Upgrade causing screen and font problems [SOLVED]

whaler · 2008-09-14 07:38:11

I just used pacman to upgrade to iwlwifi-3945-ucode-15.28.1.6-1 and virtualbox_bin-2.0.2-1 on my 64bit box.

I am in the habit of always restarting the system after an upgrade. To my surprise, this time I was met with a new screen resolution, and Dolphin would no longer recognize Norwegian characters. I have tried adjusting the screen resolution in KDE, but it becomes either too small or too big. As I am using the same monitor for an Arch i686 box and don't see these problems there, I am ruling out hardware errors.

So - how can an upgrade of iwlwifi or virtualbox cause this mess? Any suggestions as to how to fix it?

Last edited by whaler (2008-09-15 04:18:25)

whaler · 2008-09-14 10:21:05

Further to my message above: It turns out that not only does KDE, i.e. Dolphin, not recognize Norwegian characters any more, it also says files with such charaters in their names do not exist and refuses to let me rename or delete them. The files in question are OOo Calc files, and Calc still sees their titles correctly and handles them normally otherwise - letting me rename or delete them.

Seems as if the upgrades destroyed something in KDE, but that (at least some) programs accessed from GUI are not affected.

If anyone has any suggestions, or can tell me how I can downgrade the two packages in question, I would be grateful.

Allan · 2008-09-14 10:23:32

Are you sure that these were the only two packages you updated since you last reboot? I am finding it difficult to see how these packages could have caused these problems.

whaler · 2008-09-14 11:43:18

Yes - absolutely positive.

I had my computer turned off during the night and everything was normal when I booted it in the morning.
I then decided to see if would be offered 'texlive', as I was on my i686 box, and issued 'abs' and then 'pacman -Syu'. Since I had upgraded recently, I was only offered the two packages mentioned above (no 'texlive' ), which I accepted. Immediately after the upgrade(s), I ran 'pacman-optimize', exited from root and restarted the system. The screen resolution was out of whack, fonts were unfamiliar (could be optical misjudgement on my part due to the unfamiliar screen resolution), Dolphin does not recognize Norwegian characters or even files with such characters in their titles. Furthermore, the fonts are now ugly, as if anti-aliasing and/or other enhancements are missing and both fonts and pictures are now slightly blurry. The pleasant fonts in Gran Paradiso now look like a regression to the mid 90's...

Somehow either pacman or one of the two packages must have caused this, as far as I can understand. A partly broken viideo card would not account for missing locale abilities, for one thing.

It seems only KDE itself is broken. Apps I have tried work as normal, and the terminal still understands Norwegian. In KDE, my locale settings are unchanged and I am out of ideas (doesn't take a lot...

Last edited by whaler (2008-09-14 11:47:40)

moljac024 · 2008-09-14 11:51:22

I remember running pacman-optimize once. Had to reinstall my system - NO JOKE. I haven't touched it since. What does it do exactly ?

whaler · 2008-09-14 12:06:51

Hi moljac024!

Interesting. I have used pacman-optimize most of the times after an upgrade, but usually after rebooting. Today I ran it immediately after the upgrade had finished, before rebooting. Speaking of details, I might mention that I also ran Dolphin before rebooting (I usually copy the terminal screen - it gives slightly more info than the ordinary logfile... )

I believe pacman-optimize gathers the various elements of the package database to a single or a few single area(s) of the disk, so as to be less vulnerable to fragmentation under certain file systems. However, people with more technical knowledge may want to correct me.

moljac024 · 2008-09-14 12:28:41

I know it sounds silly, I couldn't believe it myself back then. But somehow, pacman-optimize hosed my system. And it's not that I wasn't satisfied with it's performance, it was mere curiosity. I wasn't interested in examining it further back then but it was the first and last time I ran that command.

But you, however, claim that you previously ran it successfully. Maybe I didn't diagnose it correctly back then, but I'm pretty sure all my troubles came right after the pacman-optimize. Perhaps you could look into that script (is it a script, do I remember that correctly?)

Last edited by moljac024 (2008-09-14 12:29:25)

whaler · 2008-09-14 12:42:51

I don't doubt your experience, or your interpretation/hunch. *Everything* can go wrong in computers, and does, sooner or later... I consider myself lucky to have used Arch for six months without serious trouble before today.

Do you know how I could 'downgrade' the two packages, or if it is even possible?

The pacman-optimize script, if it is a script, would be impossible for me to interprete. I just use computers - I don't understand them

Last edited by whaler (2008-09-14 12:46:09)

moljac024 · 2008-09-14 14:12:50

Well, as anyone here will tell you, if you don't clean your pacman cache, that's where you'll find older versions of packages. They reside somewhere in /var. I'm at work now, so I can't check the right path (since I have to use Windows here). Bah, I never remember paths

Then you can just install a local package from the cache with a "pacman -U /path/po/package-version"

whaler · 2008-09-15 02:45:21

Thank you, moljac024. Meanwhile I have found that I must correct what I said about KDE no longer understanding Norwegian. Dolphin sees Norwegian titles made by OOo Calc as garbled and refuses to open them, saying they don't exist. However, Dolphin sees and handles Norwegian titles created by itself. Kspread, likewise, sees Norwegian titles created by OOo Calc as garbled, but _will handle them correctly. Conversely, Calc sees such titles created by either Dolphin or Kspread as garbled, but will load them. Seems this encoding/codepage(??) inconsistency is unrelated to my screen and font problem, but an annoyance nonetheless. Don't know what to do with it.

Given this, I am reluctant to try to 'downgrade' - I may easily make matters worse. Since the system seems to be working, I will try to live with the unusual font sizes etc. Coming from OS/2, I am not spoiled anyway...

whaler · 2008-09-15 04:13:42

This is getting curiouser and curiouser...

I logged out, turned off the machine and turned off the electricity supply to the machine (pulled the plug), waited for about 10 minutes and restarted the system.

Everything seems to be back to normal. Screen resolution, font sizes, looks - all seem to be exactly as they were before. Great!

However, what caused this? A cold reboot seems to have fixed problems which arose after a hot reboot. I am no computer engineer, but I suspect that it may have to do with memory not being (fully) flushed during a hot reboot. I am not sure what can be learned from this incident, except not to trust hotboots to be clean boots. Always start with a *totally cold* boot before trying to diagnose problems.

Thanks again for your support, moljac024!

Arch Linux

#1 2008-09-14 07:38:11

Upgrade causing screen and font problems [SOLVED]

#2 2008-09-14 10:21:05

Re: Upgrade causing screen and font problems [SOLVED]

#3 2008-09-14 10:23:32

Re: Upgrade causing screen and font problems [SOLVED]

#4 2008-09-14 11:43:18

Re: Upgrade causing screen and font problems [SOLVED]

#5 2008-09-14 11:51:22

Re: Upgrade causing screen and font problems [SOLVED]

#6 2008-09-14 12:06:51

Re: Upgrade causing screen and font problems [SOLVED]

#7 2008-09-14 12:28:41

Re: Upgrade causing screen and font problems [SOLVED]

#8 2008-09-14 12:42:51

Re: Upgrade causing screen and font problems [SOLVED]

#9 2008-09-14 14:12:50

Re: Upgrade causing screen and font problems [SOLVED]

#10 2008-09-15 02:45:21

Re: Upgrade causing screen and font problems [SOLVED]

#11 2008-09-15 04:13:42

Re: Upgrade causing screen and font problems [SOLVED]

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