Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

sdolim · 2010-02-06 22:54:37

From the message boards, I can see that a number of people have run into unexpected difficulties during recent system upgrades which involved the new versions of libpng (1.2 -> 1.4) and libjpeg (7 -> 8). This happened to me too.

In this topic, I would like for us to collect a list of short summaries of the issues that arose, including the following information:

Problem: What made you notice that something was broken
Root cause: Your ultimate conclusion on what was actually broken
Solution: What steps needed to be done to fix it (only steps that actually helped)
Wrong path: Steps you took that were supposed to help, but did not
Oops: Steps you missed that would have prevented the problem
Helpful tips: Steps you took that helped you figure out and fix the problem (not part of the actual solution, but good to know)

No essays please, just link to original thread if there is one that contains the full discussion. Also, please hold off posting here if your problem hasn't been fully resolved yet (we need the solutions most).

The idea is that we can put together a checklist of reminders for people to use when massive upgrades like this happen in the future. From my point of view the Arch dev team did their part extraordinarily well with this upgrade. This post is to help us users do our part.

Here's my summary:

- Problem: After pacman -Syu, my desktop and all graphical apps stopped working.

- Root cause: Package cairo-lcd did not get updated as it is in AUR, so it still depended on libpng12 and libjpeg7, which had been removed during the upgrade.

- Solution: Updated and rebuilt cairo-lcd from AUR, using yaourt.

- Wrong path: Tried changing mirrors, ended up pointing at one that hadn't been updated yet.

- Oops: Should have done yaourt -Syu --aur right after pacman -Syu.

- Helpful tip 1: Used pacman -U to downgrade various packages from pacman's cache, until I got my desktop and browser back. Then I was able to come here and read the boards.

- Helpful tip 2: Using 'pacmatic' which prints out RSS news during upgrade alerted me to the upcoming big update.

Glebushka · 2010-02-07 08:08:13

Same here, GDMDisplay: display lasted ... seconds, forgot to rebuild cairo-cleartype from aur.
No errors at all in Xorg.log -- that's what was strange.
and tip: you can use console browser like elinks to read this board -- this helped much

azleifel · 2010-02-07 09:28:37

Problems: None

SOP:

1. Become aware that a library transition will be happening
2. Check dependencies on library (pacman -Qi <library name>)
3. Make note of any that are locally built (from AUR)
4. Run pacman -Syu
   If the library is being updated, are ALL of the packages that depend on the library also being updated?
   (If there are are too many to check individually, does the number of packages to be updated look big enough?)
   If the answer to either of the above is yes, press Y
   If in any doubt, press n and wait a day or try another mirror
5. Once update is done, rebuild local packages

loafer · 2010-02-07 09:35:04

I agree with azleifel. As long as you read the news and are aware of what you have got installed there is not a problem.

whaler · 2010-02-07 14:02:10

sdolim wrote:

- Wrong path: Tried changing mirrors, ended up pointing at one that hadn't been updated yet.

Problem: I updated on Feb 3 and my default kernel panicked; couldn't find the root partition.

The backup kernel worked, so I went on with my normal work. This morning I had time to read the Arch forum threads. Looking into my mirrorlist, it turns out that my default mirror (Sweden) has still(!) not been updated since Jan 30, and it happily told me I was current. I then tried an up-to-date Norwegian mirror, but it times out before getting around to making transactions. This has been the case the last six months or so... The third mirror I tried (Finland) offered me 102 packages.

I followed hints from this forum and updated my Aur packages and then made a normal -Syu. Everything went fine - the default kernel boots and the system seems o.k., except Pitivi fails to launch...

Solution: Hunting for a mirror with (enough!) current packages to make the system function.

This means we have a problem, since even with 'due diligence' we risk getting a non-functioning system after an update. I like gambling, but not the thought of my computer being a slot-machine...

na12 · 2010-02-07 18:34:59

Problems: none
I have installed: kde,gnome,xfce,lxde,openbox,fluxbox,pekwm,fvwm

Natanji · 2010-02-08 00:06:59

Problem: xournal won't start anymore
Root cause: It didn't depend on a specific version of libpng and the changes prevent it from using the updated libpng.
Solution: Submitted bug report. Currently waiting for package owner to fix it.

ohadbasan · 2010-02-08 09:03:21

Problem: after updating many graphical apps stopped working (all of the packages that depend on libpng which is 2GB of packages) all of the problematic packages are precompiled. this is not something an AUR recompilation will fix.
root cause: I believe that packages still depend on libpng1.2 while pacman updated my system to 1.4
solution: I wish I knew. tried to -Syu. didn't help. doesn't pacman suppose to update all the packages that depend on libpng once libpng is updated?

10x

Pierre · 2010-02-08 09:17:35

All packages in our repos have been updated and are working. (I rechecked that) So you are either using unofficial packages/repos or are using a very outdated mirror.

SanskritFritz · 2010-02-08 09:19:27

ohadbasan wrote:

doesn't pacman suppose to update all the packages that depend on libpng once libpng is updated?

Only if the package has been recompiled by the maintainer of that package.

aakos23 · 2010-02-08 10:42:16

My temporary solution:
-copy libpng12.so.0.40.0 to /usr/lib and create symbolic link: libpng12.so.0
-copy libjpeg.so.7.0.0 to /usr/lib and create symbolic link: libjpeg.so.7

sdolim · 2010-02-08 20:56:20

@aakos23: what package was broken that needed this fix? Let us know if you are able to upgrade that package and remove your temporary solution. (And any problems that occur while trying to do so, and how you solve them.)

sdolim · 2010-02-08 21:06:57

@ohadbasan,

Several problems that have been seen so far that can leave dependencies to libpng1.2 on your system after a system upgrade:

- You have a foreign package installed (from AUR, or manually installed -- you must update and rebuild these yourself)

- You have an out-of-date mirror (hopefully this will fix itself soon)

- One of your packages lists a dependency on "libpng" generically, but the package is actually not compatible with the newer version of libpng (see post #7 above -- package maintainer needs to fix this)

eldragon · 2010-02-08 21:20:45

aakos23 wrote:

My temporary solution:
-copy libpng12.so.0.40.0 to /usr/lib and create symbolic link: libpng12.so.0
-copy libjpeg.so.7.0.0 to /usr/lib and create symbolic link: libjpeg.so.7

oh noes. this can break things

you are better off installing the temporary aur packages with those library versions(libjpeg7 and libpng12)..

symlinking libraries is not good practice

Arch Linux

#1 2010-02-06 22:54:37

Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

#2 2010-02-07 08:08:13

Re: Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

#3 2010-02-07 09:28:37

Re: Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

#4 2010-02-07 09:35:04

Re: Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

#5 2010-02-07 14:02:10

Re: Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

#6 2010-02-07 18:34:59

Re: Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

#7 2010-02-08 00:06:59

Re: Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

#8 2010-02-08 09:03:21

Re: Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

#9 2010-02-08 09:17:35

Re: Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

#10 2010-02-08 09:19:27

Re: Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

#11 2010-02-08 10:42:16

Re: Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

#12 2010-02-08 20:56:20

Re: Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

#13 2010-02-08 21:06:57

Re: Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

#14 2010-02-08 21:20:45

Re: Post-mortem on the great libpng/libjpeg upgrade - issues and solutions

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