New #! user on his 9th reinstall in 2 days is on the brink of insanity

tedbell · 2012-05-08 20:11:14

Hi,
I just found this distro and I love it and loathe it at the same time. It seems if I look at the keyboard the wrong way something goes wrong which cripples my use of the system forcing me to reinstall.

Even the cb-welcome script doesn't work properly.

When I do anything else on the computer before the script (I like to change my sources.list before) the script skips through pages like there's an error. When it prompts for the dist-upgrade and I hit any key, it skips to the next screen.

Network-manager doesn't work with the upgrade. it breaks and I have no wireless. So I usually uninstall that after the script and install wicd. But if I do it before the script and set-up openDNS adresses i can't connect. I says I have a bad password wich is false on my end.

Dependency errors galore. I can barely upgrade any software.
Just now I had an error while upgrading the kernel.

I don't want to give up but if anyone can recommend another FAST debian based distro with fewer headaches I'd love to know about it.

I would like a fast, UP TO DATE, system. I don't mind having to use the CLI more often. I just want it to WORK!

/end rant
-severly disappointed and ready to snap laptop in half.:mad:

rhowaldt · 2012-05-08 20:23:01

hi tedbell. first of all, welcome to the community. i'd tell you to go make yourself an introduction-thread, but i see you have lots more pressing matters at hand.
aside from this welcome, i sadly haven't got much for you in the way of tech-help. all i got is words of encouragement. so here goes.

don't give up. this community is extremely friendly and insanely helpful, and it is only a matter of time before somebody a lot more knowledgeable than me comes in and starts asking you to type commands into your terminal and give us the output. these guys will get you your working system, no doubt about it, one way or another.

sorry i couldn't be of more hands-on help. hang in there, and good luck! smile

mynis01 · 2012-05-08 20:26:25

Try the testing images? You can change them to sid after you run cb-welcome if you like. Modifying your sources.list before the install can mess up the cb-welcome script, I don't recommend it. What exactly are you changing in sources.list, I'm assuming you are trying to run sid? You could always try using a debian netinstall image and adding the stuff you want from the crunchbang.org repos afterwards, or use a distro that's made to run sid, like atopsid or siduction. The cb-welcome script is meant to make things easier for people running the stable release, if you're going to be tweaking the system under the hood and stuff, there may not be much to gain by using it.

Edit: Also, if network manager is giving you trouble, you can always try wicd-gtk or wicd-curses. Remember that network manager in debian 6 is a gnome 2 component, but in debian 7 it's a gnome 3 component, and all of it's dependencies have gone through some changes, like the gnome-keyring setup for example. El K also has a cool guide to setting up wpa_supplicant, so you can just avoid using a network manager all together if you like.

Last edited by mynis01 (2012-05-08 20:31:08)

2ManyDogs · 2012-05-08 20:29:39

^ +1 -- try waldorf if you haven't yet, and let the entire install finish (including cb-welcome script) -- once you have a stable system, then try messing with the sources -- but you may find you don't need to (waldorf is on testing/wheezy, one small step behind sid)...

that said, I have installed waldorf and upgraded it to sid with no problems, so maybe you could walk us through what you're doing so we can see what's not working?

Last edited by 2ManyDogs (2012-05-08 20:29:56)

ivanovnegro · 2012-05-08 20:31:08

Welcome to insanity!

Maybe really try the new Waldorf dev image. It is stable so far and many here are impressed of it.

Also, give us some more insights, hardware in use, error messages, sources list etc.

VastOne · 2012-05-08 20:38:22

Welcome to CrunchBang and the Community tedbell, we are glad you made it!

Post your issues and we will do all we can to resolve them...

Carpe Diem!

snowpine · 2012-05-08 20:39:46

Welcome to the forums!
If I may be so bold, why not use #! in its stable default configuration for a few weeks before you start breaking things? Frustration and breakage is not a necessary part of the "crunchbang experience" (despite what you may read on these forums at times). smile

tedbell · 2012-05-08 20:53:53

Wow, fast and plentful replies. You're right tis is a great community!:D Compared with the mint community which isn't even close...

But anyway.

I'll go through the replies one by one.

@rhowaldt: Thanks for the kind words. I refuse to give up for some reason because i LOVE this distro. I love the more hands-on approach witout getting too crazy. I knew the problems I am having were probably my fault.

@mynis01: I am running the BPO version 64bit. I edited my sources list as per some advice I found on this forum to combat broken dependencies and failures to upgrade. And to also get te most up to date 'stable' software I could find.

Here is my list:

## CRUNCHBANG
## Compatible with Debian Squeeze, but use at your own risk.
deb http://packages.crunchbang.org/statler statler main
#deb-src http://packages.crunchbang.org/statler statler main

## CRUNCHBANG MULTIMEDIA
## Debian Multimedia Mirror
deb http://packages.crunchbang.org/statler-mm squeeze main non-free
#deb-src http://packages.crunchbang.org/statler-mm squeeze main non-free

## CRUNCHBANG MOZILLA
## Debian Mozilla Mirror
#deb http://packages.crunchbang.org/statler-mozilla squeeze-backports iceweasel-release
#deb-src http://packages.crunchbang.org/statler-mozilla squeeze-backports iceweasel-release

## DEBIAN
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ squeeze main contrib non-free
#deb-src http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ squeeze main contrib non-free

## DEBIAN SECURITY
deb http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main
#deb-src http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main

## DEBIAN BACKPORTS
deb http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports squeeze-backports main contrib non-free
#deb-src http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports squeeze-backports main contrib non-free

deb ftp://ftp.debian-multimedia.org squeeze main non-free
deb ftp://ftp.debian-multimedia.org squeeze-backports main
deb http://mozilla.debian.net/ squeeze-backports iceweasel-release
deb ftp://mepis.mirrorcatalogs.com/mepis/packages/mepis/ mepis-11.0 main
deb http://main.mepis-deb.org/mepiscr/repo/ mepis11cr main non-free
deb http://restricted.mepis-deb.org/mepiscr/repo/ mepis11cr restricted restricted-non-free
deb http://liquorix.net/debian sid main

I assumed the cb-welcome problem had to do with that change but according to the advice I've read. They had success with that. I am actually running the script commands manually after finding the necessary script files.

I will try wicd again and see if it has the same problem. I never had a problem with it until 8th reinstall.

@2ManyDogs: I am not a new Linux user but all the code names have been a source of confusion for me. I don't know how to set up what you're suggesting. Can you give steps? I have the 64bit Backport version. I installed that. Then I usually run the script out of the gate but I read some advice on this forum to change the /etc/apt/preferences settings and the source list to prevent broken dependencies. it seems to be working fine except for the script.

@ivanovnegro: #! is like a woman. Bak and forth bewteen love and hate!:D But anyway. I will try that image.

Anyway my system is a: ASUS generic laptop sold under Zareason brand (a company that sells laptops preinstalled with ubuntu) 2.2ghx Core2Duo, 4GB ram, 250GB HDD partitioned, Intel i965 on board graphics. I figure out most of te error messages I got like but the hardest to deal with was the dependency issues which seem to have been fixed with the edits i made to sources and preferences.

@VastOne: Thanks. I appreciate all the quick help here and I have found most answers to my problems on this forum. Looks like a promising distro and I hope it gets big. I tried Ubuntu (hated it) Mandriva for a long time (great but no longer made) Mint (bloat, slower than windows 7 on my machine), I was blown away by #!.

@snowpine: Thanks! I can't help getting under the hood of things. It's a trait thats been with me since I was a kid! I did run stable for a while until I took notice of how old the software in the repos was.

Thanks for the welcomes and help again guys.
Looking forward to a long time using #!. Takes me back to the days when you actually had to type stuff to run stuff.:lol:

Last edited by tedbell (2012-05-08 21:06:12)

snowpine · 2012-05-08 20:59:37

Why did you add MEPIS repos? Try again using the default #! sources.list, it is perfect exactly the way it is. Debian Stable repos are not meant to be mixed with other repos (except, arguably, with #! repos and backports). smile

tedbell · 2012-05-08 21:04:14

I added mepis because they have vlc 2.01 amongst other things.

Can anyone recommend sources with up-to date software that would work with the testing version (which I am currently downloading smile )

2ManyDogs · 2012-05-08 21:04:21

^ sorry -- waldorf is the "code" name for the most recent #! release -- it's what mynis called the "testing" image (from here and it has the most up-to-date kernel and software (it's based on the Debian testing/wheezy branch) -- wheezy will soon be the new "stable". But as snowpine also suggested, you might try the stable BPO release without modifying the sources -- you might be surprised at how well it works...

(edit) you have a heck of a complex sources list there -- let's try something simpler to start smile

Last edited by 2ManyDogs (2012-05-09 01:31:12)

2ManyDogs · 2012-05-08 21:06:32

^ vlc 2.01 is in the Debian testing repo now. give waldorf (the testing image you are downloading now) a try (without modifying anything!) and if it doesn't have what you need give us specifics and we'll see what we can do... one step at a time...

tedbell · 2012-05-08 21:07:20

Complex? LOL you should have seen when I tried the craigevil 'giant sources list' the first time.
Ah good to hear vlc in in testing. I had that repo checked and it didn't download the appropriate upgrade. What about xfce 4.10? Last time I tried to install that from source I killed my system. I heard that was sent to testing too.

Will take this one step at a time as suggested smile

Last edited by tedbell (2012-05-08 21:10:40)

2ManyDogs · 2012-05-08 21:12:28

^ and I bet it broke big time, right? smile

(edit) you can check http://packages.debian.org/ to see what versions are in which branch right now. It looks like testing (and sid) have Xfce v4.08, only experimental has 4.10.

Just out of curiosity, why do you need 4.10? Does it have some awesome new feature that's not in the older versions?

Last edited by 2ManyDogs (2012-05-08 21:15:46)

VastOne · 2012-05-08 21:17:29

Xfce 4.10 is in Experimental... I use 4.8 still on Sid and may take the plunge later today...

Not in Testing...

tedbell · 2012-05-08 21:19:54

2ManyDogs wrote:

^ and I bet it broke big time, right?
(edit) you can check http://packages.debian.org/ to see what versions are in which branch right now. It looks like testing (and sid) have Xfce v4.08, only experimental has 4.10.
Just out of curiosity, why do you need 4.10? Does it have some awesome new feature that's not in the older versions?

Broke? More like exploded into a million errors. No more of that!
I guess I am just a 'newer is better' junkie sometimes. I haven't had a chance to check out any of its features anyway.

machinebacon · 2012-05-08 21:21:01

Welcome to the #! BBQ

Advise: upon the first run always perform an update && dist-upgrade and try not to add 'external' sources except you are in sid/unstable and/or know what version differences happen.

No problem with mepis per se, but if you check with apt-cache depends you can see the dependencies ;and then go through the package versions (apt-cache policy) - you'll probably want to go sid directly to avoid breakage big_smile

My advise is Waldorf without any other sources added, or one of the Statler iso's with the Sid (unstable) repos added.

VastOne · 2012-05-08 21:22:08

^^ Many of us are the same way... and we have used Sid for several years with no issues

If I were you, I would install Waldorf and take that to Sid for the latest and greatest apps and also add the debian sid multimedia repos and Experimental for even more options...

It is what I do and love the bleeding edge I live on

tedbell · 2012-05-08 21:23:42

VastOne wrote:

Xfce 4.10 is in Experimental... I use 4.8 still on Sid and may take the plunge later today...
Not in Testing...

Would that install through synaptic or would I have to compile it myself?

tedbell · 2012-05-08 21:26:22

machinebacon wrote:

Welcome to the #! BBQ
Advise: upon the first run always perform an update && dist-upgrade and try not to add 'external' sources except you are in sid/unstable and/or know what version differences happen.
No problem with mepis per se, but if you check with apt-cache depends you can see the dependencies ;and then go through the package versions (apt-cache policy) - you'll probably want to go sid directly to avoid breakage
My advise is Waldorf without any other sources added, or one of the Statler iso's with the Sid (unstable) repos added.

Thanks
I will give your suggestion a try if I run into the same problem. Going into 10th reinstall soon with waldorf.

2ManyDogs · 2012-05-08 21:27:11

^ one step at a time, remember? smile -- get a basic Waldorf working and someone will be happy to show you how to break it by adding the experimental repo... smile

tedbell · 2012-05-08 21:28:31

VastOne wrote:

^^ Many of us are the same way... and we have used Sid for several years with no issues
If I were you, I would install Waldorf and take that to Sid for the latest and greatest apps and also add the debian sid multimedia repos and Experimental for even more options...
It is what I do and love the bleeding edge I live on

Do you have dependency issues? What about stability?

How do I, as you say, ' take that to Sid'? I always read to steer clear of experimental even unstable and testing if running stable. Seemed to solve my issues.

2ManyDogs: I hear you. I'll report back after I install what I need.

Last edited by tedbell (2012-05-08 21:30:43)

machinebacon · 2012-05-08 21:29:58

Going sid is easy: change the sources.list after update & dist-upgrade, change the apt-preferences, and go smile

tedbell · 2012-05-08 21:31:42

machinebacon wrote:

Going sid is easy: change the sources.list after update & dist-upgrade, change the apt-preferences, and go

I changed them all to 500. is that correct? I don't have much experience with that file.

VastOne · 2012-05-08 21:32:45

Well, that puts you in a conundrum... If you want new packages, you will have to decide and choose on dependency issues...

For me and what I run, I have no issues at all with Sid, running it non stop for 2 years on several machines.. When there are dependency issues, I wait them out.. they are usually resolved within a couple of days ... I have also ran them down and compiled what I have needed to resolve them but most of the time I just wait it out...

If you enable Experimental, you would get Xfce 4.10 via apt-get update or apt-get install and will not need to compile

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#1 2012-05-08 20:11:14

New #! user on his 9th reinstall in 2 days is on the brink of insanity

#2 2012-05-08 20:23:01

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