Bone-head newbie mistake: Need to recover Network Manager et al PLEASE HELP

Okay, so I committed several major computing faux-pas, and I’ve been justifiably punished by the electron-gods; and, now I’m looking for a path to atonement…

How it happened…
Foolishly, after freshly installing my new 11.3 distro, and having it work like a dream for a few weeks, I did a bad bad thing (several actually):

I wanted to try out a NDS-emulator, and downloaded the source-code and tried to install it using a combination of Yast (which I am a complete neophyte with) and the command-line. It seemed that I didn’t even have a c-compiler or glib installed; so, I went through a long sordid process of typing ./configure and make and scanning the resultant log for failures and then installing those missing packages using Yast, before my / partition was getting over-full from all the new installations (it is only 4.9 GiB and is now 4.7 GiB used) and even after installing the gtk and other extension RPMs I wasn’t able to get the NDS-emulator package to compile… I finally abandoned the project in a huff, and tried to un-install all the packages I had added, using Yast; but, the dependencies were quite complicated, and I was hot-headedly clicking the default options… Not only was the disk-space not cleared on my / partition; but, when next I booted the system, I had NO NETWORK ACCESS and my Firefox browser was uninstalled… O.O Eventually, I figured out that the Network Manager had been uninstalled as well; but, I was unable to re-install them because Yast insists on downloading the latest RPMs from the mother-site, and gives no option to use the installation DVD. I figured out a work-around of that feature, opening the DVD manually, and going into the SUSE directory where all the RPMs are stored and clicking on them, and ignoring the download failure notices… I managed to get Network Manager nominally installed along with Firefox again; but, service is still wonky… Now I’ve been noticing frequent Plasma Desktop crashes, and intermittant network failure, too… I mustn’t have installed all the required RPMs for Network manager or the C compiler or something…?

  • No, I didn’t take a root back-up or any backups before this whole mess erupted
  • I’ve worked with Linux systems before, but never SuSE, and never with an X-windows system
  • I didn’t lose any DATA in the process—thankfully—but it is all backed up now on external media now, anyway.
  • The problem principally appears to be isolated to the OS files, and broken dependencies—which I am unfamiliar with tracking manually or otherwise…

Queries…

  • Where are the RPMs that Yast downloads automatically, stored?
  • Is it feasible to reinstall my OS on top of my existing installation to correct these problems?
  • What risks would reinstalling have on the system?
  • Are there any other ways of fixing my problems?
  • Is there a log anywhere of the actions Yast performs: so that I could identify the packages that were altered or destroyed so that I could selectively reinstall only those packages?
  • Any other suggestions? I’d like to preserve my current installation if possible, since it took me weeks to get the sound-system and multi-media web-content to work, etc.

welcome to our little corner of the world…

TheGOguy wrote:
>
> I wanted to try out a NDS-emulator,

imho, Linux is not the best game system…i think MS-Win is a game
system from the ground up…best virus games around…

> It seemed that I didn’t even have a
> c-compiler or glib installed; so, I went through a long sordid process
> of typing ./configure and make and scanning the resultant log for
> failures and then installing those missing packages using Yast

you might consider that these problems have probably been encountered
before…and, asked about before…here…and, a trip to a good search
engine would have told you you could have installed all the stuff
needed to compile simply by opening YaST, go Software Management, spin
the filter from “Search” to “Patterns” and scrolling down to the
“Development” section and selecting to install Base Development and C/C++

that info must be in 50 or more different posts in these fora, not to
mention the actual documentation provided…

> before
> my / partition was getting over-full from all the new installations (it
> is only 4.9 GiB and is now 4.7 GiB used)

well, that is sure not very much…are you sure you really want to
try to run a full up system in so little?

> but, I was unable
> to re-install them because Yast insists on downloading the latest RPMs
> from the mother-site, and gives no option to use the installation DVD.

nope, you can go YaST > Software Repositories and disable all repos
other than the DVD and then get only that.

however, the DVD does not have all the software that is available
online…AND, it has NONE of the patches, fixes, updates etc that came
out since your disk master was made…

things move VERY quickly here…this is not one SP every two year
operating system…

> I
> figured out a work-around of that feature, opening the DVD manually, and
> going into the SUSE directory where all the RPMs are stored and clicking
> on them, and ignoring the download failure notices…

ignoring failures is a good way to ensure you have plenty.

> - The problem principally appears to be isolated to the OS files, and
> broken dependencies—which I am unfamiliar with tracking manually or
> otherwise…

seems like doing it all manually could take forever and never be
completely successful

> QUERIES…
>
> - Where are the RPMs that Yast downloads automatically, stored?

unless you tell YaST to keep them, it does not (sorry, i don’t
remember where to set that–but, with the small space you have
allocated you can’t possibly afford to keep them local)

> - Is it feasible to reinstall my OS on top of my existing
> installation to correct these problems?

you can try…from what i read above i think i’d read some about how
to operate YaST correctly…and, i could also highly recommend you
read all the good info laid out for you in the New User How To/FAQ,
http://forums.opensuse.org/english/information-new-users/new-user-how-faq-read-only/

ok, i read you have worked with Linux before, but not with openSUSE
nor X, so even if you have 40 years as a *nix admin i just bet you
learn stuff that will save you lots of time.

and, then do a complete format and install…

anyway, that is probably a LOT quicker…

> - What risks would reinstalling have on the system?

that you have a bunch of sand, mud and weed seeds lying around that
will remain and forever pop up and muck up the garden…

> - Are there any other ways of fixing my problems?

you could try some magic or voodoo but, i guess reading the manual and
online help before messing up the system would be more effective than
wandering around trying to solve all the problems you have now…i
mean, do you actually KNOW all the problems?

> - Is there a log anywhere of the actions Yast performs: so that I
> could identify the packages that were altered or destroyed so that I
> could selectively reinstall only those packages?

sure, but i thought you said you had non-X experience? all logs are
still in /var in there you will find both YaST and zypper logs…and,
of course man rpm will point you to the rpm data base which should
also contain all the rpms you installed behind YaST’s back…

> - Any other suggestions? I’d like to preserve my current installation
> if possible, since it took me weeks to get the sound-system and
> multi-media web-content to work, etc.

most likely the sound system and multi-media will ‘just work’ if you
follow the advice given in the already mentioned new guy
stuff…which will point you to the ‘stickies’ in the multimedia forum…

i see this is your first help request (after “weeks to get the sound
to work”) which is ok if you prefer to try until fail and then recover
and try again you will LOVE here…on the other hand if you want to
read and follow the path already laid out, you may get bored with how
really easy and stable it can be…

again, welcome…


DenverD
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD [posted via NNTP w/openSUSE 10.3]

Thanks for all the excellent candid information DenverD! :slight_smile:
The attitude (after I admitted up-front that my errors were flagrant); however, was not very helpful. :-/ I turned to this forum for help having resigned myself to admitting my collossally stupid moves that lead to the problem that I’m in… This is, as you noticed, my first contact with the SuSE community at large, and I hope you don’t represent it well. I’ve already beaten myself up enough about my mistakes; so, taking a patronizing tone is like giving me spam along with your otherwise great advice. :expressionless:

Cheers.

TheGOguy wrote:
> like giving me spam along with your otherwise great advice. :expressionless:

spam, fried and served up right with maybe some eggs and hash browns
is both tasty and can be life saving…sorry you didn’t like my recipe…

but, still welcome anyway…


DenverD
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD [posted via NNTP w/openSUSE 10.3]

Don’t beat yourself up, we all make mistakes, and I’ve no doubt you’ve learned a lot from this. FWIW, if I was in your position (and trust me Ihave been :)), I think I would be inclined to start over with a clean install, although you should be ok to reinstall over the top if preferred. Be aware that your root partition size seems very small, I would advise increasing this if at all possible, or choosing a light desktop like LXDE

Hardware requirements - openSUSE

You might (or might not) benefit from reading this guide

http://en.opensuse.org/Concepts

Welcome!

Thanks, Deano! I may try the clobber-install first, just to see how successful it might be (and I’ll report on the results here if/when I do).

**What size /root directory would you recommend for a conservative desktop user under Gnome/KDE/LXDE? **The last time I installed linux was RedHat7 (back in the relative “pre-history” of the '90’s) and, I wasn’t using X, or any desktop applications (it was a bare-bones web/database server), so 4GB seemed like a cavern one could lose things in… :wink: My whole primary HDD is 13GB, 4 of which have been dedicated as swap to support my 2GB of RAM… the rest (3GB) make up the /home partition. I have a secondary 80GB volume that is currently in migration from NTFS, where only data are stored, and the primary patition has already been re-dedicated to ext4, while the rest remain NTFS for the moment (until my archival process is complete—which is being delayed because my [secondary] DVD-burner is not being recognized, so KB3 will only burn CDs on my primary optical-device—obviously another topic entirely).

Cheers,

TheGOguy

Well, of course it depends on how much your planning to install, but 4.9GB is very lean, try to increase this if possible. (FWIW, I have a openSUSE 11.3 installed on a 4-yr old laptop, KDE 4 with Open Office and a few games, and I have used 8.5GB of my 10.GB ‘/’ partition. Bad things can happen if / gets full - especially if /tmp gets full :slight_smile:

I read through the links you provided; and, there are no worries there… I’m a UNIX-geek at heart, and I just had too much of Windoze’ annoyances; so, I committed to banishing all things Microsoft from my hardware after the most recent catastrophic failure (hard-disk burn-out). I’ve never been so much as tempted to login to an X-session as root… or any such non-sense; but, in my experience, working from the command-line has a way of cooling one’s head and enforcing deliberation that GUI interfaces do not… And this time I found myself falling victim to the vagaries thereof which I have previously chided others about—humble-pie, such as this, is a dish that I would prefer not to sample again.

Presumably, a SuSE /tmp directory is nothing a few awk-scripts in the crontab, or a soft-link to a larger volume, can’t manage :wink: I will see about repartitioning my disk to be more in-line with your recommendations, nonetheless. I think I need to get more information about the Yast paradigm though… as there was mention about Yast not being aware of manually installed RPMs…

And this time I found myself falling victim to the vagaries thereof which I have previously chided others about—humble-pie, such as this, is a dish that I would prefer not to sample again.

We’ve all tasted that from time to time, its good to remind ourselves that we’re human… :slight_smile: …get back on the horse, keep goin… and teach others how to ride!

I think I need to get more information about the Yast paradigm though… as there was mention about Yast not being aware of manually installed RPMs…

Not true. The package managers all use the rpm database, (as does the rpm command). However, rpm cannot resolve dependency issues like zypper/yast package managers.

Since you like working from consoles (CLI approach), you might want to know a little more about zypper. In particular, the links to cheat sheets provided there.