: 9, message: Loading index file: reading library_index.json: open C:\Users\ja\AppData\Local\Arduino15\library_index.json: The system cannot find the file specified.

2025-06-24T20:52:16.950Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:16+02:00" level=info msg="Starting download" url="https://downloads.arduino.cc/libraries/library_index.tar.bz2"
2025-06-24T20:52:16.951Z root INFO core-client-provider [library-index] Downloading index: library_index.tar.bz2

2025-06-24T20:52:21.070Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:21+02:00" level=info msg="Starting download" url="https://downloads.arduino.cc/libraries/library_index.tar.bz2"
2025-06-24T20:52:25.352Z root ERROR Detected an error response during the gRPC core client initialization: code: 3, message: Error verifying signature: signature expired: is your system clock set correctly?
2025-06-24T20:52:25.357Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:25+02:00" level=info msg="Checking signature" index="C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\package_index.json" signatureFile="C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\package_index.json.sig" trusted=true
2025-06-24T20:52:25.358Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:25+02:00" level=info msg="Loading hardware from: C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\packages"
2025-06-24T20:52:25.358Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:25+02:00" level=info msg="Loading package builtin from: C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\packages\\builtin"
2025-06-24T20:52:25.358Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:25+02:00" level=info msg="Checking existence of 'tools' path: C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\packages\\builtin\\tools"
time="2025-06-24T22:52:25+02:00" level=info msg="Loading tools from dir: C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\packages\\builtin\\tools"
time="2025-06-24T22:52:25+02:00" level=info msg="Loaded tool" tool="builtin:ctags@5.8-arduino11"
2025-06-24T20:52:25.359Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:25+02:00" level=info msg="Loaded tool" tool="builtin:dfu-discovery@0.1.2"
time="2025-06-24T22:52:25+02:00" level=info msg="Loaded tool" tool="builtin:mdns-discovery@1.0.9"
2025-06-24T20:52:25.359Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:25+02:00" level=info msg="Loaded tool" tool="builtin:serial-discovery@1.4.1"
2025-06-24T20:52:25.359Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:25+02:00" level=info msg="Loaded tool" tool="builtin:serial-monitor@0.15.0"
2025-06-24T20:52:25.365Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:25+02:00" level=info msg="Loading libraries index file" index="C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\library_index.json"
2025-06-24T20:52:25.366Z root ERROR Detected an error response during the gRPC core client initialization: code: 9, message: Loading index file: reading library_index.json: open C:\Users\ja\AppData\Local\Arduino15\library_index.json: The system cannot find the file specified.
2025-06-24T20:52:25.367Z root ERROR Uncaught Exception:  Error: The index of the cores and libraries must be updated before initializing the core gRPC client.
The following problems were detected during the gRPC client initialization:
[library-index] - code: 9, message: Loading index file: reading library_index.json: open C:\Users\ja\AppData\Local\Arduino15\library_index.json: The system cannot find the file specified.

2025-06-24T20:52:25.367Z root ERROR Error: The index of the cores and libraries must be updated before initializing the core gRPC client.
The following problems were detected during the gRPC client initialization:
[library-index] - code: 9, message: Loading index file: reading library_index.json: open C:\Users\ja\AppData\Local\Arduino15\library_index.json: The system cannot find the file specified.

    at C:\Users\ja\AppData\Local\Programs\Arduino IDE\resources\app\lib\backend\main.js:2:6283973
    at y.evaluateErrorStatus (C:\Users\ja\AppData\Local\Programs\Arduino IDE\resources\app\lib\backend\main.js:2:6283989)
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
    at async a.<anonymous> (C:\Users\ja\AppData\Local\Programs\Arduino IDE\resources\app\lib\backend\main.js:2:6283659)
2025-06-24T20:52:25.367Z daemon INFO time="2025-06-24T22:52:25+02:00" level=info msg="Adding libraries dir" dir="C:\\Users\\ja\\AppData\\Local\\Arduino15\\libraries" isSingleLibrary=false location=ide
time="2025-06-24T22:52:25+02:00" level=info msg="Adding libraries dir" dir="C:\\Users\\ja\\Documents\\Arduino\\libraries" isSingleLibrary=false location=user

Regards

2

Hi @ardprog.

The cause of the problem is that your system time is incorrect. You can fix it by syncing the system time. I'll provide instructions you can follow to do that:

  1. Right click the Windows Start icon (⊞) on the taskbar.
    A context menu will open.
  2. Select "Settings" from the context menu.
    Windows "Settings" will open.
  3. Select "Time & language" from the navigation panel on the left side of the window.
  4. Select "Date & time" from the list at the right side of the Settings window.
    The "Date & time" settings section will expand.
  5. Click the "Sync now" button that is located under the "Additional settings" section of the window.
  6. Wait for the syncing process to finish.
  7. Close any Arduino IDE windows that are open.
  8. Start Arduino IDE again, as usual.
    ⓘ It is not required to start the IDE from the PowerShell terminal this time.

This time Arduino IDE should start up fully and work as expected.

1 Like
3

Yes, I did not have the system time synchronized. Before installing Arduino IDE, I replaced the SSD drive on which I tried to install Debian. After installing Linux on a new separate drive, I returned to the Win 11 drive and that is where the system time desynchronization came from. I did not notice this and started installing Arduino IDE. Even if I had noticed this fact, I would not have associated it with the problem. Thank you for your quick and comprehensive answer. It helped, Arduino IDE 2.3.6 is now working correctly.

4

You are welcome. I'm glad it is working now.

Regards, Per

1 Like
5

Thanks. :upside_down_face:
Regards

6

If you encounter the problem again when using a dual boot the below might be of interest

1 Like
7

Thank you, it will come in handy in the future.