[SOLVED] Squares instead of words

[RoyD]

Hi All, Just upgrade from Mageia 3 to 4. It is working well except for some apps I cannot read as the the words are just squares. Like MCC. I can read the parts of the menu but say the body all the text are just squares. I

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[root@localhost roy]# urpmi --auto-update
unable to access medium "Core Release".
unable to access medium "Nonfree Release".
medium "Core Release2" is up-to-date
medium "Core Updates" is up-to-date
medium "Nonfree Release2" is up-to-date
medium "Nonfree Updates" is up-to-date
medium "Tainted Release" is up-to-date
medium "Tainted Updates" is up-to-date
medium "Core Release3" is up-to-date
medium "Core Updates2" is up-to-date
medium "Nonfree Release3" is up-to-date
medium "Nonfree Updates2" is up-to-date
medium "Tainted Release2" is up-to-date
medium "Tainted Updates2" is up-to-date
medium "Core Release4" is up-to-date
medium "Core Updates3" is up-to-date
medium "Nonfree Release4" is up-to-date
medium "Nonfree Updates3" is up-to-date
medium "Tainted Release3" is up-to-date
medium "Tainted Updates3" is up-to-date
Packages are up to date


Any ideas? Thanks. Running KDE

[yankee495]

I think you need to go to MCC> Configure Media Sources and enable "Core Release" AND "Nonfree Release"

Then try urpmi --auto-update again. I read that if you don't enable other media when ask, it may not enable the Core and Non-free.

[RoyD]

I would enable the core release etc if I could read the words - this is where the squares are. Is there a command line solution?

[doktor5000]

Sure, please read the Errata:
https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Mageia_4_Rel ... m_Mageia_3

[yankee495]

OK, scratch this...listen to Dok, I haven't done this since way back when I had video driver problems.

[yankee495]

I need to get a book...a real book. I like relaxing and reading them...can learn a lot.

I don't care what they say, age affects your memory. I used to be able to look at something and type the whole thing.

[doktor5000]

I could be wrong, I'm not a konsole guru, but I'm pretty sure it is right.

Not quite. You also have to update the repos after enabling them. And you had doubled the name.

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urpmi.update --no-ignore 'Core Release'
urpmi.update --no-ignore 'Nonfree Updates'
urpmi.update -a

Only works if the repos are exactly named like that. You can also use wildcards FWIW.

This is what I use directly after installation:

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sudo urpmi.removemedia -a
sudo urpmi.addmedia --distrib --wget 'ftp://ftp-stud.hs-esslingen.de/pub/Mirrors/Mageia/distrib/$VERSION/$ARCH'
sudo urpmi.update --no-ignore "Tainted Release" && sudo urpmi.update --no-ignore "Tainted Updates" && sudo urpmi.update --no-ignore "Nonfree Release" && sudo urpmi.update --no-ignore "Nonfree Updates" && sudo urpmi.update -a

[RoyD]

When I run the second command I get this

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[root@localhost roy]# urpmi.removemedia -a
nothing to remove (use urpmi.addmedia to add a media)
[root@localhost roy]# urpmi.addmedia --distrib --wget 'ftp://ftp-stud.hs-esslingen.de/pub/Mirrors/Mageia/distrib/$VERSION/i586'
...retrieving failed: wget failed: exited with 8

unable to access the distribution medium (no media.cfg file found)
unable to add medium
               


[yankee495]

He also needed Nonfree Release enabled, so like this?

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urpmi.update --no-ignore 'Core Release'
urpmi.update --no-ignore 'Nonfree Release'
urpmi.update -a

[RoyD]

OK it is now up to date but still the squares

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[root@localhost roy]# urpmi --auto-update
medium "Core Release" is up-to-date
medium "Core Updates" is up-to-date
medium "Nonfree Release" is up-to-date
medium "Nonfree Updates" is up-to-date
medium "Tainted Release" is up-to-date
medium "Tainted Updates" is up-to-date
Packages are up to date
[root@localhost roy]#


[doktor5000]

Can you please take a screenshot of MCC?

[RoyD]

squares2.jpeg (51.72 KiB) Viewed 2301 times

squares.jpeg (67.49 KiB) Viewed 2302 times

here a picture of two screens

[doktor5000]

Can you create a new user and login as that to see if the issue persists? Both commands need to be run as root.

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useradd -m testuser
passwd testuser

[RoyD]

created testuser and the squares still persist under testuser

Is this a font or language problem?

[eor2004]

Maybe your problem is a language for which your computer isn't setup to handle, maybe you're missing some language packages or support, some time ago when I was using other linux distro, some guy had the same problem as you, the problem was he changed the language but he did not have the language support on his computer, so instead of words he got strange characters like the squares you're talking about!

So yes, maybe you have to change your fonts or install the language pack of your preference!

[RoyD]

If I could read the squares I could try a different language pack / font as MCC has this square problem. Its funny it only some system apps are playing up, eg MCC, Calculator, pulse audio

I would need to find out how to do this this by cli

I tried this but

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[root@localhost roy]# localedrake
Too late to run INIT block at /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.18.1/i386-linux-thread-multi/Glib/Object/Introspection.pm line 258.
Subroutine Gtk3::main redefined at /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.18.1/Gtk3.pm line 296.

(localedrake:24744): Pango-CRITICAL **: No modules found:
No builtin or dynamically loaded modules were found.
PangoFc will not work correctly.
This probably means there was an error in the creation of:
  '/etc/pango/i386/pango.modules'
You should create this file by running:
  pango-querymodules > '/etc/pango/i386/pango.modules'

(localedrake:24744): Pango-WARNING **: failed to choose a font, expect ugly output. engine-type='PangoRenderFc', script='latin'

(localedrake:24744): Pango-WARNING **: failed to choose a font, expect ugly output. engine-type='PangoRenderFc', script='common'

[root@localhost roy]# pango-querymodules > '/etc/pango/i386/pango.modules'
bash: pango-querymodules: command not found

[root@localhost roy]# '/etc/pango/i386/pango.modules'
bash: /etc/pango/i386/pango.modules: Permission denied
[root@localhost roy]#


I am not sure if I am running the command correctly

[yankee495]

The language pack will be named kde-l10n-xx where xx is like kde-l10n-en_GB - British English support for KDE​ 

and

kde-l10n-en_US - American English support for KDE​ 

We don't know what language you want.

[RoyD]

I installed the languages. I use British english but this did not fix it. I think it is tied up with the pango and ugly fonts.

Maybe it is not Pango. I tried another upgrade and with localedrake does go to a little cli graphical window where i can select the language but when I finsh it comes back no protocol specified

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[root@localhost roy]# localedrake
No protocol specified


I wish I could force a new upgrade or find the solution

[yankee495]

Ok, I don't know....standard questions would be about how you upgraded, from the net, DVD, did you check the MD5 etc...

I've seen a lot of problems from a bad DVD burn. It is a odd one and bad burns are known to cause very strange problems.

Unless someone knows...I'm lost.

[eor2004]

I installed the languages. I use British english but this did not fix it. I think it is tied up with the pango and ugly fonts.

Maybe it is not Pango. I tried another upgrade and with localedrake does go to a little cli graphical window where i can select the language but when I finsh it comes back no protocol specified

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[root@localhost roy]# localedrake
No protocol specified


I wish I could force a new upgrade or find the solution

You're not wrong, maybe there's a problem with pango after all, you can use the command "urpmq --fuzzy pango" to see how many pango packages are available for you for installation, now that we ruled out if it was a problem with language pack and was not, lets see if installing some pango packages help you out, I call this "Trial and Error" you have to try every possible option or solution to see if it works!

These are the pango libraries that I have installed on my system (Mageia 64-bit), if you're using Mageia 32-bit then install the same packages for 32-bit, try installing them to see if it helps:

lib64cogl-pango0
lib64pango-gir1.0
lib64pango1.0-devel
lib64pango1.0_0
lib64pango1.0_0-modules
lib64pangomm2.4_1
lib64pangox1.0_0
pango
pango-doc
perl-pango



Pango: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pango

[RoyD]

My system says they are all installed plus I have a heap more.

[Ken-Bergen]

What does

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locale

say?

[isadora]

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[root@localhost roy]# locale
LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_CTYPE=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_NUMERIC=en_US.UTF-8
LC_TIME=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_COLLATE=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_MONETARY=en_US.UTF-8
LC_MESSAGES=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_PAPER=en_US.UTF-8
LC_NAME=en_US.UTF-8
LC_ADDRESS=en_US.UTF-8
LC_TELEPHONE=en_US.UTF-8
LC_MEASUREMENT=en_US.UTF-8
LC_IDENTIFICATION=en_US.UTF-8
LC_ALL=

[yankee495]

So I guess we are back to how did you upgrade? DVD, net? Did you check Md5?

[RoyD]

I upgraded from a DVD and checked the MD5 which was correct, I also read https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Mageia_4_Rel ... m_Mageia_3 and did the procedure before starting. Yes I have a backup. Actually I am not the only one having this same problem user viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7003 has the same close problem. I believe it is pango that is the problem. I am not verse enough to resolve pango on my own. In the end If I need to start from a new install its not really a big problem. I will give it a couple of more days then prepare for a full install. Thanks for all the help from everyone, I really do appreciate it. Thanks Roy