Re: vlc: unable to set resolution at command line

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 6/15/20 7:27 PM, mick crane wrote:
I don't know much about VLC, I'd probably change the resolution with 
FFmpeg and watch that.


mick



I think he wants, when he opens the "oh" window, to have a 
constant/fixed width and length. Not to change the width and length or 
quality of the video.

Re: Zoom- best practice?

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 6/8/20 12:06 AM, Nicolas George wrote:

Open Source is not enough.

I did not think it would be necessary to explain why Libre Software is
important here. It is not just a matter of possible malicious in the
code, it is a matter of being able to change it to suit our needs, to
fix it if there are bugs, to include parts into other projects. If all
of this is not possible, it is a dead-end project, a waste of energy,
only marginally better than closed-source surveillanceware.

Regards,


An interesting point of view that I agree with.
It is a very delicate and important piece, which some consider a detail 
or do not pay attention to. But personally I agree with you, it matters.


But, do you mention this because of the jitsi license that is *Apache 
License 2.0 ?

https://github.com/jitsi/jitsi-videobridge

--
Kind regards,
Anastasios Lisgaras

Re: Can I install Debian on Raspberry Pi?

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 4/14/20 12:13 PM, Jonathan Dowland wrote:

I would refer you to this page to get the latest status:

For the Pi 4, it claims "There is no support for it in the Debian
kernels yet."

According to this blog

It's possible if you use a kernel from outside Debian, provided by the
Raspberry Pi foundation. But I would suggest this was not a
beginner-level project.



Very interest! Thank you! :-)

--
Kind regards,
Tasos

Re: how to keep 2 PCs partially in sync

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 4/6/20 9:43 PM, Peter Ehlert wrote:
independent software. He uses encryption on some files and folders and I 
don't. I don't know what software he uses. Perhaps syncthing has such a 
tool, I never looked for one.


Ok, thanks! It would be very interesting if it has a built-in encryption 
and decryption feature.
Although this of course is independent. You can have a sync directory of 
only encrypted files - it's up to you.



I do Not sync any active working data. It is first copied to the sync 
folder, that then syncs with the other nodes.
syncthing provides zero storage. It is a transfer/sync tool between 
separate hardware.

the "cloud" is user owned and controlled.


That's what I understood about Syncthing.
The data is *distributed* between the devices and not on a central 
server somewhere (like Nextcloud). It's a decentralized!

I think that's the main difference between Syncthing and Nextcloud ?


separate use, it was a sidebar comment. I only use them for small 
specific purposes as needed.

Dropbox is easy to use for sharing with others.
Mega syncs photos and files between my Androids and my computers 
gracefully, then I copy data to my system.


So, let me suggest something too (if you have the resources for one more 
machine).
Try to use Nextcloud for this use, so your data will never remain in the 
hands of others - other than yourself and those who want to send it.



Thank you! :-)

Re: how to save video on web page

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 4/7/20 1:49 AM, Ihor Antonov wrote:
Having said that you can try downloading it yourself - all you need is 
to find a link to ".m3u8" file in network tab of developer mode when you 
start the video.


youtube-dl https://bla-bla/playlist.m3u8

--

Ihor Antonov

https://useplaintext.email



Youtube-dl  is indeed a powerful 
and very good software for this job with many features and options, but 
can you download videos *from anywhere ?*


What I want to say is that there are many web pages which greatly hinder 
(prohibit) this possibility.
In this case, what can we do? Can we always find the hidden link 
(source) of the video? If so, how?

If the page requires you to be logged in, what can we do?


On 4/7/20 2:39 PM, Siard wrote:

You can install the Video Download Helper browser extension.
It exists for Firefox and Vivaldi, don't know about other browsers.


Video Download Helper it's a good tool but it never won me over and it 
was never so effective (on all websites) so as to amaze me.
So much so that I no longer use it at all. Is it better/"stronger" in 
the new versions?

Re: kvm by example

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

Thank you for sharing it with us, however I would prefer all the 
instructions to be through the terminal and not with VirtManager GUI.


Thank you. :-)

On 4/6/20 7:50 PM, Dennis Wicks wrote:
Found a web page that guides you step by step through defining a VM and 
installing Windows 10 in it. Make a note of this or save it some where 
in case you or a friend needs it!


  >> 
https://getlabsdone.com/10-easy-steps-to-install-windows-10-on-linux-kvm/  << 



Worked great for me!

Re: how to keep 2 PCs partially in sync

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 4/5/20 4:53 PM, Peter Ehlert wrote:
I have not tried Nextcloud or ownCloud for a couple years. I only 
remember both being either too complex or missing the options I wanted.


What options did you not have with the own/Nextloud ?


[...]


You can send the 56 character "device identification" to another to 
setup a sync of machines, then sync the specific folders you like.


I saw that *Syncthing* uses this method to recognize devices. Is it 
safer than Nextcloud approach ? (so it seems at least)



Critical files can be encrypted individually by other means if you like.


The "other means" provided from *Syncthing* or do you mean independent 
software that you can use in any approach ?


This laptop syncs 6 folders with 5 computers, Three are LAN (wifi and 
cabled thru the router) Two are offsite.


Do you mean offline? Only with local/internal access ?


Local State (Total)  216,932 files   59,099 folders   ~298 GiB total
ALL data being synced is a Copy of the working data (true backup)
ALL nodes have staggered Backups.


What exactly do you mean; could you please be more detailed?
Syncthing also uses *central* storage from all workplaces with backup 
strategies ?


I also use Mega and Dropbox... both are slower, and Dropbox does have 
fallout (missing files or corrupt files)


Why do this ?
Do you use highly secure open source software and then give access to 
your data to services like dropbox ??? :-o



Try all and see what you prefer. Best wishes.


I actually want to use *Syncthing* for a long time (since I first read 
about it, enthusiastic about the security and approach it offers) but 
just because of the *Nextcloud* I have not come to the need if I do. And 
that is the truth to be honest.



--
Kind regards,
Tasos

Re: how to keep 2 PCs partially in sync

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 4/4/20 5:56 PM, to...@tuxteam.de wrote:

To add one data point for that: the most cases (by far) I've needed a
backup is when I have deleted stuff by mistake. Close second is some
buggy software having deleted or mangled files I've needed. Last [1]
come actual physical damage to storage media.

Over-eager synchronization of backup won't help in the two first cases.

Cheers
[1] In between would perhaps be malware mangling the data: my platform
has never done that to me, but on other platforms it seems to
happen regularly.

-- tomás



I will agree. And from my point of view, it is a completely different 
function to synchronize data between devices (computers) and a different 
function of backups.




On 4/4/20 7:02 PM, Andrei POPESCU wrote:

It does have a web interface for management (running by default only on
127.0.0.1:8384), if this is what you meant.

It is not possible to download / upload files via the web interface.


I know it has a WEB UI - but it's mainly just to manage synchronized 
devices.


So for someone who wants to have a *serious* synchronization of their 
files on different computers, the right choice is *Syncthing* and not to 
use the synchronization that Nextcloud can offer ?




On 4/4/20 9:45 PM, Linux-Fan wrote:

As far as I can tell, for this situation, Nextcloud would be able to handle
all of the needs. You could run it on either your local Raspberry Pi (which
might become overloaded depending on how often you chagen your files) or your
remote server. The server might be more stable and easier to access through
a public link thus I would conclude that installing Nextcloud on the server
would be worth trying.

HTH
Linux-Fan 


This is exactly what I believe in my own case!
But because I haven't used the *Syncthing* I wanted to ask your opinion 
as well. I don't know if the *Syncthing* is more "serious", safer or 
suggest it for some *specific* cases.

I already use my own *Nextcloud* for that and I don't have any problem.
In addition to *syncing my files to different computers*, whenever I 
want *I can send files to third parties* very easily and securely.



Thank you for your opinions and suggestions.
In which case would you suggest Syncthing and *not* Nextcloud ?

--
Kind regards,
Tasos

Re: how to keep 2 PCs partially in sync

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 3/25/20 11:07 AM, Andrei POPESCU wrote:

If a file is corrupted, deleted, etc. in one place that will be
propagated to all copies.

Depending on the features provided by the synchronisation tool they
could be *a part* of a backup solution.

See http://taobackup.com for what a complete backup solution should
provide.

Kind regards,
Andrei



Sorry, but again, I don't see the problem.
If I choose to delete a file from a machine - I will want the same for 
the rest of the machines. What's the problem with that?



On 3/25/20 12:49 PM, Dan Purgert wrote:

I don't think he meant to imply using external-to-you "cloud" providers
(gdrive, dropbox), but rather creating his own personal "cloud".

Be it something pretty -- Nextcloud, for example -- or something
utilitarian (a central NFS or SSHFS server holding all the data).

I've used Nextcloud in these situations, it's actually pretty good with
slower connections.  Since everything is a (machine-)local copy, in
addition to being stored centrally; something I work on "here(tm)" gets
updated "everywhere" shortly after I've saved the document.

I've only really ever run into problems with it when there was a
godawful slow connection with a machine that'd been offline for 2 weeks
while I was on vacation (and I forgot to spin it up at home before
heading out)





I have also installed in the past the *Νextcloud* locally ( in a 
Raspberry Pi ) and it really worked amazingly! In fact, it worked so 
perfectly that, because of that I didn't deal with *Syncthing*.

In fact, I could not understand their differences.
Syncthing seems more restrictive than Nextcloud because it does not have 
the "cloud" (WEB UI) function offered by Nextcloud.
However, I would really like to try Syncthing to see what it really 
offers and to be able to compare it with Nextcloud.


What is your opinion?



On 3/25/20 7:44 PM, Linux-Fan wrote:

Hello,

there have been multiple answers already, so forgive me if my post does not
seem to add anything valuable. Still, it bugs me that there are many
different solutions proposed without their advantages and disadvantages
given?

I think that it is an important factor how the systems "online status" (in
sense of power and networking) is to be considered? Are both systems online
simultaneously? Are both systems online at the same time only for
synchonization?

I can think of different solutions depending on what is actually
wanted/neede:

* Cluster File Systems.
   People have already mentioned ceph (which is more an object storage
   and thus slow on small files IIRC?). I can add OCFS (Oracle Cluster
   File System) to the list, although it is not so easy to set up.
   Cluster file systems make sense if both systems are online at the same
   time and should both access a common file system. Often, cluster
   file systems want a "third" machine for doing the actual storage work
   (e.g. an iSCISI target of OCFS). I have also tried out GFS2 in the past,
   but it is a PITA to set up!

* Synchonization Tools.
   There are tools to invoke explicitly to call the synchronization.
   These make sense if both systems are online at the same time only
   for synchronization... if not, one will need to deal with "both changed"
   conflicts on a manual basis. I have no experience with syncthing
   (mentioned in the thread) -- syncthing might have a solution for this...

* Network File Systems.
   If you have a constellation of: system1 and system2 where
   system2 online means system1 is online, too, then you might
   install a "file server" (NFS or similar) on system1 and share
   files through this mechanism. From all approaches proposed, I
   would recommend this as being the least complex in operation
   although this does not mean it is the least complex to setup.

* "Cloud"-like file synchronization.
   These usually require a "third" server, too. And in my experience,
   whenever one is using "synchronized" files for non-trivial data
   processing (e.g. creating and reading a lot of files, storing a
   database, accessing the data with many processes...) most of these
   systems will fail one way or another (up to causing data loss). Yet,
   most people using such systems do not seem to have these issues :)
   These tools are useful in scenarios where there is no guarantee for
   any machine being online the same time as the other although this is
   achieved at the cost of running a "third" machine 24/7...

HTH and YMMV
Linux-Fan



I really liked your *detailed* post! It really is a detailed and 
comprehensive answer.


In my use case, I have both a safe and a secure remote server machine 
(VM) and a raspberry Pi at my home to run continuously & incessantly 24/7.

I have three computers. One at work a laptop and a desktop computer.
What I want is for the three computers to have specific directories and 
files shared/synchronized.

( Probably the whole /home directory of my user. )
I also want to be able to sometimes share/send my files - securely - to 

Re: How can I see only the latest change log of packages before update ?

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 3/29/20 10:22 PM, The Wanderer wrote:
> On 2020-03-29 at 15:10, Andrei POPESCU wrote:
> 
>> On Du, 29 mar 20, 14:47:57, The Wanderer wrote:
>>
>>> On my system, when I run
>>>
>>> apt-get dist-upgrade
>>>
>>> and say "yes" to the list of packages, the following things happen:
>>>
>>> * apt-get downloads all the packages, but does not install them yet.
>>> * apt-listchanges kicks in, automatically extracts and/or downloads the
>>>   necessary changelogs for all the packages just downloaded, and
>>>   presents just the new parts (relative to the already-installed
>>>   package version).
>>> * After I exit the pager which displays the changelogs, apt-listchanges
>>>   gives me a prompt to confirm whether I want to continue the upgrade
>>>   or not.
>>> * If I say yes, the upgrade proceeds. If I say no, apt-listchanges
>>>   aborts the upgrade process.
>>>
>>> This sounds like exactly what you want, handled purely automatically. Do
>>> you not get this behavior (or a comparable one) with apt-listchanges
>>> installed on your system?
>>
>> As far as I recall, by default apt-listchanges displays only NEWS items, 
>> not changelogs (which reminds me I should install it on my systems).
> 
> If so, that must be a change in defaults from when I installed it. I
> don't remember ever adjusting configuration in this regard (although
> that's not an absolutely conclusive data point, as my memory is not
> perfect).
> 
> The man page confirms that, though; it says that NEWS is the default,
> and this can be changed with the 'which' option. Indeed, my
> /etc/apt/listchanges.conf includes a line reading 'which=both'.
> 
> For the OP: you might want to try with that setting, and see whether the
> results match what you want.
> 

Yes you are right, by default only shows the news (important news items
only) and I chose *both* : *detailed changelogs + news*

To adjust it to your preference, you simply need to execute:

dpkg-reconfigure apt-listchanges

or just edit the file: `/etc/apt/listchanges.conf`.


Initially by default I had these settings:
```
cat /etc/apt/listchanges.conf

[apt]
frontend=pager
which=news
email_address=root
email_format=text
confirm=true
headers=false
reverse=false
save_seen=/var/lib/apt/listchanges.db
```


but now I have chosen the following:
```
cat /etc/apt/listchanges.conf

[apt]
frontend=text
which=both
email_address=root
email_format=text
confirm=true
headers=true
reverse=false
save_seen=none
no_network=false
```

And I had the amazing result I was looking for from the beginning:
https://pastebin.com/raw/BEZMX67D

Thank you very much for your interest, help & time! :-)

-- 
Kind regards,
Tasos

Re: How can I see only the latest change log of packages before update ?

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 3/24/20 3:46 AM, David Wright wrote:
> Then you have to split the upgrade command into a download-only part
> (-d in apt-get, and I assume it's the same in apt), and the installing
> part itself (with no -d).

> man apt-listchanges says:
> 
> apt-listchanges [[options...]] {[--apt] | [package.deb...]}
>   
> 
> so you have to give it the actual filename (after the download part,
> of course), and not just the name of the package.
> 

Okay, How can I do that for each upgradeable package ?


If I run :
apt-get changelog bluetooth

I get all of this : https://termbin.com/xdp5
While the responsible GUI software of the updates shows *only the latest
changes* that come with the upgrade package :
https://i.imgur.com/KPmvF7F.png

How can I choose from "changelog" to see *only the latest* changes?

What I want to do in the end, is what the GUI system update software
does, but through my terminal :

1) https://i.imgur.com/eZPxWcw.png
2) https://i.imgur.com/RZYlAEC.png
3) https://i.imgur.com/KPmvF7F.png
4) https://i.imgur.com/k91Rtcu.png
5) https://i.imgur.com/Y1tmhUh.png
6) https://i.imgur.com/8dyGN76.png
7) https://i.imgur.com/fll5Irg.png

(The Signal messaging software I don't know why - unfortunately -
doesn't show it's change logs but I'll investigate that later.)

-- 
Kind regards,
Tasos

Re: how to keep 2 PCs partially in sync

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 3/25/20 7:31 AM, Charles Curley wrote:

On Tue, 24 Mar 2020 18:26:31 -0500
Mark Allums  wrote:


Syncthing.

https://syncthing.net/


For the history:
Resilio (formerly BitTorrent Sync) was a very good *proprietary* 
software tool.


However, after a while, it was developed by an awesome team the powerful 
*open source* (Mozilla Public License 2.0) *Syncthing* (Pulse) and 
really surpassed the proprietary software BitTorrent Sync - to the point 
where the BitTorrent Sync started copying features from Syncthing!


So for the above, I'm voting +1 on Syncthing!
It must be an amazing tool!


On 3/25/20 1:40 AM, Peter Ehlert wrote:> +1 on syncthing


the downside is if you OOPS on one machine there is no retun.

I use syncthing together with LuckyBackup ... I only work with Local 
Copies, and after vetting then back to the common synced folder.


walk to the other room, copy down the "vetted versions"
*my .thunderbird folder is one of many



On 3/25/20 7:31 AM, Charles Curley wrote:

Concur on Syncthing. Since it is near-instantaneous, so are oopses. For
that I use rsnapshot.

Some other thoughts on backups.
http://charlescurley.com/blog/posts/2019/Nov/02/backups-on-linux/



Excuse me, but I don't understand exactly what you mean.
Could you explain a little more in detail?


Thank you,
Tasos
--
Kind regards,

How can I see only the latest change log of packages before update ?

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

Hello,

My update/upgrade system script is about that :
sudo apt update && sudo apt list --upgradable -a && sudo apt
dist-upgrade -y && sudo apt autoremove -y && sudo apt autoclean -y &&
sudo apt clean -y

But I want for *each* package that has an update available, before I
update it to see its changes.

I found for that (maybe) two tools :
* apt-listchanges
* changelog

1) The "apt-listchanges" tool I cannot understand how it is used
```
apt-listchanges thunderbird
apt-listchanges: thunderbird does not have '.deb' extension
```

2) With the "changelog" I got the change logs, but i think i'm not just
getting the last ones ..

apt changelog openssh-client : https://pastebin.com/raw/15rCqULj
apt changelog thunderbird : https://pastebin.com/raw/RdfnwtDD


I want to see *only* the *latest* change logs for *each* update
available package.


Thank you,
Tasos

Re: Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch) was broken after upgraded from stretch-backports.

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 2/22/20 11:45 PM, didier.gau...@gmail.com wrote:

Le samedi 22 février 2020 20:30:04 UTC+1, Anastasios Lisgaras a écrit :
Yes, all the needed firmwares seem to be present.
Explanation of the 'bug' above is here:
  https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=69921


Nice, thank you for the inform.



What I suppose is that a Debian upgrade from your Stretch-Backports to Buster 
seems to me relatively safe, minus the fact that installing all backports 
packages might have broken the system, even slightly. So desinstalling and 
reinstalling Gnome might not be sufficent. And thus a fresh install of Buster 
would probably be safer.
-


Alright, now I understand the reason and I could agree with you or at 
least understand your concerns..
Sure I would prefer a re-installation, but the migration of my system 
exactly as it is again.. in this case it's a "heavy" process for me.

But I will definitely do it - sooner or later.

I don't want to tire you out, but I would love to learn my operating 
system thanks to this misfortune. If they were in my position a system 
administrator or a software developer or a hacker about Debian 
GNU/Linux, what checks would he do to fix it ?


Certainly ( format ) reinstalling the entire operating system would 
solve the problem. But this way is a little childish, isn't it?


In my system, something is wrong. Surely something is not working 
properly. But what is this? Can't find what exactly is to blame?

Can't find what exactly is responsible for that?

Thank really you very much!

Re: Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch) was broken after upgraded from stretch-backports.

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 2/22/20 8:05 PM, didier.gau...@gmail.com wrote:

Le samedi 22 février 2020 11:50:05 UTC+1, Anastasios Lisgaras a écrit :

For the hardware already known to the kernel, the later will try to load a firmware 
when needed. So a search of the 'firmware" word in the kernel logs would show 
either succeeded or failed attempts:

didier@hp-notebook14:~$ sudo dmesg | grep -i firmware
[...]


Thanks a lot for describing the above procedure.
I suppose this procedure is very important after every distribution 
installation, isn't it?


In my case, I have the following results:

:~# dmesg | grep -i firmware
[3.960306] radeon :01:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware 
radeon/oland_pfp.bin
[3.961037] radeon :01:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware 
radeon/oland_me.bin
[3.961648] radeon :01:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware 
radeon/oland_ce.bin
[3.961886] radeon :01:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware 
radeon/oland_rlc.bin
[3.962223] radeon :01:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware 
radeon/oland_mc.bin
[3.962754] radeon :01:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware 
radeon/oland_smc.bin
[3.972636] radeon :01:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware 
radeon/TAHITI_uvd.bin
[3.973251] radeon :01:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware 
radeon/TAHITI_vce.bin

[3.973995] [drm] Found VCE firmware/feedback version 50.0.1 / 17!
[8.426598] r8169 :0a:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware 
rtl_nic/rtl8168f-1.fw

[14666.667585] ACPI: [Firmware Bug]: BIOS _OSI(Linux) query ignored

I think all is well, isn't it?
Because the last line worries me a little.
> [14666.667585] ACPI: [Firmware Bug]: BIOS _OSI(Linux) query ignored





> [...]
>

- *sure*: I don't think so
- a bit more risky: the previous link I gave:
  https://wiki.debian.org/SystemDowngrade



Instead I doing system downgrade to go back,  what do you say to i did 
upgrade and go ahead to the Debian version 10 (codename buster) ?

Maybe it makes things worse?

Let's try what Nektarios suggested in a previous e-mail, to I login from 
terminal ( Alt + F4 ) and uninstall completely and then reinstall the 
GNOME desktop environment ??



P.S.: Anyway it's crazy that I'm typing this message *from this computer 
right now*. I'm afraid to shutting down because maybe it doesn't load my 
GNOME desktop environment again. *Doesn't this make you look crazy*?
10 times not loading the GNOME environment and and the last one to load 
it ?


Thank you for your time.
--
Kind regards,
Tasos

Re: Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch) was broken after upgraded from stretch-backports.

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 2/19/20 8:14 PM, Anastasios Lisgaras wrote:


On 2/18/20 3:45 PM, Nektarios Katakis wrote:

If you check the output of `systemctl status graphical.target` you ll see
it s a systemd target and whether it s activated or not. The related file
in `/lib/systemd/system/graphical.target` will also point you to related/
needed services for the graphical target.

You can start from there and check if those targets/services are enabled.
Also if they failed in your last boot (`systemctl list-units
--state=failed`).


You can see the output of "systemctl status graphical.target" here:
https://pastebin.com/raw/hSaqVzJA - Is `inactive (dead)`.

* ls -alh /lib/systemd/system/
https://pastebin.com/raw/mLHBS6SP

* cat /lib/systemd/system/graphical.target
https://pastebin.com/raw/p13JuV5C

* systemctl list-units --state=failed
https://pastebin.com/raw/2H3MXBFN


On 2/18/20 3:45 PM, Nektarios Katakis wrote:

Upgrading from 9 to 10 should be straight forward. In my case I ensured
that
my system is up to date with the main repositories, that I had enough
free space
and then modified the sources.list to buster repos and did the apt
dist-upgrade.
That being said I didnt have any packages installed manually or on hold
(`apt-mark showhold`).

Check for a very extensive guide here
https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/release-notes/ch-upgrading.en.html


To be honest I thought exactly the same, but in the end I didn't,
because I saw this very detailed guide and didn't have the time to read
it all, so I thought the steps and process were ultimately much longer
and risky if you don't follow the right steps..
Anyway, it is amazing that you are telling me that from your own
experience, that upgrading process is just so simple! Thank you!

On 2/18/20 3:45 PM, Nektarios Katakis wrote:

You should definitely be able to do this since the `apt upgrade` command
you
ran ended without any errors (your system is not broken anyhow).

[...]

Simply revert the changes sources (apt edit-sources) and
`apt update && apt upgrade`


Thank you for your answer, but just now I read this :
https://wiki.debian.org/SystemDowngrade
**Downgrade it isn't supported**

So the only suggested way to go now is to go ahead?



On 2/19/20 12:38 PM, didier.gau...@gmail.com wrote:

cf https://wiki.debian.org/Firmware

I think that the only firmwares installed are those you installed
yourself manually (if any), no one is automatically pulled by default.
as root:
# aptitude search firmware
would display most of the firmwares (it's a search by names containing
'firmware' and some firmwares do not contain 'firmware' in their
name). The status 'ii' means a firmware is installed.

What I meant previously is that it is preferable to have a firmware
(related to a hardware) that is coherent with the driver for this
hardware included in the kernel. So if you have a hardware that
needs a firmware and you use a Backports kernel, it is probably
preferable to install the Backports version of the needed firmware.



Of course you are right, but so far I have not (remembered) ever
installed any particular firware on my desktop.
(But it might be - but I didn't know). How do I see if my hardware needs
a particular firmware to work properly?


* 337 packages are installed from the backports :
apt list --installed : https://termbin.com/axej

* About the firmware because I don't know how to check it ( but on the
desktop especially i don't think i have something extra installed )
apt search firmware : https://pastebin.com/raw/KAQkvSGH
apt list --installed | grep firmware : https://pastebin.com/raw/4cxjRy6t

[]

On 2/19/20 12:38 PM, didier.gau...@gmail.com wrote:

The best solution would probably to do a fresh install.


Really ; Is there any sure way to get away from it and so that I have a
proper system installed?
So, now the only way is to format my desktop and install the Debian
GNU/Linux from the beginning??? 0.0 :(


On 2/19/20 3:41 PM, Greg Wooledge wrote:

It depends on what firmware packages are available at installation
time, which in turn depends greatly on which installation image
you use.

The netinst and DVD images that are linked from the Debian web site
do not include any non-free firmware.  But there are unofficial netinst
images which *do* include the non-free firmware.  If you use one of
those, you're very likely to get some non-free firmware installed
for you automatically, if your computer has any devices which want it.

Almost all new computers do.  Laptops especially.


Understood. I didn't know that. I only use the official installation
guides/installers.
Not only new laptops are needed closed firmware, but also my old laptop
(the one I'm writing to you now) - a *HP Pavilio dv5 - 1145ev* -
after the initial installation of the Debian GNU/Linux I need to install
a closed (firmware) driver to "see" the wireless network card.


Thank you,



I welcome the community again,

Today something unexpected and crazy happened, 

Re: Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch) was broken after upgraded from stretch-backports.

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 2/18/20 3:45 PM, Nektarios Katakis wrote:
> If you check the output of `systemctl status graphical.target` you ll see
> it s a systemd target and whether it s activated or not. The related file
> in `/lib/systemd/system/graphical.target` will also point you to related/
> needed services for the graphical target.
>
> You can start from there and check if those targets/services are enabled.
> Also if they failed in your last boot (`systemctl list-units
> --state=failed`).

You can see the output of "systemctl status graphical.target" here:
https://pastebin.com/raw/hSaqVzJA - Is `inactive (dead)`.

* ls -alh /lib/systemd/system/
https://pastebin.com/raw/mLHBS6SP

* cat /lib/systemd/system/graphical.target
https://pastebin.com/raw/p13JuV5C

* systemctl list-units --state=failed
https://pastebin.com/raw/2H3MXBFN


On 2/18/20 3:45 PM, Nektarios Katakis wrote:
> Upgrading from 9 to 10 should be straight forward. In my case I ensured
> that
> my system is up to date with the main repositories, that I had enough
> free space
> and then modified the sources.list to buster repos and did the apt
> dist-upgrade.
> That being said I didnt have any packages installed manually or on hold
> (`apt-mark showhold`).
>
> Check for a very extensive guide here
>https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/release-notes/ch-upgrading.en.html

To be honest I thought exactly the same, but in the end I didn't,
because I saw this very detailed guide and didn't have the time to read
it all, so I thought the steps and process were ultimately much longer
and risky if you don't follow the right steps..
Anyway, it is amazing that you are telling me that from your own
experience, that upgrading process is just so simple! Thank you!

On 2/18/20 3:45 PM, Nektarios Katakis wrote:
> You should definitely be able to do this since the `apt upgrade` command
> you
> ran ended without any errors (your system is not broken anyhow).
>
> [...]
>
> Simply revert the changes sources (apt edit-sources) and
> `apt update && apt upgrade`

Thank you for your answer, but just now I read this :
https://wiki.debian.org/SystemDowngrade
**Downgrade it isn't supported**

So the only suggested way to go now is to go ahead?



On 2/19/20 12:38 PM, didier.gau...@gmail.com wrote:
> cf https://wiki.debian.org/Firmware
>
> I think that the only firmwares installed are those you installed
> yourself manually (if any), no one is automatically pulled by default.
> as root:
> # aptitude search firmware
> would display most of the firmwares (it's a search by names containing
> 'firmware' and some firmwares do not contain 'firmware' in their
> name). The status 'ii' means a firmware is installed.
>
> What I meant previously is that it is preferable to have a firmware
> (related to a hardware) that is coherent with the driver for this
> hardware included in the kernel. So if you have a hardware that
> needs a firmware and you use a Backports kernel, it is probably
> preferable to install the Backports version of the needed firmware.


Of course you are right, but so far I have not (remembered) ever
installed any particular firware on my desktop.
(But it might be - but I didn't know). How do I see if my hardware needs
a particular firmware to work properly?


* 337 packages are installed from the backports :
apt list --installed : https://termbin.com/axej

* About the firmware because I don't know how to check it ( but on the
desktop especially i don't think i have something extra installed )
apt search firmware : https://pastebin.com/raw/KAQkvSGH
apt list --installed | grep firmware : https://pastebin.com/raw/4cxjRy6t

[]

On 2/19/20 12:38 PM, didier.gau...@gmail.com wrote:
> The best solution would probably to do a fresh install.

Really ; Is there any sure way to get away from it and so that I have a
proper system installed?
So, now the only way is to format my desktop and install the Debian
GNU/Linux from the beginning??? 0.0 :(


On 2/19/20 3:41 PM, Greg Wooledge wrote:
> It depends on what firmware packages are available at installation
> time, which in turn depends greatly on which installation image
> you use.
>
> The netinst and DVD images that are linked from the Debian web site
> do not include any non-free firmware.  But there are unofficial netinst
> images which *do* include the non-free firmware.  If you use one of
> those, you're very likely to get some non-free firmware installed
> for you automatically, if your computer has any devices which want it.
>
> Almost all new computers do.  Laptops especially.

Understood. I didn't know that. I only use the official installation
guides/installers.
Not only new laptops are needed closed firmware, but also my old laptop
(the one I'm writing to you now) - a *HP Pavilio dv5 - 1145ev* -
after the initial installation of the Debian GNU/Linux I need to install
a closed (firmware) driver to "see" the wireless network card.


Thank you for you,
-- 
Kind regards,
Tasos

Re: Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch) was broken after upgraded from stretch-backports.

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

On 2/17/20 6:41 PM, didier.gau...@gmail.com wrote:
> 
>> Στις 2020-02-17 13:17, Anastasios Lisgaras έγραψε:
> [...]
>>> 1. I created this file : /etc/apt/sources.list.d/stretch-backports.list
>>> (https://pastebin.com/raw/YM11TDer)
>>> 2. I also created this file :
>>> /etc/apt/preferences.d/89_stretch-backports_default
>>> (https://pastebin.com/raw/F6vjDEgh).
>>>
>>> and then I ran :
>>> ```
>>> apt update && apt list --upgradable && apt dist-upgrade && apt-get
>>> autoremove -y && apt-get autoclean -y && apt-get clean
> [...]
>>> The problem is that after restarting the computer could not boot
>>> properly and especially with a graphical interface.
> [...]
>>> - Is the upgrade to blame? Hasn't it been done correctly (basically it
>>> definitely won't have been done correctly) ?
>>> - Do you think I should add it here
>>> `/etc/apt/sources.list.d/stretch-backports.list`
>>> (https://pastebin.com/raw/YM11TDer) the 'contrib non-free' at the end 
>>> of
>>> the two sources?
>>>
>>> What is to blame and what should I do to fix it?
> [...]
> 
> Hello,
> 
> As far as I understand it:
> - Backports repository is not intended as an ordinary repo from which you can 
> install all the packages.Its purpose is to let the user install selected 
> packages for which there is a need for a more recent version (option -t). 
> Installing all packages from backports may lead to problems.
> - By default your ordinary repo has a 500 priority and backports a 100 
> priority: when you set up a 500 priority for backports, it means that that 
> backports has priority over your ordinary repo, because the version numbers 
> are higher.
> - If your ordinary (Oldstable or Stretch, in your case) repo line (or 
> sources.list.d file) in sources.list mentions "contrib non-free" it is 
> preferable to mention it too for the backports line. Then, generally, if you 
> use a backports kernel, you will want to use also the backports firmwares 
> instead of the ordinary ones.
> 
> the backports page of the wiki:
>  https://wiki.debian.org/Backports
> 


Nektarios & didier thank you both for your time, interest and help!

On 2/17/20 4:32 PM, Nektarios Katakis wrote:
> You can investigate if the `graphical.target` unit is activated and
> if the programs relying on it are installed.

What exactly do you mean by saying `graphical.target` ?

Your view is certainly interesting and probably right (I've thought
about it too), but first I would like to make sure the whole system is
in the right state/point.
According to the above data, and after the update/upgrade I did, all
packages are the to right  "stretch-backports" point/state ?
Or I should take action to set it up properly ? Is it better to leave
from "stretch-backports" ?

Going from Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch) to Debina GNU/Linux 10 (buster)
(without format) how risky can it be?


On 2/17/20 6:41 PM, didier.gau...@gmail.com wrote:
> - Backports repository is not intended as an ordinary repo from which
you can install all the packages.Its purpose is to let the user install
selected packages for which there is a need for a more recent version
(option -t). Installing all packages from backports may lead to problems.

You are absolutely right! That's exactly how I started. At first I
wanted to put the "stretch-backports" sources, to install specific
packages from them ( specifically only the `nautilus-nextcloud` package
), but then I changed my mind and played a lot more risky, because in
the end I updated my whole system.


On 2/17/20 6:41 PM, didier.gau...@gmail.com wrote:
> - By default your ordinary repo has a 500 priority and backports a 100
priority: when you set up a 500 priority for backports, it means that
that backports has priority over your ordinary repo, because the version
numbers are higher.

Thank you so much for explaining the priorities - I understood that too.
The reason I was thinking of finally updating my entire system, is
because I thought that the `nautilus-nextcloud` package it would
probably affect the whole in general GNOME, that is why I suppose that
maybe they were more correct a more complete migration.


On 2/17/20 6:41 PM, didier.gau...@gmail.com wrote:
> - If your ordinary (Oldstable or Stretch, in your case) repo line (or
sources.list.d file) in sources.list mentions "contrib non-free" it is
preferable to mention it too for the backports line. Then, generally, if
you use a backports kernel, you will want to use also the backports
firmwares instead of the ordinary ones.


Thank you for your answer. About "backports firmwares" what should I do?
What do you have to recom

Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch) was broken after upgraded from stretch-backports.

[Anastasios Lisgaras]

Hello Debian community,

Recently I needed to (to be honest, I had the *desire*) to have newer
software release.

In particular I wanted to install the nautilus-nextcloud` package
which is exist in my laptop with Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)
(https://packages.debian.org/buster/gnome/nautilus-nextcloud),

but in Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch) - on my desktop - there wasn't in
the basic default repositories ( and I try to have the basic installed
software on my system by the official Debian repositories ).
Since I'm sure there isn't : https://packages.debian.org/stretch/gnome/

I saw that in the stretch-backports repositories, there is :
https://packages.debian.org/stretch-backports/gnome/nautilus-nextcloud


In order not to tire you with my thoughts, I'll just tell you, at first
I just wanted to install this particular package, but then I thought it
was time to upgrade my entire system. But i did not follow the right
path (documentation) and at the moment i have a broken system which you
are having trouble getting started.

So in the end, I just upgraded my whole system (or so I think anyway).

# What did I do.
1. I created this file : /etc/apt/sources.list.d/stretch-backports.list
(https://pastebin.com/raw/YM11TDer)
2. I also created this file :
/etc/apt/preferences.d/89_stretch-backports_default
(https://pastebin.com/raw/F6vjDEgh).

and then I ran :
```
apt update && apt list --upgradable && apt dist-upgrade && apt-get
autoremove -y && apt-get autoclean -y && apt-get clean
```

but before restarting the system I kept all the logging from the update
and you can see it in here: https://termbin.com/op1g


# The result and the weird problem.

The problem is that after restarting the computer could not boot
properly and especially with a graphical interface.
This is where the problems begin :
* https://imgur.com/a/sFJgnUh
* https://imgur.com/a/uoOFVf4
* https://imgur.com/a/yTnKIfj
* https://imgur.com/a/Hy2IwoF

At first even from recovery mode, I had no internet.
Looking and reading and as I had suspected that something might be to
blame for networking (https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/390324), i went
to the file `/etc/network/interfaces` and I commented out the "bridge
setup", so this file now has this:
https://pastebin.com/raw/8CHiwtaT

See also the contents of the file `etc/gdm3/daemon.conf` ( if useful ) :
https://pastebin.com/raw/4j5utUdX


Because at some point in the startup, I was getting the message
`firmware: failed to load rtl_nic/rtl8168f-1.fw`, I saw this solution
here (https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/384411) and indeed, this message
I think no longer appears.

But I no longer at all to have a graphical user interface ( I use GNOME
as a graphical interface - desktop environment )
- Is the docker to blame? Delete it? (No problem if I need to delete it
so I can use my system.)
- Is the graphics card to blame?
- Is the upgrade to blame? Hasn't it been done correctly (basically it
definitely won't have been done correctly) ?
- Do you think I should add it here
`/etc/apt/sources.list.d/stretch-backports.list`
(https://pastebin.com/raw/YM11TDer) the 'contrib non-free' at the end of
the two sources?

What is to blame and what should I do to fix it?

However, the last picture of my system, is the one shown here:
[dmseg](https://pastebin.com/raw/TSRqv4kC).
If it is convenient or shows something more, here is the result of the
command [journalctl -b](https://pastebin.com/raw/Rw36Jp03).
At startup, after this point : https://imgur.com/a/0kC6SMQ i just type
"Alt" + "F4" and goes me to the terminal.
Luckily at least I have access from the terminal (and then ssh into the
machine)!


# The detailed features of my system.
---
Linux 4.19.0-0.bpo.6-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.19.67-2+deb10u2~bpo9+1
(2019-11-12) x86_64 GNU/Linux
OS : Debian GNU/Linux 9.12 (stretch)
Desktop Environment : GNOME Shell 3.22.3
CPU : MD FX-8350 Eight-Core Processor
RAM : 15940 MiB
Motherboard : ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Oland PRO [Radeon R7 240/340]
[1002:6613] {radeon}
enp10s0: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
Controller [10ec:8168] (rev 09)
lspci -v  : https://pastebin.com/raw/10Y9y5nc

nautilus-nextcloud/stretch-backports,stretch-backports,now
2.5.1-1~bpo9+1 all [installed]

I hope we find a solution, and thank you in advance.
Kind regards,
Tasos