Mandrake login/KDE gone (now only "X"+IceWM)

[Hallvard]

I'm using Mandrake 10.0 and KDE.

A few days ago something strange happened....

 

When I boot the computer into Linux I get a GUI "login" window where each user is represented with an icon along with their username and a text-field for entering the password along with "OK" buttons etc. But now I only got a very basic, simple "X" style login window which had two input fields: Username and password.

 

And when I log in I don't get the usual KDE desktop, but a simple "X" style desktop without any icons on it or anything, just a basic bar at the bottom with a few things like "Terminal", "Emacs" and "Mozilla". And on the left hand side it says "Ice WM".

 

I've mentioned all of this in a Linux newsgroup and was told to re-install kdm by issuing the command:

 

urpmi kdm

 

I then get two choices:

 

1- kdebase-kdm-3.2.3-134.1.101mdk.i586

2- mdkkdm-10.1-19mdk.i586

 

I was told to choose option 2 (mdkkdm) as this would give the best overall Mandrake look, but either would do. So far so good.

So I wait for all the files to download and install themselves (I log in as "root" by the way, so I should have all the sufficient rights), but since I must have been very unlucky with the download server at the other end (I waited almost 45 minutes, on a 800 Kbit ADSL line) I broke it off by pressing CTRL-C.

 

Then I go to "Easy URPMI"" to reconfigure my setup for different servers, hoping the result would be better.

I then start downloading the same file again.

But when everything is complete I get an error message saying that the installation failed:

 

Installasjon mislykket:

file /usr/share/applications/kde/kdepasswd.desktop from install of kdebase-common-3.2.92-1mdk conflicts with file from package kdeutils-kdepasswd-3.2-18.1.100mdk

file /usr/bin/kdepasswd from install of kdebase-progs-3.2.92-1mdk conflicts with file from package kdeutils-kdepasswd-3.2-18.1.100mdk

 

 

I've tried the second option (kdebase), but that gives me the same error message.

I reported this back to the newsgroup, and was told to reconfigure my URPMI setup by going to "Easy URPMI" again. So once again I go through all of that, and yet I get those error messages, so I'm really getting nowhere!

 

I'm also confused about another thing....

I get 2 choices, and I can't have them both, but I remember that I had three login manager choices in the past!!! I can't remember their (cryptic) names, but I distinctly remember 3 choices, while now there's only 1.

This is found by going to "Configure my computer" - "system" - "Session manager".

The only one there now is "XDM (X display manager)".

 

[moved from Installing Mandrake by spinynorman - welcome aboard :)]

[chris z]

about your conflicts problem.......

 

did you by any chance install any KDE or QT related stuff from a cooker source recently? i had the same dependency hell with KDE once upon a time. it was becuase i foolishly decided to try to mix cooker KDE apps with stock MDK one's. the cooker stuff was built on a different version of QT & i ended up getting conflicts all over the place.

 

if you did the above, check which version of QT you have. if it's a cooker version, remove it, then reinstall the version from the MDK CD's (or a "main" source). you'll need to do it from another DE, like Gnome, ICEwm, etc.

 

Chris

[Ixthusdan]

The only way software just vanishes is when the drive is going. Otherwise, you had to have removed it yourself. You are indeed mixing cooker components with the release componentes. Unless you install alll of the kde cooker stuff (or much of it) you are going to have a problem. Better to go to a mirror and be sure you are selecting the correct folder. Why not re-install from the cd's?

[Hallvard]

The only way software just vanishes is when the drive is going. Otherwise, you had to have removed it yourself. You are indeed mixing cooker components with the release componentes. Unless you install alll of the kde cooker stuff (or much of it) you are going to have a problem. Better to go to a mirror and be sure you are selecting the correct folder. Why not re-install from the cd's?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thanks to both of you for the replies, but as a relatively newcomer til Linux (and more of a user than a "hacker") I have no idea what this "cooker" thing is.

 

I do indeed have the 3 Mandrake 10.0 installation CDs (which I downloaded ISO disc images of and burnt in Windows), but I have no idea why I'm no longer asked to insert the CDs as before.

 

I've just done what I've been told by more experienced Linux users and I guess it has something to do with the setup of the software installation part of Mandrake (there are so many things to keep in mind, and it seems like doing a simple thing like adding a new program in Linux is a time consuming hassle which demands a full-time job, but even so I haven't given up on Linux as it's far more stable than Windows).

Anyway... (done with the whining) :P

 

.... I haven't kept track of what I may have installed recently, so I can't answer that question.

Is there a way I can find out what "cooker" I've installed, so I can remove it, then see if that fixes the problem? Or have I misunderstood.

I'm a bit confused about all of this. :unsure:

[chris z]

when you set up sources at Easy URPMI, did you choose any sources labeled "cooker"? "cooker contrib", "cooker main"? cooker sources are an unstable/testing branch for Mandrake. it's where they work on apps for the next release. as such, alot of those apps are buggy & unstable. sometimes it's not a problem, if it's a stand alone app. but, if you happen to install even just one KDE (or Gnome) or any system critical app from cooker, it can send your whole set up into the twilight zone, should it be buggy or a differnt version.

 

i'm at work right now, so i'm not sure of the version number differences of the apps you listed above in cooker & the CD's. i can check later tonight or tomorrow for you. but if memory serves me well, it looks like you got some cooker stuff mixed in there.

 

OR, now that i'm looking more closely..........

 

urpmi kdm

 

I then get two choices:

 

1- kdebase-kdm-3.2.3-134.1.101mdk.i586

2- mdkkdm-10.1-19mdk.i586

 

notice the 10.1 version of mdkdm? that version is for MDK10.1. you said you're using 10.0. also, the kdebase version is definitely not 10.0. if you didn't set up cooker sources at Easy URPMI, it looks like you choose 10.1 sources by mistake, for sure.

 

check which sources you set up at Easy URPMI. look in the Mandrake Control Center->media manager. click on a source, then click edit. if the path to the mirror points to 10.1 or cooker, then you're sorta screwed. depending on how many apps you installed, it could be to difficult to untangle the mess by now & a reinstall would be the best/easiest option. if that's the case, make sure you set up the correct sources at Easy URPMI next time.

 

sorry, but that's the best advice i can give right now.

 

Chris

[Ixthusdan]

A note about installing software:

While linux is certainly different from windows, it is just as easy. Us geek-types have a tendency to over-complicate our machines because of psychological abnormalities! :P Without setting up urpmi, you would have had reference to the cd's. As it is, you can go into Mandrake Control Center, Manage Software, and add your cd's back in. The beauty of this is that urpmi will automatically choose the best update. If you only give it one source, it will only use that source. And you do have to choose the correct folder an a mirror- 9.2, 9.1, 10.0, 10.1, etc.

[Hallvard]

when you set up sources at Easy URPMI, did you choose any sources labeled "cooker"? "cooker contrib", "cooker main"?

Hmmmm.... not that I can think of.

I've got the "Easy urpmi" website up now so I can have a look.

I might have been a bit quick and selected "10.1 official" instead of "10.0 official", but I doubt it as I already knew there was a 10.1, and I know I've got 10.0.

You're talking about the first "scroll through" menu (where I select "10.0 official") when you're referring to having "cooker" as a choice, right?

I can't find "Cooker" mentioned elsewhere.

 

As for the rest of the stuff there....

I ticked off each of the 3 "sources" (contrib/main/updates) and chose an FTP site (can't remember which ones, but right now I just left it like it is, then adding a tick next to it. It's currently using "ftp.heanet.ie").

Then continued by ticking off all 3 "external add-ons", and finally copying the resulting commands and pasting them into my command line window.

 

I then get two choices:

1- kdebase-kdm-3.2.3-134.1.101mdk.i586

2- mdkkdm-10.1-19mdk.i586

 

notice the 10.1 version of mdkdm? that version is for MDK10.1. you said you're using 10.0.

Yes, I actually noticed it and posted a question about it in the Mandrake newsgroup. I was told that this didn't matter, so I went ahead.

 

also, the kdebase version is definitely not 10.0. if you didn't set up cooker sources at Easy URPMI, it looks like you choose 10.1 sources by mistake, for sure.

Yeah, I think you may be right about that. It's more likely I've done that than choose "cooker".

 

check which sources you set up at Easy URPMI. look in the Mandrake Control Center->media manager. click on a source, then click edit. if the path to the mirror points to 10.1 or cooker, then you're sorta screwed. depending on how many apps you installed, it could be to difficult to untangle the mess by now & a reinstall would be the best/easiest option. if that's the case, make sure you set up the correct sources at Easy URPMI next time.

I'll have a look (I'm writing this in Windows, so I'll have to post this before I reboot into Linux). Is there some sort of "history" file which I can read to see which applications I've installed? That way I can de-install the latest ones and see if it solves everything.

 

[chris z]

it's not as easy as just "de-installing" things, unfortunately. well, you might get lucky, but i really don't think so in this case.

 

if you want to unistall software, go to MCC->software->remove software. type the name of the app in the search box, check it, uninstall. but...........

 

if you do that & it gives you a laundry list of dependencies to unistall with it (which i think it will) you're gonna be up the creek.

 

KDEbase is tied into everything KDE. if you have a 10.1 or cooker version of KDE base installed (which it appears you do) there's almost no way to unbind it from other things cleanly.

 

you could try as i suggested earlier & log into another DE (like Gnome), run MCC & uninstall all of KDE from Gnome. then, make sure your sources are for the proper version of MDK you're running (10.0) whether it be from Easy URPMI or the install CD's themselves. then, try reinstalling all things KDE & cross your fingers.

 

i've been down this road once & i couldn't get myself out of it. it was "dependency hell" as the saying goes & i ended up having to reinstall, with a lesson learned.

 

as for whoever told you you can safely mix different versiosn of MDK apps (10.1 with 10.0, etc.) i'd be leery of heeding that advice. as i said, you may get lucky & have no problems with some less system critical apps. but, when you start trying to mix & match something as major as KDE, or Gnome, or any 2 versions of a DE, you're bound to wind up in the spot you're in now.

 

Chris

[arctic]

shalalalala....

 

hey, have you tried setting up your gui, running XFdrake as root? that way you would get the kdm back. i doubt that anything got uninstalled on your box. ;)

[Ixthusdan]

Another idea is to create a new user and see if kde will work for a new user. It is possible that changes in the /home/username/.kde directory will make it. Kde autogenerates this folder upon first launch for a user.

[Hallvard]

Another idea is to create a new user and see if kde will work for a new user. It is possible that changes in the /home/username/.kde directory will make it. Kde autogenerates this folder upon first launch for a user.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Nope, didn't change anything.

I created a new user, but I only got "Ice WM", "failsafe" and "default". No mention of KDE or Gnome.

 

I've also tried to reset that "easy URPMI" thingy, but there seems to be a mistake somewhere, because although I'm 100% sure I've chosen "10.0 official", whenever I try to download/install "kdm" there's a reference to 10.1 in those files!!

 

So I was thinking.... maybe I should just try to reinstall it from my CDs which I used in the first place. But I don't know how to change my setup for using CDs instead of the Internet. Can someone help me out?

[arctic]

you can add the cds (in case you removed them) in the mandrake-control-center → update repositories section. i think once you are there, everything is quite self-explaining.

 

did you try to restart the login managers/your gui with XFdrake as i said before?

[Hallvard]

I've gotten one step further!

 

I was apparently right about the URPMI FTP-sites, when i said that there was something wrong about it, so I finally figured out how to remove all that crap and set things back to how they were when I installed Mandrake: namely using the CDs.

 

After I had done that I entered the following command: urpmi kdm

And installed "kdmmdk" (I think it was called) when i got the two choices (the other one being "Mdkbase" I believe).

After that I got the usual KDE desktop in root!!!!! :D

 

So thinking everything was fixed I logged out and wanted to go into my usual user-area where I have all my files etc.

 

I was presented with the Mandrake login window, albeit with a few minor cosmetic differences. The strange thing however was that instead of just "root" and the two other usernames I had that plus a bunch of others: adm, bin, daemon, freevo, games, halt....

 

I logged in with my own user, and it looked like things were working, but then, right before I seemed to start KDE I went back to the Mandrake login manager window. I've tried this with "root" and both usernames. Same result.

The "Reboot" and "halt" buttons in that window doesn't work. CTRL-ALT-DEL doesn't reboot the machine either, so I have to physically turn off and on the machine.

 

I assume now that I should have reconfigured something right after I had entered KDE as root the first time, but can I do anything to fix things now, and if so -what should I do?

[arctic]

try the following: as root, open e.g konqueror and activate "show hidden files". then go to the users home-directory. you should see now a lot of files like /.qt etc. these are the personal config-folders. delete all hidden kde and qt folders and try to log in again. that way, the borked config-folders will be rewritten from scratch. i hope it works. if you still get a crash, create a new user and try, if that one can be used. if yes, copy your data from user1 to user2. and delete the "bad" user.

Edited November 14, 2004 by arctic

[Ixthusdan]

I would be tempted to reinstall all of kde. You may have mixed more files than you realized with the skewed updating. Force a reinstall of kde, and see if that won't get you back.