[SOLVED] Unable to remove KDE

CuriousRon · 2024-07-07 08:33:23

I have a problem uninstalling KDE and the applications that come with KDE. I was using GNOME and wanted to install an additional desktop environment. I used two commands i.e. sudo pacman -S plasma and sudo pacman -S kde-applications.

However, after logging into GNOME, the two desktop environments started to sort of intermingle. I was getting messages from KDE while logged into GNOME. Currently, I can't use the terminal only the console because everything seems to be waving/splitting. Currently, using the system is akin to using a hybrid of GNOME and KDE, with a rather unpleasant experience. I've tried uninstalling both packages with sudo pacman -Rsn, but I can't do that because I get errors about dependencies:

[ron@ron ~]$ sudo pacman -Rns plasma
checking dependencies...
error: failed to prepare transaction (could not satisfy dependencies)
:: removing plasma-activities breaks dependency 'plasma-activities' required by dolphin
:: removing plasma-activities breaks dependency 'plasma-activities' required by gwenview
:: removing libplasma breaks dependency 'libplasma' required by kclock
:: removing plasma-activities breaks dependency 'plasma-activities' required by kio-extras
:: removing libplasma breaks dependency 'libplasma' required by knights
:: removing kpipewire breaks dependency 'kpipewire' required by krfb
:: removing kwayland breaks dependency 'kwayland' required by krfb
:: removing libplasma breaks dependency 'libplasma' required by kweather
:: removing libplasma breaks dependency 'libplasma' required by merkuro
:: removing plasma-activities breaks dependency 'plasma-activities' required by okular
:: removing kpipewire breaks dependency 'kpipewire' required by spectacle
:: removing layer-shell-qt breaks dependency 'layer-shell-qt' required by spectacle
:: removing plasma-activities-stats breaks dependency 'plasma-activities-stats' required by sweeper
:: removing kwayland breaks dependency 'kwayland' required by yakuake

[ron@ron ~]$ sudo pacman -R plasma
checking dependencies...
error: failed to prepare transaction (could not satisfy dependencies)
:: removing plasma-activities breaks dependency 'plasma-activities' required by dolphin
:: removing plasma-activities breaks dependency 'plasma-activities' required by gwenview
:: removing libplasma breaks dependency 'libplasma' required by kclock
:: removing plasma-activities breaks dependency 'plasma-activities' required by kio-extras
:: removing libplasma breaks dependency 'libplasma' required by knights
:: removing kpipewire breaks dependency 'kpipewire' required by krfb
:: removing kwayland breaks dependency 'kwayland' required by krfb
:: removing libplasma breaks dependency 'libplasma' required by kweather
:: removing libplasma breaks dependency 'libplasma' required by merkuro
:: removing plasma-activities breaks dependency 'plasma-activities' required by okular
:: removing kpipewire breaks dependency 'kpipewire' required by spectacle
:: removing layer-shell-qt breaks dependency 'layer-shell-qt' required by spectacle
:: removing plasma-activities-stats breaks dependency 'plasma-activities-stats' required by sweeper
:: removing kwayland breaks dependency 'kwayland' required by yakuake

What should I do to properly uninstall KDE/the KDE applications and get back to a working system?

Last edited by CuriousRon (2024-07-07 08:57:05)

UHasanU · 2024-07-07 08:45:27

Hi,

You're problem is that you are trying to remove the base desktop environment while keeping its applications. Some packages from kde-applications group require the essential packages from the plasma group, so simply you need to remove both groups

sudo pacman -Rns plasma kde-applications

See! You can give pacman multiple arguments, to delete them at once without worrying about them depending on each other. Same as installing you can use:

sudo pacman -S plasma kde-applications

Instead of two commands, as you said.

Note that -Rns might remove some packages you need, because it will not only remove plasma, and kde-applications groups packages, but also their dependencies. You can always install the packages you need again any time, so no problem. If you want to play it safe, use the command:

sudo pacman -R plasma kde-applications

Last edited by UHasanU (2024-07-07 08:47:39)

CuriousRon · 2024-07-07 08:56:29

Indeed, right! By combining the two arguments in one line, errors no longer appear. I feel a bit silly that this could have been solved so easily and I didn't come up with it having the solution almost before my eyes. Thank you very much for your quick and meaningful reply Everything is now back to normal.

UHasanU · 2024-07-07 10:09:34

Good to hear. I too had the same idea about pacman when I first started using Linux ( :
Those silly problems have to happen. Two days ago, I had problem with launching the X server and then suddenly had another problem wirh Wifi, I was so frustrated, trying different programs and rebooting with every try, then I realized I was just too far from the router lol

Arch Linux

#1 2024-07-07 08:33:23

[SOLVED] Unable to remove KDE

#2 2024-07-07 08:45:27

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to remove KDE

#3 2024-07-07 08:56:29

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to remove KDE

#4 2024-07-07 10:09:34

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to remove KDE

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