Recently installed Garuda, updated it today, and I noticed clicking on BTRFS Assistant in Garuda Welcome results in just re-opening of Garuda Assistant. Attempting to open it from the Application Launcher results in....nothing. I'm 99% sure this was working after first install, so potentially it was borked by the update?
I ran update again.......it appears the only things updated were libqmi, tracker3 and retroarch, and I got a ton of warnings about directory permissions (I had to remove most of them due to exceeding 32000 chars):
:: Synchronizing package databases...
garuda is up to date
core is up to date
extra 1759.0 KiB 3.69 MiB/s 00:00 [------------------------------------] 100%
community 7.1 MiB 12.0 MiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
multilib 169.5 KiB 467 KiB/s 00:00 [------------------------------------] 100%
chaotic-aur 2.3 MiB 1931 KiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
--> Refreshing mirrorlists using rate-mirrors, please be patient..
:: Synchronizing package databases...
garuda 94.8 KiB 183 KiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
core 156.6 KiB 675 KiB/s 00:00 [------------------------------------] 100%
extra 1759.0 KiB 5.52 MiB/s 00:00 [------------------------------------] 100%
community 7.1 MiB 13.5 MiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
multilib 169.5 KiB 673 KiB/s 00:00 [------------------------------------] 100%
chaotic-aur 2.3 MiB 5.05 MiB/s 00:00 [------------------------------------] 100%
spawn pacman -Su
:: Starting full system upgrade...
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...
Packages (7) kvantum-1.0.6-1 libmbim-1.28.0-1 libqmi-1.32.0-1 retroarch-assets-glui-1:439-1
retroarch-assets-ozone-1:439-1 retroarch-assets-xmb-1:439-1 tracker3-3.4.1-1
Total Download Size: 58.94 MiB
Total Installed Size: 140.24 MiB
Net Upgrade Size: 27.18 MiB
:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] y
:: Retrieving packages...
retroarch-assets-glui-1:439-1-any 1066.4 KiB 3.40 MiB/s 00:00 [------------------------------------] 100%
tracker3-3.4.1-1-x86_64 686.7 KiB 4.72 MiB/s 00:00 [------------------------------------] 100%
kvantum-1.0.6-1-x86_64 1407.1 KiB 2.33 MiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
libqmi-1.32.0-1-x86_64 2.2 MiB 3.03 MiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
libmbim-1.28.0-1-x86_64 541.8 KiB 4.01 MiB/s 00:00 [------------------------------------] 100%
retroarch-assets-ozone-1:439-1-any 2.3 MiB 1784 KiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
retroarch-assets-xmb-1:439-1-any 50.8 MiB 28.5 MiB/s 00:02 [------------------------------------] 100%
Total (7/7) 58.9 MiB 31.9 MiB/s 00:02 [------------------------------------] 100%
(7/7) checking keys in keyring [------------------------------------] 100%
(7/7) checking package integrity [------------------------------------] 100%
(7/7) loading package files [------------------------------------] 100%
(7/7) checking for file conflicts [------------------------------------] 100%
(7/7) checking available disk space [------------------------------------] 100%
:: Running pre-transaction hooks...
(1/1) Performing snapper pre snapshots for the following configurations...
==> root: 27
:: Processing package changes...
(1/7) upgrading kvantum [------------------------------------] 100%
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/bin/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/lib/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/lib/qt/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/lib/qt/plugins/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/lib/qt/plugins/styles/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/lib/qt6/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/lib/qt6/plugins/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/lib/qt6/plugins/styles/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvAdapta/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvAdaptaDark/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvAmbiance/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvAmbience/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvArc/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvArcDark/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvBeige/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvBlender/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvBrown/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvCurves/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvCurves3d/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvCurves3d1/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvCurvesLight/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvCurvesLight1/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvCyan/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvDark/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvDarkRed/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvFlat/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvFlatLight/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvFlatRed/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvGnome/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvGnomeAlt/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvGnomeDark/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvGnomish/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvGray/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvMojave/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvMojaveLight/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvMojaveMixed/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvMojaveMixed1/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvOxygen/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvRoughGlass/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvSimplicity/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvSimplicityDark/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvSimplicityDarkLight/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvSimplicityTurquoise/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvYaru/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/Kvantum/KvantumAlt/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/applications/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/color-schemes/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/icons/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/icons/hicolor/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/kvantummanager/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/kvantummanager/translations/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/kvantumpreview/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/kvantumpreview/translations/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvAdapta/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvAdapta/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvAmbiance/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvAmbiance/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvAmbience/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvAmbience/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvArc/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvArc/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvArcDark/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvArcDark/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvBeige/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvBeige/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvBrown/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvBrown/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvCurvesLight/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvCurvesLight/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvCyan/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvCyan/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvDarkRed/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvDarkRed/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvFlatLight/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvFlatLight/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvGnome/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvGnome/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvGnomeAlt/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvGnomeAlt/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvGnomeDark/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvGnomeDark/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvGnomish/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvGnomish/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvGray/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvGray/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvOxygen/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvOxygen/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvRoughGlass/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvRoughGlass/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvSimplicity/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvSimplicity/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvSimplicityDark/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/KvSimplicityDark/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/Kvantum/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/themes/Kvantum/openbox-3/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
(2/7) upgrading libmbim [------------------------------------] 100%
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/bin/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/include/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/include/libmbim-glib/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/lib/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/lib/girepository-1.0/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/lib/pkgconfig/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/bash-completion/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/bash-completion/completions/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/gir-1.0/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/gtk-doc/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/gtk-doc/html/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/gtk-doc/html/libmbim-glib/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/man/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/man/man1/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
(3/7) upgrading libqmi [------------------------------------] 100%
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/bin/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/include/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/include/libqmi-glib/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/lib/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/lib/girepository-1.0/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/lib/pkgconfig/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/bash-completion/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/bash-completion/completions/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/gir-1.0/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/gtk-doc/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/gtk-doc/html/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/man/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/man/man1/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
(4/7) upgrading retroarch-assets-xmb [------------------------------------] 100%
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/automatic/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/automatic/png/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/daite/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/daite/png/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/dot-art/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/dot-art/png/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/flatui/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/flatui/png/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/monochrome/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/monochrome/png/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/neoactive/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/neoactive/png/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/pixel/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/pixel/png/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/retroactive/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/retroactive/png/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/retrosystem/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/retrosystem/png/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/systematic/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/xmb/systematic/png/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
(5/7) upgrading retroarch-assets-glui [------------------------------------] 100%
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/glui/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
(6/7) upgrading retroarch-assets-ozone [------------------------------------] 100%
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
warning: directory permissions differ on /usr/share/retroarch/assets/ozone/
filesystem: 775 package: 755
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/8) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
(2/8) Foreign/AUR package notification
xerox-phaser-6022 1.0.21-1
(3/8) Orphaned package notification...
geocode-glib 3.26.4-1
rpmextract 1.0-9
(4/8) Checking for .pacnew and .pacsave files...
(5/8) Updating icon theme caches...
(6/8) Updating the desktop file MIME type cache...
(7/8) Performing snapper post snapshots for the following configurations...
==> root: 28
(8/8) Syncing all file systems...
Checking for plugin updates
Nothing to install / update
System updated! 🐧
This did not fix it.....assuming I do not need to log out and then log back in...
Which leads me to believe that @BluishHumility is correct. I did not have gparted installed, so I opened Octopi and installed it; everything went fine - I got the administrator password prompt. Now that gparted is installed, if I attempt to run it in a terminal (as per @UltraBlack , I get this:
If I use sudo btrfs-assistant or sudo -E btrfs-assistant, I get the password prompt and can open btrfs-assistant. Therefore, it seems to me that there is something broken with the password prompt dialogue box opening when using any symlinks, as attempting to run gparted from the symlink in the Application Launcher results in nothing happening, but I can run it using the terminal and sudo
In addition, I can run gparted from a terminal using sudo, and it opens fine, but when I close it I get this Libparted warning:
Also, please keep in mind I'm am not an experienced Linux user; I used Linux many moons ago, so I'm re-learning most of what I've forgotten. Which really wasn't much, TBH....
I do not have the slightest clue how your pkexec ended up without setuid. Did you run some sort of security enhancement script or ran anything recursively on the bin directory?
You will have to fix your filesystem permissions. Garuda currently offers no utility to do this and honestly i recommend you backup your home folder and explicitly installed packages and reinstall, this leaves too many security issues unaddressed.
Well, I'm sure I likely did run something recursively (I remember running a command that had -r in it, maybe regarding file permissions), but I'm not sure when or why - likely it was while trying to sort out some issues after install - I've had to fix my keyboard backlight not working, for example, and had other small issues - I honestly don't remember everything I've done to get to where I am.
At any rate, TBH, I'd rather not do a reinstall unless that is the only option. How can I manually check file permissions for all my folders? I navigated to my root directory in a terminal and ran ls -l, got this:
I'll have to do some research to understand exactly what the permissions are, as I don't remember what they mean. Then maybe I can sort out what is right and what is mucked up, so I can fix it.
If you recall executing something with -r and the problem is with permissions, it was likely a chmod.
You may try searching for that in the shell history (should be control+r in fish, then type "chmod").
Most files in /usr/bin should have permissions like this:
Nevermind the symlinks, those are always lrwxrwxrwx because it's the target permissions that matter (and if you run chmod on them, the target permissions are changed, not the link's).
On my system, these files in /usr/bin have the setuid bit set:
Useful stuff: pacman -Ql package lists the files included in a package. pacman -Qo /path/to/file reports which package a file belongs to. pacman -Qkk reports all the differences between packages and system.
If all else fails (unlikely): pacman/Tips_and_tricks#Reinstalling_all_packages
Beware, that would also restore the contents of system configuration files (usually under /etc).
Better yet, if you have to reinstall packages, identify those that actually need it with the above commands, and backup the config files first.
The obligatory, contructively snarky know-it-all remarks:
Always check the Arch Wiki and BBS (but do not ask there).
Always understand commands before executing them.
Always take note of what you do and what you learn.
Please post command line output as text not picture (just like the inxi, with ```).
That is really bad. It isn’t just directory permissions you need to worry about it, it is file permissions on every file. You must have done something really quite bizarre to remove the setuid bit on pkexec.
Your best bet is to backup your data and reinstall.
As a side note, don’t mess with permissions unless you fully understand the impact of the command you are running.
Well, I've spent quite a bit of time reading and trying to understand everything that has been suggested. I think I'm understanding this stuff mostly, but some things are still beyond my level of knowledge at the moment. Also, it seems there is no simple way to fix this, unless this would do it:
sed -n '/permissions differ/ {s/.* on //;h;n;s/.*age:/chmod/;G;s/\n/ /p; }' /var/log/pacman.log > fixem
chmod 0755 fixem
sudo ./fixem
But, I think that might be for bash? Since I'm not familiar with the differences between bash and fish, and I don't really understand everything that is in this script (is it a script? or just a series of commands?) it's probably best I don't use it.
So, it seems to me that the smartest thing to do is backup my files and do a complete reinstall of Garuda. Luckily, since I've only been working in this environment for a week, there's not much to back up as far as data goes - it's mostly settings that I'll have to deal with. Having said that, I could use some advice on how to best go about this, so as to "do it right" this time.
What I think I'd like to do:
keep my files and settings - I assume these are in the /usr/mx372 directory (my username is mx372). What is the best way for me to save these files - copy them to another drive (like a thumb drive)? Any other folders I should copy, or is there a better way or other process to follow? I had to do some configuring to get my backlit keyboard to work using the Scroll Lock button (don't remember exactly, but I'll figure it out).
I have wallpapers I want to keep - it appears they are all in /home/mx372/.local/share/wallpapers and /usr/share - I think this is easy enough to just copy to a thumb drive, right? I can just copy them back over after the reinstall.
I have a Steam library with configs for games I want to keep. I originally had to figure that out (via googling) to copy them from my Windows install over to Linux. I'm fairly confident I can figure this out again without too much trouble, but I'm open to suggestions.
I want to keep my bookmarks in FireDragon (I imported them from my Windows install - again, lots of googling to figure out how to make it happen, but I figured it out and can do so again). I think this should be much easier this time since I should be able to just export them from FireDragon....
I've read that it's a good idea to set the /usr folder in it's own partition, so that if the system needs to be reinstalled, it doesn't affect user data - is this accurate? Seems like a good idea - and right now everything is in one partition on my 1TB NVMe drive. Suggestions on this?
I think that covers it. Any suggestions on setting this up again, since it appears that is the best solution? I'm thinking the process goes like this:
copy the stuff I want to keep (indicated above) over to a thumb drive
reinstall Garuda, with the /usr folder on a separate partition
run a system update first
reinstall all packages for the software I installed in the current install I'm using now (it's not much really: Libreoffice and a few others - most everything else was already installed in the base Garuda Dragonized edition)
copy over my files and settings from the thumb drive, tweak my settings, etc. and drive on, having learned to only run commands in the terminal that I fully understand
get better educated on Linux and the CLI!
Oh, and this time I think I'm going to keep a log of what I do, step by step, as I do this, in order to document it in case I screw something up (I'll know exactly what I did).
In general, you seem to be mixing up /usr and /home
For example:
This should be /home/mx372
The easiest way is probably to use a backup tool that will preserve everything exactly. Otherwise, use an rsync command that preserves file attributes. Don’t try to copy them with the file manager.
If you backup /home/mx372 you will already have the former. You shouldn’t be putting custom wallpapers in /usr/share. If those were installed with a package you shouldn’t manually copy them.
If you are using default locations in steam, that will all be under /home/mx372
Also stored in /home/mx372. However, you can also export them.
I think you mean /home here. It is not a good idea to put /usr on it’s own partition.
There is no “right” answer to keeping /home separate. Some people swear by it, others prefer to avoid it. It is a matter of personal preference.
I think you are correct, I was confusing the two. Basically, all my data is stored in the /home directory, correct?
You say I should not be putting custom wallpapers in /usr/share - is there a specific reason you say this? That is where the Garuda wallpapers are located (I did not add any wallpapers to that folder).
You should never manually install files into system locations. That is where the package manager installs files. You can create conflicts that way. There are alternative locations available in /home
For this specific application backintime would probably be an easy to use option.