this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2024
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73
I completely broke Kubuntu (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
38 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

So like I was trying to install Davinci resolve (an editing program) and while doing so it basically said "removing" followed by that appears to be everything installed on my computer

So I nope right out of there and I notice a bunch of important things are missing ex: the terminal, file manager, etc

So I just decided Maybe if I reboot everything will be a ok

And now on this screen and it won't even let me enter my logic

This was the latest update of Kubuntu And idk what I did wrong or how I got here

I've only been using Kubuntu for probably about 4 months ish

Edit: please help

Edit 2: I got it working by reinstalling Kubuntu as suggested, Thank you for the help :>

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

At login, press ctrl-alt-f4 or f5 or one of the F* keys until you get a text based login screen. (Might need to press enter on a blank screen for the login to appear)

Login as your user and password.

Sudo apt install kubuntu-desktop

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Easiest fix:

1.- Download Fedora

2.- Install Fedora

3.- Never look back

4.- Be happy the rest of your life

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Typical solution for you. Change distro.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

Exactly. At least for me, Fedora has been flawless since version 36.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

On your next OS reinstall, perhaps consider using an atomic distro. They’re WAY harder to break in this fashion - primarily because you can just roll them back to the previous known-good state.

Edit: genuinely curious what the downvotes are for - I thought atomics were quite popular here?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

https://askubuntu.com/questions/57682/find-and-reinstall-packages-with-corrupted-files-without-breaking-anything

[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 month ago

Edit: please help

Best edit ever

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

If you can intercept boot ( press a key to get to the grub menu or whatever... I haven't used Ubuntu in a while so maybe it's not so simple anymore) you may be able to enter rescue / single-user mode and let apt complete the changes and then revert them.

A clean reinstall may be easier depending on how much you've changed on the system. Easier isn't always better, fix this and you'll know how to do it again in the future.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Lol

Please install Davinci Resolve in a Podman/Docker container.

https://github.com/zelikos/davincibox

  • install podman and distrobox
  • clone the git repo
  • place the davinci binary in there
  • run setup.sh

And this looks like just sddm-breeze is missing

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Will absolutely do

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 month ago

You can go to /var/log/apt/ and read the history.log as it will contain every single package that you did install/remove.

Based on that you can just restore it to working state by manually undoing the changes (removing installed, installing removed)

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

[This comment has been deleted by an automated system]

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I'm lucky enough to have other systems around to back up the drive with for the reinstall

I am absolutely going to fiqure out how it set up timeshift now

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

The top answer here worked for me a long (~10 years) time ago, it might still work. Backup your home folder with a livecd before trying anything though.

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/79050/can-i-rollback-an-apt-get-upgrade-if-something-goes-wrong

[–] [email protected] 51 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Possibly this contains the reason why it broke:

https://wiki.debian.org/DontBreakDebian

I don't know how you went about installing davinci, but if you added a repo or ppa that is incompatible with the version you had, apt would try to resolve it by removing everything incompatible.

Easiest way to fix it would be to reinstall Kubuntu and all the packages you had, while keeping your old home partition/folder. That way all your data, downloads and most of the configs will stay.

The installer used to have a checkbox for that somewhere, at least back in the day when I used Kubuntu. Afaik it would automatically detect that a home already exists, even if it is not on a seperate partition.

But just to be extra safe, I'd recommend just live booting some other OS and backing up your home to an external drive.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's really late for me right now but I'll talk so my brother tomorrow about borrowing an extra hard drive and attempting this then

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I fixed it It's finally working It took me longer then I'm willing to admit but There's no reinstall button in the installer

But to do it is to select manual partition and simply set the original partition as /

Amazingly everything is exactly how I left it I expected to have to reconfigure my settings n such but it managed to retain my previous configurations

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Congrats! And good job not giving up!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

It's pretty normal to keep the configurations. An inplace reinstall will just put the system files back that got removed, then a reboot will bring them up with the configuration files left from before the reinstall as long as they were put in the right place for user-configured files.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

What guide did you follow to install Davinci?

It probably contained something that removes a lot of stuff. Like replacing a dependency with a davinvi specific one, which uninstalled most of the system.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

There is not enough information in your post to help you. Here's a preliminary list of questions that need an answer before anyone can give you a meaningful contribution.

Where did you get "Davinci resolve" from?

What instructions were you following to install it?

Did the installation finish?

Have you attempted to login using a text console?

Which version of Kubuntu were you using and which version of "Davinci resolve" were you attempting to install.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

1, directly from the website Link

2, it was a basic installer except it was angry about some dependencies, specifically I installed libasound2 I believe and it started removing stuff

3, Nope

4, I'm not sure how

5, what ever the latest is

6, again what ever the latest is

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

1, directly from the website Link

I hope you've now understood why -on Linux- you should never try to install stuff like how you were used to on Windows. Unless, you 100% know what you're doing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I do But I could not find it in the intended ways

I infact did not 100% know what I was doing obviously lol despite having complete confidence that I did

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I infact did not 100% know what I was doing obviously lol despite having complete confidence that I did

I know that feeling very well 🤣. I'm glad to hear that you were able to recover your system; at least this mistake only came at the cost of your time and not your system.

Have a good one 😉!

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

No. What? Why?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

On your phone, do you search the software you want to install through your browser? After which, do you download the install script and try to run it?

No, of course not. Instead, you pay a visit to the accompanied software center. Searching, installing and upgrading all occur through that.

Similarly, on Linux, your chosen distro comes with a (or perhaps multiple) package manager(s) and a software center. Those should first and foremost be consulted. And for 99% of the cases; this is the intended, supposed and supported way of installing said software.

This should suffice for the sake of brevity. If you've still got questions, please feel free to ask them.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

On your phone, do you search the software you want to install through your browser?

Yes. Not everything I have is installed through the Google store. I grew up in an era before walled-gardens.

Similarly, on Linux, your chosen distro comes with a (or perhaps multiple) package manager(s) and a software center. Those should first and foremost be consulted. And for 99% of the cases; this is the intended, supposed and supported way of installing said software.

I should clarify - I know what a package manager is. But you're acting like one needs to have some expert skills to install things outside of the package manager. It's generally preferred for a number of reasons but it's not bad "per se" to install something outside of it.

Used to be a time where the install instructions were ./configure && make && make install...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yes. Not everything I have is installed through the Google store.

I understand from this, that it is implied, that the majority of what you have installed, has been done through the Google store though. By extension, I assume that -by default- you entrust installing software to the Google store. Hence, if all of the above is correct, then you actually don't commit to 'the Windows-way' by default; but only by exception. Which is exactly my point.

But you're acting like one needs to have some expert skills to install things outside of the package manager.

I feel you're reading too much into it. In my first comment, I didn't even mention package managers. In the second comment, I only wrote -and I quote- "Those should first and foremost be consulted. And for 99% of the cases; this is the intended, supposed and supported way of installing said software.". I don't see where expert skills are implied if one chooses to go outside of it. Please feel free to help me understand where I did.

It's generally preferred for a number of reasons but it's not bad "per se" to install something outside of it.

I never implied otherwise.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I hope you’ve now understood why -on Linux- you should never try to install stuff like how you were used to on Windows. Unless, you 100% know what you’re doing.

That's pretty strong language and what I was responding to. Perhaps you were being hyperbolic.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Thanks for clarifying!

That’s pretty strong language

I agree. But in this case it was 100% justified as OP just (hopefully reversibly) destroyed their installation.

and what I was responding to.

Thanks for properly nuancing my stance. Though, perhaps consider to do so right away next time 😜.

Perhaps you were being hyperbolic.

It was deliberate. But I wouldn't refer to it as hyperbolic. Perhaps more in the style of an elder sibling scolding their younger sibling to be better next time 😉. Apologies if I missed the mark, though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I agree. But in this case it was 100% justified as OP just (hopefully reversibly) destroyed their installation.

And yet they did so using the package manager. They just installed a apt.source that they shouldn't have. THAT I would say one should not do unless one really knows what they are doing. If they had just installed some .appimage or compiled something from source they would have been fine.

Thanks for properly nuancing my stance. Though, perhaps consider to do so right away next time 😜.

And yet:

It was deliberate. But I wouldn’t refer to it as hyperbolic.

So... I'm not going to nuance your stance if it shouldn't be nuanced. It's a bit up to you to be clear about your nuance. And in this case you're being very ambiguous about it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

And yet they did so using the package manager.

So, Davinci Resolve's .run file used for installation definitely somehow interacted with the package manager. Otherwise, the system wouldn't break the way it did. While, technically the package manager was in use (at least at some point), the user -i.e. OP- did not intentionally invoke its use consciously. So, I wouldn't refer to this as "using the package manager".

They just installed a apt.source

What is an apt.source? Search engines and LLMs failed at resolving this. They did explain what apt source is or could refer to, though*. Regardless, what leads you to understand that they've installed an apt.source? Please be elaborate as I'm not a Debian/Ubuntu user; consider shedding light on it through the RPM world.

THAT I would say one should not do unless one really knows what they are doing.

How does one know which apt.source they should and should not install? Doesn't this imply "expert skills" (using my understanding of your logic)? On Windows, you can install software with almost no fear; as long as the source is trusted.

If they had just installed some .appimage

Assuming they've installed libfuse2. Which actually is not present in modern Ubuntu installations.

or compiled something from source they would have been fine.

So, in this case, you believe that compiling a gargantuan program like Davinci Resolve would not have caused a ton of issues related to dependencies even if it was supported on Ubuntu?

So... I'm not going to nuance your stance if it shouldn't be nuanced.

I thought that my writing was sufficiently easy to comprehend and would not lead to any misunderstandings. Therefore, within that context, nuance was not needed. However, your engagement in the conversation implies that some actually did misunderstand it. Thus, nuance was (seemingly) needed and I only became aware of it afterwards.

It's a bit up to you to be clear about your nuance. And in this case you're being very ambiguous about it.

My stance is pretty simple:

  • Use whatever is provided, intended and supported by the 'distro'.
  • For that which goes beyond this, you're on your own and should be prepared to face the consequences.

So, if one can't deal with the consequences, like how OP had to come here for help, then one should stick to the first point.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

For number 4 since it is very useful in such situations: press Ctrl + Alt + one of the F keys (usually one of 3,4,5) And to go back it is usually one of 1,2,7,8

It saved my ass many times.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Seems DaVinci Resolve does not have support for the latest Ubuntu's yet.

https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=202819

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Know any good alternatives?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

ctrl+alt+f1 get to tty and install back those uninstalled?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

If apt suggested to uninstall these, there is a problem that may just occur again