I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

hchiper · 2024-04-24 08:19

Using Q4OS 4.12 + Plasma.

Stupid of me:
I have mounted an SD card directly into my home directory /home/<user>.
When I tried to unmount it, I got a busy error several times.
I logged off and in, and then my desktop was totally reset and my home directory was connected to the SD card.

Panic because I believed I lost all my data.

I turned the computer off, removed the SD card, and turned it on. Now, when I log in, I see at least the wallpaper from my "good" desktop during 1-2 seconds, then the screen becomes totally black (not even a taskbar). Only the Konsole appears because a script is launched at each log in.

Fortunately, if I switch (Alt+Ctrl+F2) to a pure console mode and log in, I can see that all my data are still present in my home directory. /home data are on a separate partition.

So, only my desktop seems fully corrupted.

I have a recent backup (1 month ago) of my home directory. It was created with Plasma backup tool and I can access it from another computer.

Is there a way to restore some (hidden) config directories to restore to retrieve my original desktop? .configkde? (not all hidden directories have been backed up, for example not .cachekde)

Any help greatly appreciated, thanks.

q4osteam · 2024-04-24 09:02

We would try the following procedure:
- first backup home dir as is now
- extract the backup you did in the past over the home dir, overwrite files, but keep all the files not being overwritten
- update ownership:
# chown -R username:groupname /home/<homedirname>/
- reboot

Log in as root and perform all actions as root from an independent console ctrl-alt-f2 . Be careful and double check any actions you take as root. Unfortunately, a complete restore could be more complicated as some configurations may need to be done manually one by one.

hchiper · 2024-04-24 11:33

Thanks for your response.
Since my data (Documents, etc.) are intact and up to date, is it not easier to delete the appropriate Plasma config files/dirs in order that Plasma recreates new config, as it does when a new user logs in for the first time ?
Is it possible? Which files/dir to delete?

q4osteam · 2024-04-24 12:08

hchiper wrote:

.. is it not easier to delete the appropriate Plasma config files/dirs in order that Plasma recreates new config, as it does when a new user logs in for the first time ? Is it possible?

Yes, it should be possible. but you will loose the original Plasma configuration.

hchiper wrote:

Which files/dir to delete?

It's better not to delete but rename the directories so you can delete it later. The directories in question should be at least $HOME/:
.config/
.configkde/
.cache/
.cachekde/
It will affect not only Plasma config, but other applications too.

hchiper · 2024-04-24 12:30

Thanks.
But same totally black screen, except the mouse arrow (I renamed these directories with a trailing ~).
Is it possible to install Trinity from the a pure console (with the hope to have access to the Profile Manager, remove Plasma, then reinstall Plasma and finally remove Trinity)?

q4osteam · 2024-04-24 12:45

hchiper wrote:

Is it possible to install Trinity from the a pure console (with the hope to have access to the Profile Manager, remove Plasma, then reinstall Plasma and finally remove Trinity)?

It wouldn't solve the issue. Maybe the best way now would be create a new user, add sudo permission to him, copy data files. Check, if it works and optionally delete the original user account and create it again. So the initial steps would be:
- Log in as root in console ctrl-alt-f2
- Run:
# adduser newuser
# adduser newuser sudo
- Reboot and log in as newuser into Plasma desktop
- Copy data from the original user account

Last edited by q4osteam (2024-04-24 12:46)

q4osteam · 2024-04-24 13:03

As you decide to delete the original user account, you need to delete it the proper way with "deluser" command, don't forget to manually delete the old home directory then. From this point, you can safely create the original user account again.

hchiper · 2024-04-24 13:31

Thanks once a gain for your support.
I could create a new user and he can open a session in Plasma.
But everything has become extremely slow.
Unusable.
Moreover, the desktop wallpaper sweeps from right to left when I launch a new program and after 2-3 times disappears totally, leaving a black desktop (although with the taskbar and application launcher).
I'm not far from giving up

q4osteam · 2024-04-24 13:36

So it seems that the system is corrupted in several other ways, not just in the user's home directory. We would need to check the system logs starting with "sudo journalctl" . No easy fix seems to be available at the moment.

Last edited by q4osteam (2024-04-24 13:39)

hchiper · 2024-04-24 13:54

Here is zipped journalctl.txt

Attachments:

journalctl.zip, Size: 25.85 KiB, Downloads: 92

hchiper · 2024-04-24 14:45

q4osteam wrote:

It's better not to delete but rename the directories so you can delete it later. The directories in question should be at least $HOME/:
.config/
.configkde/
.cache/
.cachekde/
It will affect not only Plasma config, but other applications too.

I have deleted these new directories and restored the previous ones.
When I log in Plasma, I can see the normal desktop, with taskbar and desktop shortcuts, during 1-2 seconds, and after that the screen becomes totally black.

q4osteam · 2024-04-24 15:11

We will check the log. In anyway, a new user should work out of the box. If not, there is something wrong with the system, barring the user files

q4osteam · 2024-04-25 09:41

So the journal log seems to be fine, except a few missing files errors

...
Exec binary '/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libexec/kdeconnectd' does not exist: No such file or directory
...

That shows something in your system may be corrupted. If you want to try to fix that, search for the lines above and reinstall packages that contains files in question.
$ sudo apt --purge --reinstall install <package>
You can find that packages from the Debian search engine https://www.debian.org/distrib/packages - "Search the contents of packages"

In addition we would need "reportq4" log file as described here https://www.q4os.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3502 for more investigation.

hchiper · 2024-04-25 11:43

Once again thanks for your support.

I did

$ grep "does not exist" journalctl.txt

and found the following:

/sbin/tomoyo-init
/usr/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libexec/kdeconnectd

On my other Q4OS laptop which works well, the first two files don't exist either, but the third is present.
On my corrupted laptop, apt list listed a "remaining configuration" for that third package. So I reinstalled it with your procedure. I rebooted and tried to login into Plasma, but no amelioration.
Note that when I hit Ctrl-Alt-Del I see the logout screen correctly (Disconnect, shutdown, hibernate...) and I can disconnect.

Attached the reportq4.

Last edited by hchiper (2024-04-25 11:59)

Attachments:

qreport.tar.gz, Size: 125.35 KiB, Downloads: 88

q4osteam · 2024-04-25 12:25

Qreport looks fine too. Now try to add another pristine user account with no additional permissions:
# adduser test1
Don't copy any files to the new account. Reboot, try to log into the Plasma desktop as test1 user. Logout if possible, reboot, compress and post the complete /home/test1/ directory:
# tar czf /tmp/test1home.tgz /home/test1/

Last edited by q4osteam (2024-04-25 12:27)

hchiper · 2024-04-25 13:04

When I logged in into Plasma as test1 (password is test1) I got a message/tooltip saying something like my desktop was created.
I saw on the right of the screen a thin strip with the default wallpaper, then a black screen, then the entire wallpaper swept from right to left and filled the screen.
I could log out normally, but it looks like it took somewhat more time than usual.
Once at the login screen I chose to reboot. Once done I switched to a pure console (Ctrl-Alt-F1) to create an archive of /home/test1. I got a lot of error messages (permissions problem) so I ran the same command with sudo. I post this last result (4-5 % bigger).

hchiper · 2024-04-25 13:15

When I logged in into Plasma as test1 (password is test1) I got a message/tooltip saying something like my desktop was created.
I saw on the right of the screen a thin strip with the default wallpaper, then a black screen, then the entire wallpaper swept from right to left and filled the screen.
I could log out normally, but it looks like it took somewhat more time than usual.
Once at the login screen I chose to reboot. Once done I switched to a pure console (Ctrl-Alt-F1) to create an archive of /home/test1. I got a lot of error messages (permissions problem) so I ran the same command with sudo.
The .tgz file is too big (1.4 MB); I have made it available on Dropbox. I hope the link works for you.

q4osteam · 2024-04-25 14:06

We have got the file from Dropbox. We can see many errors connected to kactivities service in ".xsession-errors" logfile:

...
KActivities: FATAL ERROR: Failed to contact the activity manager daemon
kf.activitiesstats: KActivities: Database can not be opened in WAL mode. Check the SQLite version (required >3.7.0). And whether your filesystem supports shared memory
kf.activitiesstats: KActivities ERROR: There is no database. This probably means that you do not have the Activity Manager running, or that something else is broken on your system. Recent documents and alike will not work!
...

Is the test1 account usable ?
Please run as test1 user from Plasma desktop konsole:
$ systemctl --user status plasma-kactivitymanagerd
and post back the output.

hchiper · 2024-04-25 14:16

Error:
Unit plasma-kactivitymanagerd.service could not be found.

Edit:
When I go to
Configuration du Système > Comportement de l'espace de travail > Activités
I see the activity "Default" blinking, sometimes a second item appears and disappears... The label Default sometimes disappears...

Last edited by hchiper (2024-04-25 14:22)

q4osteam · 2024-04-25 14:25

And this one with test1 logged in Plasma desktop:
$ ps -ef | grep kactivitymanagerd

q4osteam · 2024-04-25 14:25

Is test1 account usable ?

hchiper · 2024-04-25 14:43

I tried to log in once again. It took a longer time before displaying the desktop. It appeared for a short time (could press the window key and enter the first 2 letters of Konsole) but the start menu disappeared, the screen became totally black.
So test1 has become unusable.
Created a test2 user. The ps command gives

test2   2776    2771    0    15:39 pts/1    00:00:00 grep kactivitymanagerd

so I suppose kactivitymanagerd is not running (only the grep command with that search key runs?)

Edit:
Same negative result with just <| grep activity> to avoid the risk of typo.
Edit2: typo in code.

Last edited by hchiper (2024-04-25 15:31)

q4osteam · 2024-04-26 11:12

Did you change some Plasma configuration in the past ? For example Opengl configuration, etc ..

At this point we would suggest you to install one more instance of Q4OS, make use of dual boot. Free space on the disk for second Q4OS installation and install Q4OS on it so the old installation persists for investigating.

Alternatively, you can install LXQt desktop, remove all plasma packages and reinstall them again using Desktop profiler from LXQt.
$ sudo apt install q4os-desktop-lxqt
- reboot
- check for LXQt login and performance
$ sudo apt --purge autoremove *plasma*
$ sudo apt install q4os-desktop-plasma
- run Desktop profiler to install other Plasma packages

Last edited by q4osteam (2024-04-26 11:40)

hchiper · 2024-04-26 12:54

I changed only things like theme, colors, wallpaper, some keyboard shortcuts, workspace behaviour, and some other things I probably forget.
I don't remember having modified anything related to OpenGL, and certainly not via command line nor via installation of any package.
I also removed a lot of Noto fonts a very long time ago, without problem since that time (I asked on this forum before and you responded which packages I could uninstall and which font to keep).

I will try your second suggestion (seems safer and avoid the risk of an error on my side )
Before, I'll make backup copies of the directories .config/ .configkde/ .cache/ and .cachekde/ to be able to restore the configurations of several programs (amongst others my firefox profile) in case these directories are recreated from scratch during Plasma re-installation.

q4osteam · 2024-04-26 13:00

In anyway please backup all your important data before that action. We appreciate, if you would post the result back.

Q4OS Forum

#1 2024-04-24 08:19

I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#2 2024-04-24 09:02

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#3 2024-04-24 11:33

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#4 2024-04-24 12:08

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#5 2024-04-24 12:30

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#6 2024-04-24 12:45

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#7 2024-04-24 13:03

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#8 2024-04-24 13:31

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#9 2024-04-24 13:36

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#10 2024-04-24 13:54

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#11 2024-04-24 14:45

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#12 2024-04-24 15:11

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#13 2024-04-25 09:41

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#14 2024-04-25 11:43

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#15 2024-04-25 12:25

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#16 2024-04-25 13:04

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#17 2024-04-25 13:15

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#18 2024-04-25 14:06

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#19 2024-04-25 14:16

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#20 2024-04-25 14:25

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#21 2024-04-25 14:25

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#22 2024-04-25 14:43

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#23 2024-04-26 11:12

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#24 2024-04-26 12:54

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

#25 2024-04-26 13:00

Re: I have totally corrupted my Plasma destop

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