I run a machine that dual boots between my current LST ubuntu, and my previous LTS - right now that is 24.04.x and 22.04.x. Each has its own root partition on the SSD, but they share a home partition so all my stuff survives the upgrade. Over time, I transition Apps and settings from the old to the new, but can always log into the previous version if I need something that isn’t working (yet) in the new version. I don’t “upgrade” an installation, but rather do a fresh install into the relevant partition with the new version (thereby avoiding almost all the “upgrade broke my system” kind of issues).
My 24.04 partition has no Desktop. The files are still there when viewed through the file manager, and it still displays in the 22.04 installation, but I’m only presented with a blank background image in 24.04.
I have “reinstalled” the desktop a couple of times flowing suggestions found here and similar posts
sudo apt install --reinstall ubuntu-desktop^
but while alleging to have updated 60 odd files, this has not achieved anything. I did however note this error in the Terminal…
E: The repository 'https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/appimagelauncher-team/stable/ubuntu noble Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
Does this mean there is a missing file in the update server - so there is nothing I can do locally to fix the issue?
This is a really bad decision, there are two years between the versions of your installed software, incompatible changes between configuration files, databases etc are very likely, so if you run an app (or even change a desktop setting ) it can easily cause breakage or issues (new app might expect a different naming for config options than the old app and the other way around, either of them might think it needs to transition the config to a new schema etc)…
Try creating a fresh test user on the one where the desktop does not come up and see if It works then, that would clearly point to an issue with your users configs…
It is very likely the PPA simply doesn’t have released any packages for the “noble” release so there has not been a “Release” file generated (this only happens when someone uploads a package for a specific release)
I keep multiple installs and consider the LTS versions as main working install. But I keep /home inside / (root) and have all data in separate data partition which I mount & link folders back into /home. Since I use Kubuntu I only keep older install for a while after installing new one as only 3 year standard support on flavors. With test installs I may copy /home from my working install or may just experiment with settings and redo them. I have reinstall of apps and some settings in a script after I found I was doing the same thing over & over.
Thanks for the critique. This is the method I have been using for more than a decade now and it has never previously resulted in any more than a little niggle with some specific application or other.
I will look into alternative methods going forward - but I still have my current issue that needs to be resolved…
Yes - if I create a blank user account in 24.04 the desktop does display - so your hypothesis would seem to be sound. So what can I do to “reset” the current install to display the desktop for my default user account - “transition the config to a new schema” as it were?