Missing package in Mageia 8

I attempted to update my Mageia desktop yesterday and, although almost everything went well, I got this error message telling me that imagemagick could not update because "nothing provided lib64raw20".

I tried with DNF, but I could only get the i586 version.

So, I located the file here: https://pkgs.org/download/lib64raw20

Everything seems back to normal now.

Some Issues and Challenges

The excessive amount of work has kept me away from my blog, that's true.  However, the fact that my Linux distros have been performing beyond my expectations has also, in a way, stopped me from writing here.  

I mean... There's very little to write about when nothing breaks.

But then I noticed several problems:

1.  Insync and OpenMandriva Lx:

The upgrade to OpenMandriva Lx 4.2 removed my Insync client on my laptop.  I do not know what the problem was (a Python issue, maybe?).  I have not been able to make it come back.

2.  Insync and PCLinuxOS:

The update I applied yesterday produced the same problem with Insync that I had in OpenMandriva.  So, my laptop cannot sync files with Insync in PCLinuxOS, either. 

3.  Mesa updates and sound problems in Mageia 8:

This is something I have seen before in my desktops.  Four Mesa-related packages ask me to uninstall Steam, which I do not want to do, so I've been postponing such updates for a long time.

Then I noticed that VLC stopped working and that my repo database in MCC was acting weird, refusing to install certain tainted packages.  This led to mute audio in videos played with SMplayer, Mplayer, and Kplayer.

I decided to experiment with these because I need the audio in the desktop to work, so I installed the four Mesa-related files and, sure enough, Mageia got rid of Steam.

My year with Fedora helped me there.  Instead of using MCC, I opened Konsole and used DNF following these instructions from the Mageia Wiki:

 

• If nonfree or tainted repositories are desired, they can be activated using dnf config-manager as shown with this example for 64 bit system (replace x86_64 with i586 for 32 bit):
  

dnf config-manager --set-enabled mageia-x86_64-nonfree updates-x86_64-nonfree
dnf config-manager --set-enabled mageia-x86_64-tainted updates-x86_64-tainted

• 32-bit repositories are turned off by default on 64-bit x86. If you need them:
  

dnf config-manager --set-enabled mageia-i586 updates-i586

With that, after running dnf-update, I could get steam, vlc, ffmpeg, and other packages back.  This repaired the problem with video sound, but VLC is still not operational.

I'll try to fix this.  When I get some time.

 

 

A Week with Mageia 8: Two Success Stories

Mageia 8 was released not long ago and I installed it as soon as it was out.  However, I took a week to work with it and see how it plays with the other distros in my laptop.

I have a multi-boot system in which I always keep  4+ distros.  Before this new install, I had PCLinuxOS, OpenMandriva Lx 4.2 (my latest install), Elive 3, MX Linux (Patio Feo), and Mageia 7.  I logically wanted to upgrade Mageia 7 to 8.

Historically, this set up has meant several grub 2- related headaches: if I installed OpenMandriva after Mageia, Mageia would boot very slowly.  If, on the other hand, Mageia controlled the grub post installation, OpenMandriva would get a kernel panic.  As I lack technical knowledge, I could never fix those problems myself.

This time, I passed on the live version and decided to install the complete release, which I nostalgically call the PowerPack.  If I recall correctly, one cannot upgrade from a live version, so I chose "install" instead of "upgrade," which wipes out the root partition.  Still, I kept /home intact.  With this distro image, the install takes more time, but it was not bad. A plus is that the process has remained pretty much consistent all these years and this makes the installation a familiar path.

When everything was done, I rebooted and Mageia 8 took over grub control.  I booted this new release and all was working great: internet connection, desktop effects, sound, and screen edges. My personal settings were preserved, so I installed my preferred programs and the system was ready. Even Steam games were kept and working.

I restarted the laptop to see if Mageia gave the other distros a problem at boot.  Nothing!  All started normally!

So, the Mageia 8 install in the laptop was a major success.  But I had one more trial: I needed to repeat the process in my daughter's desktop, which also ran Mageia 7 live version.

This attempt implied two major risks.  The first one was that, unlike the laptop, my daughter's desktop has UEFI, which complicates matters and the system language must be Spanish.  Second, my daughter was delighted with Mageia 7 since she discovered two weeks ago that she can actually plug in the PlayStation 4 controller and play her favorite Steam games with it.  

After jumping a couple UEFI loops, the installation process was completed without any major hassle. As with the laptop, I replaced the live install with the full version keeping /home and the system was working perfectly when I finally booted it.

I reinstalled the missing programs, tested everything, including Spanish translations, and all was perfect.  Then I tested Steam with the controller and, to my dispair, the buttons were not working, the sound was muted, and only the pad was recognized.  My daughter was not happy at all.

I tried to recalibrate the controller without any luck... And when I was giving up, the Mageia update alert showed me some updates that the system wanted to install.

I installed them and called it quits. I turned off the machine feeling defeated.

Today, I mustered some courage and, plugging the controller in, I started my daughter's PC and Steam to try again (with very low expectations, to be completely honest).

But behold!  The controller was working perfectly!!

I can say with all confidence that Mageia 8 is a wonderful release.  These two success stories with two different systems provide evidence of how hard the Mageia developers and community have worked to release a product of high quality that can satisfy multiple needs for different people.

Great job, Mageia team!!