1. I upgraded pipewire from stable to backports (I want to know if this is related to my problem why essential packages were removed)
Start-Date: 2024-09-18  14:59:02
Commandline: apt install libpipewire-0.3-0/bookworm-backports
Requested-By: dullbananas (1000)
Install: libpulsedsp:amd64 (16.1+dfsg1-2+b1, automatic), pulseaudio:amd64 (16.1+dfsg1-2+b1, automatic), pulseaudio-utils:amd64 (16.1+dfsg1-2+b1, automatic), libasound2-plugins:amd64 (1.2.7.1-1, automatic), policykit-1-gnome:amd64 (0.105-8, automatic), pulseaudio-module-bluetooth:amd64 (16.1+dfsg1-2+b1, automatic), libspeexdsp1:amd64 (1.2.1-1, automatic)
Upgrade: libspa-0.2-modules:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1, 1.2.3-1~bpo12+1), libpipewire-0.3-0:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1, 1.2.3-1~bpo12+1)
Remove: pipewire-pulse:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1), pipewire-audio-client-libraries:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1), t2-apple-audio-dsp-speakers161:amd64 (0.2.0-1), gnome:amd64 (1:43+1), gnome-remote-desktop:amd64 (43.3-1), pipewire:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1), gnome-shell-extensions:amd64 (43.1-1), gnome-shell:amd64 (43.9-0+deb12u2), pipewire-tests:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1), gdm3:amd64 (43.0-3), libspa-0.2-jack:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1), libspa-0.2-bluetooth:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1), pipewire-jack:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1), gstreamer1.0-pipewire:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1), t2-apple-audio-dsp-mic:amd64 (0.4.0-1), pipewire-audio:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1), pipewire-bin:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1), chrome-gnome-shell:amd64 (42.1-3), task-gnome-desktop:amd64 (3.73), gnome-session:amd64 (43.0-1+deb12u1), gnome-browser-connector:amd64 (42.1-3), gnome-core:amd64 (1:43+1), libpipewire-0.3-modules:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1), wireplumber:amd64 (0.4.13-1), gnome-shell-extension-prefs:amd64 (43.9-0+deb12u2), pipewire-alsa:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1)
End-Date: 2024-09-18  14:59:35

Start-Date: 2024-09-18  14:59:43
Commandline: apt install libpipewire-0.3-modules/bookworm-backports
Requested-By: dullbananas (1000)
Install: libconfig++9v5:amd64 (1.5-0.4, automatic), libxml++2.6-2v5:amd64 (2.40.1-3, automatic), libpipewire-0.3-modules:amd64 (1.2.3-1~bpo12+1), libffado2:amd64 (2.4.7-1, automatic)
End-Date: 2024-09-18  14:59:48

Start-Date: 2024-09-18  14:59:57
Commandline: apt install pipewire/bookworm-backports
Requested-By: dullbananas (1000)
Install: pipewire:amd64 (1.2.3-1~bpo12+1), pipewire-bin:amd64 (1.2.3-1~bpo12+1, automatic), wireplumber:amd64 (0.4.13-1, automatic)
End-Date: 2024-09-18  15:00:02
  1. I suspended the computer, and after resume, the lock screen was broken:
  • When I clicked on the password field, the text cursor only appeared for a split second, and I could not type in it
  • Clicking on the user switch button on the bottom right corner did nothing
  • A few times, the text “Authentication error” randomly appeared for a split second, probably for 1 frame
  • No way to reboot the normal way, because I could only use the power menu on the lock screen, which only has suspend
  1. I used the power button to reboot, and instead of GNOME, there was darkness
Debian GNU/Linux 12 dullbananas-macbookpro161 tty1

dullbananas-macbookpro161 login:
  1. I downgraded pipewire to stable
Start-Date: 2024-09-18  15:20:16
Commandline: apt install pipewire/stable
Requested-By: dullbananas (1000)
Downgrade: pipewire:amd64 (1.2.3-1~bpo12+1, 0.3.65-3+deb12u1), pipewire-bin:amd64 (1.2.3-1~bpo12+1, 0.3.65-3+deb12u1), libspa-0.2-modules:amd64 (1.2.3-1~bpo12+1, 0.3.65-3+deb12u1), libpipewire-0.3-modules:amd64 (1.2.3-1~bpo12+1, 0.3.65-3+deb12u1), libpipewire-0.3-0:amd64 (1.2.3-1~bpo12+1, 0.3.65-3+deb12u1)
End-Date: 2024-09-18  15:20:26
  1. I ran dpkg --verify and got this output
??5??????   /lib/modules/6.10.9-1-t2-bookworm/modules.alias
??5??????   /lib/modules/6.10.9-1-t2-bookworm/modules.alias.bin
??5??????   /lib/modules/6.10.9-1-t2-bookworm/modules.dep
??5??????   /lib/modules/6.10.9-1-t2-bookworm/modules.dep.bin
missing     /usr/share/dbus-1/services/io.snapcraft.Prompt.service
??5?????? c /etc/systemd/logind.conf
??5?????? c /etc/tlp.conf
??5??????   /lib/modules/6.10.8-1-t2-bookworm/modules.alias
??5??????   /lib/modules/6.10.8-1-t2-bookworm/modules.alias.bin
??5??????   /lib/modules/6.10.8-1-t2-bookworm/modules.dep
??5??????   /lib/modules/6.10.8-1-t2-bookworm/modules.dep.bin
??5?????? c /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf
missing     /etc/os-release.debootstrap
??5??????   /lib/modules/6.10.7-1-t2-bookworm/modules.alias
??5??????   /lib/modules/6.10.7-1-t2-bookworm/modules.alias.bin
??5??????   /lib/modules/6.10.7-1-t2-bookworm/modules.dep
??5??????   /lib/modules/6.10.7-1-t2-bookworm/modules.dep.bin
  1. I reinstalled systemd (not sure if this made a difference)
Start-Date: 2024-09-18  15:48:58
Commandline: apt install --reinstall systemd
Requested-By: dullbananas (1000)
Reinstall: systemd:amd64 (252.30-1~deb12u2)
End-Date: 2024-09-18  15:49:02
  1. I reinstalled gdm3, and immediately without me doing anything else, there was GNOME instead of darkness
Start-Date: 2024-09-18  15:51:49
Commandline: apt install --reinstall gdm3
Requested-By: dullbananas (1000)
Install: gnome-remote-desktop:amd64 (43.3-1, automatic), gnome-shell:amd64 (43.9-0+deb12u2, automatic), power-profiles-daemon:amd64 (0.12-1+b1, automatic), gdm3:amd64 (43.0-3), gstreamer1.0-pipewire:amd64 (0.3.65-3+deb12u1, automatic), chrome-gnome-shell:amd64 (42.1-3, automatic), gnome-session:amd64 (43.0-1+deb12u1, automatic), gnome-browser-connector:amd64 (42.1-3, automatic), gnome-shell-extension-prefs:amd64 (43.9-0+deb12u2, automatic)
Remove: tlp:amd64 (1.5.0-2), tlp-rdw:amd64 (1.5.0-2)
End-Date: 2024-09-18  15:52:05

  1. End of class

  2. I reinstalled tlp because installing gdm3 removed it

  3. After selecting an app search result, instead of a new window opening, an existing window was focused, and this led to me discovering that my built-in extensions were gone

  4. While writing this post, I got the idea of using the list of removed packages in the apt history log output from apt install libpipewire-0.3-0/bookworm-backports to see what packages to install again, so I did that, then I also had to uninstall firefox-esr again

  5. I rebooted, and my built-in extensions and other stuff were resurrected, so now I have full redemption

  6. Another Window Session Manager restored my windows in a way that pissed me off

(Failed attempts of recovery are not listed)

Edit: actually I made the mistake 1 minute before the start of class

  • nyan@sh.itjust.works
    2·
    9 hours ago

    Actually, I don’t think you could break a system in quite this way in Gentoo these days. Portage generally doesn’t remove packages during upgrades (certainly not unrelated ones that would break the depgraph!). It would have exited with (in this case) a message about version conflicts before changing any packages and left it for the user to sort out. Modern versions of portage do a pretty good job of keeping you from shooting yourself in the foot by accident, while leaving you with a lot of leeway for doing so on purpose.