Upgraded Endeavour OS

[raymac46]

Upgraded Endeavour OS on another klunker laptop I have around here.

[ray@ray-20377 ~]$ inxi -Fxz
System:
  Kernel: 6.7.0-arch3-1 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.2.1
    Desktop: Xfce v: 4.18.1 Distro: EndeavourOS base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 20377 v: Lenovo Flex 2-15D
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: Lenovo Flex 2-15D v: 31900058 WIN
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: LENOVO v: 9FCN27WW date: 06/11/2015
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 4.0 Wh (22.3%) condition: 17.9/30.1 Wh (59.3%) volts: 7.3
    min: 7.2 model: SANYO L13S4A61 status: charging
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: AMD A8-6410 APU with AMD Radeon R5 Graphics bits: 64
    type: MCP arch: Puma rev: 1 cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 2 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 998 min/max: 1000/2000 boost: enabled cores: 1: 998
    2: 998 3: 998 4: 998 bogomips: 15976
  Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Mullins [Radeon R4/R5 Graphics] vendor: Lenovo driver: radeon
    v: kernel arch: GCN-2 bus-ID: 00:01.0
  Device-2: IMC Networks Lenovo EasyCamera driver: uvcvideo type: USB
    bus-ID: 2-1.4:4
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.11 driver: X: loaded: radeon
    unloaded: modesetting dri: radeonsi gpu: radeon resolution: 1366x768~60Hz
  API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: kms_swrast,radeonsi,swrast platforms:
    active: gbm,x11,surfaceless,device inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.5 vendor: amd mesa v: 23.3.3-arch1.1 glx-v: 1.4
    direct-render: yes renderer: KABINI (radeonsi LLVM 16.0.6 DRM 2.50
    6.7.0-arch3-1)
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Kabini HDMI/DP Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel bus-ID: 00:01.1
  Device-2: AMD FCH Azalia vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:14.2
  API: ALSA v: k6.7.0-arch3-1 status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.1 status: active
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Lenovo driver: r8168 v: 8.052.01-NAPI port: 1000 bus-ID: 01:00.0
  IF: enp1s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9565 / AR9565 Wireless Network Adapter
    vendor: Lenovo driver: ath9k v: kernel bus-ID: 03:00.0
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR3012 Bluetooth 4.0 driver: btusb v: 0.8
    type: USB bus-ID: 1-1.2:5
  Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 3 state: down bt-service: disabled
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: no address: N/A
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 106.42 GiB (22.8%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WDS500G2B0A size: 465.76 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 456.41 GiB used: 106.42 GiB (23.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 998 MiB used: 312 KiB (0.0%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 48.8 C mobo: N/A gpu: radeon temp: 44.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 201 Uptime: 15m Memory: total: 8 GiB note: est.
  available: 6.71 GiB used: 2.66 GiB (39.6%) Init: systemd Compilers:
  gcc: 13.2.1 Packages: 925 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.21 inxi: 3.3.31
[ray@ray-20377 ~]$ 

 

Edited January 19 by raymac46

[V.T. Eric Layton]

My favorite Endeavours, young and old versions...

 

[raymac46]

I like EndeavourOS quite a lot and if Morse were around today maybe he would like it too.

It is very close to Arch Linux with a pretty Xfce desktop as the default. It gets most of its software directly from the Arch repos. The EndeavourOS repo is mostly themes and a few handy tools. Not very large at all.

Personally I would start out with Arch to get a feel for the installation, but if you want a quick Arch-like look and feel then EndeavourOS might be a good choice.

[raymac46]

One new development: EndeavourOS has switched to KDE Plasma as its default DE. You can still get Xfce but you have to do it via the online install process, then put in the pretty Theming afterward. I got EndeavourOS earlier on so I can just continue to upgrade as long as I use it.

[wa4chq]

On 1/19/2024 at 3:55 PM, V.T. Eric Layton said:

My favorite Endeavours, young and old versions...

 

Inspector Morse books and shows were good.

[raymac46]

I have just done another massive upgrade to EndeavourOS on this junker Lenovo laptop from 2014. It is an EFI/GPT install. Aside from having to refresh the keys before the installation would proceed, everything went fine.

[raymac46]

I always find it useful to have a Linux Guest distro on my main Windows desktop. Right now my recommended Linux guest is EndeavourOS. It installs easily, works perfectly with the Guest Additions and looks great.

[raymac46]

 

This is how EndeavourOS looks in VirtualBox on Windows 11.

[raymac46]

Sadly my EndeavourOS system gave me problems in Vbox after an update. It will now not run pacman.

 

https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/error-usr-lib-libgpgme-so-11-file-too-short-when-trying-to-use-pacman/47362

 

I think the issue is with the mirrors. I have had this issue before with updates in Arch systems in VBox. My only option is nuke and repave. I have not run into this issue in a bare metal installation.

[Hedon James]

2 hours ago, raymac46 said:

Sadly my EndeavourOS system gave me problems in Vbox after an update. It will now not run pacman.

 

https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/error-usr-lib-libgpgme-so-11-file-too-short-when-trying-to-use-pacman/47362

 

I think the issue is with the mirrors. I have had this issue before with updates in Arch systems in VBox. My only option is nuke and repave. I have not run into this issue in a bare metal installation.

I find it unusual, but interesting, that Endeavour has this issue.  I've been running Arch in a VM for several years now, mostly with no issues, and certainly never with this issue.  I was under the impression that Endeavour runs very close to Arch, even using Arch repos, with a few customizations and/or simplifications for Endeavour.  I've been watching Endeavour for awhile and have been considering installing in a VM to see what all the (positive) chatter is about, but have no interest in troubleshooting this issue that seems to be unique to Endeavour.  But I am curious as to why Endeavour has this issue, but Arch does not (or hasn't so far...still current after about 7-10 years).

 

Side note...I wonder if this is an Endeavour issue, or perhaps a VBox issue, or maybe an Endeavour ON VBox issue?  I use VMM, which is probably overkill for my VM farming, but has worked wonderfully, despite all the extra features & options that I don't use and don't have a clue on how to manipulate.  If anyone knows, it's prolly SB....  Curious what his thoughts might be?

[raymac46]

I haven't had trouble with EndeavourOS when installed on the rails. I have had trouble with Arch, Manjaro and now EndeavourOS in VBox. Maybe I'm just unlucky or choose the wrong mirrors. 

[raymac46]

I've reinstalled EndeavourOS in VBox with the LXQt desktop. I have installed one package (Google Chrome) from the AUR. I'll see how it goes over the next few days.

[raymac46]

@HJ if you have had no problems with VMM and Arch Linux then I suspect that it may be VBox that doesn't play nice with Arch and Arch-type distros.

[Hedon James]

17 hours ago, raymac46 said:

@HJ if you have had no problems with VMM and Arch Linux then I suspect that it may be VBox that doesn't play nice with Arch and Arch-type distros.

only problems I've had with Arch were caused by my lack of attentiveness.  I've got a small "farm" of VMs that I like to keep my eyes on, for various reasons.  Arch & Manjaro are both on the list.  I try to update both about once a month, but sometimes life hits a higher gear and I realize it's been 60-90 days...uh-oh....and I get errors about key sigs, repos, etc...  I've always been able to resolve though.  This weekend, got a message about "insufficient disk space" to prevent the update.  Solved that by removing all packages from cache that weren't currently installed.  Arch is now up to date, and running smooth as it ever was.

 

Don't know if it helps at all, but my Arch VM was actually "built" in VBox, where it ran for a few years.  I switched to VMM when I switched to Debian 10 (2000?), because Debian didn't "support" VBox, recommended VMM, and I didn't want to create a FrankenDebian with a non-debian repo.  I converted the VBox disk image (vdi?) to a qcow (copy on write) format, attached it to a VMM machine and it's continued to run without issue (other than those created by my own neglect). 

 

Don't know if any of that helps you, or just further muddies the waters?

[raymac46]

I find it interesting that you have had no troubles with Arch when you ran it in VBox. I have had this issue of truncated (file too short) errors in the libraries a few times. I don't know if it's because of:

• Messing about with the mirrorlist.
• Downloading and installing stuff from the AUR.
• Using the latest VBox version.
• Using VBox in Windows. Haven't had the issue crop up in Linux hosts.
• Guest Additions.

I did have a Manjaro install that ran quite successfully in VBox until I got tired of it. My problems are exclusively with Arch or Arch-based distros in VBox. Never seen anything similar in bare metal installations.

[Hedon James]

1 hour ago, raymac46 said:

I find it interesting that you have had no troubles with Arch when you ran it in VBox. I have had this issue of truncated (file too short) errors in the libraries a few times. I don't know if it's because of:

• Messing about with the mirrorlist.
• Downloading and installing stuff from the AUR.
• Using the latest VBox version.
• Using VBox in Windows. Haven't had the issue crop up in Linux hosts.
• Guest Additions.

I did have a Manjaro install that ran quite successfully in VBox until I got tired of it. My problems are exclusively with Arch or Arch-based distros in VBox. Never seen anything similar in bare metal installations.

Overlaying your experience with VBox, and my experience with VBox and VMM; i'd be looking squarely at the bolded items.

 

I wouldn't underestimate the possibility of a windows build differing enough from a Linux build to cause an issue.  To be fair though, I'd think the Windows base of VBox would have a much larger user-base to troubleshoot and fix any issues.

 

Guest Additions are an interesting thought too, as I don't have Guest Additions in VMM.  But I did build those VMs in VBox with Guest Additions.  Not sure how GA would affect the package manager though?  Seems like a red herring, but still interesting to note.

 

Since you can't seem to isolate a single variable, or characteristic, I am definitely inclined to believe you have a dual-layer issue.  Something within Arch AND something within your host system.  Can you duplicate the failure on other machines, or is it specific to the one machine?  You are right though....it's not worth it to troubleshoot a VM when reinstallation of a non-critical component is so quick and easy.  Unless the whole point of the VM is to duplicate the problem so you CAN troubleshoot the issue....you know, for the knowledge and HONOR of man conquering the machine?!  LOL!

[securitybreach]

8 hours ago, raymac46 said:

I find it interesting that you have had no troubles with Arch when you ran it in VBox. I have had this issue of truncated (file too short) errors in the libraries a few times. I don't know if it's because of:

• Messing about with the mirrorlist.
• Downloading and installing stuff from the AUR.
• Using the latest VBox version.
• Using VBox in Windows. Haven't had the issue crop up in Linux hosts.
• Guest Additions.

I did have a Manjaro install that ran quite successfully in VBox until I got tired of it. My problems are exclusively with Arch or Arch-based distros in VBox. Never seen anything similar in bare metal installations.

 

Did you follow the wiki entry for it? https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/VirtualBox/Install_Arch_Linux_as_a_guest

[raymac46]

I didn't follow the wiki this time - although I have installed Arch the Arch Way in VBox in the past. I was installing Endeavour OS which has Calamares plus the Guest Additions ready to go. I got a full screen with EndeavourOS just as I have with various Debian distros.

Everything was working great until an update corrupted the libraries and pacman wouldn't run.

Now I have installed a different desktop -LXQt not Xfce - and we'll see if that makes a difference.

[securitybreach]

7 hours ago, raymac46 said:

I didn't follow the wiki this time - although I have installed Arch the Arch Way in VBox in the past. I was installing Endeavour OS which has Calamares plus the Guest Additions ready to go. I got a full screen with EndeavourOS just as I have with various Debian distros.

Everything was working great until an update corrupted the libraries and pacman wouldn't run.

Now I have installed a different desktop -LXQt not Xfce - and we'll see if that makes a difference.

 

Well I only mentioned it as there are some specific things you have to do to use Arch as a guest.

[raymac46]

I have found that most "modern" distros like Mint, EndeavourOS, MX (even Manjaro) are quite VBox friendly, enable Guest Additions, and generally give a good full-screen resolution from the start. The wiki is handy for resolving issues if that doesn't happen.

[Hedon James]

3 hours ago, securitybreach said:

 

Well I only mentioned it as there are some specific things you have to do to use Arch as a guest.

I don't remember doing anything "special" for my Arch VM, but that was a long while ago.  Can't say I didn't, but I just don't remember any "special" steps for install.

[securitybreach]

Well I think its really only for virtual box, kvm/libvirt require nothing as its kernel based

[raymac46]

I've done a couple of updates to my "new" EndeavourOS installation without incident. Mind you I have a new variable in play since I'm now using the LXQt desktop.

[securitybreach]

Endeavor is solid if you do not want to customize arch and you want something setup out of the box. The underlying OS is still all arch except for a Endeavor repo for themes and such.

[Hedon James]

On 11/12/2024 at 8:56 AM, securitybreach said:

Well I think its really only for virtual box, kvm/libvirt require nothing as its kernel based

Well there you go Ray...might explain some of your issues?!  I built my Arch & Manjaro VMs in VBox, but migrated them to VMM circa 2020ish, when my Lubuntu 16.04 LTS support expired.  Can't remember my kernel in Lubuntu 16.04, but it was certainly in the 4.xxx series.  When I migrated to Debian 10 and VMM, my kernel was in the 5.xxx series.  Now on Debian 12 and kernel is 6.1.0.

 

My working theory is that your issues are a combination of VBox vs VMM; and your kernel.  I suspect something has changed in the kernel since I built my Arch-based VMs; and SB confirms a suspected difference between VBox & VMM.  There's your 2-factor issue, IF correct.

 

23 hours ago, raymac46 said:

I've done a couple of updates to my "new" EndeavourOS installation without incident. Mind you I have a new variable in play since I'm now using the LXQt desktop.

If your issue is suspected to be pacman-related, possibly corrupted repo information, why are you looking at the DE environment?  I don't know you're wrong, but that wouldn't be on my list of suspects.  Am I missing something?  Or are you just being thorough?

 

If you're inclined to troubleshoot, and seems like you might be, I would suggest installing VMM alongside VBox.  It's not recommended, but that's due to the increased potential to bungle your VMs by switching back & forth between the 2.  Clone your VBox disk and rename it to distinguish it between VBox & VMM in the same directory.  For example VBox uses Arch.vdi; clone it and rename it ArchVMM.vdi.  VMM native format is *.qcow, but if memory serves me correctly, VMM can utilize the *.vdi format.  It's easy to convert, but don't worry about that for now (in fact, I'd discourage it, as that could introduce yet another variable...disk formats?!).  Create a new VM for your Arch VM in VMM, but attached the ArchVMM.vdi as your disk (don't create a new one, use your existing cloned disk).  VMM has a lot more settings to create a VM than VBox does, but SB and I can share our settings.  It's not difficult, FWIW, just "different" than the automatic VBox process.

 

With that done, your VMs should like look Virtual Arch running on VBox, with Arch.vdi disk (what you currently have....no changes whatsover); and Virtual Arch running on VMM, with ArchVMM.vdi disk.  Run both VMs, and keep both updated.  When you update 1, update the other.  When/if you experience an issue in 1 but not the other, you'll know it's an environment issue (VBox vs VMM).  If you experience in both, you'll know it's an Arch issue, or a host issue; but almost certainly a guest issue, because each guest is experiencing the same issue in "different environments".  When you're done troubleshooting, it's easy enough to convert a *.vdi disk to *.qcow with a simple command line tool.  We'll cross that bridge when/if.  Just re-assuring you that "final step" is an easy one, if you're inclined to take it.

 

That's how I'd do it, FWIW.  But your machine, your call, and you do you.  Just sharing HOW I'd approach it IF I was inclined to investigate.

Edited November 13 by Hedon James

[raymac46]

I switched to LXQt simply because I like it better. I don't think that'll make a difference, but any corruption in pacman I had in the past was with Xfce desktops.

 I've been running my VMs in Windows, so I don't think I can install VMM. I was thinking about trying a VBox install in Linux, as I have a second desktop where I can do that. Maybe then I could keep the two installations up to date and see if they both work OK or go south.

I'm not sure how far I really want to go with this as:

1. I really prefer Linux on the rails. I just keep one instance of it on Windows if I want to play around and not dual boot.
2. In my view, the concept of running a Linux guest on a Linux host is neither appealing nor necessary.

[raymac46]

OK I have installed EndeavourOS with the LXQt desktop as a guest in VBox on a Linux Mint host. I can compare its performance with the identical install on a Windows 11 host.

No updates as yet because I used the online option and got all the latest packages as part of the installation.

[raymac46]

[ray@ray-virtualbox ~]$ inxi
CPU: dual core AMD A8-5600K APU with Radeon HD Graphics (-MCP-)
speed: 3600 MHz Kernel: 6.11.7-arch1-1 x86_64 Up: 2m
Mem: 1.16/3.83 GiB (30.2%) Storage: 18.49 GiB (38.9% used) Procs: 162
Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.36
[ray@ray-virtualbox ~]$ inxi -Fxz
System:
  Kernel: 6.11.7-arch1-1 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
  Desktop: LXQt v: 2.0.1 Distro: EndeavourOS base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Virtualbox System: innotek GmbH product: VirtualBox v: 1.2
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Oracle model: VirtualBox v: 1.2 serial: <superuser required>
    BIOS: innotek GmbH v: VirtualBox date: 12/01/2006
CPU:
  Info: dual core model: AMD A8-5600K APU with Radeon HD Graphics bits: 64
    type: MCP arch: Piledriver rev: 1 cache: L1: 160 KiB L2: 4 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3600 min/max: N/A cores: 1: 3600 2: 3600 bogomips: 14405
  Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3
Graphics:
  Device-1: VMware SVGA II Adapter driver: vmwgfx v: 2.20.0.0 bus-ID: 00:02.0
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.14 driver: X: loaded: vmware
    unloaded: modesetting gpu: vmwgfx resolution: 1920x965~60Hz
  API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: kms_swrast,swrast platforms:
    active: gbm,x11,surfaceless,device inactive: wayland,device-0
  API: OpenGL v: 4.5 vendor: mesa v: 24.2.6-arch1.1 glx-v: 1.4
    direct-render: yes renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 18.1.8 256 bits)
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 82801AA AC97 Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_intel8x0
    v: kernel bus-ID: 00:05.0
  API: ALSA v: k6.11.7-arch1-1 status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.2.6 status: active
Network:
  Device-1: Intel 82540EM Gigabit Ethernet driver: e1000 v: kernel port: d020
    bus-ID: 00:03.0
  IF: enp0s3 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI type: network bridge
    driver: piix4_smbus v: N/A port: N/A bus-ID: 00:07.0
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 18.49 GiB used: 7.2 GiB (38.9%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: VirtualBox model: VBOX HARDDISK size: 18.49 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 18.03 GiB used: 7.2 GiB (40.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:
  Src: lm-sensors+/sys Message: No sensor data found using /sys/class/hwmon
    or lm-sensors.
Info:
  Memory: total: 4 GiB available: 3.83 GiB used: 1.17 GiB (30.6%)
  Processes: 161 Uptime: 3m Init: systemd
  Packages: 882 Compilers: gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.37 inxi: 3.3.36
[ray@ray-virtualbox ~]$ 

 

[Hedon James]

8 hours ago, raymac46 said:

OK I have installed EndeavourOS with the LXQt desktop as a guest in VBox on a Linux Mint host. I can compare its performance with the identical install on a Windows 11 host.

No updates as yet because I used the online option and got all the latest packages as part of the installation.

I understand.  Forgot your host was Windows.  DOH!  Replicating your VM on a Linux host is a solid idea.  Good idea!  If WinVM corrupts and LinuxVM does not, you have an indicator.  If both corrupt, you can still fall back to the VMM scenario on your Linux host.  Now just wait for a hiccup...should be interesting!

[raymac46]

Updated my Windows virtual machine where I installed Google Chrome from the AUR. After a reboot, I got a segfault when I tried to launch Chrome. Removed Chrome completely then reinstalled it from AUR. It works now. Nevertheless there is something funky about VBox and Windows and EndeavourOS. Lots of room for interactions, I would say.