[hllug] Re: Reinstalling an app
- From: Stevie <slider2tx@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: hllug@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 21:33:04 -0600
Hi Herb,
I thought that I would give you an additional idea, but slightly different
in respect that after purging or re-installation of a program one might
still have problems making it run or behave correctly. :-)
Please note that when using the "reinstall" or "purge" commands, only files
that are "global system" owned are handled. "User" config files which keep
information specific to your user settings are used to reproduce the
environment variables that you set. They are kept in
"~/.directory_name_here". In case you don't know, "~/" = your
"/home/user_name" directory. You must have your file browser set to show
"hidden files" in order to see these (although I believe that you know about
this already from what you wrote above).
If a program does not want to work properly *after* being purged or
reinstalled, this usually means that it's config file in your home
folder/directory is probably corrupt. Renaming the file in question will
usually test the issue, as a new program config file will be auto-generated
at the start of the program. Simply restart the program after renaming the
config file to see. One might even try this first before removing the entire
program, as this can sometimes fix many issues.
An important thing to remember when purging, removing, or reinstalling
programs is that your "home user" directory remains untouched. If a programs
old config file located in this directory is indeed corrupted, this
corruption will be passed on to the new program even if it has been
reinstalled or purged globally.
I hope that this may help you or anyone else in the future if the need ever
arises. :-)
Slider
Proud user of Linux Mint /KDE operating system
http://www.linuxmint.com/
On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 2:18 AM, Don Crowder <dondashguitar@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> hc@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>
>> hc@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>>
>>> When I suddenly have a problem or cannot get an app to work I usually
>>> will go straight to Snaptic and uninstall completely.
>>> Then reinstall instead of just a simple reinstall because in my
>>> head I mapped that this is deleting it from the installed sys
>>> library and on reinstall it would DL it fresh from the
>>> repository.
>>>
>>> Is my thinker straight with this or am I going to extra dl time, (usually
>>> fast few secs to few min).
>>>
>>
>> I didn't know the answer to this question but here's what my pal google
>> said about it.
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/6f846er
>>
>>
>> So, if the problem is in the software or one of it's dependencies
>> it should be enough just to mark it for reinstallation but if the
>> problem is in the user configuration files it would be best to mark
>> it for complete removal then reinstall it.
>>
>>
>> Thanks Don I never thought of asking the goog, sorry didn't mean to
>> be lazy. Anyway I think I am gonna stick to my practice. However,
>> nice to know that I lose all config data and I suppose that
>> includes history stuff like addy-book and any EMs saved to the box
>> inside the client in the dot files etc. So I will backup those
>> concerned directories/files. hh
>>
>
>
> I wasn't implying that you're lazy Herb. I usually don't know enough to
> ask an intelligent question when I have a problem and have consequently
> gotten into the habit of going to google first. Sometimes google finds the
> answer for me but it's not something that happens particularly often.
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
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