Desktop (customised with top, bottom and side bars and various extensions) was working fine until I downloaded a projector user manual from the official Epson site. When I went to open the Downloads folder its window opened momentarily, then the screen crashed and I was presented with a fresh login screen. When I logged back in I’d lost all my desktop settings and was presented with - is it Unity, with the large icons along the bottom of the screen?
Rebooting changes nothing. Trying to open Files always produces the same effect, as does trying to run from the terminal with the ‘nautilus’ command.
Updating the system - overdue as I’ve been away from home for six weeks - has also not solved the problem.
I’m a long time user of Manjaro Gnome, but far from expert. I’ve learned from experience not to mess around too much without expert advice or I’m likely to make matters worse. So far I haven’t found anything online that suggests a diagnosis, let alone a solution. Would be very grateful if someone could suggest a few basic troubleshooting steps. I’m comfortable using the terminal but far from familiar with all its possibilities.
Since experiencing an unfixable problem a year or so ago, on advice read on this forum and manjaro help pages I’ve avoided using pacman altogether, sticking entirely to pamac. What are the equivalent pamac commands for the operations you recommend?
I’ve just discovered all extensions are already off - could that be the problem? I’ll post this, switch them back on, and then try logging out and back in.
I didn’t even have to log out: as soon as my extensions were enabled again my familiar desktop reappeared. Still no joy with opening Files though. Would it be worth installing a different file manager and seeing if that works?
~ pamac remove ruby-gtk3 ✔
Preparing...
Checking dependencies...
Error: Failed to prepare transaction:
could not satisfy dependencies:
- removing ruby-gtk3 breaks dependency 'ruby-gtk3' required by rubyripper
~
And I use rubyripper regularly for ripping cds so don’t want to break it.
I’ve just installed Nemo, and that’s opening folders fine, so I have a GUI workaround and I assume it indicates that the problem is nautilus specific rather than a deeper problem? Should I try removing nautilus and reinstalling it - or could that cause knock-on problems?
I think if you first remove rubyripper and get the system sorted it would be better - and also make sure that you get no response when you run padciff -o.
Then you can install it again.
There are also other options… I use Strawberry, well maintained:
Also note that ruby-gtk3 and ruby-gdk3 are different packages.
rubyripper depends on ruby-gtk3
We may also want to see and/or remove orphans
pacman -Qdtq
I dont know why or what would spur a concept of ‘use pamac and avoid pacman’… as evidenced by … all history ever … if anything it should be the other way around. Pamac, like pacman, is an ALPM frontend. Nonetheless pamac uses various pacman resources (like the log and cache).
pacman-mirrors, despite the name, is not part of pacman. There is no pamac equivalent, it is what should be used to sort mirrors. sudo pacman -Syu would be equal to pamac upgrade --no-aur excepting any possible bugs not shared or similar. pacman -Qmq would print all foreign packages. I believe the pamac equal is pamac list -imq
Aside from the upgrade command, there would be no option (pacman-mirrors) or no point (the job is only printing) to using a pamac equal.
And, frankly, in the case of upgrades or exchanges I would say pacman is more reliable. The only reason unearthed so far for pamac being considered superior would be the ‘human’ commands, like ‘install’ instead of ‘-S’. But with them being longer, I dont see it as such.
Thanks so much for the further advice, Ben and CSCS. I’ve ended up removing Rubyripper, as trying to remove selected ruby packages still broke dependencies:
~ sudo pacman -Rns ruby-gio2 ruby-gdk_pixbuf2 ruby-gdk3 ruby-atk v86d
[sudo] password for nick:
checking dependencies...
error: failed to prepare transaction (could not satisfy dependencies)
:: removing ruby-atk breaks dependency 'ruby-atk' required by ruby-gtk3
:: removing ruby-gdk3 breaks dependency 'ruby-gdk3' required by ruby-gtk3
:: removing ruby-gdk_pixbuf2 breaks dependency 'ruby-gdk_pixbuf2' required by ruby-gtk3
:: removing ruby-gio2 breaks dependency 'ruby-gio2' required by ruby-gtk3
Thanks again, Nachlese and Ben - this is really helpful support. I’m a bit out of my depth with pacdiff but you’ve given me the tools, which I’ll use when I have a bit more time and headspace than right now.
Meanwhile the pamac update has gone through successfully. However, after cleaning up I got this:
-> Compressing package...
==> Leaving fakeroot environment.
==> Finished making: v86d 0.1.10-13 (lun. 16 déc. 2024 10:51:31)
==> Cleaning up...
==== AUTHENTICATING FOR org.manjaro.pamac.commit ====
Authentication is required to install, update, or remove packages
Authenticating as: Nick (nick)
Password:
Cancelled
==== AUTHENTICATION FAILED ====
I’m pretty sure I didn’t mistype my password - could this be related to the /etc/passwd.pacnew discrepancies?
Also, I don’t recall ever being asked for authentification after an upgrade. I’m not sure what to do next - clearly the terminal is waiting for something as it’s not returned my normal prompt.
Yes, thanks for those suggestions, Ben. I’ve used Asunder, still have it on my system as a last resort, but I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to audio and have sought out what are regarded as closest Linux equivalents to EAC. I use whipper primarily, and rubyripper when whipper fails a disc.
v86d was / is one of your orphan packages
remove it instead of trying to build and install it again
The password issue could be (this is speculation on my part) due to one of the not yet merged .pacnew files:
From memory:
one of them adds a new system user (alpm)
(/etc/passwd.pacnew as well if I remember correctly)
and the other may be directly related to the password prompt via polkit
