diff --git a/appasar/canary/app_bootstrap/hostUpdater.js b/appasar/canary/app_bootstrap/hostUpdater.js
index 11ad17d..f5d7b0c 100644
--- a/appasar/canary/app_bootstrap/hostUpdater.js
+++ b/appasar/canary/app_bootstrap/hostUpdater.js
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ function _interopRequireWildcard(obj) { if (obj && obj.__esModule) { return obj;
 
 function _interopRequireDefault(obj) { return obj && obj.__esModule ? obj : { default: obj }; }
 
+function _asyncToGenerator(fn) { return function () { var gen = fn.apply(this, arguments); return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) { function step(key, arg) { try { var info = gen[key](arg); var value = info.value; } catch (error) { reject(error); return; } if (info.done) { resolve(value); } else { return Promise.resolve(value).then(function (value) { step("next", value); }, function (err) { step("throw", err); }); } } return step("next"); }); }; }
+
 function versionParse(verString) {
   return verString.split('.').map(i => parseInt(i));
 }
@@ -135,42 +137,42 @@ class AutoUpdaterLinux extends _events.EventEmitter {
   }
 
   checkForUpdates() {
-    const currVersion = versionParse(_electron.app.getVersion());
-    this.emit('checking-for-update');
+    var _this = this;
 
-    _request2.default.get({ url: this.updateUrl, encoding: null }, (error, response, body) => {
-      if (error) {
-        console.error('[Updates] Error fetching ' + this.updateUrl + ': ' + error);
-        this.emit('error', error);
-        return;
-      }
+    return _asyncToGenerator(function* () {
+      const currVersion = versionParse(_electron.app.getVersion());
+      _this.emit('checking-for-update');
+
+      try {
+        const response = yield _request2.default.get(_this.updateUrl);
+
+        if (response.statusCode === 204) {
+          // you are up to date
+          _this.emit('update-not-available');
+          return;
+        }
 
-      if (response.statusCode === 204) {
-        // you are up to date
-        this.emit('update-not-available');
-      } else if (response.statusCode === 200) {
         let latestVerStr = '';
         let latestVersion = [];
         try {
-          const latestMetadata = JSON.parse(body);
+          const latestMetadata = JSON.parse(response.body);
           latestVerStr = latestMetadata.name;
           latestVersion = versionParse(latestVerStr);
-        } catch (e) {}
+        } catch (_) {}
 
         if (versionNewer(latestVersion, currVersion)) {
           console.log('[Updates] You are out of date!');
           // you need to update
-          this.emit('update-manually', latestVerStr);
+          _this.emit('update-manually', latestVerStr);
         } else {
           console.log('[Updates] You are living in the future!');
-          this.emit('update-not-available');
+          _this.emit('update-not-available');
         }
-      } else {
-        // something is wrong
-        console.error(`[Updates] Error: fetch returned: ${response.statusCode}`);
-        this.emit('update-not-available');
+      } catch (err) {
+        console.error('[Updates] Error fetching ' + _this.updateUrl + ': ' + err.message);
+        _this.emit('error', err);
       }
-    });
+    })();
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/appasar/canary/app_bootstrap/request.js b/appasar/canary/app_bootstrap/request.js
index 517f5b5..db99744 100644
--- a/appasar/canary/app_bootstrap/request.js
+++ b/appasar/canary/app_bootstrap/request.js
@@ -6,6 +6,84 @@ Object.defineProperty(exports, "__esModule", {
 
 var _extends = Object.assign || function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i]; for (var key in source) { if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(source, key)) { target[key] = source[key]; } } } return target; };
 
+let electronRequest = (() => {
+  var _ref = _asyncToGenerator(function* ({ method, url, headers, qs, timeout, body, stream }) {
+    yield _electron.app.whenReady();
+
+    const { net, session } = require('electron');
+    const req = net.request({
+      method,
+      url: `${url}${qs != null ? `?${_querystring2.default.stringify(qs)}` : ''}`,
+      redirect: 'follow',
+      session: session.defaultSession
+    });
+
+    if (headers != null) {
+      for (const headerKey of Object.keys(headers)) {
+        req.setHeader(headerKey, headers[headerKey]);
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (body != null) {
+      yield (0, _util.promisify)(req.write)(body, 'utf-8');
+    }
+
+    return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
+      const reqTimeout = setTimeout(function () {
+        req.abort();
+        reject(new Error(`network timeout: ${url}`));
+      }, timeout != null ? timeout : DEFAULT_REQUEST_TIMEOUT);
+
+      req.on('login', function (callback) {
+        return callback();
+      });
+
+      req.on('response', function (response) {
+        clearTimeout(reqTimeout);
+        handleHTTPResponse(resolve, reject, response, stream);
+      });
+
+      req.on('error', function (err) {
+        clearTimeout(reqTimeout);
+        reject(err);
+      });
+
+      req.end();
+    });
+  });
+
+  return function electronRequest(_x) {
+    return _ref.apply(this, arguments);
+  };
+})();
+
+let requestWithMethod = (() => {
+  var _ref2 = _asyncToGenerator(function* (method, options) {
+    if (typeof options === 'string') {
+      options = { url: options };
+    }
+
+    options = _extends({}, options, { method });
+
+    try {
+      return yield electronRequest(options);
+    } catch (err) {
+      console.log(`Error downloading with electron net: ${err.message}`);
+      console.log('Falling back to node net library..');
+    }
+
+    return nodeRequest(options);
+  });
+
+  return function requestWithMethod(_x2, _x3) {
+    return _ref2.apply(this, arguments);
+  };
+})();
+
+// only supports get for now, since retrying is non-idempotent and
+// we'd want to grovel the errors to make sure it's safe to retry
+
+
 var _electron = require('electron');
 
 var _querystring = require('querystring');
@@ -16,100 +94,90 @@ var _request = require('request');
 
 var _request2 = _interopRequireDefault(_request);
 
-var _events = require('events');
-
-var _events2 = _interopRequireDefault(_events);
+var _util = require('util');
 
 function _interopRequireDefault(obj) { return obj && obj.__esModule ? obj : { default: obj }; }
 
-function _log(_msg) {
-  // console.log('[Request] ' + _msg);
+function _asyncToGenerator(fn) { return function () { var gen = fn.apply(this, arguments); return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) { function step(key, arg) { try { var info = gen[key](arg); var value = info.value; } catch (error) { reject(error); return; } if (info.done) { resolve(value); } else { return Promise.resolve(value).then(function (value) { step("next", value); }, function (err) { step("throw", err); }); } } return step("next"); }); }; }
+
+const DEFAULT_REQUEST_TIMEOUT = 30000;
+
+function makeHTTPResponse({ method, url, headers, statusCode, statusMessage }, body) {
+  return {
+    method,
+    url,
+    headers,
+    statusCode,
+    statusMessage,
+    body
+  };
 }
 
-function requestWithMethod(method, origOpts, origCallback) {
-  if (typeof origOpts == 'string') {
-    origOpts = { url: origOpts };
-  }
-
-  const opts = _extends({}, origOpts, { method });
-
-  let callback;
-  if (origCallback || opts.callback) {
-    const origOptsCallback = opts.callback;
-    delete opts.callback;
-    callback = (...args) => {
-      if (origCallback) {
-        origCallback.apply(this, args);
-      }
-      if (origOptsCallback) {
-        origOptsCallback.apply(this, args);
-      }
-    };
-  }
-
-  const strictOpts = _extends({}, opts, { strictSSL: true });
-  const laxOpts = _extends({}, opts, { strictSSL: false });
-
-  const rv = new _events2.default();
-
-  if (callback) {
-    _log('have callback, so wrapping');
-    rv.on('response', response => {
-      const chunks = [];
-      response.on('data', chunk => chunks.push(chunk));
-      response.on('end', () => {
-        callback(null, response, Buffer.concat(chunks));
-      });
-    });
-    rv.on('error', error => callback(error));
-  }
-
-  const requestTypes = [{
-    factory: function () {
-      return (0, _request2.default)(strictOpts);
-    },
-    method: 'node_request_strict'
-  }, {
-    factory: function () {
-      const qs = _querystring2.default.stringify(strictOpts.qs);
-      const nr = _electron.net.request(_extends({}, strictOpts, { url: `${strictOpts.url}?${qs}` }));
-      nr.end();
-      return nr;
-    },
-    method: 'electron_net_request_strict'
-  }, {
-    factory: function () {
-      return (0, _request2.default)(laxOpts);
-    },
-    method: 'node_request_lax'
-  }];
-
-  function attempt(index) {
-    const { factory, method } = requestTypes[index];
-    _log(`Attempt #${index + 1}: ${method}`);
-    factory().on('response', response => {
-      _log(`${method} success! emitting response ${response}`);
-      rv.emit('response', response);
-    }).on('error', error => {
-      if (index + 1 < requestTypes.length) {
-        _log(`${method} failure, trying next option`);
-        attempt(index + 1);
-      } else {
-        _log(`${method} failure, out of options`);
-        rv.emit('error', error);
-      }
-    });
-  }
-
-  attempt(0);
-
-  return rv;
+function makeHTTPStatusError(response) {
+  const err = new Error(`HTTP Error: Status Code ${response.statusCode}`);
+  err.response = response;
+  return err;
+}
+
+function handleHTTPResponse(resolve, reject, response, stream) {
+  const totalBytes = parseInt(response.headers['content-length'] || 1, 10);
+  let receivedBytes = 0;
+  const chunks = [];
+
+  // don't stream response if it's a failure
+  if (response.statusCode >= 300) {
+    stream = null;
+  }
+
+  response.on('data', chunk => {
+    if (stream != null) {
+      receivedBytes += chunk.length;
+      stream.write(chunk);
+      stream.emit('progress', { totalBytes, receivedBytes });
+      return;
+    }
+
+    chunks.push(chunk);
+  });
+
+  response.on('end', () => {
+    if (stream != null) {
+      stream.on('finish', () => resolve(makeHTTPResponse(response, null)));
+      stream.end();
+      return;
+    }
+
+    const res = makeHTTPResponse(response, Buffer.concat(chunks));
+
+    if (res.statusCode >= 300) {
+      reject(makeHTTPStatusError(res));
+      return;
+    }
+
+    resolve(res);
+  });
+}
+
+function nodeRequest({ method, url, headers, qs, timeout, body, stream }) {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const req = (0, _request2.default)({
+      method,
+      url,
+      qs,
+      headers,
+      followAllRedirects: true,
+      encoding: null,
+      timeout: timeout != null ? timeout : DEFAULT_REQUEST_TIMEOUT,
+      body
+    });
+
+    req.on('response', response => handleHTTPResponse(resolve, reject, response, stream));
+    req.on('error', err => reject(err));
+  });
 }
 
-// only supports get for now, since retrying is non-idempotent and
-// we'd want to grovel the errors to make sure it's safe to retry
 for (const method of ['get']) {
-  requestWithMethod[method] = requestWithMethod.bind(null, method);
+  requestWithMethod[method] = requestWithMethod.bind(null, method.toUpperCase());
 }
 
 exports.default = requestWithMethod;
diff --git a/appasar/canary/common/moduleUpdater.js b/appasar/canary/common/moduleUpdater.js
index b6101d8..3fc0e6e 100644
--- a/appasar/canary/common/moduleUpdater.js
+++ b/appasar/canary/common/moduleUpdater.js
@@ -5,11 +5,145 @@ Object.defineProperty(exports, "__esModule", {
 });
 exports.supportsEventObjects = exports.events = exports.NO_PENDING_UPDATES = exports.INSTALLING_MODULE_PROGRESS = exports.INSTALLING_MODULE = exports.INSTALLING_MODULES_FINISHED = exports.DOWNLOADED_MODULE = exports.UPDATE_MANUALLY = exports.DOWNLOADING_MODULES_FINISHED = exports.DOWNLOADING_MODULE_PROGRESS = exports.DOWNLOADING_MODULE = exports.UPDATE_CHECK_FINISHED = exports.INSTALLED_MODULE = exports.CHECKING_FOR_UPDATES = undefined;
 
-var _extends = Object.assign || function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i]; for (var key in source) { if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(source, key)) { target[key] = source[key]; } } } return target; }; // Manages additional module installation and management.
-// We add the module folder path to require() lookup paths here.
+var _extends = Object.assign || function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i]; for (var key in source) { if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(source, key)) { target[key] = source[key]; } } } return target; };
 
-// undocumented node API
+let checkForModuleUpdates = (() => {
+  var _ref = _asyncToGenerator(function* () {
+    const query = _extends({}, remoteQuery, { _: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000 / 60 / 5) });
+    const url = `${remoteBaseURL}/versions.json`;
+    logger.log(`Checking for module updates at ${url}`);
 
+    let response;
+    try {
+      response = yield request.get({ url, qs: query, timeout: REQUEST_TIMEOUT });
+      checkingForUpdates = false;
+    } catch (err) {
+      checkingForUpdates = false;
+      logger.log(`Failed fetching module versions: ${String(err)}`);
+
+      events.append({
+        type: UPDATE_CHECK_FINISHED,
+        succeeded: false,
+        updateCount: 0,
+        manualRequired: false
+      });
+
+      return;
+    }
+
+    remoteModuleVersions = JSON.parse(response.body);
+    if (settings.get(USE_LOCAL_MODULE_VERSIONS)) {
+      try {
+        remoteModuleVersions = JSON.parse(_fs2.default.readFileSync(localModuleVersionsFilePath));
+        console.log('Using local module versions: ', remoteModuleVersions);
+      } catch (err) {
+        console.warn('Failed to parse local module versions: ', err);
+      }
+    }
+
+    const updatesToDownload = [];
+    for (const moduleName of Object.keys(installedModules)) {
+      const installedModule = installedModules[moduleName];
+      const installed = installedModule.installedVersion;
+      if (installed === null) {
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      const update = installedModule.updateVersion || 0;
+      const remote = remoteModuleVersions[getRemoteModuleName(moduleName)] || 0;
+      if (installed !== remote && update !== remote) {
+        logger.log(`Module update available: ${moduleName}@${remote} [installed: ${installed}]`);
+        updatesToDownload.push({ name: moduleName, version: remote });
+      }
+    }
+
+    events.append({
+      type: UPDATE_CHECK_FINISHED,
+      succeeded: true,
+      updateCount: updatesToDownload.length,
+      manualRequired: false
+    });
+
+    if (updatesToDownload.length === 0) {
+      logger.log(`No module updates available.`);
+    } else {
+      updatesToDownload.forEach(function (e) {
+        return addModuleToDownloadQueue(e.name, e.version);
+      });
+    }
+  });
+
+  return function checkForModuleUpdates() {
+    return _ref.apply(this, arguments);
+  };
+})();
+
+let processDownloadQueue = (() => {
+  var _ref2 = _asyncToGenerator(function* () {
+    if (download.active) return;
+    if (download.queue.length === 0) return;
+
+    download.active = true;
+
+    const queuedModule = download.queue[download.next];
+    download.next += 1;
+
+    events.append({
+      type: DOWNLOADING_MODULE,
+      name: queuedModule.name,
+      current: download.next,
+      total: download.queue.length,
+      foreground: !runningInBackground
+    });
+
+    let progress = 0;
+    let receivedBytes = 0;
+
+    const url = `${remoteBaseURL}/${encodeURIComponent(getRemoteModuleName(queuedModule.name))}/${encodeURIComponent(queuedModule.version)}`;
+    logger.log(`Fetching ${queuedModule.name}@${queuedModule.version} from ${url}`);
+    const headers = {};
+    if (queuedModule.authToken) {
+      headers['Authorization'] = queuedModule.authToken;
+    }
+
+    const moduleZipPath = _path2.default.join(moduleDownloadPath, `${queuedModule.name}-${queuedModule.version}.zip`);
+    const stream = _fs2.default.createWriteStream(moduleZipPath);
+    stream.on('progress', function ({ receivedBytes: newReceivedBytes, totalBytes }) {
+      receivedBytes = newReceivedBytes;
+      const newProgress = Math.min(Math.floor(100 * (receivedBytes / totalBytes)), 100);
+      if (progress !== newProgress) {
+        progress = newProgress;
+        logger.log(`Streaming ${queuedModule.name}@${queuedModule.version} to ${moduleZipPath}: ${progress}%`);
+        events.append({
+          type: DOWNLOADING_MODULE_PROGRESS,
+          name: queuedModule.name,
+          progress: progress
+        });
+      }
+    });
+
+    logger.log(`Streaming ${queuedModule.name}@${queuedModule.version} to ${moduleZipPath}`);
+
+    try {
+      const response = yield request.get({
+        url,
+        qs: remoteQuery,
+        headers,
+        timeout: REQUEST_TIMEOUT,
+        stream
+      });
+
+      finishModuleDownload(queuedModule.name, queuedModule.version, moduleZipPath, receivedBytes, response.statusCode === 200);
+    } catch (err) {
+      logger.log(`Failed fetching module ${queuedModule.name}@${queuedModule.version}: ${String(err)}`);
+      finishModuleDownload(queuedModule.name, queuedModule.version, null, false);
+    }
+  });
+
+  return function processDownloadQueue() {
+    return _ref2.apply(this, arguments);
+  };
+})();
 
 exports.initPathsOnly = initPathsOnly;
 exports.init = init;
@@ -57,6 +191,12 @@ function _interopRequireWildcard(obj) { if (obj && obj.__esModule) { return obj;
 
 function _interopRequireDefault(obj) { return obj && obj.__esModule ? obj : { default: obj }; }
 
+function _asyncToGenerator(fn) { return function () { var gen = fn.apply(this, arguments); return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) { function step(key, arg) { try { var info = gen[key](arg); var value = info.value; } catch (error) { reject(error); return; } if (info.done) { resolve(value); } else { return Promise.resolve(value).then(function (value) { step("next", value); }, function (err) { step("throw", err); }); } } return step("next"); }); }; } // Manages additional module installation and management.
+// We add the module folder path to require() lookup paths here.
+
+// undocumented node API
+
+
 const originalFs = require('original-fs');
 
 // events
@@ -443,156 +583,11 @@ function getRemoteModuleName(name) {
   return name;
 }
 
-function checkForModuleUpdates() {
-  const query = _extends({}, remoteQuery, { _: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000 / 60 / 5) });
-  const url = `${remoteBaseURL}/versions.json`;
-  logger.log(`Checking for module updates at ${url}`);
-
-  request.get({
-    url,
-    agent: false,
-    encoding: null,
-    qs: query,
-    timeout: REQUEST_TIMEOUT,
-    strictSSL: false
-  }, (err, response, body) => {
-    checkingForUpdates = false;
-
-    if (!err && response.statusCode !== 200) {
-      err = new Error(`Non-200 response code: ${response.statusCode}`);
-    }
-
-    if (err) {
-      logger.log(`Failed fetching module versions: ${String(err)}`);
-      events.append({
-        type: UPDATE_CHECK_FINISHED,
-        succeeded: false,
-        updateCount: 0,
-        manualRequired: false
-      });
-      return;
-    }
-
-    remoteModuleVersions = JSON.parse(body);
-    if (settings.get(USE_LOCAL_MODULE_VERSIONS)) {
-      try {
-        remoteModuleVersions = JSON.parse(_fs2.default.readFileSync(localModuleVersionsFilePath));
-        console.log('Using local module versions: ', remoteModuleVersions);
-      } catch (err) {
-        console.warn('Failed to parse local module versions: ', err);
-      }
-    }
-
-    const updatesToDownload = [];
-    for (const moduleName of Object.keys(installedModules)) {
-      const installedModule = installedModules[moduleName];
-      const installed = installedModule.installedVersion;
-      if (installed === null) {
-        continue;
-      }
-
-      const update = installedModule.updateVersion || 0;
-      const remote = remoteModuleVersions[getRemoteModuleName(moduleName)] || 0;
-      // TODO: strict equality?
-      if (installed != remote && update != remote) {
-        logger.log(`Module update available: ${moduleName}@${remote} [installed: ${installed}]`);
-        updatesToDownload.push({ name: moduleName, version: remote });
-      }
-    }
-
-    events.append({
-      type: UPDATE_CHECK_FINISHED,
-      succeeded: true,
-      updateCount: updatesToDownload.length,
-      manualRequired: false
-    });
-    if (updatesToDownload.length === 0) {
-      logger.log(`No module updates available.`);
-    } else {
-      updatesToDownload.forEach(e => addModuleToDownloadQueue(e.name, e.version));
-    }
-  });
-}
-
 function addModuleToDownloadQueue(name, version, authToken) {
   download.queue.push({ name, version, authToken });
   process.nextTick(() => processDownloadQueue());
 }
 
-function processDownloadQueue() {
-  if (download.active) return;
-  if (download.queue.length === 0) return;
-
-  download.active = true;
-
-  const queuedModule = download.queue[download.next];
-  download.next += 1;
-
-  events.append({
-    type: DOWNLOADING_MODULE,
-    name: queuedModule.name,
-    current: download.next,
-    total: download.queue.length,
-    foreground: !runningInBackground
-  });
-
-  let totalBytes = 1;
-  let receivedBytes = 0;
-  let progress = 0;
-  let hasErrored = false;
-
-  const url = `${remoteBaseURL}/${getRemoteModuleName(queuedModule.name)}/${queuedModule.version}`;
-  logger.log(`Fetching ${queuedModule.name}@${queuedModule.version} from ${url}`);
-  const headers = {};
-  if (queuedModule.authToken) {
-    headers['Authorization'] = queuedModule.authToken;
-  }
-  request.get({
-    url,
-    agent: false,
-    encoding: null,
-    followAllRedirects: true,
-    qs: remoteQuery,
-    timeout: REQUEST_TIMEOUT,
-    strictSSL: false,
-    headers
-  }).on('error', err => {
-    if (hasErrored) return;
-    hasErrored = true;
-    logger.log(`Failed fetching ${queuedModule.name}@${queuedModule.version}: ${String(err)}`);
-    finishModuleDownload(queuedModule.name, queuedModule.version, null, false);
-  }).on('response', response => {
-    totalBytes = response.headers['content-length'] || 1;
-
-    const moduleZipPath = _path2.default.join(moduleDownloadPath, `${queuedModule.name}-${queuedModule.version}.zip`);
-    logger.log(`Streaming ${queuedModule.name}@${queuedModule.version} [${totalBytes} bytes] to ${moduleZipPath}`);
-
-    const stream = _fs2.default.createWriteStream(moduleZipPath);
-    stream.on('finish', () => finishModuleDownload(queuedModule.name, queuedModule.version, moduleZipPath, receivedBytes, response.statusCode === 200));
-
-    response.on('data', chunk => {
-      receivedBytes += chunk.length;
-      stream.write(chunk);
-
-      const fraction = receivedBytes / totalBytes;
-      const newProgress = Math.min(Math.floor(100 * fraction), 100);
-      if (progress != newProgress) {
-        progress = newProgress;
-        events.append({
-          type: DOWNLOADING_MODULE_PROGRESS,
-          name: queuedModule.name,
-          progress: progress
-        });
-      }
-    });
-
-    // TODO: on response error
-    // TODO: on stream error
-
-    response.on('end', () => stream.end());
-  });
-}
-
 function commitInstalledModules() {
   const data = JSON.stringify(installedModules, null, 2);
   _fs2.default.writeFileSync(installedModulesFilePath, data);