Please help !!! Unable to access GUI after update

[dolphin_oracle]

Thanks dolphin_oracle! stretch no longer receives updates because it is oldstable?

actually it still receives updates, just infrequently and mostly security related. at least from debian. we will keep issuing updates in our repos for a while yet.

[JayM]

upgrade issues are why we use the distro name versions of the repo definitions.

Question: has MX done this all along, or did it ever just name the repos "Debian Stable"? Since we suddenly have two cases of lightdm/X11 issues after an update since Buster was released, I'm wondering if people who originally installed an older version of MX, like 17, still have repos named Debian Stable instead of Debian Stretch and that's what's causing the issues.

we we have deliberately used the distro codename all along. to be sure, I went back and checked mx 17 and 17.1 both had "stretch" rather than "stable".

to answer the other question, the stretch repos are still there, but they are no longer "stable" they are now "oldstable".

using the distro codename version of the debian repository definitions avoids these kinds of things.

*Whew!* So it's not a systemic problem, it only affects individuals who at some point have changed or readded their repositories incorrectly. The only solutions, then would be to either restore from a backup made prior to yesterday (timeshift, backintime or reinstall from a snapshot) then fix the repositories prior to updating/upgrading, or do a fresh reinstall.

[asqwerth]

upgrade issues are why we use the distro name versions of the repo definitions.

Question: has MX done this all along, or did it ever just name the repos "Debian Stable"? Since we suddenly have two cases of lightdm/X11 issues after an update since Buster was released, I'm wondering if people who originally installed an older version of MX, like 17, still have repos named Debian Stable instead of Debian Stretch and that's what's causing the issues.

Definitely not. I have quite a few mx15/16 and mx17/18 installs that have never "promoted" themselves to the next Debian release on an update. Same for my father's mx16 netbook.

[chandler]

So what can I do now?

[JayM]

Restore the OS from a recent backup after booting from an MX live USB or DVD, or install from a recent snapshot, then fix those repositories before running any updates or upgrades (people here can help you with that), or else reinstall from scratch. The installer will give you the option to keep your existing /home partition but I would do a complete backup of it first, including hidden files and directories, just to be on the safe side.

[Buck Fankers]

So what can I do now?

I don't know how new you are at Linux, let me know if you understand what the problem is. As beginner I have easy explanation 'from beginner to beginner' if you need it. Understanding what happened also helps understanding why next step is recovery from backup or new install, while you keep home.

Do you happen to know, why you had wrong repos enabled?
Did you install some software via PPA (not a good idea)
Did some software during install changed repositories?
Did you change them? Just curious how it happened.

[chandler]

Yes indeed I am a novice in linux

Please explain if you have that explanation. .


And yes to all your questions. ..

[Jerry3904]

My ideas:
1. Rescue data from Home you want to keep using the Live media
2. Reinstall
3. Never change the repos until you know more than the Devs

[rasat]

Is this becoming an issue where machines get upgraded to buster without notice. This upgrade breaks the system (systemd-shim, lightdm, netwwork-manager, and other important packages are removed). Here is another asking for help:
viewtopic.php?f=104&t=51379#p513797

[richb]

If you read paragraph 3 of the Blog post it tells you this will not happen.

In short, your existing Stretch-based MX 18 will continue to receive updates from Debian and MX for at least 18 months. You don’t have to do anything. We have pointed our repository definitions to the distro name version of Debian’s repositories, so you don’t have to worry about “stable” changing. If you manually changed your repositories to point to “stable”, do not update and change them back. If you update from “stable” rather than “stretch”, your system will be hosed. Your only recourse in that event is to reinstall.