LMDE BREAKAGES - tracking TESTING

[viking777]

Gene uses sgfxi (i stand corrected in the name ) as well afaik

Your theory might be correct then. I would hate to try and guess why though

[GeneC]

now, how did you installed in the first place nvidia? the debian way, with dkms or with smxi? might the difference be here? dunno

I use sgfxi now, it is so easy. I used to do it manually but that is such a pain, and dkms only offers the latest stable drivers rather than the beta driver I am using to get gnome-shell going.

I guess we should ask GeneC the same question to confirm your theory or otherwise.

If memory (I am OLD) serves correctly, the first time it broke I had used DKMS, not SMXI, but had trouble re installing with DKMS and went to SMXI (sgfxi).
Now I use SMXI exclusively. No doubt we will here more from others to help clear things up.

P.S.
I had been using the 285 Nvidia driver.

[narendra.d]

Hi

Ok. did some googling and search and tried. Am VERY VERY happy to say I have a desktop back, although its the Debian default screen and Gnome3 booted in fallback mode. Am typing this from my fixed LMDE desktop.

This is what I did:
Commented out the mint repos in sources.list
Updated and then removed xfce related stuff and then installed xorg. Other dependencies were also installed. So now the debian desktop is there and Gnome in fallback mode.

So THANK YOU all once again.
Is there a way I can get the Mint look and feel back? And find out if my hardware/software is good enough for what Gnome3 offers. After all whats the point of all this trouble if I can't see it on screen and feel good about it.

[zerozero]

narendra.d glad you got it fixed

as for the look&fell (and fallback-mode or the shell) it depends of what driver you are using: if your comp has a nvidia card and is using nouveau (because you didn't install the prop. drivers) you can try

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sudo apt-get install libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental

but only if you have a nvidia card (for other card i don't know)
edit: ahh and the minty look is gone, what we have now is that gnome3 look&fell

[viking777]

@narendra if you had used Clonezilla you would not be in this mess in the first place. I would argue that you can't use Linux without it, but for sure you can't use LMDE testing without it. It is not particularly user friendly, but neither is it too difficult to learn and it stops this kind of problem dead in its tracks - providing you use it regularly.

[narendra.d]

Indeed. Looking at Clonezilla ATM. Will use it for sure.

Can Someone tell me how do I change the theme/look and feel? All setting relating to these seem to have vanished. Right click on desktop doesn't work, No settings for desktop can be found where I can change theme etc.

[viking777]

I mentioned this as part of another post, but nobody commented on it so I will raise it again.

If I open Synaptic and click on Settings/Repositories nothing happens. There is a slight screen flicker as if something is trying to start up but nothing appears. Is this just me?

I am using gnome-shell here, I haven't tried it in gnome-fallback yet but I will.

Edit. Exactly the same in gnome-fallback and in fluxbox.

[xircon]

I mentioned this as part of another post, but nobody commented on it so I will raise it again.

If I open Synaptic and click on Settings/Repositories nothing happens. There is a slight screen flicker as if something is trying to start up but nothing appears. Is this just me?

I am using gnome-shell here, I haven't tried it in gnome-fallback yet but I will.

Edit. Exactly the same in gnome-fallback and in fluxbox.

Working here, Gnome 3.

[GregE]

I mentioned this as part of another post, but nobody commented on it so I will raise it again.

If I open Synaptic and click on Settings/Repositories nothing happens. There is a slight screen flicker as if something is trying to start up but nothing appears. Is this just me?

I am using gnome-shell here, I haven't tried it in gnome-fallback yet but I will.

Edit. Exactly the same in gnome-fallback and in fluxbox.

Running SID as base and Gnome 3.2 from experimental. Synaptic is SID version and works fine and looks like Ubuntu version rather than the spartan Debian version I am used to.

I have also edited my menu entry to start Synaptic with gksu synaptic rather than than the standard command.

[GregE]

Indeed. Looking at Clonezilla ATM. Will use it for sure.

Can Someone tell me how do I change the theme/look and feel? All setting relating to these seem to have vanished. Right click on desktop doesn't work, No settings for desktop can be found where I can change theme etc.

If you click on your name then System Settings then Appearance you can change the desktop wallpaper. Install Gnome-Tweak-Tool it will allow you to alter many of the settings. A theme changer can be installed in Gnome-Shell 3.0 but it is a bit of work. If you wait for 3.2 theme changing is simple - you just install the theme extension, put themes in ~/.themes and select them through Advanced Settings (the menu name for gnome-tweak-tool).

[GregE]

For Nvidia users. You do not need smxi or the old Debian way any more.

Just open synaptic and install nvidia-glx and nvidia settings and nvidia-xconfig. When it has finished open a term and run "sudo nvidia-xconfig" and then reboot. It will auto update with kernel updates and nvidia version updates.

I am using the 290.06-1 driver from experimental and it works fine with a 3.1 kernel and Gnome-Shell 3.2.

Use sgfxi if you prefer, but it is not necessary.

[zerozero]

regarding synaptic can you please check if these pkgs are installed and in these v. number (mine is fully functional)

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apt-cache policy python-software-properties
python-software-properties:
  Installed: 0.76.7debian2+nmu1
  Candidate: 0.76.7debian2+nmu1
  Version table:
 *** 0.76.7debian2+nmu1 0
        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
amadeu@amadeu ~ $ apt-cache policy software-properties-gtk
software-properties-gtk:
  Installed: 0.76.7debian2+nmu1
  Candidate: 0.76.7debian2+nmu1
  Version table:
 *** 0.76.7debian2+nmu1 0
        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status


[narendra.d]

If you click on your name then System Settings then Appearance you can change the desktop wallpaper. Install Gnome-Tweak-Tool it will allow you to alter many of the settings. A theme changer can be installed in Gnome-Shell 3.0 but it is a bit of work. If you wait for 3.2 theme changing is simple - you just install the theme extension, put themes in ~/.themes and select them through Advanced Settings (the menu name for gnome-tweak-tool).

Had tried that and all the menus in Administration and Preferences in System Tools. There is no option for Appearance. Desktop Settings (MintDesktop 3.2.4) is very basic.

BTW Installed XFCE and is runs without a hitch.

[GregE]

If you click on your name then System Settings then Appearance you can change the desktop wallpaper. Install Gnome-Tweak-Tool it will allow you to alter many of the settings. A theme changer can be installed in Gnome-Shell 3.0 but it is a bit of work. If you wait for 3.2 theme changing is simple - you just install the theme extension, put themes in ~/.themes and select them through Advanced Settings (the menu name for gnome-tweak-tool).

Had tried that and all the menus in Administration and Preferences in System Tools. There is no option for Appearance. Desktop Settings (MintDesktop 3.2.4) is very basic.

BTW Installed XFCE and is runs without a hitch.

There is no System Tools menu in the Shell. In fact no menus except what you get when you click on your name top right corner. You are not running Gnome Shell you are running Gnome3 Fallback. It means your graphics card is not installed properly.

Next step is to resolve the graphics card.

[GregE]

regarding synaptic can you please check if these pkgs are installed and in these v. number (mine is fully functional)

Hi Zerozero - mine match yours, plus I have sid packages as well.

[viking777]

regarding synaptic can you please check if these pkgs are installed and in these v. number (mine is fully functional)

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apt-cache policy python-software-properties
python-software-properties:
  Installed: 0.76.7debian2+nmu1
  Candidate: 0.76.7debian2+nmu1
  Version table:
 *** 0.76.7debian2+nmu1 0
        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
amadeu@amadeu ~ $ apt-cache policy software-properties-gtk
software-properties-gtk:
  Installed: 0.76.7debian2+nmu1
  Candidate: 0.76.7debian2+nmu1
  Version table:
 *** 0.76.7debian2+nmu1 0
        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status


My version numbers are exactly the same as yours zerozero but it still doesn't show 'repositories' on any of my three desktop environments - it works well enough in all other respects though.
I tried a reinstall but that makes no difference either.
Strange that it is just me, but I guess it is not a 'biggie', if I need to alter repos I will have to do it from sources.list.

[viking777]

For Nvidia users. You do not need smxi or the old Debian way any more.

Just open synaptic and install nvidia-glx and nvidia settings and nvidia-xconfig. When it has finished open a term and run "sudo nvidia-xconfig" and then reboot. It will auto update with kernel updates and nvidia version updates.

I am using the 290.06-1 driver from experimental and it works fine with a 3.1 kernel and Gnome-Shell 3.2.

Use sgfxi if you prefer, but it is not necessary.

The trouble with that GregE is that not everybody wants to use debian 'experimental' sources because it fundamentally changes the nature of the distro (unless you keep turning it on and off, and cherry pick your packages, which is a pain) but many people want to use beta nvidia drivers to get things like gnome-shell working or for gaming purposes and you just don't get the latest nvidia beta with dkms and standard sources, you will only get the latest stable driver. That is why I switched away from using it. This is where sgfxi becomes so useful, although it obviously is not without cost as it seems now that you have to reinstall the driver every time you get an upgrade to xorg. I have got to say though that sgfxi is so easy to use that doing this is not really much of a chore and for me preferable to dragging stuff out of 'experimental'.
Each to his own though

[GregE]

The trouble with that GregE is that not everybody wants to use debian 'experimental' sources because it fundamentally changes the nature of the distro (unless you keep turning it on and off, and cherry pick your packages, which is a pain) but many people want to use beta nvidia drivers to get things like gnome-shell working or for gaming purposes and you just don't get the latest nvidia beta with dkms and standard sources, you will only get the latest stable driver. That is why I switched away from using it. This is where sgfxi becomes so useful, although it obviously is not without cost as it seems now that you have to reinstall the driver every time you get an upgrade to xorg. I have got to say though that sgfxi is so easy to use that doing this is not really much of a chore and for me preferable to dragging stuff out of 'experimental'.
Each to his own though

Viking777, I was not suggesting dipping into experimental, merely pointing out that installing nvidia drivers is now (since squeeze) a simple process. By all means use sgfxi if you must have the latest and greatest, but for most users most of the time whatever is in testing will be good enough. The old "Debian Way" is now not the way.

With Debian testing, most of the time, the version available in the repos works well enough and the latest and greatest is not required. The web is full of well meaning howtos that are way out of date. So for a new install it is usually as simple as installing nvidia-glx, nvidia-settings and nvidia-xconfig and running the last one when you are finished and rebooting. Even at the moment with the xorg problems the Debian repos have a 275 nvidia re-packaged as a 290 and it works well enough for most people.

[narendra.d]

There is no System Tools menu in the Shell. In fact no menus except what you get when you click on your name top right corner. You are not running Gnome Shell you are running Gnome3 Fallback. It means your graphics card is not installed properly.

Next step is to resolve the graphics card.

Thanks GregE for that. But I am completely lost as to how. Any pointers would be gratefully received.

I think my system uses nouveau drivers. Any idea how to find out which?

[zerozero]

I think my system uses nouveau drivers. Any idea how to find out which?

open a terminal, type in

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inxi -F

and post back the output