[SOLVED] VLC Does not open after accidental upgrade to 3 from 2.2.7

jfhendfg · 06-03-2018, 06:58 PM

I am having a humdinger of a problem with VLC and I am at my wit's end, I've been trying to fix it all day with no results. I was trying to fix another error in my system, out of desperation I went to synaptic and hit Mark All Updates and Apply, that really screwed me.

After doing that, vlc does not open, from the terminal it gives me a huge error listing regarding "QPainter". I already posted about this at the VLC forums but I'm presuming that forum is dead considering that all day only 7 people have been online.

Here's what I've tried

1. Uninstalling / Purge uninstalling VLC then reinstalling from both Synaptic and from building source.

2 Reverting back to 2.2.7, that was really really really really difficult and I'm pretty sure I did some damage to my system along the way trying to track down and remove and change all the updated dependency conflicts, it still wouldn't open but there was no error message, just the version number and back to command input without even flashing a window.

Again, I have no idea what to possibly do now to fix this.

Here's a link to my original post in the VLC forum which has the huge error that occurs when attempting to run VLC via terminal.

Thank you in advance!

https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic...473800#p473800

AwesomeMachine · 06-03-2018, 08:43 PM

Well, your long list of errors is one error. It sounds like a problem with qt and/or pyqt. Fortunately, no one needs to die. Just open synaptic and reinstall libqt-4 and 5, pyqt; just the ones that are already installed.

jfhendfg · 06-04-2018, 02:08 PM

Well... before I do that... it changed... I didn't do anything after I gave up, but it changed, now when I attempt to launch vlc via terminal, this is what it gives me

Code:

VLC media player 4.0.0-dev Otto Chriek (revision 4.0.0-dev-3262-g5a59782d45)
[01c2b950] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
[01c89630] main playlist: playlist is empty
[01ca3f70] [cli] lua interface: Listening on host "*console".
VLC media player 3.0.2 Vetinari
Command Line Interface initialized. Type `help' for help.

Yes I'd prefer to have the GUI interface with clicky buttons and whatnot.

Habitual · 06-04-2018, 05:34 PM

Look for 2.x.x in /var/cache/apt/archives/

Code:

sudo grep vlc /var/cache/apt/archives/* -rl

any hits w\a 2.x.x nomenclature?

jfhendfg · 06-04-2018, 06:25 PM

Code:

/var/cache/apt/archives/cups-daemon_2.2.1-8+deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/extlinux_3%3a6.03+dfsg-14.1+deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/firefox-esr_52.8.0esr-1~deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/gcc-6_6.3.0-18+deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/gcj-6-jre-lib_6.3.0-18+deb9u1_all.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/gstreamer1.0-pulseaudio_1.10.4-1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libavcodec57_7%3a3.2.10-1~deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libc6-dev_2.24-11+deb9u3_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libgcj17_6.3.0-18+deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libicu57_57.1-6+deb9u2_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libjack-dev_1%3a0.125.0-2_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libjavascriptcoregtk-4.0-18_2.18.6-1~deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libldap-2.4-2_2.4.44+dfsg-5+deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/liblouis-data_3.0.0-3+deb9u1_all.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libmagick++-6.q16-7_8%3a6.9.7.4+dfsg-11+deb9u4_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libpython2.7-dev_2.7.13-2+deb9u2_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libreoffice-common_1%3a5.2.7-1+deb9u4_all.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libreoffice-core_1%3a5.2.7-1+deb9u4_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libvlc5_3.0.2-0+deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libvlc-dev_3.0.2-0+deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libvncserver-config_0.9.11+dfsg-1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libwebkit2gtk-4.0-37_2.18.6-1~deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libwine_1.8.7-2_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libwine-development_2.0-3+b2_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/linux-headers-4.9.0-6-common_4.9.88-1+deb9u1_all.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/linux-image-4.9.0-6-686_4.9.88-1+deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/linux-image-4.9.0-6-686-pae_4.9.88-1+deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/linux-libc-dev_4.9.88-1+deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/locales_2.24-11+deb9u3_all.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/ncurses-bin_6.0+20161126-1+deb9u2_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/openjdk-8-jre-headless_8u151-b12-1~deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/openjdk-8-jre-headless_8u171-b11-1~deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/python-wxgtk3.0_3.0.2.0+dfsg-4_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/qtbase5-dev-tools_5.7.1+dfsg-3+b1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/samba-libs_2%3a4.5.12+dfsg-2+deb9u2_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/spotify-client_1%3a1.0.72.117.g6bd7cc73-35_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/vlc-data_3.0.2-0+deb9u1_all.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/vlc-l10n_2.2.7-1~deb9u1_all.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/vlc-plugin-base_3.0.2-0+deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/vlc-plugin-skins2_3.0.2-0+deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/w3m_0.5.3-34+deb9u1_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin_1.6.2-1_i386.deb

But are you sure any of those will work? I've tried the 2.2.X deb and it wouldn't let me do anything unless I went in and removed alllllllll dependencies created by v3 and that was a huge pain in the butt, and scary too considering that I'm running an updated kernel that is also tied into all that mess.

ondoho · 06-05-2018, 02:38 AM

have you tried another media player?
mpv is much more reliable and versatile for linux, and with a frontend like smplayer you also have the "clicky buttons".

jefro · 06-05-2018, 01:36 PM

Something to do with window manager. Why are you trying to start it from command line?

jfhendfg · 06-05-2018, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefro

Something to do with window manager. Why are you trying to start it from command line?

Because it wouldn't launch via menu shortcut nor Run Command, usually if I start it from terminal it still gives me the GUI, unless my memory is wrong.

And just try another media player? Really? No way, I love VLC, it's my favorite because it's the best IMO.

And mpv sucks (IMO) I've been using it in the meantime and I hate it. There's no settings menu, I can't customize the interface, and I practically have to memorize all the video control key shortcuts.

Like aspect ratio, why the heck would anyone write a media player that doesn't have the ability to fix that readily available? I'm expected to know that it's only done via Shift+A. That's awful. No thank you, I want my VLC back please.

Habitual · 06-05-2018, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfhendfg

No thank you, I want my VLC back please.

I'd purge vlc3 and "autoremove" then re-install from /var/cache/apt

autoremove is to cleanup orphaned vlc3 stuff (usually Deps?}

Code:

sudo apt-get remove vlc-data_3.0.2

and said autormove is

Code:

sudo apt-get autoremove

There are a couple methods.

You have 2.2.7 in /var/cache/apt/archives/vlc-l10n_2.2.7-1~deb9u1_all.deb
that could be re-installed using

Code:

sudo dpkg -i /var/cache/apt/archives/vlc-l10n_2.2.7-1~deb9u1_all.deb

you may also be concerned with ~/.config/vlc or similar... See also https://debian-handbook.info/browse/...with-dpkg.html

vlc should start 2.2.7 from /var/cache/apt/archives/vlc-l10n_2.2.7-1~deb9u1_all.deb

Good Luck and Happy Birthday.

ondoho · 06-06-2018, 12:57 PM

Quote:

And mpv sucks (IMO) I've been using it in the meantime and I hate it. There's no settings menu, I can't customize the interface, and I practically have to memorize all the video control key shortcuts.

Like aspect ratio, why the heck would anyone write a media player that doesn't have the ability to fix that readily available? I'm expected to know that it's only done via Shift+A. That's awful. No thank you, I want my VLC back please.

apparently you gave up reading my last post after ~50%...

in any case, it seems to be working, que no? so that's sort of proving my point about VLC not really being the best choice for linux.

jfhendfg · 06-09-2018, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

apparently you gave up reading my last post after ~50%...

in any case, it seems to be working, que no? so that's sort of proving my point about VLC not really being the best choice for linux.

No it is still not working, and I read that part too fam, I'm still not a fan of mpv, or it's frontend.

And if your solution is just "use a different media player" then you can please leave my thread.

I use Linux ESPECIALLY for this situation, I can go in, get my hands dirty, and fix issues. As with Windows, I have to worry about permissions, patching, licensing, breaching software warranties, yeah no thank you.

jfhendfg · 06-09-2018, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitual

I'd purge vlc3 and "autoremove" then re-install from /var/cache/apt

autoremove is to cleanup orphaned vlc3 stuff (usually Deps?}

Code:

sudo apt-get remove vlc-data_3.0.2

and said autormove is

Code:

sudo apt-get autoremove

There are a couple methods.

You have 2.2.7 in /var/cache/apt/archives/vlc-l10n_2.2.7-1~deb9u1_all.deb
that could be re-installed using

Code:

sudo dpkg -i /var/cache/apt/archives/vlc-l10n_2.2.7-1~deb9u1_all.deb

you may also be concerned with ~/.config/vlc or similar... See also https://debian-handbook.info/browse/...with-dpkg.html

vlc should start 2.2.7 from /var/cache/apt/archives/vlc-l10n_2.2.7-1~deb9u1_all.deb

Good Luck and Happy Birthday.

Slow down jack, the first package to remove isn't there, is there a way either of us could figure out exactly which one needs to be purged/removed?

Also I did try doing this manually by removing pretty much everything associated with vlc then reinstalling .deb's for the previous version, but that yielded a different error, so I tried purging again and building from source and it brought be back to square one.

I will try your method of doing it though if it is in fact different from what I just described.

And thank you, it was actually on the 29th, don't know how you knew that but thank you lol

jfhendfg · 06-09-2018, 11:47 AM

Actually habitual, I'm going to make an assumption and try the apt-get remove with this one

Code:

 /var/cache/apt/archives/vlc-data_3.0.2-0+deb9u1_all.deb

and will report back asap.

hydrurga · 06-09-2018, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfhendfg

No it is still not working, and I read that part too fam, I'm still not a fan of mpv, or it's frontend.

And if your solution is just "use a different media player" then you can please leave my thread.

I use Linux ESPECIALLY for this situation, I can go in, get my hands dirty, and fix issues. As with Windows, I have to worry about permissions, patching, licensing, breaching software warranties, yeah no thank you.

If you don't mind me saying so, threads on LQ do not belong to any one person, even the thread's OP, and you do not control who or who not posts on them.

My advice is to reinstall, or roll back to the last system backup/image/snapshot you made before you accidentally clicked on that Synaptic option. if you think you have done damage to your system then you probably have.

If, on the other hand, you want to pursue this then the first thing I would check is the status of your packages. It's like a doctor taking your blood pressure - it tells you if everything is really screwed or not.

The first move would be:

Code:

apt check

dpkg --audit

jfhendfg · 06-09-2018, 11:49 AM

No dice,

however there is a hit for just vlc-data, just fired that one out, running the autoremove now, then will try the /var/ package(s)