Various questions about updates

Support
1

Hi I come from Mabox, I need to know if Manjaro has stopped supporting old Intel graphics cards. I was looking in the forum but I can’t find, or I don’t know how to search specifically what happens to me, is that after the last update of Manjaro, I can’t use my PC again. i.e. it boots, it shows the desktop but I can’t use the machine, it doesn’t respond to the keyboard so I can’t use the terminal, as some files I need root permission to see them I can’t access them either.
I tried with the iso, which I have in a pendrive recorded with Ventoy in which I have two isos, the Mabox and Antix, the Mabox one says “Failed to start light display manager”. I know it works because I checked and tested it on a Dell notebook and it works. I test the Antix iso and it does work on the PC that does not allow me to log in.
I have this pc, which I am using to enter the forum that has Manjaro Xfce, outdated, is my support machine in case the other fails as in this case, Same Hardware, ie are twins, this was stopped by problems to connect to the internet from where it is located, so I decided to put it into operation, I tried the iso on this machine and gives the same error.
I’m not an advanced user, but I’m testing and learning so I tried to chroot from Antix Live but when I try “pacman -Syu” it doesn’t recognize it so I must be doing something wrong. Scrolling through this forum I found out that comunity db was moved,
There is nothing I can do until I am able to log in.
I don’t dare to update Manjaro to avoid going through the same problem until I have a solution.
If Manjaro has ended support there is not much I can do.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel 82G33/G31 Express Integrated Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: intel
unloaded: modesetting dri: i915 gpu: i915 resolution: 1600x900~60Hz
API: OpenGL Message: Unable to show GL data. Required tool glxinfo
missing.

2

I had to look up what Mabox is/was.
But I didn’t get much more than the usual … BS

What do you mean with:

“It” certainly has not.

Have you heard of “the XY problem”?

https://xyproblem.info/

So:
what is your actual problem?

2 Likes
3

POI:

Mabox is a longstanding and respected openbox spin of manjaro.

1 Like
4

From your wall of text I understand that your keyboard is not working in Manjaro.

  • Did you download the latest available ISO?
  • How long is it since you laste updated Manjaro?
  • Please provide system information (see below).

It may be beneficial to have the full output of your attempt at performing an update. Any warnings/errors will better help others focus on the likely issue(s).

  • Are you able to enter a TTY (at the login screen)?

Update Announcements:

The Update Announcements contain important information and a Known Issues and Solutions section that should generally be checked before posting a request for support.

System Information:

Output of this command (formatted according to forum requirements) may be useful for those wishing to help:

inxi --filter --verbosity=8

or the short form:

inxi -zv8
1 Like
5

I know now.
Still doesn’t change the actual question:

6

Sure, agreed, which is why I didnt make any further comment and prefaced my message with POI (point of information).
Maybe if it didnt need clearing up the original statement shouldnt have included
“But I didnt get much more than the usual BS” … as that led me to the conclusion that either there was still confusion about the item or that a judgement of quality was being made.

7

I was just being lazy
as you would talk to friends in a bar

perhaps not appropriate for online publication.

too late now

9

No, most certainly not, given that Intel graphics drivers are included in the kernel from upstream. It would therefore be rather silly — not to mention a lot of work — to strip out that code. It would also be ridiculous, as Intel’s drivers are Free & Open Source, licensed under GPLv2.

Furthermore, Manjaro commonly goes to great lengths to add hardware support not offered by other distributions.

There is a good chance this might be related to the fcitx/fcitx5 issue that many here were bitten by.

Long story short, fcitx is used by people needing bidirectional keyboard input, such as for writing in Hebrew, Arabic, or any of the Asian languages. However, for some strange reason — probably as some misguided dependency for something else in the past — it has also ended up on the computers of people who use another keyboard layout than US English, but still without needing it to be bidirectional.

And this is now causing all sorts of keyboard problems for many people. The short answer is to remove fcitx/fcitx5. There are several still fairly recent threads about it here at the forum, so please search for them.

For good measure, you should put a Manjaro ISO on there as well.

The community repo was dropped two years ago already, but up until the most recent Stable Update, it was still present — albeit empty — on the mirrors. The most recent Stable Update saw it removed entirely, which is why people who hadn’t been maintaining their systems as they should have — specifically, in the merging of .pacnew files — are now all having problems while updating.

Manjaro has not ended support for anything, although mainline kernels do go out-of-date over time as they are succeeded by newer kernels. The best way to avoid that is to use an LTS-branded kernel — they are supported until at least December 2026.

1 Like
10

Hi @Nachlese Mabox is Manjaro with OpenBox.
I use it because my machines are old (2007) with few resources and OpenBox is lighter than any desktop and it doesn’t have the problems of common desktops. Manjaro in its pure state is a bit heavy for my modest Dual core 2.6 GHz and 4 Gigas of Ram with mechanical disk. The thing is that Manjaro has always worked since I joined Linux in 2021 and I don’t want to leave.
The problem is that the machine boots but does not respond, I can see the desktop, everything as if it were working but I can only see it, I can not interact with the PC, ie I open a terminal but I can not write, the keyboard shortcuts do not work, I open the file manager and the same, with the mouse I can open a file but I can’t edit it, I didn’t test if for example Inkscape, Gimp, or Firefox work because everything looks like a photograph, Conky shows the processes in zero, sometimes it shows as if there was activity but like in slow motion, so slow that I can leave and come back without noticing changes. I wanted to try chroot but the iso doesn’t respond either, it directly gives the error of [quote=“claudio_1960, post:1, topic:175440”]
“failed to start the light screen manager.”
[/quote] and there it stays.
I used another live with Antix, but it is Debian based so I guess I am not getting into Mabox/Manjaro because pacman does not work. With that same Live, on the Dell it does work, I tried the Mabox iso on this pc with Manjaro and it gives the same error.
Now you tell me that they didn’t drop support for the old machine’s integrated, so I rule that out. Maybe it’s Xorg or something else I don’t know. The problem occurred after the last update, it caught my attention because the machine was running perfect, with updates up to date.
I’m going to read what you mention about XY and see if I can find anything out there.
Then I will try to log in again, I just downloaded a new Manjaro iso, it will be better than updating the one I have installed and obsolete.
Thank you very much for your reply, all help is welcome.

11

I may read and comprehend this tomorrow.

today already is tomorrow here (it’s very late)

1 Like
12

I must leave now, tomorrow I will try to get back to you with the requested.
Manjaro is working even though the machine was down for over a year without updating. I just downloaded the latest iso with Xfce. My fear is that the same thing will happen as with Mabox. I am left with no working machine and that doesn’t look very good.
Thank you very much for your answer.

13
3 Likes
14

As you’re prepared to perform a fresh installation, in any case, you might consider the Manjaro Cinnamon community edition as an alternative, which is also fairly lightweight.

Regards.

15

Cinnamon is nowhere near comparable in ‘weight’ to Openbox or any WM.
Cinnamon is not even considered ‘light’ among the DE’s.

@claudio_1960 updates go well for the majority of cases for the majority of users … even long neglected systems can usually be updated with just a little attention.

But in order to gain assistance you would need to share details of the situation.

If a fresh install is to be performed, that is fine … but in order to avoid more problems confusion in the future it would probably make sense to get familiar with how the system works in general. The wiki is also offered in various languages besides english.

1 Like
16

“POI” usually stands for “Point of Interest”;

“Proof of Identity”, and a very few others are also a possibility, but they don’t seem to fit the context.

17

Though “Point of interest” works just as well.

Theres also a term for not engaging with the substance of positions/commentary.

In whatever case the definition or popularity of “POI” is not really valuable to anything here, so I wish I had used something else to accompany the interjection. :sweat_smile:

18

I understand what you are saying. I’ve come across a few people who think they are demigods just because they know about Linux.
That Manjaro is not for beginners is a myth, in fact I use it, of course eventually I have problems that I alone can not solve, I would say that the existence of the forum and groups exist precisely because of that, because we all have problems that sometimes we can not solve.
I think the best way to learn, is precisely to do what we are not prepared for, make mistakes, ask for and receive help.
The “Manjaro is not for everyone” stance is actually a great attempt to stay elite in the Linux environment.
Linus Torvalds when he created linux thought of a system for everyone, open, to create a community. Not in groups of belonging and superiority.
Sometimes I wonder if the users who think they are better than the rest were born knowing or if they followed the learning curve.
I got into Linux during the pandemic, I built my machines without the slightest knowledge about electronics with leftovers from others that were going to be thrown away.
I tried Xubuntu, it was my key to get into Linux, then Cannonical went down the tubes and Xubuntu got so heavy that I could not continue using it, I tried LMDE
and there was no way to make it work, it hung, reset, etc. looking for a distro to use I came to Manjaro, I installed it, and started to use it, I solved some problems and continued, I met Mabox and it was the most suitable for my pcs, so I continued that way reserving the machine with Manjaro in case it failed.
I imagine that according to the criterion of superiority Columbus would never have reached America just to cite an example. The only genius I know is Mozart who at the age of three composed musical pieces that he himself could not play because his hands were too small, at the age of 8 he composed his first mass in English, a language he did not know.
I would like to ask advanced users for a little humility and understanding instead of explanations why <Manjaro is not for everyone.
Thank you very much for your attention.

19

What does that even mean?

20

Hi, thank you very much, I tried Cinnamon with LMDE but it didn’t work on my hardware, on the other hand, I understand that OpenBox is a finished project so it is more stable than the usual DEs.
I’ve been using it for about 2 years and so far I never had problems, instead I see many problems with desktops, I installed Xfce because besides light it’s not distracting.
I only need the graphical environment for applications that require it as Inkscape or Gimp, I do not spend time to great customizations, I do not like desktops full of launchers, animations, or various applications, I only use a Conky that I adapted and I have nothing else, I have the same wallpaper since I installed no more than that. I don’t give it any other use.

21

Different distro.

That would not be my understanding.
It is just another “spin” - not frequently used. Probably.

Xfce is just fine - it’s what I use.
OpenBox is just a WM - not a DE.
You know the difference?