How to get a stable -but modern- (K)Ubuntu running?

[mue.de]

I want to rely on my kubuntu system but also need some newer functions of quite few applications (such as DigiKam, Amarok , Eclipse) which are a few years old in the repositories of (K)ubuntu Lucid Lynx.
Following some tips my system got sometimes completely unusable, so what is the right way ?

[dino99]

you can upgrade to maverick, then natty :)

[ld114]

I started with an installation of Lucid Lynx just a few months ago, but quickly found that I could upgrade to Natty on the same machine. That proved a better way to get more up to date versions of apps, than tyring to tweak them based on an earlier version of the OS. This might also work for you. (I am running Ubuntu, but with the KDE desktop installed so that I can have Ubuntu and Kubuntu options at login.)

[mue.de]

Thanks for reply,

but my primary choice is a stable system, secondary the newer applications.
My last dist-upgrade from Hardy heron to lucid lynx ended in a disaster, i almost had to set up a new system.
Now -after some experiments with 'backport' repos- i'm one year later quite at the same point again.
So how would you translate 'Ein gebranntes Kind scheut das Feuer' : my first aim is to keep all my running applications running.
I don't have enough harddisk space (just 250GB for Dual-Boot Windows and Linux), to use a separate Test-Ubuntu on that Laptop, but i have Natty Narwhal running at my daughter's Siemens Desktop.
I read a lot of trouble switching to natty narwhal; even my first experience with that distro gave me a feeling of that 'kindly new world': Two steps forward and 5 steps back?
I even couldn't boot a live dvd to the point of a running gui with natty narwhal on the Toshiba Laptop where Lucid Lynx boots out of the box !
I just want to setup a clean system based on Lucid Lynx (LTS): what repos are (for kubuntu and german localisation) standard?
What kind of packet manager is reliable in emergency situation?
If i use KPackagekit it's only available in a gui, if use apt-get after some trials i get the message to use a more powerful packetmanager as synaptic or aptitude; aptitude helped me sometimes but has a cryptic user interface; using a long time synaptic i was told, that it's no longer recommended, i should use kpackagekit : the circle is complete.
Aptitude was my favorite -at the command line- to ignite the wonderful system self heeling capabilities, but something didn't work right after that; now it's the QDBUS (USB-auto-Mounting doesn't work anymore).

[SeijiSensei]

For my money, Maverick 10.10 remains the most stable version of Kubuntu available. It does mean you'll be stuck with KDE 4.5 for a while. The Kubuntu maintainers in their infinite wisdom removed the 4.6 binaries from the backports repository and offer no upgrade for Maverick at all.

I'm waiting to see if 12.04 will be worth upgrading to. My first couple of attempts with 11.10 alpha/beta haven't been too successful, but it will include KDE 4.7. That's why I figure 12.04 might be the best next choice, just as 10.10 fixed a lot of problems with Kubuntu 10.04.

For Maverick, digikam is at version 1.4.0. I don't use amarok, preferring Clementine (http://www.clementine-player.org/downloads) instead. I don't use Eclipse at all, but it appears to be at version 5.6 in Maverick.

I still use synaptic from time to time, but KPackageKit has improved quite a bit. Most of the time, though, I install packages from the command line with apt-get.

PS: I don't know how the versions for Lucid can be "years" old when Lucid itself was released in April, 2010.

[mue.de]

Ok, I'll try Maverik in the next future; meanwhile my system is running quite fine again.
One disadvantage is, that Digikam got downgraded to V1.4.0 (i had compiled 2.1.0 before), Amarok is now V2.4.0, so the backports are working now.
The error 'Kein Kontact zu KDED' is still present and the behavior on plugging in usb-drives isn't ok;
even after the 'clean-up' listed below:

I did the whole command sequence as mentioned in https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PackageManagerTroubleshootingProcedure


p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; } muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ sudo fuser -vvv /var/lib/dpkg/lock
[sudo] password for muelux:
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=10.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=lucid
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS"
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ uname -a
Linux muelux-LT6cA 2.6.32-34-generic #76-Ubuntu SMP Tue Aug 30 16:19:34 UTC 2011 i686 GNU/Linux
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/lock
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ sudo cp -arf /var/lib/dpkg /var/lib/dpkg.backup
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ sudo cp /var/lib/dpkg/status-old /var/lib/dpkg/status
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ sudo cp /var/lib/dpkg/available-old /var/lib/dpkg/available
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ sudo rm -rf /var/lib/dpkg/updates/*
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ sudo rm /var/cache/apt/*.bin
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ sudo mkdir /var/lib/apt/lists
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ sudo mkdir /var/lib/apt/lists/partial
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get clean
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get autoclean
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get --purge autoremove
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
kde-minimal* kdebase*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 2 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
After this operation, 73.7kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? Y
(Reading database ...
dpkg: warning: files list file for package `kde-minimal' missing, assuming package has no files currently installed.

dpkg: warning: files list file for package `kdebase' missing, assuming package has no files currently installed.
(Reading database ... 423780 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing kdebase ...
Removing kde-minimal ...
p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; } muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get update -o APT::Cache-Limit=25165824
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid Release.gpg [189B]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-updates Release.gpg [198B]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-security Release.gpg [198B]
Get:4 http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid Release.gpg [316B]
Get:5 http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid Release.gpg [316B]
Get:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-backports Release.gpg [198B]
Get:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid Release [57.2kB]
Get:8 http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid Release [13.9kB]
Get:9 http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid Release [14.0kB]
Get:10 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-updates Release [44.7kB]
Get:11 http://download.virtualbox.org lucid Release.gpg [197B]
Get:12 http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid/main Packages [7552B]
Get:13 http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid/main Sources [1138B]
Get:14 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-security Release [44.7kB]
Get:15 http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid/main Packages [106kB]
Get:16 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-backports Release [38.5kB]
Get:17 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid/main Packages [1386kB]
Get:18 http://download.virtualbox.org lucid Release [5447B]
Get:19 http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid/main Sources [33.2kB]
Get:20 http://download.virtualbox.org lucid/contrib Packages [1298B]
Get:21 http://download.virtualbox.org lucid/non-free Packages [1320B]
Get:22 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid/universe Packages [5448kB]
Get:23 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid/restricted Packages [6208B]
Get:24 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid/main Sources [659kB]
Get:25 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid/universe Sources [3165kB]
Get:26 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-updates/main Packages [513kB]
Get:27 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-updates/universe Packages [225kB]
Get:28 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-updates/restricted Packages [3240B]
Get:29 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-updates/main Sources [201kB]
Get:30 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-updates/universe Sources [80.4kB]
Get:31 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-security/main Packages [205kB]
Get:32 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-security/universe Packages [83.9kB]
Get:33 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-security/restricted Packages [14B]
Get:34 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-security/main Sources [62.9kB]
Get:35 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-security/universe Sources [25.8kB]
Get:36 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-backports/universe Packages [42.4kB]
Get:37 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-backports/main Packages [15.6kB]
Get:38 http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-backports/restricted Packages [14B]
Fetched 12.5MB in 12s (966kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$
p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; } muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ sudo dpkg --clear-avail
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get --fix-missing install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$
p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; } muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get update -o APT::Cache-Limit=25165824 && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid Release.gpg
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid Release.gpg
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid Release.gpg
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-updates Release.gpg
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-security Release.gpg
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid Release
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-backports Release.gpg
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid Release
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-updates Release
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid Release
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-security Release
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-backports Release
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid/main Packages
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid/main Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid/main Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid/universe Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid/restricted Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid/main Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid/universe Sources
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid/main Packages
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net lucid/main Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-updates/main Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-updates/universe Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-updates/restricted Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-updates/main Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-updates/universe Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-security/main Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-security/universe Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-security/restricted Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-security/main Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-security/universe Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-backports/universe Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-backports/main Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com lucid-backports/restricted Packages
Hit http://download.virtualbox.org lucid Release.gpg
Hit http://download.virtualbox.org lucid Release
Hit http://download.virtualbox.org lucid/contrib Packages
Hit http://download.virtualbox.org lucid/non-free Packages
Reading package lists... Done
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
muelux@muelux-LT6cA:~$

[mue.de]

Could someone please give me help for helping myself?

I'm still searching for the bug in my Lucid Lynx: The main problem is the error 'no contact to KDED' (KDE-daemon?); i can't use USB-Sticks under KDE, have to mount them by terminal, kmail forgets its certificates... (something wrong with DBUS?)

Where can i get on the trace of this bug?

P.S.:
Why are there still relicts from the old KDE3.5 on my system?

muelux@muelux-LT6cA:/var/log$ kded --version
Qt: 3.3.8b
KDE: 3.5.10
KDE Daemon: $Id: kded.cpp 711061 2007-09-11 09:42:51Z tpatzig $


muelux@muelux-LT6cA:/$ sudo qdbus
:1.1
org.freedesktop.DBus
How could i really clean up the system from old dependancies (the about 10 Kernel-Versions listed at GRUB2-Start) ?

Any help would by appreciated

Just for the records:

Running the commands



sudo service apache2 stop
sudo service postfix stop

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
once more again (after stopping all Miniprogramms (systray) with apache2 and postfix)
apt got a lot of updates, kernel-headers, firefox, firefox-branding, GRUB2-Updating it's list, generating a new initrd...

Now the qdbus has much more entries:


muelux@muelux-LT6cA:/$ qdbus
:1.1
org.kde.klauncher
:1.10
org.kde.ActivityController-1693
:1.11
org.freedesktop.Notifications
org.kde.StatusNotifierHost-1719
org.kde.plasma-desktop
:1.13
org.kde.ActivityController-1719
:1.14
org.kde.knotify
:1.16
org.kde.JobViewServer
org.kde.kuiserver
:1.18
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Control
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Control.lock
:1.19
org.freedesktop.Akonadi
:1.20
:1.21
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Agent.akonadi_birthdays_re source_0
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Resource.akonadi_birthdays _resource_0
org.kde.akonadi_birthdays_resource_0-1764
:1.22
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Agent.akonadi_kabc_resourc e_1
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Resource.akonadi_kabc_reso urce_1
org.kde.KResourcesManager
org.kde.akonadi_kabc_resource_1-1767
:1.23
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Agent.akonadi_ical_resourc e_0
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Resource.akonadi_ical_reso urce_0
org.kde.akonadi_ical_resource_0-1766
:1.24
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Agent.akonadi_contacts_res ource_2
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Resource.akonadi_contacts_ resource_2
org.kde.akonadi_contacts_resource_2-1765
:1.25
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Agent.akonadi_nepomuk_cont act_feeder
org.kde.akonadi_nepomuk_contact_feeder-1770
:1.26
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Agent.akonadi_nntp_resourc e_0
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Resource.akonadi_nntp_reso urce_0
org.kde.akonadi_nntp_resource_0-1771
:1.27
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Agent.akonadi_vcard_resour ce_0
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Resource.akonadi_vcard_res ource_0
org.kde.akonadi_vcard_resource_0-1772
:1.28
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Agent.akonadi_maildir_reso urce_2
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Resource.akonadi_maildir_r esource_2
org.kde.akonadi_maildir_resource_2-1768
:1.29
org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Agent.akonadi_maildispatch er_agent
org.kde.akonadi_maildispatcher_agent-1769
:1.30
org.kde.NepomukServer
:1.32
org.kde.NepomukStorage
org.kde.nepomuk.services.nepomukstorage
org.kde.nepomukstorage-1795
:1.33
:1.34
org.kde.kaccess
:1.40
org.freedesktop.ScreenSaver
org.kde.krunner
org.kde.screensaver
:1.43
org.kde.kmix
:1.45
org.kde.policykit1-kde
:1.47
org.kde.kbluetooth
:1.49
org.kde.StatusNotifierItem-1830-1
:1.5
org.kde.kglobalaccel
:1.50
org.kde.kgpg
:1.52
:1.59
org.kde.StatusNotifierItem-1835-1
:1.63
org.kde.klipper
:1.65
org.kde.korgac
:1.69
org.kde.kwalletd
:1.71
org.kde.knetworkmanager
org.kde.networkmanagement
:1.73
org.kde.StatusNotifierItem-1826-1
:1.74
org.kde.StatusNotifierItem-1855-1
:1.75
org.kde.StatusNotifierItem-1856-1
:1.76
org.kde.StatusNotifierItem-1861-1
:1.77
org.kde.printer-applet-1842
:1.78
org.kde.StatusNotifierItem-1842-1
:1.79
org.kde.nepomuk.services.nepomukqueryservice
org.kde.nepomukqueryservice-1880
:1.8
org.kde.ksmserver
org.kde.ksmserver-1669
:1.80
org.kde.nepomuk.services.nepomukontologyloader
org.kde.nepomukontologyloader-1881
:1.81
org.kde.nepomuk.services.nepomukfilewatch
org.kde.nepomukfilewatch-1882
:1.82
org.kde.digikamnepomukservice-1883
org.kde.nepomuk.services.digikamnepomukservice
:1.83
org.kde.nepomuk.services.nepomukremovablestoragese rvice
org.kde.nepomukremovablestorageservice-1885
:1.84
org.kde.nepomuk.services.nepomukactivitiesservice
org.kde.nepomukactivitiesservice-1886
:1.85
org.kde.kwalletmanager
:1.87
org.kde.StatusNotifierItem-1888-1
:1.88
:1.89
org.kde.dolphin
:1.9
org.kde.kwin
org.kde.kwin-1693
:1.91
:1.92
org.freedesktop.DBus


mue.de