Update: May cause partial upgrades and break systems!

limotux · April 4, 2023, 7:06am

Hi,
Updating my system I got a message saying:

May cause partial upgrades and break systems

[limo@asus ~]$ yay -Syyu
[sudo] password for limo: 
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 endeavouros                            30.7 KiB  62.3 KiB/s 00:00 [------------------------------------] 100%
 core                                  153.9 KiB   185 KiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
 extra                                1746.2 KiB   644 KiB/s 00:03 [------------------------------------] 100%
 community                               7.2 MiB  2.49 MiB/s 00:03 [------------------------------------] 100%
 multilib                              161.3 KiB   190 KiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
:: Searching AUR for updates...
:: Searching databases for updates...
:: 1 Packages to upgrade.
1  extra/mesa  23.0.1-1 -> 23.0.1-2
==> Packages to exclude: (eg: "1 2 3", "1-3", "^4" or repo name)
 -> May cause partial upgrades and break systems
==> 
Sync Dependency (1): mesa-23.0.1-2
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 endeavouros                            30.7 KiB  71.0 KiB/s 00:00 [------------------------------------] 100%
 core                                  153.9 KiB   242 KiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
 extra                                1746.2 KiB   807 KiB/s 00:02 [------------------------------------] 100%
 community                               7.2 MiB   957 KiB/s 00:08 [------------------------------------] 100%
 multilib                              161.3 KiB   268 KiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
:: Starting full system upgrade...
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Package (1)  Old Version  New Version  Net Change  Download Size

extra/mesa   23.0.1-1     23.0.1-2       0.00 MiB      14.72 MiB

Total Download Size:   14.72 MiB
Total Installed Size:  85.30 MiB
Net Upgrade Size:       0.00 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] 
:: Retrieving packages...
 mesa-23.0.1-2-x86_64                   14.7 MiB  1576 KiB/s 00:10 [------------------------------------] 100%

My inxi -Fxxx:

ystem:
  Host: asus Kernel: 6.1.22-1-lts arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
    v: 12.2.1 Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.3 tk: Qt v: 5.15.8 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1
    dm: SDDM Distro: EndeavourOS base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: VivoBook_ASUSLaptop X415FAC_X415FA
    v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: X415FAC v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI: American Megatrends v: X415FAC.202 date: 07/08/2021
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 35.5 Wh (100.0%) condition: 35.5/37.1 Wh (95.7%)
    volts: 7.8 min: 7.8 model: ASUSTeK ASUS Battery type: Li-ion serial: N/A
    status: not charging cycles: 5
CPU:
  Info: dual core model: Intel Core i3-10110U bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    smt: enabled arch: Comet/Whiskey Lake note: check rev: C cache: L1: 128 KiB
    L2: 512 KiB L3: 4 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3295 high: 4054 min/max: 400/4100 cores: 1: 4054 2: 2600
    3: 3927 4: 2600 bogomips: 20810
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel CometLake-U GT2 [UHD Graphics] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915
    v: kernel arch: Gen-9.5 ports: active: eDP-1 empty: HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0
    chip-ID: 8086:9b41 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: IMC Networks USB2.0 HD UVC WebCam type: USB driver: uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 1-5:3 chip-ID: 13d3:56e6 class-ID: 0e02 serial: 0000
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.8 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: intel unloaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: i965
    gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 361x203mm (14.21x7.99")
    s-diag: 414mm (16.31")
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 mapped: eDP1 model: ChiMei InnoLux 0x14d6 res: 1366x768
    hz: 60 dpi: 112 size: 310x170mm (12.2x6.69") diag: 354mm (13.9")
    modes: 1366x768
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 23.0.1 renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (CML GT2)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH-LP cAVS vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:02c8 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.22-1-lts status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 0.3.67 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    4: pw-jack type: plugin
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH-LP CNVi WiFi driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:02f0 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: 7c:70:db:e2:29:ee
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth 9460/9560 Jefferson Peak (JfP) type: USB
    driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-10:5 chip-ID: 8087:0aaa class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: down bt-service: disabled
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: no address: see --recommends
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 238.47 GiB used: 67.43 GiB (28.3%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Western Digital model: PC SN530
    SDBPNPZ-256G-1002 size: 238.47 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD
    serial: 2127HE443513 rev: 21106000 temp: 31.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 238.17 GiB used: 67 GiB (28.1%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
  ID-2: /home size: 238.17 GiB used: 67 GiB (28.1%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
  ID-3: /var/log size: 238.17 GiB used: 67 GiB (28.1%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 67.0 C pch: 45.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 2000
Info:
  Processes: 257 Uptime: 2d 19h 39m wakeups: 13 Memory: 19.38 GiB
  used: 6.75 GiB (34.8%) Init: systemd v: 253 default: graphical Compilers:
  gcc: 12.2.1 Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1195 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.16
  running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.26

What does this mean?
I do not really know what is this “mesa” (just searched it is about graphics). My graphics card is not NVIDIA it is INTEL, is better to uninstall?
I have a message that reboot is recommended but I am worried. Should I reboot?

xircon · April 4, 2023, 7:21am

Excluding packages may… just badly worded.

pebcak · April 4, 2023, 7:22am

If you would exclude a package from being updated, then your system will be in a state of partial upgrade which may lead to breakage sooner or later.

In this case you shouldn’t be worried since you have gone ahead with the update process.

The excluding of a package from updating may be justified temporarily in the event of the updated package itself is broken and may lead to issues on systems.

joekamprad · April 4, 2023, 7:22am

This warning relates to the option to drop packages when updating, that was offered beforehand.

limotux · April 4, 2023, 7:29am

Thanks @pebcak and @joekamprad
So, it is ok to keep it.
But why this option/message for this package in particular.
I do not get it that I am offered an option not to upgrade it initially and that doing this would break the system.

Do I really need “mesa” given my hardware (no NVIDIA), are there any pros or cons uninstalling it?

joekamprad · April 4, 2023, 7:32am

it is not in anyway related to this specific package, and instead only a general warning when the option to exclude packages from getting updated iis shown to inform you about this danger.

I0F · April 4, 2023, 7:32am

Also just as a hint, you don’t need yay -Syyu. Just use yay without any arguments for updates. As a default yay hands down -Syu to pacman.

The double yy in -Syyu also is not needed. Those flags are handed down to pacman by yay. It forces a refresh of the pacman database, even if nothing has changed. That is usually not necessary and puts more stress on a repo than it needs to.

pebcak · April 4, 2023, 7:33am

You have only one package to update this time.
That is a generic message for every update.

Run pactree -r mesa to see what is dependent on mesa

Also, have a look at: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Mesa

joekamprad · April 4, 2023, 7:35am

and yes please do not run force database update!
This is indeed not needed in general in any way… and is causing unnessesarry load on the mirrors.

limotux · April 4, 2023, 7:36am

Thank you @I0F and @joekamprad

I got the yay -Syyu somewhere here. May be it was a specific case.
I will try only yay.
Thank you.

limotux · April 4, 2023, 7:41am

Oooops! Almost everything is dependant on it.
OK. I will just keep it.
I found it strange for me to have the option to skip the update though it may break the system!
Usually updates are just updated and that;s it without asking to skip anything.
I did not understand why mesa in particular!

pebcak · April 4, 2023, 7:46am

That message is not specific to this particular update.
It is a generic message.
There might be times when there are some justified reasons for excluding a package from being updated.
For example when there are some issues with the newer version of a package leading to breakage on a system.
yay is just offering the possibility to do so when there is a reason.

Edit: This update just came through for me:

: 4 Packages to upgrade.
4 core/coreutils 9.2-2 → 9.2-3
3 core/systemd 253.2-1 → 253.2-2
2 core/systemd-libs 253.2-1 → 253.2-2
1 core/systemd-sysvcompat 253.2-1 → 253.2-2
==> Packages to exclude: (eg: “1 2 3”, “1-3”, “^4” or repo name)
→ May cause partial upgrades and break systems

limotux · April 4, 2023, 7:55am

I understand it now. Thank you @pebcak
Sorry if I am asking stupidly again, I understood “mesa” is related to graphics, 3d Graphics and NVIDIA.

I am confused as:

I do not have NVIDIA
My use is just normal use, browsing, Libreoffice, not doing anything graphics.
I do not even know what is 3D Graphics, I just read or watch the screen “normally”!

I wonder if it can sometimes lead to a broken system, what if I simply uninstall it? Is there any stable alternative?

pebcak · April 4, 2023, 8:05am

Mesa is not intended for only Nvidia or 3D graphics.

Mesa is an open-source OpenGL implementation, continually updated to support the latest OpenGL specification. It has a collection of open-source drivers for Intel graphics, AMD (formerly ATI) and NVIDIA GPUs.

source: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Mesa

Also perhaps this Wikipedia article may shed some lights:

I wouldn’t

limotux · April 4, 2023, 8:25am

Neither me as you said so.

manuel · April 4, 2023, 8:34am

Looks like the latest yay still has some issues.
If you run e.g.

yay -Syu xed

it will warn about partial upgrades.

limotux · April 4, 2023, 8:41am

I noticed it after I just ran yay, not yay Syyu

limotux · April 4, 2023, 8:47am

I got this:

[limo@asus ~]$ yay -Syu xed
[sudo] password for limo: 
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 endeavouros is up to date
 core                                  154.2 KiB   273 KiB/s 00:01 [------------------------------------] 100%
 extra is up to date
 community                               7.2 MiB  1351 KiB/s 00:05 [------------------------------------] 100%
 multilib is up to date
:: Searching AUR for updates...
:: Searching databases for updates...
:: 5 Packages to upgrade.
5  core/coreutils           9.2-2   -> 9.2-3
4  core/systemd             253.2-1 -> 253.2-2
3  core/systemd-libs        253.2-1 -> 253.2-2
2  core/systemd-sysvcompat  253.2-1 -> 253.2-2
1  community/xed                    -> 3.2.8-1
==> Packages to exclude: (eg: "1 2 3", "1-3", "^4" or repo name)
 -> May cause partial upgrades and break systems
==>

joekamprad · April 4, 2023, 8:47am

Not sure what exactly the last update has changed … but this new warnings seems to be redundant … --noupgrademenu has no effect on this ?

manuel · April 4, 2023, 8:55am

Version 12 of yay was a big update, so there are many reported issues already, and likely some more to come. I assume the next releases will fix them eventually.

Edit: note that paru is available too.