[Done] What have I got?

[rodgoslin]

I've been updating my collection of machines to Mageia 4. Most of them updated neatly and efficently with the update option. One, however, failed and had to be installed from scratch. On that one, instead of the familiar boot-up, I have an unfamiliar login screen leading to a totally strange screen. Basically it's the login splash screen with an action line at the top. This has "Activities" on the left, Date and Time in the centtre and a pair of symbols on the left. What is it? How did I get it? And how do I get rid of it and have back my totally familiar and TOTALLY satisfactory KDE layout? Oh, by the way, the login screen too is gone and replaced by a new, unfamiliar and no better a display than the old one.
For the moment, I'm going to scrub this update and re-install Mga 3, and retain my sanity.

Rod Goslin

[doktor5000]

Sorry, but you basically miss all of the details. Why did the upgrade fail? How and using what media did you install from scratch? Did you keep your /home or not?
If you don't provide any screenshot (using a camera or smartphone or whatever if not possible otherwise) how should we tell what you see on the login screen or on the desktop and why you see that, if we don't know what you installed how exactly?

[rodgoslin]

I didn't see the point in indicating why the upgrade failed, because the re-installation was from scratch, and the OS partition would have been reformatted. The machine just indicated that it had failed to install a large number of packages. After which it would not boot into anything recognisable as a Mageia setup.
To the final instal, around which my query revolves. I downloaded the DVD 32 bit classical release iso, burned this to a DVD and used this to install from. So far as I am aware the instal followed a well trodden path, but the destination was not the one I was expecting. I would have thought that from my description of the login screen and the post login screen would have sufficed. I was expecting a KDE presentation, or at least an opportunity to select the presentation I required (KDE), but there appeared to be no such options. All that was offered on the login screen was my own login, or someone else and nothing more. The password option came up on a following screen. After this, the strange screen that I described. All I am asking is "what is this". For the moment, Mageia 3 is updating, and I have no wish to re-install Mageia 4 if this is what I get. If this is some strange other presentation I need to know how to avoid it.

Rod Goslin

[martinw]

From your description, you may have got the GNOME desktop, but as doktor5000 says, without a picture, it's hard for us to tell. Maybe you accidentally clicked on GNOME instead of KDE when doing the install.

[jkerr82508]

The only explanation that I can think of is that you have inadvertently downloaded and installed from the 1GB dualarch DVD and not the 3.7GB full DVD.

http://www.mageia.org/en/downloads/

Jim

[rodgoslin]

Thanks, martinw. This seems the likeliest case, but the desktop is not like any GNOME dispaly that I've known. Mind, that was a long time ago. I'm not a GNOME fan, particularly. The install was "customise". GNOOME does have some nice stuff, And individual package selection. It does take time, but at least I get modt of what I want and not the default apps.
To jkerr82508. The download, as I indicated, was the DVD Classical Release for 32 bit systems and not the 1GB download.
The annoying part of it was that I was unable to find an option for other desktops. The KDE login, at least gives me the opportunity (seldom used) to open up another dispaly

Rod Goslin

[doktor5000]

Can you please try to take a screenshot from the login manager or the desktop?

[rodgoslin]

From my initial post, you will see that I have scrubbed (deleted) this build and re-installed Mga 3. Surely my description should suffice. There was little enough on the screen to identify anyway. An empty dark screen with an action bar across the top the date and time in the centre of that. To the left the word 'Activities' and to the right two symbols. One of which indicated sound and the other could have indicated anything orr nothing. If I knew what I had, perhaps I could deduce where I went wrong, or perhaps discover how to get back to a normal screen. Since all my other updates were form existing KDE setups, for all I know, this was the new and possibly only post login screen on Mga 4, if bult from scratch.

G R Goslin

[martinw]

If it looked like this, it was probably GNOME 3.

gnome-desktop.png (74.35 KiB) Viewed 1293 times

Yes, it's not much like older versions of GNOME. Some people seem to like it, though

I suspect what happened is that one of the individual packages you selected had a dependency on GNOME, which pulled in the GNOME desktop and GDM (the GNOME login manager). It's not very obvious, but on the login screen there is a small icon that looks like a cogwheel (next to the "login" button). If you click on that, it gives you the option to select which DE you want to use. Provided you have installed KDE, it should be there as an option. You can then change which login manager you use in the Mageia Control Centre.

[rodgoslin]

Thanks martinw. That was it. I'll re-install mga 4 over the recently re-installed Mga 3, over the scrambled Mga 4 update, and all will be well. Some people like (!!!) that GNOME screen? Are they countable on two hands?

[doktor5000]

It's not very obvious, but on the login screen there is a small icon that looks like a cogwheel (next to the "login" button). If you click on that, it gives you the option to select which DE you want to use. Provided you have installed KDE, it should be there as an option.

Check e.g. https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Display_Mana ... _Selection and feel free to improve that.

[martinw]

Check e.g. https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Display_Mana ... _Selection and feel free to improve that.

Done.