partial upgrade wreaked havoc - evolution, firefox, all gone!

to correct a possible inaccuracy:

I have evolution and firefox folders under usr/lib and usr/share, but these have no association to my personal data (whether it is the place where they are supposed to be located?)

Let's focus on your personal data first. Please name all the programs that have associated personal data that you want to recover. Firefox and Evolution are two -- are there others?

Your Firefox profile is located in a folder called .mozilla inside your home folder. You can move that from one system to another, usually without problems. Similarly, your Evolution emails and configuration are typically stored in a folder called .evolution inside your home folder. You will find that many (though by no means all) other applications follow this pattern.

Please provide links to forum posts and any other online sources that you have tried so far, so that people seeking to provide you with help don't have to waste time recommending things that have already been tried and proven unsuccessful.

thank you Eliah, for your quick support.

I have only firefox and evolution with personal data I need to recover.

the folders of these programs contain plugin and extension folders and program files, I presume. I found no file or folder related to stored emails.

I tried the network manager installation on an usb, but failed to run it on the problem computer, don't even know if it was the right version or correctly installed. that was the only thing I could try.

I couldn't try any suggestions for recovering evolution cause I had (and still have) no internet connection.

it seems I need to have the connection capability restored first.

regarding your question, that means I couldn't try any solution yet.

(I have Ubuntu 10.10. installed)

hi ubuntu community,
 could anyone maybe help me solve above problem? I will be real thankful!

Your home folder is /home/yourusername
When you first log in and start a terminal, you should be there. A "cd" with no following path will take you there.
Your mail should be under a directory named .evolution (that's <DOT>evolution).
/home/yourusername/.evolution/mail/local/Saved should contain your saved mail (or if not Saved, whereever you left them after downloading, (maybe Inbox). Try the find command from your home directory:
find . -name Saved
find . -name bookmarks.html
(Again, that's find <DOT> -name Saved)
Good luck finding your data.

thank you ubfan, yes, more like good night, and good luck :)

I tried to find these folders on another computer (the troubled computer is currently not with me), where evolution is also installed with all downloaded mails there accessible. unfortunately following was all I got when I looked for the saved emails' folder:

~$ find .-name Saved
find: `.-name': No such file or directory
find: `Saved': No such file or directory
~$ find .-name bookmarks.html
find: `.-name': No such file or directory
find: `bookmarks.html': No such file or directory

I suppose it'd be the same result with troubled computer, too, as both have Ubuntu 10.10.
isn't this bizarre? the emails are downloaded, they must be somewhere. I tried all possible associations (inbox, mailbox, local, local folder..) but no trace.

also the folders, subfolders don't contain them.
I have the ".Evolution" folder under /home/usr/lib or home/usr/share, instead of being under home/myusername/ , somehow.

The commands are:

find . -name Saved
find . -name bookmarks.html

You neglected to put a space between "." and "-name" in each case.

To reduce the chance of typing commands incorrectly, you can copy them from Launchpad and paste them in the Terminal window.

thank you eliah, once again :)) (just been reading your reply to my other post!)

through copy-pasting command lines, I could have results delivered:

~$ find . -name Inbox
./.evolution/mail/local/Inbox
:~$ find . -name bookmarks.html
./.mozilla/firefox/mu1dx00l.default/bookmarks.html

which tells that they're obviously there, I guess.
yet..these locations don't deliver the corresponding folder when I look for them in file system, either by manually scanning every folder and subfolder, or using search box for location.

could I be entering the location missing, as I am not sure the front part of the address ( what comes before ./.evolution or ./.mozilla)?

The .evolution and .mozilla folders are located in your home folder, on the installed Ubuntu system. So open that folder (your home folder) in a Nautilus window. (If you're using a live CD to access a non-functioning Ubuntu system installed on the hard drive, make sure you're opening the folder that is your home folder on the installed system, and not the folder that is the live CD user's home folder.)

You still probably won't see them. That's because, by default, files and folders starting with a . (dot) are hidden. So, in the Nautilus window, go to Edit > Preferences. This opens the File Management Preferences window. In the Views tab, check the box labeled "Show hidden and backup files". Then click Close (at the lower-right corner of the window). Now you should be able to see these folders.

found them both Eliah, thank you so much!!!!

my Evolution folders are saved as mbox files, upon which when I click Evolution Import Assistant pops. I presume that implies the emails of the folder are stored in the respective file.

bookmarks.html file included standard Firefox bookmarks at first installation. my own recent bookmarks were not there, and I checked bookmarkbackups folder, where I found .json files which opened as one long line of script when opened with juffEd and firefox. I first expected from the lingering white page that the bookmarks were really loading, but the page remained blank on gedit and returned referred one-line opening with others. still not using the right program to open?

I'm not sure exactly which files you should take to get all your bookmarks...but is there something wrong in your Firefox profile? If not, why not just get the entire profile by copying the entire .mozilla folder?

sorry for writing with delay Eliah, I am only now online again since the other day!

could you please help me know how I would proceed with your suggestion? where would I need to copy .mozilla folder? what would I need to do after that to get the last bookmarks back?

as firefox is currently wiped out from desktop, applications and system tray, following referred partial upgrade yet .mozilla folder is still there, I don't know whether re-installing firefox would delete this remnant .mozilla folder, too, since, as I remember, firefox deletes old installation when re-installed or upgraded.

thank you so much, again!!

Copy the .mozilla folder wherever you're copying your other files that you're trying to back up. For example, if you're backing up your Evolution mailbox and your office documents to a USB flash drive, then copy the .mozilla folder to the flash drive as well. If you end up wiping your disk and reinstalling Ubuntu, then you care restore the .mozilla folder in your home folder, and then when you run Firefox, you'll have your old bookmarks, cache, user-specific settings, and so forth.

many thanks Eliah!

I will see if I can get Network Manager back, in which case I maybe do not reinstall Ubuntu and backup .mozilla, and try with installing firefox from the terminal. after which I restore the former folder in its location.

If you want to try to fix your system, I recommend you first install the metapackage associated with your Ubuntu flavor. That should restore a lot of the software that was wiped out in your partial upgrade. Specifically...

For Ubuntu Desktop Edition:
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

For Ubuntu Netbook Edition:
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-netbook

For Kubuntu:
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

For Xubuntu:
sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

For Edubuntu:
sudo apt-get install edubuntu-desktop

For Lubuntu:
sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop

(Note that you should run just *one* of those commands, not all of them. Run the one that corresponds to the flavor of Ubuntu that you are running. If you don't know which one you're running, it's almost certainly Ubuntu Desktop Edition.)

the problem is that I cannot connect to internet without network manager, not even the Ethernet cable was able to enable connection, for whatever reason.
could there be a way to install metapackages from usb, or any other offline method?

Oh, right.

There are ways to install collections of packages on a system that doesn't have network access, but you're right, you're probably better off installing the Network Manager first. Once you have Internet access again, you can install the appropriate metapackage.

Please let me know if you need assistance finding or installing the .deb file for the Network Manager.

By the way, when you reply to reopen a question, you should click the button indicating that you need additional assistance. If you click the "Just Add a Comment" button, the status of the question will not convert back from Answered (or Needs Information) to Open, and people won't know that you're requesting more help.

thank you Eliah, you're right. must have been a confused moment :)

the search query for .deb on nautilius returned no files for Network Manager on the problem computer, while same search would return them on a "healthy" one. so I guess they had been removed by partial upgrade.

I'd read in ubuntu forums about running the script on an online computer and saving it on usb, and inserting the usb to the problem computer. but I didn' t manage or maybe not understand the last part as to what I'd need to proceed with on the offline computer to make it install the network manager from the script on usb.

could you please help me know how I can install them on an offline computer this or in any other way?

many thanks! :)

just implementing the last member's advice here : http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1557128&highlight=install+network+manager

I downloaded the network-manager-gnome package on usb, and trying again to install it on ubuntu.

here the packages are, as referred by the member's post, here: http://packages.ubuntu.com/lucid/net/network-manager-gnome

and I selected the download for 10.10. ; http://packages.ubuntu.com/maverick/i386/network-manager-gnome/download

the thread http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1455224&highlight=install+network+manager involves the insight by the member "ajgreeny", which I used to install the network-manager-gnome package file (network-manager.deb, as I renamed it):

sudo dpkg -i network-manager.deb

to my expectation, something did seem to move then:

Selecting previously deselected package network-manager-gnome.
(Reading database ... 176675 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking network-manager-gnome (from network-manager.deb) ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of network-manager-gnome:
 network-manager-gnome depends on network-manager (>= 0.8~rc2); however:
  Package network-manager is not installed.
dpkg: error processing network-manager-gnome (--install):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ...
Processing triggers for python-gmenu ...
Rebuilding /usr/share/applications/desktop.en_US.utf8.cache...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme ...
Processing triggers for gconf2 ...
Processing triggers for python-support ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 network-manager-gnome

I started synaptic and received "1 broken package" notice, and it was this. and it couldn't be fixed.

I restarted the computer and at least the network icon was for the first time "again" on the system tray. however clicking on it popped the window "networking is disabled" or "NetworkManager is not running..."

thought maybe I needed to install network-manager applet, too. I downloaded it from the same gnome website http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/lucid/network-manager-applet, and copied it over usb to the home folder of ubuntu.

running

sudo dpkg -i network-manager.tar.gz

I received:

dpkg-deb: `network-manager.tar.gz' is not a debian format archive
dpkg: error processing network-manager.tar.gz (--install):
 subprocess dpkg-deb --control returned error exit status 2
Errors were encountered while processing:
 network-manager.tar.gz

then I tried with unpacking the tar.gz file, and the folder network-manager-applet was extracted and saved under home folder.
and I typed in:

sudo dpkg -i network-manager-applet

then I received the following:

dpkg-split: error reading network-manager-applet: Invalid argument
dpkg: error processing network-manager-applet (--install):
 subprocess dpkg-split returned error exit status 2
Errors were encountered while processing:
 network-manager-applet

what can I do at this stage to get the needed packages fixed or installed and network manager running smoothly again?

thanks a heap!

First of all, you're running Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick (that's what you said earlier in this question), but you are trying to use the Network Manager from Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid. That will probably not work very well.

Second, renaming a .deb file is a bad thing, unless you have a specific reason to do so. It leads to confusion.

Third, the file network-manager.tar.gz is not the right file. You want the .deb file (for both packages), not the .tar.gz file. And you want the one for your architecture. I'm not sure what your architecture is, so I don't know if you're getting the right one.

Fourth, you need to install the package called "network-manager" and not just "network-manager-gnome" (though you need that too). I am not aware of any package called "network-manager-applet", but if there is such a package, you cannot install it just by running "dpkg -i network-manager-applet" -- you would need to download the .deb file for it. I don't think you have to do anything involving "network-manager-applet".

If you run the command "lsb_release -a" (without the quotes) inside your broken system and post the output, then I can give you specific, detailed instructions.

the output came as follows:

~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 10.10
Release: 10.10
Codename: maverick

thought I selected the right distribution, cause I went to packages at http://packages.ubuntu.com, and selected Maverick (10.10) (there were here Maverick-Updates and Maverick-Backports, too, but I haven't done anything with them)
then I was directed to http://packages.ubuntu.com/maverick/. and here selected Network>Network-Manager-Gnome, as the respective owner of the forum post suggested.

in any way, I'll be looking forward to your instructions! :)

many thanks!!

I apologize; I neglected to also ask you to run the command "uname -r". Please do that and paste the output, and then I can provide the detailed instructions.

> thought I selected the right distribution, cause I went to packages
> at http://packages.ubuntu.com, and selected Maverick (10.10)
> (there were here Maverick-Updates and Maverick-Backports, too,
> but I haven't done anything with them)
> then I was directed to http://packages.ubuntu.com/maverick/. and
> here selected Network>Network-Manager-Gnome, as the respective
> owner of the forum post suggested.

http://packages.ubuntu.com/lucid/net/network-manager-applet and http://packages.ubuntu.com/lucid/net/network-manager-gnome (which you had said you used) are both specific to Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx.

the output is:

2.6.35-24-generic

again..thank you for your support!

Darn. I'm having a really foggy day today, I guess. I totally did not need to you run "uname -r". What I needed you to run was "uname -m".

I apologize for this. I'm not deliberately trying to jerk you around, and I will try to be more clearheaded when replying in the future. If you can give me the output of "uname -m", I can provide you with links to the specific files you need to download, and instructions for how to install from them.

please, nothing to worry about that, Eliah, besides I received too much of your support so far to entertain such suspicion :) thank you again, for helping me out!

 uname -m returned "i686"

you did it!!!!! by george you did it!!!! you're a star, Eliah, thank you!!!

the four packages were installed smoothly, and immediately upon restart were available networks shown!

and I installed right thereafter firefox and evolution over the terminal (I found out meanwhile that I needed to run "sudo apt-get update" first), and all bookmarks and emails were already there when I started them!

so the havoc is stilled :))..nothing ever to do with partial upgrade again! (why can a thing so damaging not be avoided in the first place, I am curious to know about)

thank you so much for your support and sharing of the endeavour all along!!! wish I could send you a case of wine or anything you like right now, to toast it :-)))

stay happy and peaceful,

Thanks Eliah Kagan, that solved my question.

If you have not already done so, I recommend that you install the package called "ubuntu-desktop" on the (now fixed) system. It might already be installed...but it just as likely isn't. And then, either way, I recommend updating the system.

> so the havoc is stilled :))..nothing ever to do with partial upgrade
> again! (why can a thing so damaging not be avoided in the first
> place, I am curious to know about)

I don't know why a partial upgrade can cause these problems, though I have heard anecdotes about problems before. I'm looking into that now; hopefully I'll be able to give you an answer. Bug 373006 is possibly related.

Were you attempting to upgrade to a later version of Ubuntu, or just attempting to upgrade your system normally? If you were trying to upgrade to a later version of Ubuntu, what version were you running before you started the partial upgrade process? (You're running version 10.10 now.)

Oh, and I almost forgot to say: I'm glad your problem is finally fixed!

thank you :)) , I had 10.10 all along, but weeks before the partial upgrade I wanted to exclude ttf-mscore font package installation, and ignored a couple of updates before I knew what to do with it, and then excluded this package. then, I think at the next update after doing that, this partial upgrade window popped, which I didn't know about before.
I saw the message that a large number of packages were going to be removed, a passively tiny exclamation mark ran through, yet I didn't expect the things that ensued were meant, resting on the thinking that the system wouldn't remove anything significant such as a program.

I think of that whether it might have to do with miro, which was freezing ever so often, or some other improperly or incompletely installed software.

oh,yes, ubuntu desktop appears already installed :)

In that case, just go ahead and update the system in the Update Manager. (But don't let it do a partial upgrade! Instead, if it wants to do that, please post again, and we can figure out what's going on.)

updated, seems it is all back on tracks now :)

Excellent!