Bug 283560

Version:           4.6 (using KDE 4.6.5) 
OS:                Linux

My OS: Kubuntu 11.04 natty, Linux kernel 2.6.38-11-generic, x86_64
My Hardware: MSi FX620DX Notebook: Intel i5-2410M, NVIDIA GT 540M (1GB DDR3), 6GB DDRIII RAM, 1366x768 HD LED display

(Note: I don't compile anything myself. All the programs I use come from the Ubuntu repos.)

After running 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade', the KDE version was updated to 4.6.5. I rebooted, and the desktop environment failed to load, dropping me to a terminal with a login prompt. I rebooted into recovery mode, and ran the 'repair broken packages' option. A suggestion to "run 'apt-get autoremove' as root" came up with a list of packages that were marked as no longer needed. I followed the suggestion, rebooted normally, and then the desktop environment loaded without trouble.

I don't know if this is a bug, but a less savvy user might not know how to use recovery mode or how to run "apt-get autoremove", resulting in a Linux user lost to the world of pay-for-play software. I understand that this problem might have been due to my specific system, but I just wanted to make someone aware that this could be a bigger issue.

Reproducible: Didn't try

Steps to Reproduce:
I assume the only way for me to reproduce would be to downgrade my KDE to 4.6.2, try the upgrade again, and then see what happens. I would probably also need to reinstall the packages that were removed by 'autoremove'. Since I use my computer for work, I don't have the time to spend trying to recreate the problem. Hopefully, someone at KDE can spend some time looking into this.


Expected Results:  
The desktop environment should launch normally when the OS is booted.

The exceptions to my rule about only using software that's in the repos are twofold:

1) I run MATLAB r2011a for Linux, installed from a DVD.
2) I use bumblebee to control the graphics processor assigned to an application (https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee). Bumblebee worked fine before and after the KDE upgrade, so I doubt that it's the cause of the problem.

Finally, I didn't write down all the packages that were removed by 'autoremove' but several were related to Avogadro (molecular modeling software, in the repos) and I did notice 'dvdauthor' was on the list. I hope that helps.