Update from v1 to v2 bricked my computer

[uluru]

I'm a first time mageia user, yesterday I received the notification of the Mageia 2 release, so I read a little bit on the mageia wiki about it and decide to start the upgrade.
Before started the upgrade i explicitly ran the package update check (gui tool) to double check that the system was updated.

The update was smooth, at the end a window appeared confiming that the update process was completed and I needed to reboot to have it.

I clicked on the reboot button in that window, but since then I never saw a desktop again.

Mageia 2 doesn't start even in safe mode. From the safe mode I noticed it may be related to the nvidia drivers not compiling, as this message appears:

nvidia-current (275.09.07-0.1.mga1.nonfree): Installing module........... Build failed. Installation skipped.

[...]

Started rescue Shell [ OK ]
Failed to issue method call: Transaction is destructive
Started single.service [ OK ]

and then the system hangs

if starting Mageia normally (not in safe mode) the boot stops at the fourth bubble (talking about the bubbles above the coconut in the mageia logo that appear as the boot goes on) at the message

Started Console Manager

I tried to:
[*]put xdriver=free as kernel boot params on both normal and safe mode options
[*]boot with an old mga1 kernel

but sadly nothing worked.

My guess is that the nvidia drivers fell behind in the upgrade process as mageia 2 is using a mga1 rpm.

The current os was a mandriva 2010.1 upgraded to mageia 1 using the inline gui option, and now upgraded to mageia2.

thank you in advance for the help

[uluru]

It looks like I didn't install the kernel-firmware-nonfree package and the most current driver for my video card:

Afer the update and BEFORE rebooting I used RPMDrake to install the package kernel-firmware-nonfree and the current driver for my nvidia card. I suspect that if you install the kernel-firmware-nonfree package and the most current driver for your card you'll be all set. If I'm wrong hopefully someone will chime in with better advice...

Before starting the upgrade I did read the full errata for mageia 2 but the installation of the kernel-firmware-nonfree package is reccomended if some hardware is not working, I had all my hardware working on mageia 1.

Now my problem is how to get to a terminal console so that I can install the packages required.

thank you

[isadora]

You can find a console in Mageia Control Centre for example.
See System->Administration Tools.

[uluru]

You can find a console in Mageia Control Centre for example.
See System->Administration Tools.

Thank you, but I can't that way. Mageia 2 crashes during boot so I can't get to X and Gnome.

I was wondering if I could install the kernel-nonfree package on the hard disk booting from a mageia2 live dvd, as if I would do it if I could boot from the hard disk.

[djennings]

Well you could try using the 'rescue' mode available on the DVD or CDs

I just had a play with it in a Virtual box and it seems to have enough to do what you need.

On booting in rescue mode from the rescue menu you can mount your partitions on /mnt
You can then enter console mode where the command rpm is available so you can upgrade/install a package. Use the --root option in rpm to tell it to perform the operation in the file system found under /mnt.
If the required packages are not already on your file system you will need to put them on a usb flash and then mount it.

So the commands you need might be something like

Code: Select all

mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /mnt/mnt
rpm --root /mnt -ivf /mnt/mnt/some_rpm.rpm

Or of course you could do the same thing from a live CD (probably easier!)
Mount the partitions somewhere and then use rpm --root

BTW: I just checked and urpmi has a --root option too so you could use it to pull in all required dependencies

Good luck

[dude67]

I have the exact same problem... What went wrong with the upgrade; why did the system not install the required kernel modules (or whatever is the main problem)? I'm doing a full installation from Free DVD (64bit) and I'm trying to figure out if I can choose the correct modules during the installation.

[doktor5000]

As both of you don't have explicitely told so, i assume both of you are using nvidia graphis cards?

[dude67]

Yep, sorry. I was just very, very frustrated. It's one of the worst things to experience when you update your system and cannot get into your system (the display is just as important as the keyboard).

I have NVidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2G. I have chosen the driver for NVidia "GeForce 400 series and later". That choice was automatically chosen during the installation.

I have now tried to fight this problem for several hours, but now I think I solved it. I needed to reinstall the system (once again) and I choose "Xorg vesa" driver. That gave me access to the system with display. Now I was able to choose nonfree media sources and get the missing NVidia drivers.

It is quite dissapointing to see this happen again. I've seen this problem before with Mandriva and the same problem was passed on to Mageia. If this happens to a new user, it will most definitely be a showstopper and this new user will be an ex-Mageia-user.

And I'm also very dissappointed to see that the online upgrade from Mag1 is not working. At my home, I have now a success rate of 0 out of 2 upgrades. I will wait before upgrading my wife's netbook.

[uluru]

As both of you don't have explicitely told so, i assume both of you are using nvidia graphis cards?

Yes I do.
I decided to apply the upgrade immediately as I needed skype for a very important distant business meeting and skype was integrated with mageia 2.
As I said I read the release notes and the errata to make sure I was eligible.
Moreover, the beta period was long and I have a strong trust in mageia devs as many were from mandriva and mandriva upgrades were not hard, plus the mandriva to mageia upgrade worked smotlhy so I had no reason to doubt about their work.


I just found out what went wrong HERE:

Be careful, upgrading online, you have to add again yourself the Nonfree media if you use them.
So check that your needed packages (radeon, fglrx, etc) are installed before the reboot.

(I'm curious to know whether it was added to the page after the release)

This makes me shocked for the following reasons:
1. I don't know why the upgrade removed repos (non free ones) that already were configured by the user. Seriously, why? Copyright issues? Gnu zealotism (debian-style)?
it's not acceptable to tell the user to reboot and not[\b] show a warning about the risk of using nonfree drivers in the "upgrade complete" process.
The upgrade is not complete but the message states it.
2. Given that the nonfree repos are deleted, the upgrade should at least configure itself to work with the "free" xorg drivers, clearly it didn't as I can't boot with xdriver=free.
3. the above phrase does not exempt you developers from the commitment to your users. I can't sell a car and put on the service manual that the tires are inflated at a very low pressure, you should inflate them asap or you may crash the car.
3bis. The wiki page itself is DECEPTIVE, is written that proprietary drivers [b]don't work out of the box in the upgrade but you list proprietary drivers issues right below. That led me to not pay much attention to what I quoted (assuming it was there).

I know, I know, mageia is free and you recommend to do a backup before upgrading. I'm very nervous about that right now, please ignore that part and only consider the constructive part of my post so that it'll never happen in future.

This will be also a lesson on me to never upgrade that way but wait some time as I already played as guinea pig .



Anyway, I downloaded the dvd iso and checked its md5, tomorrow I'll try to apply djennings advice.


thank you.

[doktor5000]

FWIW, there was no need to upgrade to Mageia 2 just for Skype: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=1121
A default installation/update from the DVD will always only use free repositories, as we promote free software. All this is documented in the errata, together with workarounds.

[uluru]

Well you could try using the 'rescue' mode available on the DVD or CDs

I just had a play with it in a Virtual box and it seems to have enough to do what you need.

On booting in rescue mode from the rescue menu you can mount your partitions on /mnt
You can then enter console mode where the command rpm is available so you can upgrade/install a package. Use the --root option in rpm to tell it to perform the operation in the file system found under /mnt.
If the required packages are not already on your file system you will need to put them on a usb flash and then mount it.

So the commands you need might be something like

Code: Select all

mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /mnt/mnt
rpm --root /mnt -ivf /mnt/mnt/some_rpm.rpm

Or of course you could do the same thing from a live CD (probably easier!)
Mount the partitions somewhere and then use rpm --root

BTW: I just checked and urpmi has a --root option too so you could use it to pull in all required dependencies

Good luck

djennings, I burned the DVD iso and selected the rescue mode.
I then first selected "mount partitions" and then "the console mode". All the partition is mounted on /mnt/mnt as you expected.

My strategy is the following: I'm trying to add the nonfree repo and then run an upgrade so that I download also the updated vido drivers
When running urpmi.addmedia it fails at line 26 saying it can't find the urpm.pm command.

Alternatively I might try to install the free video drivers, reboot and see if I can get to GUI so to reinstall nonfree repos and to reinstall video drivers with the mouse.

What strategy you suggest?


@doktor5000

A default installation/update from the DVD will always only use free repositories, as we promote free software. All this is documented in the errata, together with workarounds.

thank you for replying, I don't remember the gui-only update from mandriva to mageia1 (when mageia 1 was released) deleted the existing nonfree repos.
anyway, that's how mageia wanted to be. I don't agree with that and I believe this drives more users away from linux, but is a legitimate choice.
Personally I would like to see a paid version like mandriva did so i would both support economically a system I like and get support.

thank you

[doktor5000]

My strategy is the following: I'm trying to add the nonfree repo and then run an upgrade so that I download also the updated vido drivers
When running urpmi.addmedia it fails at line 26 saying it can't find the urpm.pm command.

Alternatively I might try to install the free video drivers, reboot and see if I can get to GUI so to reinstall nonfree repos and to reinstall video drivers with the mouse.

What strategy you suggest?

First try to do the following as root:

Code: Select all

urpmi urpmi

If that doesn't help, post your urpmi.addmedia command used and the output here. Seems you are missing some files for urpmi, as this belongs to the urpmi package:

Code: Select all

[doktor5000@Mageia1 ~]$ rpm -qf /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.12.3/urpm.pm
urpmi-6.40.3-1.mga1


[uluru]

I simply ran urpmi.addmedia (with no arguments, to see which were required) from the standard console of the recovery mode. I downloaded the Mageia-2-i586-DVD.iso and the md5 checksum matched. When burning the iso the post-burn check for errors was fine, no errors between the iso and the dvd were reported.
I believe this situation can be reproduced, maybe happens because the default console user is not root (if so, what is the root password?)

Once back home I'll try to run the commands you mentioned and paste the output.

thank you

[dude67]

@ uluru: did you try the xorg vesa driver from cli? I booted as far as it got me (there was a problem with the display -text), then switch to another session (Ctrl-Alt-F2). There I could log in as root and do drakconf. Then I chose the vega driver. After that I was able to get KDE running again (I don't remember if I rebooted at that point).

[djennings]

Alternatively I might try to install the free video drivers, reboot and see if I can get to GUI so to reinstall nonfree repos and to reinstall video drivers with the mouse.
What strategy you suggest?

I think the easiest is to boot from the Live CD and use

Code: Select all

urpmi.addmedia --urpmi-root <pathto partitions>
urpmi --urpmi-root <pathto partitions>

The urpmi.addmedia --urpmi-root root will configure the urpmi configuration on your Mageia installation while urpmi --urpmi-root will install packages into the installed Mageia.
See 'man urpmi'

Personally I would like to see a paid version like mandriva did so i would both support economically a system I like and get support.

Knowing how many support requests went unanswered in Mandriva Expert, and how many of those that were answered were answered by community members I am always surprised when people say they bought the PowerPack for the support rather than simply a means to donate to the distro.
If you would like to make a donation to Mageia go here http://www.mageia.org/en/donate/ It will not make your support any better, but at least you will know it is not going towards executive wages

[uluru]

@ uluru: did you try the xorg vesa driver from cli? I booted as far as it got me (there was a problem with the display -text), then switch to another session (Ctrl-Alt-F2). There I could log in as root and do drakconf. Then I chose the vega driver. After that I was able to get KDE running again (I don't remember if I rebooted at that point).

I use gnome, but I'll definitely try that tonight once I'll be back home

Personally I would like to see a paid version like mandriva did so i would both support economically a system I like and get support.

Knowing how many support requests went unanswered in Mandriva Expert, and how many of those that were answered were answered by community members I am always surprised when people say they bought the PowerPack for the support rather than simply a means to donate to the distro.
If you would like to make a donation to Mageia go here http://www.mageia.org/en/donate/ It will not make your support any better, but at least you will know it is not going towards executive wages

I didn't know the pro support was not high-level, thank you for the hint.

[uluru]

I'm having trouble posting the exact error message as I can't copy and paste from console, but is the following:

Code: Select all

[root@rescue /] urpmi urpmi
Can't locate urpm.pm in @INC (@INC contains: ....lot of paths.....)
BEGIN failed -- compilation aborted at /mnt/usr/sbin/urpmi line 26.

I noticed that there's no folder
/usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.12.3
but the /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl folders:
5.12.2
5.14.0
5.14.1
5.14.2

Am I doing something wrong or is the (mageia2) rescue dvd having a bug?

thank you

[doktor5000]

Please show the output of

Code: Select all

rpm -q urpmi

[uluru]

Please show the output of

Code: Select all

rpm -q urpmi

here it is:

Code: Select all

package urpmi is not installed

I want to stress that I'm using the rescue cd and not the live cd:

[...] I downloaded the Mageia-2-i586-DVD.iso and the md5 checksum matched. When burning the iso the post-burn check for errors was fine, no errors between the iso and the dvd were reported.

1. Can you reproduce the behavior I 'm experiencing with the same iso?

2. Should I download the live cd and try a rescue from that? The wiki suggest against using livecd for rescue.


Thank you

[doktor5000]

1. Can you reproduce the behavior I 'm experiencing with the same iso?

2. Should I download the live cd and try a rescue from that? The wiki suggest against using livecd for rescue.

Which behavior do you mean exactly? Also you can't use urpmi directly when booting from the DVD, as there is no writeable media available to that installation, and no RPM database. Either you tell urpmi to install some package via chroot, as proposed earlier by djennings, or you chroot to your installed system manually and install missing packages via rpm.

But as you didn't mention this, can you just start the installer from the DVD and see if it finds your current installation, and then just continue the upgrade from there?
Should look something like this: http://docteam.mageia.nl/installer/cont ... Class.html


Nevertheless, you are totally correct, when doing an inline upgrade the applet should readd all the media from the new release which were enabled before the upgrade, so that if the user had installed nonfree or tainted packages, the system won't be broken afterwards as now with the nvidia/ati drivers and such. Should definitely be noted somewhere so this won't happen again. Would you please add this to https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Mageia_Ideas_Page ?

[uluru]

But as you didn't mention this, can you just start the installer from the DVD and see if it finds your current installation, and then just continue the upgrade from there?
Should look something like this: http://docteam.mageia.nl/installer/cont ... Class.html

I never thought about using the dvd, I just did it.
I used the DVD to perform an upgrade. I configured also an http source, it installed 400+ packages.
At the end I got this error:

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INTERNAL ERROR: no devices named HASH (0xd600448)
MDK::Common::Various::internal_error() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/Xconfig/various.pm:15
Xconfig:various::to_string() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/install/steps_interactive.pm:945
install::steps::interactive::__ANON__() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/install/steps_gtk.pm:716
install:steps_gtk::__ANON__() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/install/steps_gtk.pm:722
install::steps_gtk::summary_prompt() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/install/steps_interactive.pm:1014
install::steps_interactive::summary() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/install/install2.pm:82
install::install2::installStepsCall() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/installinstall2.pm:228
install::install2::summary() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/installinstall2.pm:623
(eval)() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/install/install2.pm:622
install::install2::main() called from /usr/bin/runinstall2:30


In the past days I also tried the trick described in the other topic, using CTRL+ALT+F2 and run xfdrake. I set to use free drivers but the installation crashed.

I'm stuck now.


I'll try downloading the live cd and try to use urpmi on the harddisk partition.
What is the command line sequence to:
- add all the repositories deleted? (I need the url)
- update nvidia drivers (xfdrake? command line?) or install the mga2 free drivers
- something else I'm missing?

thank you

[uluru]

it looks like the DVD installed some mga3 packages and definitely screwed up my packages
I tried manually to urpmi galore but nothing, maga2 doesn't boot.

I have to reinstall mageia.. given that I have a 64 bit system and now there is a x64 version (mandriva was 32 bit only) can I install the x86_64 version keeping my /home partition? Or will the /usr/sbin (or other executables) broken?
Among others I need to keep firefox, thunderbird, opera, miro profiles folders and my multimedia settings.


By the way, I don't find the partition software (something like gparted) in mageia 2 livecd. How can I double check what my /home partition is?
this is very important as I can't lose data.

thank you

[doktor5000]

Please, if you are given some instruction which are meant to help you, you also need to follow these, and not do something on your own, which makes it harder to help.
Why did you add another repository when you were only meant to use the DVD to upgrade? Also you mix a lot of questions in your posts, this makes it harder to help in a structured way.

As you seem to want to try a reinstall and keep your /home partition (which by the way sounds like the most sane way to go, as the current state of your installation is totally unclear) i'll skip the instructions you've asked for in your previous post.

For the other open points: Mandriva wasn't 32bit only, Mandriva was actually one ofthe first distros who had a working solution for two architectures in parallel, and it worked well, and it still does. You should install an x86_64 version, format the /partition but keep your /home, but setup a new user, and then copy all your settings there after the installation.

gparted isn't contained, as we have diskdrake, and in general you should only use one partitioning tool, mixing those up isn't a good idea, experience tells.
You can have a look either in the /etc/fstab of the installed Mageia via failsafe boot or by using a live cd (which by the way can't be used to upgrade, we have told this before and this was also communicated via forums post and mails, and a blog post IIRC)

[uluru]

first of all sorry for the late reply, I managed to backup my home, rename it and intall mageia x86_64.

Please, if you are given some instruction which are meant to help you, you also need to follow these, and not do something on your own, which makes it harder to help.
Why did you add another repository when you were only meant to use the DVD to upgrade? Also you mix a lot of questions in your posts, this makes it harder to help in a structured way.

to get an updated system (i.e. with bugfixes) straight away. How could I imagine the internet process used mga3 repos?

As you seem to want to try a reinstall and keep your /home partition (which by the way sounds like the most sane way to go, as the current state of your installation is totally unclear) i'll skip the instructions you've asked for in your previous post.

For the other open points: Mandriva wasn't 32bit only, Mandriva was actually one ofthe first distros who had a working solution for two architectures in parallel, and it worked well, and it still does. You should install an x86_64 version, format the /partition but keep your /home, but setup a new user, and then copy all your settings there after the installation.

gparted isn't contained, as we have diskdrake, and in general you should only use one partitioning tool, mixing those up isn't a good idea, experience tells.
You can have a look either in the /etc/fstab of the installed Mageia via failsafe boot or by using a live cd (which by the way can't be used to upgrade, we have told this before and this was also communicated via forums post and mails, and a blog post IIRC)

now I can't move files back because my old uid was 10001 and now I have 500. How can I mass chmod the files? I guess I should use find and chmod

Code: Select all

cd /home/myuser_old
find . -uid  10001 -exec cgmod {}


thank you

[sglafata]

You were close at the beginning... rather than typing 'xdriver=free' for the kernel parameter, you should have done 'xdriver=nouveau' as stated in the Errata link you provided for Nvidia drivers. Once up, you could have added the nonfree repositories and upgraded your drivers.