Hi Everyone! There is /joy/ back in my desktop again! I don't know why I had to jump through these hoops... but I *did* get here, nonetheless, and in no small measure due to your feedback. So, thanks to all who responded with tidbits and advice and for confirming that I'm /not/ brain dead and that these things /do/ happen from time to time. My solution is really a grunt-level workaround because I can't explain why it resolved the problem. However, the results are 100%... I've got my rock solid, pretty, fast, flexible and highly personalized hybrid Gnome/KDE work environment back, only in the newer versions. I think I'm in love! :-) The procedure that worked: 1. Confirmed I was installing on clean, empty partitions. (Ctl+Alt+F2 at the installer main menu reveals a rescue-like console where they can be mounted, all files erased, then unmounted and fsck'd using the correct variant for the file system. I did this knowing the partitions would be formatted. I didn't care... I wanted them *empty*.) 2. I avoided 'Detailed Selections' and chose the default Gnome desktop. 3. I skipped running YOU, configured my hardware and completed the installation first. 4. I rebooted to verify all was well and, if I encountered a 'hiccup' of any kind, I rebooted, started from scratch and resolved the problem before continuing forward. 5. Once it was booting normally and supplying a stable desktop every time I logged in, I ran YOU and installed the kernel patch by itself. 6. Following the kernel patch, I rebooted, logged in and ran YOU again to install the recommended patches (no MS TT fonts; no multimedia option packs, etc.) 7. I rebooted to confirm no breakage had occurred and ran YOU for the third time to install the optional updates. Yes, I then rebooted again to confirm that nothing had broken. 8. I /then/ began shuffling the installation order of the package groups. I installed a group, confirmed no breakage, ran YOU for updates and checked for breakage again. 9. Only when a group plus any updates were confirmed to *not* break the system did it earn a spot in my written installation sequence. When a package and/or updates /did/ break it, I started from scratch again. 10. I built the system out from the 'core' in this manner until every group I wanted was installed and updated (excluding "KDE Desktop" and "All of KDE" of course) and nothing was broken. 11. I added supplementary KDE (only) as an installation source, then in Install and Remove Software, selected 'KDE Desktop' for installation. A couple of minor packages had to be uninstalled to resolve conflicts, but KDE 3.4.2 installed cleanly. 12. I switched window and desktop managers using the sysconfig editor in YaST, from gdm to kdm and gnome to kde, to "tame" SuSEplugger and SuSEwatcher again. This also proved necessary to get kontact launching in Gnome without having to first log into KDE. The net result is that I've circumvented whatever 'hiccup' was responsible for breaking normal installations on this system. I know from my numerous previous attempts that updating to supplementary Gnome, without question, will break it. Gnome 2.10, as originally supplied with 9.3, is coexisting quite nicely with the supplementary KDE 3.4.2 level 'a'. Finally, I know I could have chased this down to the library, program and script level, if I'd had to, to isolate the precise cause of the breakage. Fortunately, it wasn't necessary. So, there you have it folks. A happy conclusion to a lengthy and frustrating situation. Thanks again to all who responded and I hope this write-up may help someone else experiencing similar problems in the future. regards, - Carl Following are my direct replies to some individual posts: On Saturday 13 August 2005 15:23, Sid Boyce wrote:
I have always installed both Gnome and KDE mainly because there are certain Gnome apps that are not available in KDE and I build apps so all the devel packages are installed also, usually after I get the box up, even then some devel packages have to be dragged in as I hit bother. Apart from 9.1 --> 9.2 upgrades which took some voodoo to get going and in one case I had to do a fresh install without reformatting of 9.2 over 9.1 and I think 9.0 over 8.2 which is the ace up my sleeve as it leaves all the important stuff intact, they have otherwise always gone OK. Regards Sid.
I'm glad you know about that 'voodoo' stuff, Sid. It's certainly true you learn something new everyday... I hadn't even conceived that there might be occasions where one would want to overlay a newer release on top of an existing one. That's something only developers should do, right? ;-) Thanks again for your reply, too... very much appreciated. On Saturday 13 August 2005 07:50, Peter Vollebregt wrote:
Carl I have updated Suse in several ways and the only pitfall i never could solve were updates of gtk that messed up my system. This looks familiair. Try to downgrade gtk and see if that helps. If that is not possible try to update with newer packages. Maybe gwdg's apt repositories have newer versions.
So... am I the *only* person who has gotten into the habit of selecting Gnome, KDE Desktop /and/ All of KDE at the start of the installation?
I used to do this but since i don't use gnome and the repeated misery with gtk updates a ileave out nome and all gnome/gtk updates that are any better than security updates.
Peter
Thanks for the additional feedback, Peter. I'd heard that before and tried some futile gtk adjustments. I don't know the exact underlying cause and, honestly, at this point I don't care... I finally have my desktop back... in the new and improved version, no less... and running just the way it should be.