KDE 3.2 upgrade

[Stephen]

You would have to change to the /var/cache/apt/archives directory first to use that command or use the entire path to the file, left that out sorry. You may have to try apt-get --reinstall install the packages the will not configure and see if that helps, after doing the overwrite then --configure -a first to see if the errors persist.

[c123]

Well I'm impressed Stephen, not only have you replied twice very quickly, but you've helped me get a bit further each time. I managed to fix the errors by cd'ing into the cache directory as you said, and as I type this so 'apt-get -u -t unstable dist-upgrade' is doing its stuff :)

I'll report back on how I get on... quick question 'apt-get -u -t unstable dist-upgrade' updates every package on my system right, except of course the kernel and its modules? Tomorrow I'll print out the apt guide (O'Reilly pdf) referred to in the apt-get sticky of the hard rive install forum.

[Stephen]

I'll report back on how I get on... quick question 'apt-get -u -t unstable dist-upgrade' updates every package on my system right, except of course the kernel and its modules? Tomorrow I'll print out the apt guide (O'Reilly pdf) referred to in the apt-get sticky of the hard rive install forum.

Yes that is what it does you have to specifically upgrade your kernel if you want that to happen.

[c123]

Hello again,

Well KDE 3.2.x seems to be installed... Seems as I cannot get to the desktop (!) but a couple of KDE apps I launched from the shell in IceWM state 3.2.1 as their verison :)

As I said I cannot get to the desktop - I launch kdm, select kde3 as the window manager, and windowmaker starts up instead :( I can get into other window managers (well I'm in IceWM at the moment, and I was in FluxBox 15 minutes ago). I realise I must have screwed up a config file when installing, but I don't know which one. I've checked this forum and googled a fair bit, but I haven't found anything.

What file would it be that I have to edit / or what config program can I launch?

Thnaks, and good-night (now 2.35 a.m. here! funny how time flies when you're having fun with linux!)

[c123]

A little update as I'm too tired for work and I'm tired of F5'ing the main (forum) page waiting for news of Knoppix 3.4 CeBIT ;)

Seems I was a bit hasty in stopping the dist-upgrade installation (actually must have been configuration by now - I'm pretty sure I was doing a 'dpkg --configure -a') of a package that I thought had hung - cannot remember the exact name, but it was the 'locales' one. For some reason this took *ages* to complete (40 minutes or so), and made my CPU process hit 100% for a lot of the time. At one of the z*-*** locales the app really looked as if had hung - nothing for 10-15 (maybe longer) minutes (this is when I cancelled the first time). Anyway after my last post I kept the faith, waited for ages so letting it complete etc.

The result was that at the end 'dpkg --configure -a' only returned one error - about j2re1.4 (which I need and hwich I'll try to fix later). I rebooted, hoping that this time I could get into kde 3.2

Can't remember exactly (was 3 a.m. by this stage), whether kdm worked at *all* or whether I had to use startx, but I was greeted by kdm :)) Only this time kde3 is no where to be seen in the list of window manager! I could log into the other window managers OK though.

I think I must have screwed up my (k)dm or window manager settings when debconf wanted to configure my updated xfree (asking about keboard maps and who knows what else)....

Anyway after a couple of hours of looking (googling a bit then checking out the kde-linux mailing list archives) I've got a number of things to check out tonight. Otherwise I'll just have to do a new Knoppix installwith the 3.4 CeBIT version.

Anyway, time for some serious work before lunch.

[Stephen]

A little update as I'm too tired for work and I'm tired of F5'ing the main (forum) page waiting for news of Knoppix 3.4 CeBIT

Seems I was a bit hasty in stopping the dist-upgrade installation (actually must have been configuration by now - I'm pretty sure I was doing a 'dpkg --configure -a') of a package that I thought had hung - cannot remember the exact name, but it was the 'locales' one. For some reason this took *ages* to complete (40 minutes or so), and made my CPU process hit 100% for a lot of the time. At one of the z*-*** locales the app really looked as if had hung - nothing for 10-15 (maybe longer) minutes (this is when I cancelled the first time). Anyway after my last post I kept the faith, waited for ages so letting it complete etc.

That damn bug is still there over a year later thats not performance at all. Use apt-get install localepurge and go through the configuration and unselect all locales except the ones you want to keep for me that is usually the en and all the en_US... and say yes to the delete man pages and no to be informed of new locales just let the system delete them as they are added. Then edit the file /etc/locale.gen and delete all the locales except the ones you kept and now when you install new software for the first time again you should see about a couple of hundred megs of junk get removed if you choose the calculation of space saved during the configuration.

The result was that at the end 'dpkg --configure -a' only returned one error - about j2re1.4 (which I need and hwich I'll try to fix later). I rebooted, hoping that this time I could get into kde 3.2

Can't remember exactly (was 3 a.m. by this stage), whether kdm worked at *all* or whether I had to use startx, but I was greeted by kdm ) Only this time kde3 is no where to be seen in the list of window manager! I could log into the other window managers OK though.

Ah the joys of the late night upgrade fired my entire system once doing that. I seem to remember reading on the developer list that you need a ~/.wmrc with only kde3 as the contents and when I first upgraded to the 3.2 I had to choose the kde3 from the menu list in the KDM or it would not login.

I think I must have screwed up my (k)dm or window manager settings when debconf wanted to configure my updated xfree (asking about keboard maps and who knows what else)....

Anyway after a couple of hours of looking (googling a bit then checking out the kde-linux mailing list archives) I've got a number of things to check out tonight. Otherwise I'll just have to do a new Knoppix installwith the 3.4 CeBIT version.

Anyway, time for some serious work before lunch.

You should be able to dpkg-reconfigure package_name to have the configuration questions asked again so you can check the prior answers that you gave or were accepted on your behalf with the defaults if you said yes to them all. For the keymaps if you are having problems it would be IIRC console-common for the console keymap and xserver-xfree86 for X.

[c123]

Success!

I followed all your pointers and I have now have a nice KDE 3.2.1 desktop :)

- I cleared up the locales mess - glad (?) to hear that it's a bug and not just my incompetence ;)
- I continued 'dpkg --configure -a'-ing and 'apt-get -u -t unstable dist-upgrade'-ing (and probably other things mentioned here), had a crash, rebooted a once or twice, used debconf (or was it just 'dpkg --configure -a' that launched debconf?) accepted new config files for X (and kdm?) etc etc and eventually everything came together :)

So the secret is have someone there to help you along (thanks Stephen), keep the faith (even if you find yourself losing window managers on the way), and just keep going at it.

Impressed with KDE 3.2, it's a very strong contender for my desktop/wm of choice (although I was surprised at how much I liked fluxbox; IceWM is the other one I appreciate). Just one particularly annoying bug though - Desktop Sharing does not work :( I've added to the bug report at the KDE site.

Now just back to waiting for Knoppix 3.4 CeBIT (I want a 2.6 kernel, and it's impossible for me to do a manual upgrade).