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

  • thingsiplay@beehaw.org
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    15 hours ago

    Reminds me of what happened with PopOS. I did not expect this to happen with Debian. I’m glad you figured something out and have a working system again! Maybe we really need Atomic style distributions for stable environments.

  • astrsk@fedia.io
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    14 hours ago

    Eh, at least you can still take notes very easily and reinstall DE later.

  • NaN@lemmy.sdf.org
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    14 hours ago

    Nala brings dnf-style history and undo to Debian and Ubuntu. Highly recommend.

  • electricprism@lemmy.ml
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    8 hours ago

    This was definitely one of my least favorite things when I used Debian.

    It shows that we need to think about how users are performing tasks and how to intuitively make their usage more successful. The OS should try to get out of the way and always have the ability to easily revert in the case of platform failure.

    • SynopsisTantilize@lemm.ee
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      7 hours ago

      There should be an undo oopsies feature you can turn on and off somewhere so in terminal when I accidentally rm -f * the entire system doesn’t eat it’s own tail.

      • ProgrammingSocks@pawb.social
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        2 hours ago

        While that sounds good it would be extremely complex to actually implement. The only real-world feature like this is btrfs snapshots (or filesystem snapshots generally). The good thing is that snapshots only store the difference in data and so they don’t have to take up much space.

  • mvirts@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    Congratulations 🎉 Nice work figuring it out.

    Gotta love the idea that when you uninstall a package all the packages that depend on it must be removed for consistency.

    Out of curiosity, what were you looking to gain from the pipewire upgrade?

  • cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de
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    12 hours ago

    That’s why it’s a good idea to take a btrfs snapshot before updating or changing things. Snapshots are almost instant and sure save a lot of work if you break something.

  • filister@lemmy.world
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    15 hours ago

    You should consider switching to some immutable distro like Silver Blue, uBlue, etc. for the peace of mind and the easiness to revert back to some stable system. I am currently using one in conjunction with Nix and it is truly a blessing.

    • Vincent@feddit.nl
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      11 hours ago

      Yeah, I realise a comment like this is mostly unhelpful (switching distros is a pain, of course - even just the hassle of moving over your data), but it does remind me how glad I am that I did it at some point. Painless upgrades are amazing.

      (That said, it’s not entirely risk-free; although I never got an unworkable system, at some point upgrades were blocked until I did some manual work. Universal Blue had similar issues.)

    • Norah - She/They@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      11 hours ago

      Okay, here me out, but the other day I accidentally rebased my nvidia Bazzite system to the testing version of the deck image. It would fuzz out before even the bios splash. So yeah, you can still mess it up lol

    • Krafty Kactus@sopuli.xyz
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      14 hours ago

      That’s exactly what I was thinking lol. There are debian based immutable systems that would be great for this setup

  • Mwa@lemm.ee
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    11 hours ago

    kinda love how you used gnome with macbook it fits soo well