MX Linux Forum

Hello all,

After installing updates I was taken to command line interface and i cannot use my GUI, such as I cannot use my login screen.... please help me how to access the GUI.

I also tried the 'startx' command it took me to my GUi root account in there I couldn't use anything there...

Please help me on this

So, when you reboot it ends after entering runlevel5 ? Does it seem to connect to internet?

sudo apt update --fix-missing

just to have a try...

Yes, I think it is connected to internet..

I have attached the screenshot of error for your reference

Just startx not sudo

Have you installed any new kernels or are using any nvidia drivers?

Does your home.folder have space on it or is it full?

I did like you said...

But still the same error persists. ..

I am not sure about any new kernel installation. .. just a regular app updates only I believe

Also I think I have space in home folder.

looks to me like your regular user cannot access your home folder, or at least the Xauthority files

try a and let's check the permissions.

Here it is. ...

and now

Here you go...

I just realized I made a typo on the ls command.

please post this:

Refer the screenshot...

Though I am unable to take it fully. .. is this enough?.

so lets try
then see if startx works.

Nope... still the same error persists...

I think its slightly different. there is no Xauthority error now.
again

Done...

Ok have you looked in the log file refernced.by the error report?

It is a huge file, what do I need look for?

chandler wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 6:57 pm It is a huge file, what do I need look for?

anything with an error or warning tag.

I have attached screen shots... part 1

I have attached screen shots... part 2

I'm at a loss. Although I think I've seen something similar when policykit was acting up.

How about

Done. ...

chandler wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 7:38 pmDone. ...

MX18 is based on stretch, which is now oldstable.
You have manually Debian stable repo enabled, which are now "buster", hence the buster upgrade have broken your system, I guess.

fehlix wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 9:21 pm

chandler wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 7:38 pmDone. ...

MX18 is based on stretch, which is now oldstable.
You have manually Debian stable repo enabled, which are now "buster", hence the buster upgrade have broken your system, I guess.

good eye.

Yep, a dist-upgrade to buster is not a good idea, and buster became the new stable yesterday.

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

I see a Jessie Main repo, plus something about "wire-app" (PPA?) but nothing about Buster in his pictures of his inxi output in the first post. Having a Debian Jessie repo enabled on a Stretch-based system might have been what broke it after the last update. Fehlix must have better eyes than I do (I'm half-blind, actually.)

Edit: never mind, I see it now. "Debian Stable" repos, which are Buster repos now, instead of "Debian Stretch". So he actually has repos for three different versions of Debian stable branch enabled at the same time.

dolphin_oracle wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 9:25 pm 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.

JayM wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 9:30 pm Edit: never mind, I see it now. "Debian Stable" repos, which are Buster repos now, instead of "Debian Stretch". So he actually has repos for three different versions of Debian stable branch enabled at the same time.

Yes, that update was a full upgrade to buster. Don't see any chance to revert that upgrade.

The stretch repos no longer exist since buster is now the new Debian release?

JayM wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 9:42 pm

dolphin_oracle wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 9:25 pm 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.

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

teddyk67 wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 10:12 pm 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.

dolphin_oracle wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 10:01 pm

JayM wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 9:42 pm

dolphin_oracle wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 9:25 pm 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.

JayM wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 9:42 pm

dolphin_oracle wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 9:25 pm 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.

So what can I do now?

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.

chandler wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 1:07 am 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.

Yes indeed I am a novice in linux

Please explain if you have that explanation. .


And yes to all your questions. ..

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

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

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.

We would have seen what happened right off if the OP had mentioned that they were updating hundreds upon hundreds of packages in one go, as you do when wrecking the system.

rasat wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 2:07 pm 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

Those were self-inflicted.

Nothing to do with MX, whose repos have always used by default the specific name of the Debian release, e.g. Wheezy, Jessie, Stretch, Buster, etc, instead of by class of repo, e.g. Stable, Testing, Unstable.

chandler wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 1:53 pm Yes indeed I am a novice in linux
Please explain if you have that explanation. .
And yes to all your questions. ..

I'm a I little late but here it is: (from beginner to beginner)

Will use cars as explanation. You have gasoline cars and you have diesel cars. If you pour diesel into car that runs on gasoline, you will break engine.

Debian every few years, usually around 3 years, change the whole system. Say they go from gasoline to diesel. This just happened day or two ago. All libraries are being replaced with new ones. You need to replace the whole system for this. Say you want to start using diesel, you need to replace whole engine, that runs on diesel.

Which will happen soon with MX. It will be version 19. That one will be based on diesel and will use new engine.

But the one we have now, version 18, the one that broke for you, this one is based on gasoline and it still needs old engine. And this is how it will stay for next year and half, maybe two...

If you wouldn't change repositories, you would be keep getting correct libraries for your engine. But since you did change them, you essentially pour diesel into your gasoline engine and it blew up. You can't fix it, by simply changing repositories back. Engine is bad now it need to be replaced. In Linux this is easy, you need to use live MX 18, and install it again, with the option to keep your home intact (your documents, settings...) and all should be OK. Be sure to manually save somewhere safe your documents just in case on some portable HDD.

lessons learned:

- don't use PPA's this is not ubuntu based system
- keep default repositories or you will risk breaking your system
- if you see sudenly HUGE numbers of updates available, this is red flag,don't update it, check with the forum first
- while learning, use safe install practice, use MX Package Installer. If you use say DEB package, you need to know which libraries are packaged in it, or you risk mixing diesel with gasoline engine again. MXPI will keep you in safe waters.

- learn how to use EXCELLENT MX Snapshot tool. Would be perfect in this situation. Makes iso/backup of your whole system, many many here just LOVE it. There are videos available about how to use it.

Nothing bad really happened, you are just learning new stuff :-)
Welcome to the Linux world, I was intimidated first few months, then I started enjoying it. So will you, just give it a time...

Well done!

This is exactly what happened to me yesterday. I fiddled with the repositories without thinking how dangerous this can be (for Linux newcomers like me), and an instant later I was offered a myriad of updates. This happened while I was also doing other things a bit in a hurry, and as soon as I pressed "Upgrade" I started to regret. The system wouldn't boot, but thanks to yesterday's snapshot MX was up and running again half an hour later Big lesson learnt!

Thank you all for your support and I learnt a great deal from everyone....