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Thread: Reinstall from scratch?

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  1. #1
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    Reinstall from scratch?

    I installed the Nov 3 Knoppix, then did a hd install, and all was well.

    But, I started adding packages with apt-get and managed to screw things up.

    Everything on my system is now the 'unstable' version and it IS unstable!
    Or at least, many things crash, and most importantly, I have no sound..
    (it WAS working great at first)

    So my question is: what's the simplest way to get back to an earlier state?
    I've poked around the debian sites, and most people say
    "there is no easy way to downgrade". One suggested a preferences
    file with a priority of 1001, but that still did nothing!

    Would it be wise to reinstall from knoppix? will it install over
    a "newer" debian?

    The system itself seems to be confused about what version
    it's actually using. My apt.conf says "testing", yet everything is unstable
    (except php4 which is stable !?!),
    However, when I try to build from source, the
    dependencies indicate that I'll be getting a woody version!
    And then build-deps says " broken deps, do a -f install",
    but that finds nothing to do.

    Do I sound confused? well, I am!

    I have separate partitions for /, /usr, and others..
    Shall I just wipe them and boot from the cd to start all over again?

    thanks,
    - John

  2. #2
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    If you're a newbie, or dont know what you're doing(or simply confused), the easiest thing to do would be backup all you're data on cd's, or a spare hard drive, then re-install knoppix.

    What sound card do you have? lets say its have a soundblaster LIVE!. It uses the emu10k1 chip like all modern soundblasters. So I would add the line emu10k1 in my /etc/modules so I can hear sound.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by turbinater
    If you're a newbie, or dont know what you're doing(or simply confused), the easiest thing to do would be backup all you're data on cd's, or a spare hard drive, then re-install knoppix.
    That's what I'm heading for.. The worst of it is I'm NOT exactly a newbie,
    but my old RH 7.1 was doing fine for me until it just got too old to install
    modern packages on it.. I thought I could handle apt-get and thought I was
    getting the hang of it, but now nothing seems to fit together.. ;-(
    Although I have learned surfing around here that Knoppix is not "testing"
    but rather "unstable", so that clarifies a little. I just changed my apt.conf
    and if the debian mirrors would respond, I'd be updating a bunch of stuff.

    Quote Originally Posted by turbinater
    What sound card do you have? lets say its have a soundblaster LIVE!. It uses the emu10k1 chip like all modern soundblasters. So I would add the line emu10k1 in my /etc/modules so I ca, hear sound.
    onboard via AC97 (on a Shuttle AK31 with Athlon Tbird 1.2Ghz)
    -- but the viaxxx modules are loaded

    lsmod tells me:

    via82cxxx_audio 19452 1
    ac97_codec 11884 0 [via82cxxx_audio]
    uart401 6052 0 [via82cxxx_audio]
    sound 55244 0 [via82cxxx_audio uart401]
    soundcore 3428 4 [via82cxxx_audio sound ]

    And the aRTs test in the Control Center sounds fine! But e.g. xmms just hangs
    when I tell it to play an mp3 and I have to killall..

    I read somewhere that there are problems with some libvorbis libs, but have not found the right one yet..

    Otherwise, the main problem is things like the kfilemanager (used to crash, now doesn't even load) and various other K apps that all crash with problem in kdecore and libpthreads..
    Here's the details (alwaysa the same)

    ...0x4100fbb8 in waitpid () from /lib/libpthread.so.0
    #0 0x4100fbb8 in waitpid () from /lib/libpthread.so.0
    #1 0x406e8c10 in ?? () from /usr/lib/libkdecore.so.4
    #2 0x40647f1c in KCrash::defaultCrashHandler(int) ()
    from /usr/lib/libkdecore.so.4

    People have recommended compiling those libs from source, but I just keep getting in
    deeper!! Wish I'd left things the way Knoppix had them.. sigh..

    j.

  4. #4
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    Sounds like everything is seriously screwed. If It was my machine, It would take me probably a week to work everything out.

    TIP: After reinstalling, backup everything in etc. I go one further and back up every file I change, every package I install, and so on, on cd-r's every month or so.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by turbinater
    Sounds like everything is seriously screwed. If It was my machine, It would take me probably a week to work everything out.

    TIP: After reinstalling, backup everything in etc. I go one further and back up every file I change, every package I install, and so on, on cd-r's every month or so.
    Good idea! (backing up /etc) -- if the cdwriter package doesn't crash ;-(.

    In the mean time, ftp.debian.org started responding, and I upgraded a ton of stuff,
    (basically reinstalling KDE from scratch -- 3.1.4 -- which fixed nothing..
    learned that if I turn off aRTs I get xmms back, and have reduced the problem to
    that libpthread and kdecore.so.4 issue -- still pretty major.

    I have tried compiling kdelibs4 from source via
    dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -uc -b
    but after configuring just fine, it bombs due to a Xinerama(_pic) dependency
    that I can't seem to eliminate..

    Still looking for clues...

    j.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by bro
    I have tried compiling kdelibs4 from source via
    dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -uc -b
    but after configuring just fine, it bombs due to a Xinerama(_pic) dependency
    that I can't seem to eliminate..
    j.
    Found a clue! (in the Debian-KDE list)
    It seems kdelibs4 depends on xlibs-pic, but Knoppix furnishes a
    "dummy package to satisfy dependencies in kdelibs4"
    where I need a REAL one.

    apt-cache shows 3 versions:
    1 from Knoppix
    1 for Woody
    and 1 that should be for me!
    But since apt-get thinks I'm up-to-date, it doesn't get it!
    How do I do that?

    j.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by bro
    Quote Originally Posted by bro
    I have tried compiling kdelibs4 from source via
    dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -uc -b
    but after configuring just fine, it bombs due to a Xinerama(_pic) dependency
    that I can't seem to eliminate..
    j.
    Found a clue! (in the Debian-KDE list)
    It seems kdelibs4 depends on xlibs-pic, but Knoppix furnishes a
    "dummy package to satisfy dependencies in kdelibs4"
    where I need a REAL one.

    apt-cache shows 3 versions:
    1 from Knoppix
    1 for Woody
    and 1 that should be for me!
    But since apt-get thinks I'm up-to-date, it doesn't get it!
    How do I do that?

    j.
    For xmms you want the xmms-arts plugin that will allow you to have arts running at the same time if you want. For the mirrors I usually use the ftp.uk.debian.org or ftp.de.debian.org they seem to be the fastest I usually get 150k/sec from them which is the max of my DSL connection so probably goes faster if you are on a cable modem. It may not work but there is an xlibs-pic in experimential that is at 3.0... which looks like it could be what you need:
    Code:
    [11:05 AM Mon Dec 08: stephen @ ~]
    >$ apt-cache policy xlibs-pic
    xlibs-pic:
      Installed: (none)
      Candidate: 4.2.1-12.1
      Version Table:
         4.3.0-0pre1v4 0
              1 http://ftp.debian.org ../project/experimental/main Packages
         4.2.1-14 0
            600 http://ftp.uk.debian.org unstable/main Packages
         4.2.1-12.1 0
            990 http://ftp.uk.debian.org testing/main Packages
         4.1.0-16woody1 0
            500 http://security.debian.org stable/updates/main Packages
            500 http://ftp.uk.debian.org stable/main Packages
    [11:05 AM Mon Dec 08: stephen @ ~]
    >$ apt-cache policy xmms-arts
    xmms-arts:
      Installed: 0.5-2
      Candidate: 0.5-2
      Version Table:
     *** 0.5-2 0
            990 http://ftp.uk.debian.org testing/main Packages
            600 http://ftp.uk.debian.org unstable/main Packages
            100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
    If you want to try it you will need this line in your sources.list:
    Code:
    ## Experimential needed for XFree86 4.3 for the KDE CVS
    deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian ../project/experimental main contrib non-free
    You will need this line eventually if you ever plan on upgrading the Xserver as the packages have moved from the locations that Knoppix uses to the Debian archive. To install you would have to use apt-get -s install -t experimential xlibs-pic after having added the line to the sources.list and dselect update to update both dselect and apt databases remove the -s to actually install if everything looks good.

    But you do not need xlibs-pic to get the kdelibs4 installed as you can see above I do not have it installed you may be missing some other program/library to check:
    Code:
    [11:08 AM Mon Dec 08: stephen @ ~]
    >$ COLUMNS=125 dpkg -l | grep 3.1.[34]
    ii  ark                       3.1.4-1                   KDE archiving tool
    ii  gawk                      3.1.3-2                   GNU awk, a pattern scanning and processing language
    ii  kaddressbook              3.1.4-1                   KDE NG addressbook application
    ii  kappfinder                3.1.3-1                   KDE Application Finder
    ii  kate                      3.1.3-1                   KDE Advanced Text Editor
    ii  kcontrol                  3.1.3-1                   KDE Control Center
    ii  kdeartwork-theme-desktop  3.1.4-1                   Dummy upgrade package for official KDE desktop themes
    ii  kdeartwork-theme-icon     3.1.4-1                   icon themes released with KDE
    ii  kdebase                   3.1.3-1                   KDE Base metapackage
    ii  kdebase-bin               3.1.3-1                   KDE Base (binaries)
    ii  kdebase-data              3.1.3-1                   KDE Base (shared data)
    ii  kdebase-kio-plugins       3.1.3-1                   KDE I/O Slaves
    ii  kdelibs-bin               3.1.4-3                   KDE core binaries
    ii  kdelibs-data              3.1.4-3                   KDE core shared data
    ii  kdelibs4                  3.1.4-3                   KDE core libraries
    ii  kdepim-libs               3.1.4-1                   KDE PIM libraries
    ii  kdeprint                  3.1.3-1                   KDE Print
    ii  kdesktop                  3.1.3-1                   KDE Desktop
    ii  kdewallpapers             3.1.4-1                   wallpapers released with KDE
    ii  kdm                       3.1.3-1                   KDE Display Manager
    ii  kfind                     3.1.3-1                   KDE File Find Utility
    ii  kget                      3.1.4-1                   KDE Download Manager
    ii  kghostview                3.1.4-1                   PostScript viewer for KDE
    ii  khelpcenter               3.1.3-1                   KDE Help Center
    ii  kicker                    3.1.3-1                   KDE Desktop Panel
    ii  klipper                   3.1.3-1                   KDE Clipboard
    ii  kmail                     3.1.4-1                   KDE Email client
    ii  kmenuedit                 3.1.3-1                   KDE Menu Editor
    ii  kompare                   3.1.4-2                   a KDE GUI for viewing differences between files
    ii  konqueror                 3.1.3-1                   KDE's advanced File Manager, Web Browser and Document Viewer
    ii  konqueror-nsplugins       3.1.3-1                   Netscape plugin support for Konqueror
    ii  konsole                   3.1.3-1                   KDE X terminal emulator
    ii  kpager                    3.1.3-1                   KDE Desktop Pager
    ii  kpersonalizer             3.1.3-1                   KDE Personalizer
    ii  ksmserver                 3.1.3-1                   KDE Session Manager
    ii  ksplash                   3.1.3-1                   KDE Splash Screen
    ii  ksysguard                 3.1.3-1                   KDE System Guard
    ii  ksysguardd                3.1.3-1                   KDE System Guard Daemon
    ii  ktip                      3.1.3-1                   Kandalf's Useful Tips
    ii  kuickshow                 3.1.4-1                   KDE image/slideshow viewer
    ii  kview                     3.1.4-1                   KDE simple image viewer/converter
    ii  kwin                      3.1.3-1                   KDE Window Manager
    ii  libkdenetwork2            3.1.4-1                   KDE Network (common libraries)
    ii  libkonq4                  3.1.3-1                   Core libraries for KDE's file manager
    ii  libmimelib1               3.1.4-1                   KDE network mime library
    ii  xfonts-konsole            3.1.3-1                   Fonts used by the KDE Konsole
    [edit]
    If you run into the libsensors-1debian1 bug you can get the file here.
    [/edit]

  8. #8
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    There is one thing that may help for any future linux installation when one likes to play around(install package etc.), use the loopback file system as the rootfs and put other user stuff(/home etc.) on either another loopback file system or a seperate partition(say for performance or reliability purpose).

    In this way, one can easily have a snapshot of a running 'system' and the fallback is much easier. In fact, multiple system can be kept this way. I have a number of these big files around, one for the base debian(text only, about 150M), one for a base X enabled(300M) and another with KDE(500M) and can boot from any of them through the boot loader.

    This may not be good for server oriented system though as loopback is usually slower and journal based file system may not be of any use(say I have a ext3 living on FAT, even the ext3 is journal based, if the underlying FAT screwsup, everything screws up).

  9. #9
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    Let's start over.. I've figured a few critical things out, but the main problem remains..

    Quote Originally Posted by bro
    the main problem is things like the kfilemanager (used to crash, now doesn't even load) and various other K apps that all crash with problem in kdecore and libpthreads..
    Here's the details (alwaysa the same)

    ...0x4100fbb8 in waitpid () from /lib/libpthread.so.0
    #0 0x4100fbb8 in waitpid () from /lib/libpthread.so.0
    #1 0x406e8c10 in ?? () from /usr/lib/libkdecore.so.4
    #2 0x40647f1c in KCrash::defaultCrashHandler(int) ()
    from /usr/lib/libkdecore.so.4
    This is what I want to fix!
    Recompiling kdelibs was a shot in the dark, and got me into more trouble
    with Xinerama and maybe xlibs-pic. Does anyone else think recompiling
    kdelibs is the solution?

    Quote Originally Posted by bro
    I have tried compiling kdelibs4 from source via
    Code:
     dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -uc -b
    but after configuring just fine, it bombs due to a Xinerama(_pic) dependency
    that I can't seem to eliminate..
    j.
    ...
    It seems kdelibs4 depends on xlibs-pic, but Knoppix furnishes a
    "dummy package to satisfy dependencies in kdelibs4"
    where I need a REAL one.

    apt-cache shows 3 versions:
    1 from Knoppix
    1 for Woody
    and 1 that should be for me!
    But since apt-get thinks I'm up-to-date, it doesn't get it!
    How do I do that?
    I tried a downgrade for xlibs-pic, but wow what a mess!!
    It wanted to remove *everything*. Well, I went ahead and let it!!
    Whew! Couldn't restart KDE. Ran aptitude in a failsafe, tracked down
    the broken dependencies, got everything back up -- except I was right
    back where I started!!!! Sheesh!

    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen
    It may not work but there is an xlibs-pic in experimential that is at 3.0... which looks like it could be what you need:
    Code:
    [11:05 AM Mon Dec 08: stephen @ ~]
    >$ apt-cache policy xlibs-pic
    xlibs-pic:
      Installed: (none)
      Candidate: 4.2.1-12.1
      Version Table:
         4.3.0-0pre1v4 0
              1 http://ftp.debian.org ../project/experimental/main Packages 
         4.2.1-14 0
            600 http://ftp.uk.debian.org unstable/main Packages
    If you want to try it you will need this line in your sources.list:

    Code:
    ## Experimential needed for XFree86 4.3 for the KDE CVS
    deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian ../project/experimental main contrib non-free
    But you do not need xlibs-pic to get the kdelibs4 installed as you can see above I do not have it installed you may be missing some other program/library to check:
    Thanks for the sources pointer.
    I apparently don't need xlibs-pic to have kdelibs binaries installed.
    But it seems I DO need it to compile kdelibs4...
    At least I need this damned Xinerama_pic (iff ithat's where Xinerama_pic is)
    So I guess I'll try the experimental one. wish me luck!

    In fact, I went so far as to comment out all references to Xinerama(_pic)
    in the configure and aclocal.m4 and acinclude.m4 files!
    But is STILL crashes before it finishes compiling and complains about Xinerama_pic!
    I'm goin nuts here!

    Again, I don't really *want* to recompile from source,
    I just want these KDE apps to stop crashing

    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen
    [edit]
    If you run into the libsensors-1debian1 bug you can get the file here.
    [/edit]
    I did run into that, got the sensors lib and got past it.. ooof!

  10. #10
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    Wellllll...... made some progress..... but no cigar

    I managed to "downgrade" xlibs-pic and xlibs-dev to the
    experimental 4.3.0-pre1v4 version (over Knoppix's 4.3.1 dummy).

    Tried to compile kdelibs again, got past the Xinerama_pic problem
    (so it WAS in there..) and a whole lot further.. 10 or 15 minutes further
    but witih LOADS of WARNINGS.

    Then it finally exited with this:
    libtool: link: cannot find the library `/usr/X11R6/lib/libXrender.la'
    and indeed there is no such .la.. there's a .so and a .a, but no .la

    Any advice?? I'm really in over my head here..

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