[EdLUG] Kubuntu Desktop broken after 'apt-get dist-upgrade'

Kevin Davidson kevin at indigospring.co.uk
Tue Sep 20 21:23:20 UTC 2022 

I think I missed the beginning of this, but if I were troubleshooting this, the first thing I'd try is to log in as a different user and see if you still have the problem, Create another temporary user account if you need to. If that works, then it’s not the software installation that’s the problem, it’s the configuration. Start looking through all the dot files and see what’s different between the config that works and the one that doesn’t. The .xsession-errors file ought to be a useful log of what went wrong.

Kevin

> On 20 Sep 2022, at 21:54, Alistair <alistair at archerry.plus.com> wrote:
> 
> I am still struggling to understand how to recover the desktop in a refined manner.
> 
> Some of the sites I have found discuss re-installing the display manager and/or window manager and/or the desktop environment, but non of them mention kde plasma explicitly.
> (I see the kde plasma logo and spinning cog wheel when I issue the 'startx' command. It just stops at a black screen.)
> 
> Taking a "blunderbuss" approach, I have looked at simply re-installing the kubuntu desktop. 
> Is this an acceptable approach? Or are there further questions I can ask to establish the system state and what needs fixing?
> 
> Using the simulation option of apt-get, I can compare what will be installed / re-installed on the system compared to another working setup:
> Broken T480:
> 'sudo apt-get install -s --reinstall kubuntu-desktop
> 
> Reading package lists...
> Building dependency tree...
> Reading state information...
> The following additional packages will be installed:
>  fonts-noto-unhinted haveged ibus-data kde-style-oxygen-qt5 kgamma5
>  kubuntu-settings-desktop libhavege2 libibus-1.0-5 liboxygenstyle5-5
>  liboxygenstyleconfig5-5 libscim8v5 libxcb-record0 plasma-desktop
>  plasma-desktop-data plasma-thunderbolt plasma-widgets-addons sddm
>  sddm-theme-breeze
> Suggested packages:
>  ibus quota
> The following NEW packages will be installed
>  fonts-noto-unhinted haveged ibus-data kde-style-oxygen-qt5 kgamma5
>  kubuntu-desktop kubuntu-settings-desktop libhavege2 libibus-1.0-5
>  liboxygenstyle5-5 liboxygenstyleconfig5-5 libscim8v5 libxcb-record0
>  plasma-desktop plasma-desktop-data plasma-thunderbolt plasma-widgets-addons
>  sddm sddm-theme-breeze
> 0 to upgrade, 19 to newly install, 0 to remove and 67 not to upgrade.'
> 
> Working T450:
> 'sudo apt-get install -s --reinstall kubuntu-desktop
> 
> Reading package lists... Done
> Building dependency tree       
> Reading state information... Done
> 0 to upgrade, 0 to newly install, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 0 not to upgrade.
> Inst kubuntu-desktop [1.398] (1.398 Ubuntu:20.04/focal [amd64])
> Conf kubuntu-desktop (1.398 Ubuntu:20.04/focal [amd64])'
> 
> Regards,
> Alistair
> 
> On Tuesday, 13 September 2022 21:10:09 BST Ken Robson wrote:
>> OK my bad .Xauthority is right one.
>> 
>> ⁣Ken
>> 
>> Get BlueMail for Android ​
>> 
>> On 13 Sep 2022, 19:11, at 19:11, Alistair <alistair at archerry.plus.com> wrote:
>>> Ken,
>>> Thanks for the suggestion.
>>> I cannot find a file called .xauth.
>>> In the /home/alistair/ folder are the files:
>>> .Xauthority and .xsession-errors.
>>> I have 'rsync' these, and the output of 'dmesg' to another box so that
>>> I may view them more easily.
>>> What clues should I look for in these, or other files ?
>>> 
>>> Regards,
>>> Alistair
>>> 
>>> On Tuesday, 13 September 2022 18:15:05 BST Ken Robson wrote:
>>>> I had a similar issue a few years ago. 
>>>> Try renaming the ~/.xauth file (sudo mv ~/.xauth ~/xauth) and see if
>>> x will load then.
>>>> 
>>>> ⁣Ken
>>>> 
>>>> Get BlueMail for Android ​
>>>> 
>>>> On 13 Sep 2022, 17:56, at 17:56, Alistair
>>> <alistair at archerry.plus.com> wrote:
>>>>> azmodie,
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thanks for the prompt reply.
>>>>> 
>>>>> "sudo dpkg --configure -a"
>>>>> Reports no actions.
>>>>> 
>>>>> "sudo apt-get update", followed by 
>>>>> "sudo apt-get dist-upgrade" or "sudo apt-get install -f":
>>>>> Both Reports
>>>>> "0 to upgrade 0 to newly install 0 to remove and 13 not to upgrade"
>>>>> 
>>>>> So I need to dig deeper...
>>>>> 
>>>>> Regards,
>>>>> 
>>>>> Alistair
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Tuesday, 13 September 2022 15:26:18 BST azmodie wrote:
>>>>>> Hi Alistar,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I'd try the usual recovery commands.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> sudo apt-get update
>>>>>> sudo apt-get upgrade
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> You may need to run
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> sudo dpkg --configure -a
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> or
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> sudo apt-get install -f
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>> azmodie
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> http://gplus.to/azmodie
>>>>>> "Since light travels faster than sound, people appear bright until
>>>>> you hear
>>>>>> them speak."  -- some bright spark
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Tue, 13 Sept 2022 at 14:23, Alistair
>>> <alistair at archerry.plus.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Last week I updated my Thinkpad T480 (running Kubuntu 22.04)
>>> using
>>>>> the
>>>>>>> command line. During the process the laptop crashed, and I am no
>>>>> longer
>>>>>>> able to access the desktop.
>>>>>>> I can login to console after boot up, but when I try to start
>>> the
>>>>> desktop
>>>>>>> with 'startx' I get a black screen. To get there it asks for a
>>>>> Kwallet
>>>>>>> password - (never previously used) and a wireless network
>>> password.
>>>>> The
>>>>>>> mouse pointer is a black arrow  with a white outline, which does
>>>>> follow
>>>>>>> movements of the trackpad but does not respond to right or left
>>>>> buttons.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I tried  'apt-get dist-upgrade' with the '-f' option to no
>>> avail.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I think it stated that several packages would be held back
>>> before
>>>>> the
>>>>>>> update. I booted into recovery mode, ran 'fsck', 'clean',
>>> enabled
>>>>> network,
>>>>>>> then ran 'dpkg' which updated 41 packages, but still no proper
>>>>> desktop.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> How do I confirm the current state of the system, and then
>>> recover
>>>>> /
>>>>>>> repair the Kubuntu desktop?
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Alistair
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> EdLUG mailing list
>>>>>>> EdLUG at mailman.lug.org.uk
>>>>>>> https://lists.edlug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/edlug
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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Kevin Davidson
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