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Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 8:11 am
by paul1149
Starting two weeks ago I've been getting many "Refresh" of already installed system components when I daily update. I've never seen this before. Typically Discover doesn't even need elevation to perform these refreshes, which is odd. And typically each refresh might be 350mb in size, whereas most updates have always been much smaller. I'm attaching the offerings of today.
2024-12-07_08(2).png
The refreshes have gone smoothly, but I wonder what is going on.

Thanks.

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-13-amd64 [6.1.55-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-13-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
    init=/lib/systemd/systemd
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.5 tk: Qt v: 5.15.8 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 7 dm: SDDM
    Distro: MX-23.4_KDE_x64 Libretto October 15 2023 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Micro-Star model: MAG B550 TOMAHAWK (MS-7C91) v: 2.0
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: A.F0 date: 10/19/2023
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3+ gen: 4 level: v3 note: check
    built: 2022 process: TSMC n6 (7nm) family: 0x19 (25) model-id: 0x21 (33) stepping: 0
    microcode: 0xA20102B
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 6 tpc: 2 threads: 12 smt: enabled cache: L1: 384 KiB
    desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 3 MiB desc: 6x512 KiB L3: 32 MiB desc: 1x32 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2218 high: 2317 min/max: 2200/4650 boost: enabled scaling:
    driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: ondemand cores: 1: 2205 2: 2198 3: 2200 4: 2254 5: 2200 6: 2200
    7: 2239 8: 2200 9: 2200 10: 2317 11: 2199 12: 2205 bogomips: 88797
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: safe RET
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, STIBP: always-on, RSB
    filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Lexa PRO [Radeon 540/540X/550/550X / RX 540X/550/550X] driver: amdgpu v: kernel
    arch: GCN-4 code: Arctic Islands process: GF 14nm built: 2016-20 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s
    lanes: 8 ports: active: DVI-D-1,HDMI-A-1 empty: none bus-ID: 2b:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:699f
    class-ID: 0300 temp: 38.0 C
  Device-2: Sunplus Innovation SPCA2281 Web Camera type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 1-2.2:4 chip-ID: 1bcf:2281 class-ID: 0102
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.9 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: amdgpu unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0
    screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3200x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 846x285mm (33.31x11.22") s-diag: 893mm (35.15")
  Monitor-1: DVI-D-1 mapped: DVI-D-0 pos: bottom-l model: ViewSonic VP191b serial: <filter>
    built: 2004 res: 1280x1024 hz: 60 dpi: 86 gamma: 1.2 size: 376x310mm (14.8x12.2")
    diag: 487mm (19.2") ratio: 5:4 modes: max: 1280x1024 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-A-0 pos: primary,top-right model: Asus VS248 serial: <filter>
    built: 2014 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 92 gamma: 1.2 size: 531x299mm (20.91x11.77")
    diag: 609mm (24") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 24.2.2-1~mx23ahs renderer: AMD Radeon RX 550 / 550 Series (radeonsi
    polaris12 LLVM 15.0.6 DRM 3.49 6.1.0-13-amd64) direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Baffin HDMI/DP Audio [Radeon RX 550 640SP / 560/560X] driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel bus-ID: 1-2.2:4 pcie: chip-ID: 1bcf:2281 gen: 3 class-ID: 0102 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 8
    bus-ID: 2b:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:aae0 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 2d:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Sunplus Innovation SPCA2281 Web Camera type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-13-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 2
    speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: d000 bus-ID: 2a:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8125 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth1 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.27 TiB used: 1.21 TiB (53.3%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:2 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 980 500GB size: 465.76 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: 1B4QFXO7 temp: 31.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 EVO Plus 1TB size: 931.51 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: 4B2QEXM7 temp: 29.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EZEX-00UJTA0 size: 931.51 GiB
    block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 1A01
    scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 38.96 GiB size: 38.06 GiB (97.67%) used: 31.01 GiB (81.5%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:4
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 500 MiB size: 499 MiB (99.80%) used: 568 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:3
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 408.16 GiB size: 400.69 GiB (98.17%) used: 46.6 GiB (11.6%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:5
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 18.14 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p4 maj-min: 259:6
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 52.8 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 38.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: 3194 pm: dpkg pkgs: 3163 libs: 1812 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala pm: rpm pkgs: 0
    pm: flatpak pkgs: 31
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    3: deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main non-free-firmware
    4: deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/ bookworm-security main non-free-firmware
    5: deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/megasync.list
    1: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/meganz-archive-keyring.gpg] https://mega.nz/linux/repo/Debian_12/ ./
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
    2: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm ahs
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nextdns.list
    1: deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/nextdns.gpg] https://repo.nextdns.io/deb stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opera-stable.list
    1: deb https://deb.opera.com/opera-stable/ stable non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vivaldi-snapshot.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.vivaldi.com/snapshot/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zulu-openJDK.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] http://repos.azulsystems.com/debian stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zulu-openjdk.list
    1: deb [ arch=amd64 ] https://repos.azul.com/zulu/deb/ stable main
Info:
  Processes: 340 Uptime: 8m wakeups: 0 Memory: 15.54 GiB used: 4.75 GiB (30.6%) Init: systemd
  v: 252 target: graphical (5) default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: UEFI

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 9:01 am
by j2mcgreg
Maybe there is something off with your main repository. Try using Repo Manager to switch to Salt Lake City and see if this behaviour continues.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 9:06 am
by paul1149
Ok, I switched to Salt Lake City, from Rochester, NY, and ran `sudo apt update`, then started Discover and refreshed, and the same "Refresh" packages presented themselves.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 9:35 am
by j2mcgreg
paul1149 wrote: Sat Dec 07, 2024 9:06 am Ok, I switched to Salt Lake City, from Rochester, NY, and ran `sudo apt update`, then started Discover and refreshed, and the same "Refresh" packages presented themselves.
Do you get the same result if you use MXPI instead of Discover?

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 9:46 am
by paul1149
Ok, I went to MXPI, Enabled Repos, did a Refresh List, and then selected the Upgradable filter. Nothing appeared. I'm not sure how to interpret that, because these "Refreshes" apparently aren't considered Updates, since no elevation is required to process them. I don't know what they are, or why no one else apparently has experienced them. Baffled.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 9:47 am
by Germ
I noticed the same thing after installing some flatpaks. The "refresh" doesn't actually update your system. They go into the flatpak/flathub directories that are setup when you install flatpaks. I eventually removed all the flatpak garbage and don't use flatpak any longer.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 9:50 am
by paul1149
Interesting. And then it stopped? I have installed two or three flatpaks lately.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 9:52 am
by Germ
Yes, it stopped.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 9:54 am
by paul1149
Ok, thank you. That gives me a direction. I use flatpak for handbrake and a couple of other things, and it's the only way to keep up to date. I'll try asking over there.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 9:59 am
by asqwerth
I think Discover shows all the available runtimes [environment/platforms] that are available in flatpak, for when you try to install a flatpak that is using the latest version of Plasma or Gnome. It doesn't affect the user if you don't use flatpaks, or, if you are using a flatpak app, you don't update the flatpak app's version on your system.

Note that if you don't use Discover to update your system, you won't accidentally update flatpaks; if you simply use MX-updater, you won't be updating flatpaks and will have to intentionally do so from the MXPI flatpak tab. That is the way I do things as I hate to update flatpak apps if they are already working fine.

If you update the flatpak app, then often they are offering the latest and "greatest", which means the latest version that runs on a newer runtime. An update will thus pull the new runtimes in.

If you absolutely need the latest version of the flatpak app, then you will have no choice but to pull in the new runtime. However, MX-cleanup as well as MXPI flatpak tab offers you options to remove old runtimes that are no longer in use because your flatpak app or apps is/are now using a newer runtime.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 10:04 am
by paul1149
Ok, that makes sense. I did update one or two flatpaks recently, I believe handbrake was one of them. I will keep an eye on flatpak updating vs. these Refreshes, to confirm that they are related, but this seems to be the answer.

I also will run MX-cleanup to slim down the system again.

It's a shame that updating a flatpak program, beside the actual program, which often is large in file size, also drags in 1.3GB of extra runtime.

Thanks for this insight.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 10:10 am
by paul1149
Excellent tool, MX Cleanup. Slashed 6.7GB off the system, so quickly it was scary! I and Clonezilla thank you! :)

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 4:07 pm
by Stevo
We added Handbrake 1.9.0 to the MX 23 test repo yesterday, if you want to try that and possibly clear out that flatpak.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 4:22 pm
by paul1149
Thanks Stevo, I've now done so.

When I went to uninstall via MXPI, it only offered "remove runtimes". It said the packages are not installed. I think that jives with these Refreshes not requiring elevation, and maybe confirms that this is the problem.

Afterward, though, I ran Discover Updates again, and the same Refreshes appeared. Possibly they refer to a different flatpak, most probably kdenlive (24.08.3).

I hope I don't need support from the handbrake folks, though, because they only offer it for linux if one is running the `unadulterated` flatpak version...

Thanks again.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 9:28 pm
by asqwerth
There is no specific button for removal of flatpak apps because it's done in mxpi like any installed deb app. Search for app, select it, and I believe the temove/uninstall button below will show up. The special remove unused runtime button is there because each runtime is huge and they can accumulate. And people might not know they are removable.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 9:34 pm
by paul1149
I just dry ran that for kdenlive in mxpi / flatpaks, and indeed the Uninstall button went live. I didn't see that for handbrake, but perhaps I missed it. And handbrake is no longer listed as Installed under flatpaks. I'll pay more attention next time, but this seems to have worked out pretty well. Thanks.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 10:19 pm
by Stevo
Handbrake's GTK+3, so I doubt it needs those huge KDE runtimes to start with. IDK if it drags in GNOME or those other huge Nvidia 535 ones I get.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 10:52 pm
by asqwerth
Stevo wrote: Sat Dec 07, 2024 10:19 pm Handbrake's GTK+3, so I doubt it needs those huge KDE runtimes to start with...
Probably kdenlive

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:04 am
by paul1149
The nonsense continues. After doing a few 350mb Refreshes, I was confronted with four more of the same size, which I have been avoiding for days. Then today that number grew to six, for a whopping 1.8GB download.

This is not acceptable. I removed the Handbrake flatpak when the MX repo was updated, so I suspect this is attributable to kdenlive. I am seriously considering removing kdenlive and maybe all other flatpaks as well.
2024-12-11_57.png

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:11 am
by dolphin_oracle
paul1149 wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:04 am The nonsense continues. After doing a few 350mb Refreshes, I was confronted with four more of the same size, which I have been avoiding for days. Then today that number grew to six, for a whopping 1.8GB download.

This is not acceptable. I removed the Handbrake flatpak when the MX repo was updated, so I suspect this is attributable to kdenlive. I am seriously considering removing kdenlive and maybe all other flatpaks as well.

2024-12-11_57.png
I would use the button to "remove unused runtimes" in mx-packageinstaller->flatpak tab. those look like flatpak runtimes, and being gnome oriented, I don't know if kdenlive would be using those.

**edit** those runtimes are not pulled in by kdenlive. I just checked. handbrake does pull them in, so if you have removed handbrake, removing unused runtimes should clear things up.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:19 am
by paul1149
When I click on "More information", it says they were distributed by "Flathub (user)".

I tried to leave a review but it wouldn't accept it. Clicking on the Website link takes one to gnome, not flathub. And flathub.com doesn't list the file.

2024-12-11_16.png

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:22 am
by paul1149
Here's my list of installed flatpaks. I had forgotten another recent flatpak for me was Pinta.


flatpak list
… Applica… Version Branch Origin Installation
… …t.Pinta 2.1.2 stable flathub system
… …Foliate 3.2.0 stable flathub system
… …creenNG 4.3.0 stable flathub system
… …rakeCLI stable handbrakecli-origin system
… …ake.ghb 1.9.0 stable flathub user
… …iscrcpy 4.11.3 stable flathub system
… …ins.TAP 1.0.1 23.08 flathub system
… …ins.swh 0.4.17 23.08 flathub system
… …latform freedesktop-sdk-23.08.25 23.08 flathub system
… …default 21.3.9 21.08 flathub system
… …default 24.2.5 23.08 flathub system
… …default 24.2.5 23.08-extra flathub system
… …default 24.2.7 24.08 flathub system
… …default 24.2.7 24.08 flathub user
… …default 24.2.7 24.08extra flathub system
… …default 24.2.7 24.08extra flathub user
… …eg-full 21.08 flathub system
… …penh264 2.1.0 2.0 flathub system
… …penh264 2.1.0 2.2.0 flathub system
… …penh264 2.4.1 2.4.1 flathub system
… …penh264 2.4.1 2.4.1 flathub user
… …latform 46 flathub system
… …latform 47 flathub system
… …latform 47 flathub user
… ….Breeze 6.2.4 3.22 flathub system
… ….Breeze 6.2.4 3.22 flathub user
… …latform 5.15-21.08 flathub system
… …latform 6.7 flathub system
… …denlive 24.08.3 stable flathub system
… ….CoBang 0.14.1 stable flathub system

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:40 am
by asqwerth
That's a long list. Do you really need all of them as flatpaks? You can find a fair number as normal packages in mx's own repos.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:49 am
by paul1149
Half that stuff I don't know what it is.

Ok, I've uninstalled everything I think I can. And still upon Refresh Discover presents me with the six Refreshes.


$ flatpak list
Name Application ID Version Branch Installation
TAP-plugins …reedesktop.LinuxAudio.Plugins.TAP 1.0.1 23.08 system
SWH …reedesktop.LinuxAudio.Plugins.swh 0.4.17 23.08 system
Freedesktop Platform org.freedesktop.Platform freedesktop-sdk-23.08.25 23.08 system
Mesa …g.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default 24.2.5 23.08 system
Mesa (Extra) …g.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default 24.2.5 23.08-extra system
Mesa …g.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default 24.2.7 24.08 system
Mesa …g.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default 24.2.7 24.08 user
Mesa (Extra) …g.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default 24.2.7 24.08extra system
Mesa (Extra) …g.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default 24.2.7 24.08extra user
openh264 org.freedesktop.Platform.openh264 2.1.0 2.0 system
openh264 org.freedesktop.Platform.openh264 2.1.0 2.2.0 system
openh264 org.freedesktop.Platform.openh264 2.4.1 2.4.1 system
openh264 org.freedesktop.Platform.openh264 2.4.1 2.4.1 user
GNOME Application Platform ve… org.gnome.Platform 46 system
GNOME Application Platform ve… org.gnome.Platform 47 system
GNOME Application Platform ve… org.gnome.Platform 47 user
Breeze GTK theme org.gtk.Gtk3theme.Breeze 6.2.4 3.22 system
Breeze GTK theme org.gtk.Gtk3theme.Breeze 6.2.4 3.22 user
KDE Application Platform org.kde.Platform 6.7 system

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:55 am
by dolphin_oracle
personally I would remove the flatpak discover backends. that will stop the constant updates I think. If you ever want to update your flatpaks, its easily done in mx-packageinstaller->flatpak tab.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:59 am
by paul1149
Gee, that was simple! This is why I pay you guys so well. :)

Thanks much. Discover automatically went from Updates to Up to date.

I had begun to get cozy with flatpaks. I'm not sure that will happen again.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:59 am
by dolphin_oracle
paul1149 wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:59 am Gee, that was simple! This is why I pay you guys so well. :)

Thanks much. Discover automatically went from Updates to Up to date.

I had begun to get cozy with flatpaks. I'm not sure that will happen again.
flatpaks are great. its discover that sucks.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 9:01 am
by paul1149
Ok then. That opens the possibilities back up. Some thing can only be gotten there, unless one knows how to compile.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 9:55 am
by asqwerth
dolphin_oracle wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:59 am
paul1149 wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:59 am Gee, that was simple! This is why I pay you guys so well. :)

Thanks much. Discover automatically went from Updates to Up to date.

I had begun to get cozy with flatpaks. I'm not sure that will happen again.
flatpaks are great. its discover that sucks.
Amen. One of the first things I do when I install the KDE version of MX is to install mx-updater [which is only default on MX-XFCE, I believe], and remove discover's update notifications. Can't recall if Synaptic is installed in MX-KDE but if not, I also install that. Then I only rely on MX-updater and sometimes terminal commands for updating.

I don't like the way Discover conflates all updates from repos, flatpaks and KDE store stuff together. Yes, if you are careful about reading everything, you will know that they are separate things from different sources, and updates for the latter 2 groups should be assessed separately. But not everyone does that.

Frankly It's not always needed to update the latter 2 groups of items, in my view.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:25 pm
by paul1149
I was surprised Discover was chosen over Synaptic for the official KDE release, since Synaptic affords more power under the hood, like freezing packages. But the interface is snazzy and I grew used to it. But this latest problem was too much.

There are a few things I prefer from xfce over kde, one being the console, which I have retained. Otherwise I have never looked back from KDE.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 10:04 pm
by asqwerth
paul1149 wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:25 pm I was surprised Discover was chosen over Synaptic for the official KDE release, since Synaptic affords more power under the hood, like freezing packages. But the interface is snazzy and I grew used to it. But this latest problem was too much.

There are a few things I prefer from xfce over kde, one being the console, which I have retained. Otherwise I have never looked back from KDE.
The intention in MX KDE is to try to prefer KDE-native, or at the very least, Qt, apps over gtk toolkit apps as much as possible.

But mixing toolkits has never bothered me. I want to use programs that I think are better or more fitted to my use case. So even in MX KDE I will install Gparted, Meld, Geany, Synaptic.

Gparted - because I have had issues with KDE partition manager before when I used it. My impression is that it's not as safe and stable as Gparted.

Meld - because I never could get used to Kdiff3.

Geany - Kate actually wrongly adds hard Returns out of nowhere in some lines when you open a conky config file. So some single lines get split into 2. I've messed up so many of my conkies, and then wondered why they didn't work anymore, just because I'd opened/edited them in Kate while using my KDE plasma distros. Now, I use Kate editor only to edit root files because of its easy elevation of privileges.

Synaptic over Discover, duh! I open up Discover only once in a rare while to check on what KDE store elements have updates. Doesn't mean I actually install the updates though.

Previously I also avoided Ark as the archive manager as there were times it didn't properly extract archives into my selected file location. I went with Arqiver instead, which Stevo introduced in MX19 KDE, I think. However, the version of Ark in MX23 seems ok.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2024 8:21 am
by paul1149
All has been quiet since I disabled the flatpak repos in Discover - until today. But now I am confronted with two "Refresh" entries, which sure enough traced back to flathub.
2024-12-21_02(2).png
So I checked my Discover settings to see if something had changed, but no, the repos were still disabled:
2024-12-21_02.png
I then tried to delete the repos altogether, and was confronted with an elevation confirm dialog even though I had just elevated Discover to perform wanted updates. Ok, it's a higher level function. But after confirming, Discover said it cannot remove the repos.

It seems Discover wants to foist these refreshes on me very badly.

So I installed trusty Synaptic. (Boy does that thing need a dark skin.) No refreshes were offered. It did pick up the availability of Thunderbird 1.128, which for some reason Discover does not report.

I'm not sure how to proceed from here. I think I want to nuke Discover, and I would like to have an automatic daily check for updates. I guess I can create a autorun rule for Synaptic. Is that the best way to get regular updates?

Thanks.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2024 8:39 am
by j2mcgreg
MXPI is installed in KDE, so you might give it a try and see which one you like better before you remove Discover.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2024 11:00 pm
by paul1149
Discover is definitely going to go, or at least be taken out of autoruns and not be called on. MXPI will do the job, with some clicks. I don't suppose there's a command line to point to the Enabled Repos tab and the Upgradable filter. Or I may use Synaptic with an Upgradable custom filter.

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 3:55 am
by asqwerth
Install apt-notifier.

That's the mx updater for mx xfce

Re: Something new? "Refresh" of system components

Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 8:46 am
by paul1149
Thanks. That's the one I was looking for. But there doesn't seem to be a way to do selective updates through it. I got a nice pop-up menu a few times, offering to update via Synaptic, etc, but I have no idea how it got there, it's not from the mx-notifier tray icon, and clicking on its Synaptic entry did nothing. As it stands I think I'll be using Synaptic, because it gives me granularity and it opens directly on an updated list of Upgradable packages.

Ok, with mx-notifier closed, that pop-up menu is from right-clicking its tray icon.