cannot recover desktop on debian squeeze

[Alder8]

Hi arochester,

I think you're right, there doesn't seem to be much point pressing on with a broken system... I'll try puppy linux to recover my data and do a fresh install of a light distro as this is a very old laptop due to be retired soon... Which *light* distro would you recommend for a 10-year-old computer?

[arochester]

Debian?

Article a bit old, but still worthy. Again, go for lxde-core instead of lxde. Build what you want... https://www.maketecheasier.com/build-li ... end-laptop

Even more basic, but it works...https://saidkhorramshahgol.wordpress.co ... tallation/

[Head_on_a_Stick]

I then tried to install the ldxe-core but I get the message that the following packages have unmet dependencies:
ldxe-core: Depends ldxe-common but it is not going to be installed
Depends lxpanel but it is not going to be installed
open box...
pcmanfm...
gksu
lxsession
xscreensaver...

Have you been adding Testing/Unstable repositories or Ubuntu PPAs to your sources.list?

Read the bottom link in my signature to get some clues as to what may have b0rked your system (in the interest of not making the same mistake again).

[Alder8]

Have you been adding Testing/Unstable repositories or Ubuntu PPAs to your sources.list?

Read the bottom link in my signature to get some clues as to what may have b0rked your system (in the interest of not making the same mistake again).

Yes, I have been... The only thing I can say is that the system has performed admirably stably for the entirety of the time (over three years) I've been using it and only crashed during the last round of updates. I'll read the link you suggest carefully to avoid future issues.

[Alder8]

Debian?

Article a bit old, but still worthy. Again, go for lxde-core instead of lxde. Build what you want... https://www.maketecheasier.com/build-li ... end-laptop

Even more basic, but it works...https://saidkhorramshahgol.wordpress.co ... tallation/

Thanks for the suggestions, arochester!

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Yes, I have been...

Busted!


Would you mind posting your /etc/apt/sources.list as a warning for other Debian users?

[Alder8]

I'll try to but not sure how to export the file to the other computer I'm currently using...

[Head_on_a_Stick]

not sure how to export the file to the other computer I'm currently using

Can you browse the main system drive from a live distribution and post it from there?

[thanatos_incarnate]

Maybe other people can still suggest a positive way to deal with this.

Have you been adding Testing/Unstable repositories or Ubuntu PPAs to your sources.list?

Yes, I have been...

I'm out.

[golinux]

Jeeseh . . . I asked to see the OP's sources list on page one and s/he didn't respond. Guess the concept that mixing repos is not-a-good-thing finally got through his/her thick skull. Better late than never . . .

[GarryRicketson]

I'll try to but not sure how to export the file to the other computer I'm currently using...

If the "broken" computer can still read a usb stick, you can do this:

Code: Select all

 cat sources.list > output.txt 

That will copy your sources.list, and create a file called "output.txt" (you can name it anything you want,does not have to be output.txt)
Then copy the txt file to the usb stick,..If you use the path to the usb stick:

Code: Select all

cat sources.list > /mnt/usbstick/output.txt  

it would put is directly on the stick. They way I show this, you need to be in the /apt/etc directory,
or use

Code: Select all

 cat /apt/etc/sources.list > Path/to/Usbstick/filename 

[dasein]

Have you been adding Testing/Unstable repositories or Ubuntu PPAs to your sources.list?
[snip]

Yes, I have been...

I knew it. No wonder the OP was so evasive when I asked exactly what he'd done.

The only thing I can say is that the system has performed admirably stably for the entirety of the time (over three years) I've been using it and only crashed during the last round of updates.

See, this is exactly why anecdotal reports of "I've been mixing repos since the dawn of time, and I've never had any problems" are both entirely untrustworthy and totally irrelevant. The system may nor may not get FUBARed right away, depending on what's being installed/updated (and depending further on what's already installed). Plus, not all instances of FUBAR are obvious right away.

The thing is: when multiple (read: potentially incompatible) repos are enabled, each and every package installed or updated (a) presents a new opportunity for irreparable borkage and (b) increases the likelihood of a future problem. (More formally, p(FUBAR) can never go down.)

Given enough time, the cumulative probability of borkage approaches 1.0.

tl;dr: Mixing repos is like arming a time bomb. "It worked fine right up until it didn't" is neither informative nor useful. But it is somewhere between entirely predictable and all-but-inevitable, given sufficient time/opportunity.

[GarryRicketson]

Not that I know much about "programming", but what little experience I have had, the same applies,
A small error, or bad code, may not seem to cause problems at first, and the "program" seems
to work fine, sometimes even a long time, but eventually it all comes "tumbling down" so to speak,
If the OP still has the ISO, or install CD/DVD, for squeeze, and really likes "squeeze" that much,
I think the easiest thing would be to re-install, and take it from there, try not to make the same mistakes over again. Really a OS is just a "program", and if properly managed, can be maintained,
and kept running, for quite some time. Debian is very "versatile".

[Sarge-in-charge]

tl;dr: Mixing repos is like arming a time bomb. "It worked fine right up until it didn't" is neither informative nor useful. But it is somewhere between entirely predictable and all-but-inevitable, given sufficient time/opportunity.

So, it seems like the OP needs to format and reinstall. No comments.