Plasma 5.21 Beta Preview on EOS

robinjuste · January 30, 2021, 3:30pm

Plasma 5.21 Beta preview is up and running on my production machine.

No issues found so far, and I really like the updated application launcher.

Screenshot_20210130_152318

If you cannot wait until the official release on Feb 16th, you can get testing this update today by making a minor tweak to your pacman.conf file.

Open /etc/pacman.conf as root and uncomment any “testing” references.
Just above the first entry for testing, add the following, save and then run an update via sudo pacman -Syu

[kde-unstable]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

Reboot and you should see the updated wallpaper to know you are now on the 5.21 beta build.

Currently this is on version 5.20.90.

Screenshot_20210130_162542

Enjoy!

ricklinux · January 30, 2021, 3:57pm

Mine say’s 5.20.90? I did find the new wallpaper and is working good.

robinjuste · January 30, 2021, 4:17pm

@ricklinux Ah, yes. I just spotted this in System Information, also.
Thanks for confirming. Post edited to correct version.

Remember, this is a test preview so the full version will update around 16th Feb. Possibly 17th Feb for Arch users.

ricklinux · January 30, 2021, 4:18pm

Are you leaving it on kde unstable or put it back and wait for the final update?

robinjuste · January 30, 2021, 4:23pm

I’m hanging here on KDE-Unstable for a few days before rolling back.

For those who are testing and wish to rollback, you should:

Remove (comment out) them from /etc/pacman.conf
Perform a pacman -Syuu to “rollback” your updates from these repositories.

The second item is optional, but keep it in mind if you notice any problems.

ricklinux · January 30, 2021, 4:30pm

I actually like the current application launcher. Wish they had left that one as one of the options.

robinjuste · January 30, 2021, 5:25pm

I think they want to make W10 users more welcomed and relaxed with the transition to Linux. Aside from Linux Mint and Cinnamon, I can see Plasma being the dominate DE of 2021.

ricklinux · January 30, 2021, 5:36pm

I agree. I used to run Linux Mint Cinnamon and i always used to run every current and RC kernel and never had an issue. I currently use mostly KDE because it’s very smooth/fluid and quick response. I would like to see better Icon support. That is where i find the most issues. I have EndeavourOS KDE, Xfce and Cinnamon running on one machine with rEFInd.

Christopher67 · January 30, 2021, 8:19pm

Question, on this pc i have Arch/Plasma and on my main pc i have EOS Xfce. To install Arch/Plasma i used archfi, how do i tell IF im using wayland or xorg? I think both were installed at time of installation IF i remember correctly lol. So IF wayland goes all wonky it defaults to xorg? But I think in the near future I’ll only be using Plasma i like it that much. Thanks @robinjuste for explaining how to install Plasma 5.20.90

ricklinux · January 30, 2021, 8:29pm

echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE

Christopher67 · January 30, 2021, 8:30pm

Thanks @ricklinux

[dad@archlinux ~]$ echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
x11

otherbarry · January 30, 2021, 8:35pm

When rolling back to a different repo should use sudo pacman -Syyuu, forcing a refresh of all package databases.

Christopher67 · January 30, 2021, 8:39pm

Thanks!

robinjuste · January 30, 2021, 9:41pm

The rollback solution I listed is from the Arch wiki site, so I’d say to run this whilst logged in as root, or via the sudo command. Either way, you will get an prompt if you need to use sudo.

robinjuste · January 30, 2021, 9:42pm

You’re most welcome, @Christopher67!

otherbarry · January 30, 2021, 10:27pm

The issue with your command wasn’t sudo, it should have the yy pacman flag and not the y flag, forcing a package databases refresh when changing repos.

When an Arch wiki command has # as the command prompt root access is implied (ie sudo), when $ normal user access is implied.

This is very rarely the case, and in nearly all cases not recommended.

ringo · January 30, 2021, 10:30pm

curius wil it work ith ant-dracula theme purple …

robinjuste · January 30, 2021, 10:36pm

I would have gone with what I always use, which is Syy, but the official Arch wiki says to use Syu.

Either way, it is always done with risk!

pebcak · January 30, 2021, 10:59pm

I am a bit confused. Reading man pacman:

 -y, --refresh
           Download a fresh copy of the master package database from the server(s) defined in
           pacman.conf(5). This should typically be used each time you use --sysupgrade or -u. Passing two
           --refresh or -y flags will force a refresh of all package databases, even if they appear to be
           up-to-date.

I would think it seems that only -y would be enough since it will download “a fresh copy of the master package database from the server(s) defined in pacman.conf”. Wouldn’t that be enough?

ricklinux · January 31, 2021, 12:09am

I thought use in -Syy forced it to sync whether it was up to date or not.