Nicely Nitpick Noble 24.04 LTS

[oshunluvr]

Can you explain why you're trying to install calamares on a running system?

[GrouchPotato]

Hi,

I am testing nobel and I ran into the installation issue and applied the fix. I got a complete install with 3 partitions

/boot/efi
/home
/

Initial usage was a positive experience. I applied the few updates that appeared. Uploaded this install to our FOG Server.

I then installed our apps:

Artikulate ok
Bliken ok
cantor ok
kalgebra
lalzium
kanagram
kbrach
kgeography
khangman
kig
kiten
klettres
kmplot
kstars
ktouch
kturtle
kwordquiz
labplot
marble
pairs - no longer available in repository
parley
rocs
step

A whole lot of updates available appeared.
I attempted to apply them.

After some fineggling around, I manged to mangle the install entirely. No Problem I blew away the install for the recently saved image and started again.

This time I installed our apps a couple at a time until the depency problems appeared again.

rocs and step would not install. Due to depency issue. Today I discovered that clamares extensions, data and kubuntu packages would not install. due to some similar dependency issues:
However, calamares package installed by itself. only when I ran it:


~$ sudo calamares -d
[sudo] password for usertester:
QStandardPaths: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set, defaulting to '/tmp/runtime-root'
QStandardPaths: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set, defaulting to '/tmp/runtime-root'
QStandardPaths: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set, defaulting to '/tmp/runtime-root'
10:16:58 [1]: static Calamares::Settings* Calamares::Settings::init(bool)
ERROR: Cowardly refusing to continue startup without settings.
"/home/usertester/settings.conf"
"/etc/calamares/settings.conf"
"/usr/share/calamares/settings.conf"
10:16:58 [1]: static Calamares::Settings* Calamares::Settings::init(bool)
ERROR: FATAL: none of the expected configuration file paths exist.


So I then attempted to install the extensions:

$sudo apt install calamares-extensions
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
kinit-dev : Depends: kinit (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
kio : Depends: libkf5textwidgets5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5auth-dev : Depends: libkf5auth5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5completion-dev : Depends: libkf5completion5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5completion5 : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5config-dev : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5configwidgets-dev : Depends: libkf5configwidgets5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable
libkf5configwidgets5 : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5crash-dev : Depends: libkf5crash5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5globalaccel-dev : Depends: libkf5globalaccel5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
Depends: libkf5globalaccelprivate5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5guiaddons-dev : Depends: libkf5guiaddons5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5kdelibs4support5 : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libkf5textwidgets5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5kio-dev : Depends: libkf5kiofilewidgets5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
Depends: libkf5kiowidgets5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable
Depends: libkf5kiogui5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5kiofilewidgets5 : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5kiowidgets5 : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5notifications-dev : Depends: libkf5notifications5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu5) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5parts-dev : Depends: libkf5parts5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5quickaddons5 : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5textwidgets-dev : Depends: libkf5textwidgets5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu3) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable
libkf5widgetsaddons-dev : Depends: libkf5widgetsaddons5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu3) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu2 is to be installed
Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable
libkf5windowsystem-dev : Depends: libkf5windowsystem5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu3) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu2 is to be installed
libkf5xmlgui5 : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libqt5designer5 : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable
libqt5designercomponents5 : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable
libqt5printsupport5t64 : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable
libqt5quicktest5 : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.12.2) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.12.2) but it is not installable
libqt5scripttools5 : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable
libqt5svg5-dev : Depends: libqt5svg5 (= 5.15.12-1build1) but 5.15.12-1 is to be installed
libqt5widgets5t64 : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.15.1) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.15.1) but it is not installable
libqt5x11extras5-dev : Depends: libqt5x11extras5 (= 5.15.12-1build1) but 5.15.12-1 is to be installed
qt5-qmltooling-plugins : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.9.0~beta) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.9.0~beta) but it is not installable
qtbase5-dev : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (= 5.15.12+dfsg-3ubuntu6) but it is not installable
Recommends: libqt5opengl5-dev (= 5.15.12+dfsg-3ubuntu6) but it is not installable
qtdeclarative5-dev : Depends: libqt5quickshapes5 (= 5.15.12+dfsg-1build1) but 5.15.12+dfsg-1 is to be installed
Depends: libqt5quickwidgets5 (= 5.15.12+dfsg-1build1) but 5.15.12+dfsg-1 is to be installed
Depends: qtdeclarative5-dev-tools
qttools5-dev : Depends: libqt5help5 (= 5.15.12-2build2) but 5.15.12-2 is to be installed
Depends: qttools5-dev-tools (= 5.15.12-2build2)
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
usertester@cr-testing:~$ sudo apt install --reinstall kinit
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
kinit : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.


$sudo apt install calamares-extensions
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
kinit-dev : Depends: kinit (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
kio : Depends: libkf5textwidgets5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5auth-dev : Depends: libkf5auth5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5completion-dev : Depends: libkf5completion5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5completion5 : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5config-dev : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5configwidgets-dev : Depends: libkf5configwidgets5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable
libkf5configwidgets5 : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5crash-dev : Depends: libkf5crash5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5globalaccel-dev : Depends: libkf5globalaccel5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
Depends: libkf5globalaccelprivate5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5guiaddons-dev : Depends: libkf5guiaddons5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5kdelibs4support5 : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libkf5textwidgets5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5kio-dev : Depends: libkf5kiofilewidgets5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
Depends: libkf5kiowidgets5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable
Depends: libkf5kiogui5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5kiofilewidgets5 : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5kiowidgets5 : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5notifications-dev : Depends: libkf5notifications5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu5) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5parts-dev : Depends: libkf5parts5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu4) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
libkf5quickaddons5 : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libkf5textwidgets-dev : Depends: libkf5textwidgets5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu3) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable
libkf5widgetsaddons-dev : Depends: libkf5widgetsaddons5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu3) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu2 is to be installed
Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable
libkf5windowsystem-dev : Depends: libkf5windowsystem5 (= 5.115.0-0ubuntu3) but 5.115.0-0ubuntu2 is to be installed
libkf5xmlgui5 : Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 5.115.0~) but it is not going to be installed
libqt5designer5 : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable
libqt5designercomponents5 : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable
libqt5printsupport5t64 : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable
libqt5quicktest5 : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.12.2) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.12.2) but it is not installable
libqt5scripttools5 : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.14.1) but it is not installable
libqt5svg5-dev : Depends: libqt5svg5 (= 5.15.12-1build1) but 5.15.12-1 is to be installed
libqt5widgets5t64 : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.15.1) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.15.1) but it is not installable
libqt5x11extras5-dev : Depends: libqt5x11extras5 (= 5.15.12-1build1) but 5.15.12-1 is to be installed
qt5-qmltooling-plugins : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.9.0~beta) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.9.0~beta) but it is not installable
qtbase5-dev : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (= 5.15.12+dfsg-3ubuntu6) but it is not installable
Recommends: libqt5opengl5-dev (= 5.15.12+dfsg-3ubuntu6) but it is not installable
qtdeclarative5-dev : Depends: libqt5quickshapes5 (= 5.15.12+dfsg-1build1) but 5.15.12+dfsg-1 is to be installed
Depends: libqt5quickwidgets5 (= 5.15.12+dfsg-1build1) but 5.15.12+dfsg-1 is to be installed
Depends: qtdeclarative5-dev-tools
qttools5-dev : Depends: libqt5help5 (= 5.15.12-2build2) but 5.15.12-2 is to be installed
Depends: qttools5-dev-tools (= 5.15.12-2build2)
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
usertester@cr-testing:~$ sudo apt install --reinstall kinit
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
kinit : Depends: libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable or
libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.15.2~) but it is not installable
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.


Somehow my system is not complete/degraded. Just hoping here that someone has encountered this issue(s) and have suggestions to further troubleshoot with missing package/dependency is missing.

tia.

[Schwarzer Kater]

Today Kubuntu 24.04 LTS (development branch) received a massive update (cheers!):

KDE Plasma	5.27.11
KDE Frameworks	5.115.0
KDE Gear	23.08.5
Qt	5.15.12
Mesa	24.0.3
Kernel	6.8.0-20

New kernel version, new Mesa version, new Plasma version etc.
I have not had the opportunity to test a new ISO, though.

About the status of the Thunderbird Snap you can read here: Thunderbird Snap for Ubuntu 24.04

I am getting the feeling that this could become the best and most mature implementation of Plasma 5.27 in any distribution so far and - comparing the general status of Plasma 5 and Plasma 6 - could be very suitable for professional settings (from a GUI perspective)!

-> I just hope the Kubuntu developers regard the KDE Distributions/Packaging Recommendations this time and will also add something like Filelight by default to e.g. give Dolphin its full functionality…
By the way:
setting the systemd timeout to 3-5 seconds is quite short - I have often had run-of-the-mill services that needed 10-12 seconds to gracefully quit (on reasonably powerful machines) and so I always set the timeout to 15 seconds now.

[Schwarzer Kater]

Thank you for letting us know - I am looking forward to testing the installation process during the next days.

[acheron]

I'd have thought the maintainer/packager would have already fixed this error. It isn't minor.

The fixed calamares was uploaded to noble on 7th March, but has been stuck in proposed behind the enormous time_t64 transition, so it could not get on to the ISO.

Thankfully as of today it will get on to the ISO next time it is rebuilt.

[jglen490]

I'd have thought the maintainer/packager would have already fixed this error. It isn't minor.

Definitely a testable thing. The importance of the installer working as it should, and always had, is not underrated. Regardless of code or packaging changes.

Does not bode well for an expectation of stability, so I will wait until such time as stability seems to be a thing

[claydoh]

I'd have thought the maintainer/packager would have already fixed this error. It isn't minor.

See comment #8 HERE, from my previous link. It may still be relevant in holding up the process?

[oshunluvr]

Snowhog has jokes - ROFL !

[Snowhog]

Maybe they're cake people and just don't care for py.

[oshunluvr]

I'd have thought the maintainer/packager would have already fixed this error. It isn't minor.

Maybe they took a long vacation, LOL

[oshunluvr]

I think not entirely:



The latest update to Plasma 5.27 (5.27.11) was released three weeks ago and as KDE developers already have posted there will be a Plasma 5.27.12…

"End Of Life" to my understanding means "No longer under development." Since 5.27 is the last version of Plasma 5 it is EOL or one could say "stable" meaning no new features will be added.

Maintenance will continue but not development. I know it's technical hair-splitting, but that's the way I see it. 5.27.12 is the last Plasma 5 version.

EDIT: I see you point might have been that Kubuntu 24.04 is still on 5.27.10 and will get 5.27.12 eventually. That's true, but the developers closed 5.27.12 development on Feb 14th. It just hasn't rolled down hill to Kubuntu yet.

[Snowhog]

Then I edited line 158 in the file /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/calamares/networkcfg/main.py from

os.chmod(f, 0o0600)

to

os.chmod(f.fileno(), 0o600)

I'd have thought the maintainer/packager would have already fixed this error. It isn't minor.

[oshunluvr]

I had a go this afternoon at installing Noble, not specifying an ESP thus avoiding boot loader problems. It was a struggle, the installer kept crashing.

• The first was the "networkcfg/main.py" problem discussed above, first reported over a month ago. I applied the workaround in the bug report.
• Then it was fstab/main.py, specific to btrfs, trying to change attributes on a swap file. The installer does not have a way to say no swap file; one can say no to a swap partition, or yes, either way a swap file is set up in a subvolume @swap mounted on /swap. By using

sudo calamares -d

I identified the line that was crashing, that run chattr on the swap file, and commented it out.

• There was another crash to do with the swap file, so I tried a few more times with variations on having a swap partition and whether to format it. One attempt succeeded.

I just happened to have a spare volume that I was happy experimenting with; I didn't want to risk trashing my main Kubuntu install by installing Noble into the same btrfs. However, on the spare volume I used there were a few installs, and they appear to have been unaffected.

I decided to test the above info with this morning's ISO. It appears the BTRFS swapfile issue has been resolved but the networkcfg.py error still exists. Here's the steps I took:

1. I downloaded 03/27 ISO and created new VM (QEMU) and booted to the ISO.
2. I attempted to install using MBR and EXT4 and "whole drive" to purposely avoid the BTRFS/SWAP issue.
3. The Installation failed with network error.

Then I edited line 158 in the file /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/calamares/networkcfg/main.py from

os.chmod(f, 0o0600)

to

os.chmod(f.fileno(), 0o600)

and re-attempted installation. as described above and the installation succeeded.

Then I reattempted the installation as described above EXCEPT I selected BTRFS and "whole drive" and the installation was successful.

I checked the BTRFS file system and found:

• Three subvolumes: @, @home, and @swap.
• Contained within @swap was a single file: swapfile
• I checked the file attributes and found "noCOW" - C - and "no compression" - m - set as desired.

So it appears to me that at least one issue is already resolved.

Personally, as a BTRFS user I like the setup configuration re. the three subvolumes. It makes it easy to avoid backing up or snapshotting the swap without having to create a swap partition. Seems as though it would be easier for a novice to install using BTRFS.

However, Calamares still has an issue regarding the warning about a missing BIOS boot partition when attempting to use GPT instead of MBR. GPT is much better than MBR. It seems to me that if the goal is to make the installation easier for less experienced users, when one selects "Use the whole drive" and chooses GPT the installer should just make the needed partition and be quiet about it - rather than requiring the user to go back and choose manual partitioning.

[Schwarzer Kater]

[…]
Also worth noting Plasma 5 is now EOL. […]

I think not entirely:

5.27 will be supported at least until Plasma 6.0 is released

Currently, no further bugfix release for 5.27 has been scheduled, but this might change in the future

The latest update to Plasma 5.27 (5.27.11) was released three weeks ago and as KDE developers already have posted there will be a Plasma 5.27.12…

[oshunluvr]

At this late in the release cycle, and with the current install issues, looks like waiting for 24.04.1 LTS may be prudent.

Still a full month out and two fairly minor issues with calamares configuration? Minor in terms of having already been identified and apparently fairly simple fixes. Seems a bit early to throw the baby out with the bathwater, doesn't it? IMO this is exactly why users are allowed to get pre-release versions - so these things get worked out before the official ISO is released. Having said that, if one is inclined to desire the least amount of bug related disruption, one has a full year before 22.04 support ends. So why not wait until March 2025 to transition?

It is Linux so we have options! LOL

Also worth noting Plasma 5 is now EOL. Seems likely that Plasma 6 won't be available for Kubuntu users until 24.10.