Re: X config not written
On Mon, Feb 28, 2005 at 08:09:32PM +0100, Andreas Janssen wrote:
> Hello
>
> Matt Price (<matt.price@utoronto.ca>) wrote:
> > Carl Fink wrote:
> >> On Sun, Feb 27, 2005 at 03:27:21PM +0100, Jan Willem Stumpel wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>IMHO, it is a bug. Because I tried lots of things before putting
> >>>this on the list: one was to remove /etc/X11/XF86Config-4
> >>>entirely. And even then a new file did not appear.
> >>>
> >>>The question is: if it is a bug, then of what? dpkg? dexconf?
> >>>xserver?
> >>
> >> In my ignorant opinion, xserver, because that'll have to be modified
> >> to fix the problem.
> > just wanted to chip in and say I also think it's a bug -- esp if you
> > forget that you've modified your XF86Config-4 manually! presumably
> > this is a simple thing to fix, though I guess I deserve to be flamed
> > for saying that without volunteering to fix it myself...
>
> You can discuss whether it is a bug or not if the file has been removed.
> If it has been changed manually, it is /necessary/ that it is not
> overwritten. I remember that some months ago XFree in Woody was
> updated, and plenty of people came here because their XFree didn't work
> anymore. The reason was that their configuration had been changed back
> to the answers from the debconf database, deleting the manual changes.
> This behaviour is documented in the configuration file itself, and in
> the Debian X FAQ.
There's a related trap in upgrading from a 3.3.6 (stable) version of X to
4.3.0, which I ran into recently upgrading my wife's machine.
I'd installed a new graphics card, which the 3.3.6 server didn't know
how to handle. So I tried:
1) Upgrade to testing, install 4.3.0 xserver packages.
X still points to 3.3.6, which doesn't help.
2) Purge the 3.3.6 X packages.
X still (!) points to the 3.3.6 server, which no longer exists,
so X won't run at all.
3) dpkg-reconfigure the 4.3.0 X package.
No change; It apparently treats the X wrapper/pointer as a
'locally changed' file, and won't touch it.
4) Remove the offending X wrapper, run dpkg-reconfigure.
No X; 4.3.0 treats the removed file as a local change, and
won't install a new one.
5) Purge and re-install the 4.3.0 server.
This works.
>From my perspective, it would be best if the 4.3.0 X servers treated a
modified config file as 'ask before overwriting, default to not overwrite'
instead of 'don't-touch', much the way many other packages treat config files.
I'd be interested to hear what the X maintainers (Branden Robinson,
etc.) would consider acceptable solutions. Back when this changed
behavior was implemented, Branden gave some compelling anecdotes about
upset users who'd had their X configurations erased. Unfortunately,
pretty much anything winds up being more work for someone.
Jon Leonard
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