Check this before upgrading LMDE Cinnamon/GnomeShell to UP7!

[Monsta]

First run

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sudo apt-get update

then run this command:

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apt-cache policy debian-system-adjustments

If its output is something like this:

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debian-system-adjustments:
  Installed: 2013.03.01
  Candidate: 2013.09.12.1
  Version table:
     2013.09.12.1 0
        700 http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian/main i386 Packages
 *** 2013.03.01 0
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

i.e. your debian-system-adjustments is older than 2013.09.12.1, then it may break the update process (and you'll have to recover with sudo apt-get -f install).
This can happen if you just installed the system from the latest ISO (201303) and immediately decided to upgrade it to UP7.


To prevent it from happening, first update debian-system-adjustments to the latest version:

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sudo apt-get install debian-system-adjustments

and then proceed with updating the rest of the system as usual.


The bug is triggered by gnome-control-center update, so it affects Cinnamon and Gnome Shell. MATE is not affected.

[mikecz]

SNIP

This can happen if you just installed the system from the latest ISO (201303) and immediately decided to upgrade it to UP7.

Thank you for posting this; I have a brand new computer I've been trying to do LMDE Cinnamon on, and after 3 times having Cinnamon break and refuse to re-install after the update (with the 'Broken Packages' error that won't even let me remove the package, even with sudo apt-get -f install!).

To prevent it from happening, first update debian-system-adjustments to the latest version:

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sudo apt-get install debian-system-adjustments

and then proceed with updating the rest of the system as usual.

The bug is triggered by gnome-control-center update, so it affects Cinnamon and Gnome Shell. MATE is not affected.

You would think, at minimum, the LMDE developers would either include this in their update scripts, or make note of it in the UP7 notes.

I suppose LMDE really isn't a priority for the Mint team.

I will let you know if this works for me when I make attempt #4 to install tomorrow evening.

MikeC

[kurotsugi]

aside from what monsta have explained, I think we might need to create a simple guide on 'how to safely upgrade your system' and list known problem related to the upgrade. I found a lot of user blindly upgrade their system without knowing the risk. for the upgrading guide, I propose:
1. create a backup of your system by using clonezilla or similar tools
2. uninstall nvidia/ati propietary driver (if you use any)
3. check debian-system-adjustment package status
4. check repository list and make sure it is pointing to right repository
5. update the package repository list (sudo aptitude update)
6. clean up the system by run 'sudo aptitude purge $( deborphan --guess-all )' several times until there's no package removed. this is optional step. I propose this step since it will reduce unnecessary upgrade and reduce system breakage risk.
7. read the upgrade note
8. upgrade the system
9. reboot and enjoy your new UP.

for the known problem I found:
1. gedit and several gnome packages didn't working
2. apps cannot launched. we can fix it by set the theme to adwaita.
3. x cannot started
4. printing is broken

[mikecz]

aside from what monsta have explained, I think we might need to create a simple guide on 'how to safely upgrade your system' and list known problem related to the upgrade. I found a lot of user blindly upgrade their system without knowing the risk. for the upgrading guide, I propose:
1. create a backup of your system by using clonezilla or similar tools
2. uninstall nvidia/ati propietary driver (if you use any)
3. check debian-system-adjustment package status
4. check repository list and make sure it is pointing to right repository
5. update the package repository list (sudo aptitude update)
6. clean up the system by run 'sudo aptitude purge $( deborphan --guess-all )' several times until there's no package removed. this is optional step. I propose this step since it will reduce unnecessary upgrade and reduce system breakage risk.
7. read the upgrade note
8. upgrade the system
9. reboot and enjoy your new UP.

for the known problem I found:
1. gedit and several gnome packages didn't working
2. apps cannot launched. we can fix it by set the theme to adwaita.
3. x cannot started
4. printing is broken

I agree in theory with you, but for the slowness of updates for LMDE, you would think that the developers could release something that didn't require so much babying. After all, one of the selling points of LMDE is that it is a semi-rolling/periodic release, and for me that implies a higher level of curation than a straight rolling release like, say, Arch or Debian Testing. Perhaps its naievete on my part, or perhaps I am spoiled by my experience in the Microsoft Windows world, but I don't think its unreasonable to want to have a system upgrade that will not break your desktop manager. Especially when that desktop manager is developed by the distro orgnizers themselves.

MikeC

[kurotsugi]

personally I think that the delay between UP6 and UP7 is a good thing. if you're not someone who could maintain the system by yourself (via terminal) then there's no point to upgrade your system if it causes a lot of problems. IMO we need to give enough time until new debian testing and cinnamon is mature enough so that we could get a stable system or at least until we get cinnamon 2.0. there was a lot of pressure from several user and mint team decided to release UP7. nevertheless, as you can see, the UP isn't mature enough. many user have experienced a lot of issue after they upgraded their system.

actually, maintain a debian testing isn't as hard as people think. even if it called 'testing', it have been tested several times and quite stable. in several degree I feels that it even more stable than ubuntu. there are several trick to do it but it mostly quite basic and simple.

[mikecz]

Monsta's tip did the trick seemingly; my freshly installed LMDE Cinnamon 201303 spin matched the output in his post perfectly, so I ran the command:

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sudo apt-get install debian-system-adjustments

And the update went forward with one troubling symptom:

In the middle of applying the various updates, Update Manager just quit, taking the cinnamon desktop with it, leaving only the background wallpaper.

I switched to tty1 and was able to re-run startx, but from there I did a system shutdown, powercycle and restart (the machine was still on the 3.2 kernel, not the 3.10). The machine came back up, but when I opened Update Manager, I got an error that said I had to run:

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sudo dpkg --configure -a

which completed the configurations of the modules. This process is running even as I post this, and I am confident that it will complete properly, though I will do a reboot afterwards just to make sure.

I am trying to figure out why my LMDE XFCE box did not have this problem when I applied UP7 (aside from the fact that it isn't running Cinnamon), and I can only surmise that the debian-system-adjustments package got updates (there have been a dribble of updates via Update Manager in the last month or so).

On the one hand, I want to thank everyone for their help, but the fact is that the preparation steps Monsta listed really should have been included in the UP7 notes (which can be reviewed prior to installation) is a very egregious oversight on the part of the Mint team.

MikeC

[Monsta]

I am trying to figure out why my LMDE XFCE box did not have this problem when I applied UP7 (aside from the fact that it isn't running Cinnamon), and I can only surmise that the debian-system-adjustments package got updates (there have been a dribble of updates via Update Manager in the last month or so).

Right, there was an update of debian-system-adjustments earlier in September (the package version contains the date; you can see it in the first post here). Also you probably don't have gnome-control-center installed.

On the one hand, I want to thank everyone for their help, but the fact is that the preparation steps Monsta listed really should have been included in the UP7 notes (which can be reviewed prior to installation) is a very egregious oversight on the part of the Mint team.

I think the UP notes won't be modified unless you request it (e.g. email Clem or ask in the IRC).

[mikecz]

I am trying to figure out why my LMDE XFCE box did not have this problem when I applied UP7 (aside from the fact that it isn't running Cinnamon), and I can only surmise that the debian-system-adjustments package got updates (there have been a dribble of updates via Update Manager in the last month or so).

Right, there was an update of debian-system-adjustments earlier in September (the package version contains the date; you can see it in the first post here). Also you probably don't have gnome-control-center installed.

On the one hand, I want to thank everyone for their help, but the fact is that the preparation steps Monsta listed really should have been included in the UP7 notes (which can be reviewed prior to installation) is a very egregious oversight on the part of the Mint team.

I think the UP notes won't be modified unless you request it (e.g. email Clem or ask in the IRC).

I know Clem reads the forums, so it will be seen I'm sure.

Nevertheless, I will be pointing people to this thread from the comment stream on the Blog for UP7.

MikeC

[olderunner]

I installed 201303 fresh and had a disaster, Reinstalled 201303 and did the "sudo apt-get install debian-system-adjustments" thanks to this thread.
After that a flawless upgrade.
Thanks for the info...

[mhwelsh]

My experience with update 7 was horrendous. Two computers wiped out. Two new installs from 201303 successful wihout any additions.
From this I can only deduce that the additional software that I was using upset update7. Yes there are packages from KDE3.5 but they all came from Debian Repositories.

I feel that some consideration should be given to avoiding 1500package updates.

My suggestion is to change the style of the distribution.
Most users only use a small part of the comprehensive distributions that are supplied. The remainder is dead wood.
Some of the more popular programmes are free standing and are 'independent' of the distribution. (Firefox, Thunderbird, Mysql? and libreoffice to name a few.)
Some of us have to pay for broadband access or may even be still on modems. It does not take many 1500 package updates to put you into the red - the poor chap on the modem will probably not finish one update before the next one comes along.

My proposal is;

The basice distribution is all that is necessary for a working computer. Bundle 1. See Linux From Scratch.
The first choice is the Desktop. Bundle 2.
The second choice is the choice of 'independent' programmes. Now you have a basic computer that works for you. Bundle 3.
The last choice is, probably 500 of the 1500 packages, the odds and sods accompanied by a list describing what they do. Presently more of a bucketful than a Bundle 3.

Updates of 'independent' components can be sent at any time. Indeed it will help every one if they aree independent from other updates.

This is the second time I have suffered from an update failure from LinuxMint - I will not trust them again.

martin welsh

[danh]

I followed Monsta's and Mike C's notes to do my upgrade and managed to get a working system. My original system was based purely on the stock LMDE UP6 ISO (201303) with a couple of extra application packages which I'd been using for a few months.

I still had the same problem as Mike C whereby I lost everything on my screen except a background image during the package configuration phase whilst in upgrade manager. I did a CTRL-ALT-F1 to get a console, could see dpkg still running but probably waiting for me to answer a question which I couldn't see due to everything disappearing in cinnamon. I shutdown and then did a sudo dpkg --configure -a to run through all the config again as indicated by update manager and Mike C.

Thanks everyone for their comments, and to the Mint Team.

[biddy]

Is there any hope of recovering the system for someone who didn't read this thoroughly before excitedly updating their system to UP7?

I just get the spinning wheel where a log in should be. I can ctrl+alt+F1 to the cli and startx to get into fallback mode.

[Monsta]

Is there any hope of recovering the system for someone who didn't read this thoroughly before excitedly updating their system to UP7?

I just get the spinning wheel where a log in should be. I can ctrl+alt+F1 to the cli and startx to get into fallback mode.

If you can get into the root console via Ctrl-Alt-F1, a quick recover would be:

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apt-get -f install
apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade

It may require several iterations. In the end, apt-get should tell you that

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0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

and that would mean the system is fully updated.

If something still goes wrong, please create a separate thread about it so we can deal with the problem.

[Mr. Green]

Thanks for the tips Monsta. With these and the official documentation, all being well, it seems I've had a flawless upgrade to UP 7.

[kaizer]

Same here, downloaded the iso and upgraded to UP7 directly. Everything went perfectly.
Thank you a lot Monsta for the tip.

[Gmrpr7]

Thanks Monsta,
I was getting ready to drop LMDE after my first upgrade broke Cinnamon. I was used to getting a broken system in Debian Sid, but never expected this from Linux Mint. If it wasn't for helpful people like you, I'd probably be back on Sid.

[millpond]

Its my understanding that LMDE is now and forever Debian Testing.
Which just went from Wheezy to Jesse.

I learned this time to get the apt-get upgrade finished before going to dist-upgrade.

What I particularly dislike is that Debian does not offer a simple way to IGNORE packages after it cannot remove them.
Having to remove them physically in /var/lib/dpkg is very inelegant. It seems to have removed PINNED packages as well. But reinstalled those!

Gedit and KDE are working fine here from the starrt, though Xrandr cannot detect my old ATI card, but displays without problem.
Firefox will only run as root, and Iceape is broken by Akonadi.

Buglist seems broken but at remote server.

This upgrade updated 8000 packages here.

[nobodynoze]

I tried these steps but had a system with flashing (flickering?) blue on the screen. It was difficult to use the menu since the icons/text would disappear. The OS is not usable. I did have a crash before the upgrade finished but ran
sudo apt-get install -f and sudo dpkg --configure -a. It completed the upgrade but the screen problems remain.
Oh well, it was interesting trying LMDE again.

EDIT: Edit, edit.... hey, I had an idea that it's related to video drivers or that installing the video drivers for my card might help or it was worth a try before giving up. I have an old Nvidia card and I installed the driver that is supported. At first, I had messages about Cinnamon so there might still be an issue? Anyway, I then installed and ran nvidia-xconfig and now that flickering problem is fixed.

Very strange. I apologize for interrupting this unrelated issue to the thread. Can anyone who's an expert recognize what happened and what is the connection with the Cinnamon desktop env.?

[kurotsugi]

I'm not an expert but i have a theory about the problem. I guess the message is that cinnamon is running with 2D mode. it means there is a problem with the graphic driver and the system failed to run HW acceleration. if we're using propietary driver, the correct step for upgrading is. uninstall the driver-upgrade the system-reinstall the driver. if we directly upgrade the system sometimes it failed to compile the driver against the new kernel. CMIIW

[stanley82]

UP7, UP6 what's that? Anyway I've just updated and the first thing is with terminal and root terminal, I'm not able to type into it so that's no good. Gedit seems okay so I'm going to try this apt-get -f etc that you suggested. I must say that I'm having problems with glade gtk+-3.0 compatibility issues that I was hoping update would solve. I'll get back and update my results. I've got smart and back up the disk not just my data so as to be able to recover from these mess ups. Ian.