Hi Group,
I have gotten self into a bit of a mess, and would very greatly appreciate some help. I am finding that small upgrades can lead to spending dozens of hours, and ending up in a worse spot that by doing nothing. Right now, I have no windowing functionality in Linux at all.

Anyway, I decided to upgrade my KDE to the current release (3.4.1) on my Slackware 9.1 system. This seemed innocent enough; I d/loaded the .tgz files and installed with upgradepkg.
The install messages were fine, but startx failed, could not start kdeinit, and the reason was inability to load shared file libidn.so.11. Seeking help on the web (from another machine's browser), others had encountered this, and recommended install of another package libidn (GNU Int. Domain Name lib), and that is what I did.

New message from startx : couldn’t find libXerama.so.1. More help on the web advised to upgrade X itself. I dutifully downloaded the XFree86 4.5.0 binaries, ensuring that I had right binary distribution: it comes with an aid “Xinstall.sh -check” which I ran, and was told I must download Linux-ix86-glibc23 . Again, I did this, installing all 11 mandatory files, and a few of the optional ones (of which there are 13).

Again the install messages (from X) were fine, but startx failed, could not start kdeinit, and the reasons appear in two categories
a) /lib/libc.so.6 version ‘GLIBC_2.3.4’ not found, (required by /opt/kde/lib/libkdecore.so.4), and a second category of message:
b)couldn’t find init font path element /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts, removing from list, and later, and presumably related:
xset: bad path element (#96), removing from list; possible causes are
i) Dir doesn’t exist or wrong permission
ii) Missing fonts.dir
iii) Incorrect font server address or syntax

usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts does actually exist rw- r--r--, and has a fonts.dir of 2 bytes with a value of 0 therein.

So that is where I am at (up till 4:30 last nite wih all this). Clearly I need to do something with glibc, but I would appreciate guidance. I don’t want to keep endlessly installing and endlessly failing, and getting into ever deeper waters.

And I am mystified by the fonts business, whether it is even from an optional X package (like Xfsrv, in which case perhaps it can be uninstalled), or a mandatory one.
Thanks George

George,

Welcome to LQ!

You've got a mess on your hands. Upgrading KDE isn't easy sometimes
even within the same version of Slackware, depending upon the libs.
I would suggest using removepkg to get rid of that entropy, and then
using the Slackware Package Browser to get KDE for Slack-9.1 or your
CDs or upgrading your system.

Otherwise, since KDE 3.4.0 is in Slackware -current now, you'd need to
upgrade from 9.1 > 10.0 > 10.1 > -current and then compile KDE 3.4.1
if you wanted to do so.

Also, I don't know where you got the .tgz files from, but I'm assuming
a 3rd party package manager. Sometimes these packages are okay, and
sometimes they bork your system.

To save yourself a whole lot of grief, and to get an updated system, you
may want to do what I did this week with my wife's Slack-9.1 comp. I
rsync -current every time there's an update, and my scripts also make iso
images for CD1 and CD2. So for updating her system, I just backed up
~/ and her configs from /etc, then I installed Slackware -current via those
CDs. I ran cfdisk and didn't format /home even though I had the backup.
The install only took about 15 minutes. Getting her configs back in place
took maybe 5 more minutes, and she now has a Slackware -current box
and nothing is broken.

You might also want to look at this KDE 3.4.1 desktop with superkarmba.

If you like it, the packages are available here and you'll need all 20.

Chinaman
Thanks for the Welcome, and the quick response.
The kde packages came directly from /pub/kde/stable/3.4.1/contrib/Slackware/10.1, bearing in mind that I am on SW 9.1. I figured (correctly or otherwise) that a later release of desktop s/ware would not conflict with the base OS. Regardless, I am desperate to whatever is required to get back to where I was, if posssible. I am not a LINUX expert, but I do need the GUI back to work on IBM DB2 UDB for Linux (DB2 being my livelihood, but on other platforms). I do have the latest X installed now (for better or worse), and feel that that should not be a concern. I do not wish to re-install the OS, as I labored many months (alone) configuring CUPS, SAMBA whatever to get all the pieces in place...

When you say " removepkg to get rid of that entropy,", do you simply mean removing all the kde packages from S/Ware? I am happy to do that.

With SW Package Browser, identify, download and install the "kde" packages? (Or from CD). Anthen install (installpkg?) That simple?
This what I find for 9.1
tion | file list ] /kde/kdeaddons-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdeadmin-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdeartwork-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdebase-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdebindings-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdeedu-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdegames-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdegraphics-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdelibs-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdelinks-1.1-noarch-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdemultimedia-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdenetwork-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdepim-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdesdk-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdetoys-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdeutils-3.1.4-i486-1
[ description | file list ] /kde/kdevelop-3.0.0a6-i486-1
I guess there is a "qt" guy also.
But your recommedned packages from ftp://termserver.niesc.org/pub/sandm...0.1/Kde-3.4.1/ are also 3.4.1, which seems to have been the cause of my woes.
So am still a bit confused.
As I say, I just want to get a desktop back, any one, in the simplest way.
Again, I do appreciate your rapid reply.

Yes, if you need to get back to Slack-9.1, then I would suggest you use
either the Slack PB or your CDs with pkgtool to get back to the original
9.1 packages of the ones that you upgraded.

To upgrade Slackware, there is a file called UPGRADE.TXT that you will
find in, for example, Slack-10.0 to upgrade from 9.1.

The method I suggested and latest KDE-3.4.1 were if you wanted to
upgrade your entire system. I didn't realize KDE 3.4.1 was already in
Slackware-10.1, because I don't use KDE.

Chinaman - pardon me for emailing you....
Ok, I removepkg all the new kde packages (easy), installpkg the old 3.1 kde packages (actually, UPGRADEPKG --new-install option, to be precise) from the SS/W 9.1 CD, and was able to bring up a desktop.
Thank You, so far.
However many desktop functions fail: example, clicking Konqueror web browser yields: Could not find Service: Internet/konqbrowser.desktop. Other icons produce similar. Even a terminal/shell couldn't find Service: System/konsole.desktop.
Now, I have to presume this is all due to the most recent upgrade of "X", and something is simply not configured. Note that X used his own install script, and the "new" X packages are not in SW pkgtool database (only the old ones are there).
I have two options - remove the upgraded X, and re-install it from the SW 9.1 CD, or make the new X work (somehow).
What is your feeling? Mine is the former (unless the latter is simple...and it may well be....).
How does one remove "X"? when it is not installed by SW package Mgr? My guess is that one simply deletes a huge directory tree, manually? If so, which one? /usr/X11R6? It seems brutal, but that is my guess, and a re-install from S/Ware CD of X will replenish it...
Again, very, very grateful for your time....now I have to go outside and be with my family...this has been almost 20 hours now!
George

Removing /usr/X11R6 will delete a lot of things, not just X but libraries and binaries from other stuff that's placed there, not recommended at all.
If you installed something "by hand" and want to uninstall it, you first have to see if that program provided a uninstall utility. Many provides a make uninstall command (you've to get the sources for this). Others simply don't, so you've to remove the software by hand.

If you get something from current it will compiled against libraries which are on current so it will likely not work with Slackware 9.1. If you want something new to work with it, it would be better to compile it from source and use a utility like checkinstall (there are other ways) to make a Slackware package from it. If you do this, you can remove it using pkgtool or removepkg.

Like gbonvehi said, you should remove it in reverse of the way you installed it.
I was under the impression that you used installpkg, or some command from
pkgtool. If so, just boot to init 1 and removepkg, then installpkg from your
Slack-9.1 CDs.

gbonvehi
"Removing /usr/X11R6 will delete a lot of things, not just X but libraries and binaries from other stuff that's placed there, not recommended at all."
That is good to know...and did seem a partucularly brutal method!

"If you installed something "by hand" and want to uninstall it, you first have to see if that program provided a uninstall utility."

I have the XFree86 doco in my hand , and I see zero about an uninstaller, zero, and this is what promnpted my question. This doco straight from XFree86.org, and includes "after the install" material (mainly config). I see nothing re; uninstall, but will also pursue tomorrow.
George

Chinaman
"Like gbonvehi said, you should remove it in reverse of the way you installed it.
I was under the impression that you used installpkg, or some command from
pkgtool. If so, just boot to init 1 and removepkg, then installpkg from your
Slack-9.1 CDs.

The think is, X used an installer of unknown origin (without supplying reciprocal uninstaller)!!! One could do detective work, and find out, but it is not visible on the surface. The pkgs are not know to SWare , or RPM.

As it happens, I am happy with it (you might recall I did back out the new KDE as you suggested, and am now back to square 1, albeit with current X, which seems to work fine). But I was intrigued how I could uninstall if, if I had to do. The new X is not know to pkgtool, so removepkg would not work.
George