Most functions not working after incomplete system update

[mameha1977]

I put linuxlite 3.6 on an old dell laptop and my son has been using for homework for about 6 months and it is great.

However, I recently made two changes and this has now made the machine unusable.

PROBLEM

System boots into xdfe gui, as the default user (userB), but most of the functions dont work. 
For example:
- no wifi/internet, the wifi icon doesnt appear at all in bottom right also no Volume icon.
- most of the system applications like Network Connections don't work (no response) so I cant connect
- Text Editor, File Manager and Terminal work OK
- Clicking 'Switch User' button causes eternal reboot, it keeps trying and failing and retrying until I power off.

CHANGES MADE PRIOR TO PROBLEM

1) Changed the default user from userA to userB, by clicking 'Disable AutoLogin' for userA and clicking 'Enable Auto Login' for userB.

2) At the same time, I also ran Systems Updates for the first time in 3 months and it had a huge amount to download, I then left it running and have no idea if it completed successfully or powered off midway through for power saving.

STEPS TAKEN

At first I thought the problem was the userB, so I spent 90 mins using recovery terminal to change the lightdm.conf so that userA becomes the default user on boot.  However I now see that userA has the exact same problem in terms of no wifi etc.  So both accounts are broken.

HELP PLEASE!

How can I recover from this situation?

I am thinking I could just overwrite everything and do a clean install but I remember it took me a lot of time to get the userB account working properly and dont want to go through that again as I dont remember what I had to do.  I also have all my sons homework on there but I can probably access those files and backup to USB as the File Manager program does still work.

If the problem was caused by incomplete system update, is there some way I can restore internet access from the Terminal and then run systems updates?

[NN]

HELP PLEASE!

How can I recover from this situation?

Do you have a restore point to recover your system? If not, then, if I were you (although it's only up to you to decide what to do), I would do the following:

1) use a live-USB version 3.6 or 3.8 (but in no case LL 4.0 beta since it can't mount neither other devices nor the former old file system);

2) save all your important files from your home directory (your son's homework and so on) to another USB stick;

3) then reinstall the system, but first try to recover your system using the options on the grub menu when your PC starts up;

4) add new users according to the instructions given here: https://www.freecinema2022.gq/manual/install.html#adduser

Good luck!

[mameha1977]

Thanks.

I didnt try wired connection, so tonight I will connect LAN cable and hopefully I will then be able to run the system updates and I am hoping this will magically fix everything.  If not I think I will copy off the personal files and then just install 3.8 from scratch (I looked in the recovery grub options yesterday but didnt see anything obvious that would repair the installation).

[NN]

then just install 3.8 from scratch

Yes, it takes less time to do so, as redoing things, asking for advice and waiting for the answers on the forums take too long time. So, to do such things faster is better, I think. 

[TheDead]

Hi,

If you get the updates running, check the "Details" to see if it mentions broken packages.
You could need to do a dpkg repair command.
For WiFi, once on lan, check if you have Driver Updates available, if so change to another wifi driver if possible. (If you have two choices and already have the one you want, you could try swithching to the other one and coming back... maybe this could reinstall the driver correctly (?) )

Hope my blaberring will help you a little, Cheers!

[NN]

Hi!

Thank you for your advice, but I'm so sick and tired of writing these ISOs and testing them that I'd better wait for the stable release. If the same bug remains, I will keep using my current distro. This is the only way out for me.

[mameha1977]

Alas I saw this message too late to try the dpkg repair command.

I did try updating everything via apt command but it made no difference.

In the end I just backed up the files and did a fresh install, it all works good now but took about 2 hours to reinstall everything inc printer drivers etc and python etc.  I then made a system restore point using the SystemBack function so hopefully will be covered if this happens again.

[NN]

took about 2 hours

Not too long indeed.