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#1 2013-10-21 22:29:57

Leios
Member
From: Okinawa, JP
Registered: 2012-03-16
Posts: 73
Website

[solved] I used pacdiff and overwrote all of the pacnew files listed.

I have been using Arch for years and never dealt with a pacnew file until today when fixing LaTex (and yes, I do realize I should have been on top of things and done that months ago). That being said, after using the pacdiff command, I saw quite a few packages with pacnew files and thought, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and fix those too." I was wrong. Here is a list of known errors on my sistem now:

1. All my passwords have been reset and my normal user is not recognized. On top of that, I cannot use or vi anymore.
2. I cannot "startx" or xinit from root.
3. My root, boot, and home partitions are not talking to each other (an fstab issue, I believe). I assume my swap partition is not working either

I am currently using a Manjaro flash drive I had just sitting next to me at the time. I have been browsing through my files and have confirmed that my fstab file has been one of the ones re-written. I am also in the process of backing up my data in case I need a fresh install.

Simply put, how do I fix any of the above errors without causing any more harm?

Thanks,
Leios

Last edited by Leios (2013-10-21 23:48:35)

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#2 2013-10-21 22:52:58

karol
Archivist
Registered: 2009-05-06
Posts: 25,440

Re: [solved] I used pacdiff and overwrote all of the pacnew files listed.

Use your backup to properly merge the pacnew files.

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#3 2013-10-21 23:07:50

Leios
Member
From: Okinawa, JP
Registered: 2012-03-16
Posts: 73
Website

Re: [solved] I used pacdiff and overwrote all of the pacnew files listed.

See, that's the problem. I don't have a back-up (unless pacdiff does it automatically). I know this was a stupid thing to do. Trust me, I'm usually much more cautious.

As a side note, I found another error. Every time I try to use vi to edit a file, I see the following and am not allowed to edit the file:

"/var/tmp/Ex0000000298" Read-Only file system

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#4 2013-10-21 23:16:22

Xyne
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Registered: 2008-08-03
Posts: 6,963
Website

Re: [solved] I used pacdiff and overwrote all of the pacnew files listed.

How did you "fix those too"? Did you really just overwrite all of the original files with the pacnew files? The whole point of pacnew files is to avoid effectively resetting things.

For passwd, group and gshadow you should have backups in /etc/ with a trailing "-", e.g. "/etc/passwd-". For everything else, if you don't have backups then you'll have to reconfigure everything yourself. In that case, you should also set up a backup system when you're done reconfiguring.

edit:
There may already be something like it, but this gave me an idea for a little script named pkg-backup. It will copy all modified "backup" files to a directory for future restoration. It obviously won't help you in this case, but it may be useful in the future.

Last edited by Xyne (2013-10-21 23:47:01)


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#5 2013-10-21 23:48:08

Leios
Member
From: Okinawa, JP
Registered: 2012-03-16
Posts: 73
Website

Re: [solved] I used pacdiff and overwrote all of the pacnew files listed.

Xyne wrote:

How did you "fix those too"? Did you really just overwrite all of the original files with the pacnew files? The whole point of pacnew files is to avoid effectively resetting things.

For passwd, group and gshadow you should have backups in /etc/ with a trailing "-", e.g. "/etc/passwd-". For everything else, if you don't have backups then you'll have to reconfigure everything yourself. In that case, you should also set up a backup system when you're done reconfiguring.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed--especially when that shed is filled with linux users who read the manual properly the first time. That being said, the problem is now solved.

If anyone else has a similar error, look at Xyne's post and follow this thread:

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=167737

You should be golden after that.

Thanks again!

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#6 2013-10-21 23:53:32

Xyne
Administrator/PM
Registered: 2008-08-03
Posts: 6,963
Website

Re: [solved] I used pacdiff and overwrote all of the pacnew files listed.

Sorry, I really didn't mean to imply anything about your sharpness. Everyone has the occasional brainfart. Still, this would be worth a post in either the "stupid computer mistakes" or the "big things that make you go oh f@$k, no" thread.

Good luck getting everything set up again.


My Arch Linux StuffForum EtiquetteCommunity Ethos - Arch is not for everyone

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#7 2013-10-22 00:17:20

Leios
Member
From: Okinawa, JP
Registered: 2012-03-16
Posts: 73
Website

Re: [solved] I used pacdiff and overwrote all of the pacnew files listed.

It's actually already all set up (much to my surprise and pleasure). Thanks again.

Also, a friend of mine just switched to Arch and was looking for something with the functionality of your pkg-backup. I didn't know what to recommend to him at the time, so I'll let him know about the script next time I see him.

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