[SOLVED] two programs won't launch

[oldgeek]

I upgraded from Kubuntu 21.10 to 22.04 recently, and everything seemed to working fine (except that the application launcher button disappeared--I installed the widget and now it works). However, there are at least two programs that now won't run--Kstars and Connectagram (a word puzzle). I click on the button but they never load. I tried purging and re-installing, but still get nothing except an occasional crash message. Any idea on what may be the problem?

[claydoh]

Never heard of connectagram.
But assuming I am looking at the correct website, it looks like it has had an update in the past few days, so you may need to download the latest package for this.

Kstars, I dunno. What happens when you attempt to run it from a terminal?
Purging and reinstalling applications rarely works in Linux, though sometimes removing it user config file(s) can.
Running it from the command line should hopefully provide clues as to what might be wrong. The command is probably simply kstars

[rab0171610]

Yes, what claydoh said about starting it from konsole, the terminal. Just type kstars (all lowercase), hit enter and if you get any error messages post them back here and someone might be able to help you better.
If it says command not found:
If you don't know the name of the commands, you can find the executable names to run on the command line by looking in /usr/share/applications. All the files there will be .desktop files. Open the ones up that have the name of your program in the file name with a text editor like Kate or Kwrite. Look for a line that says 'exec= ". Whatever follows the equals sign is the command you will run in the terminal.
Don't forget to post back any feedback it gives you in the terminal.

[oldgeek]

When I type in Kstars, its says, 'segmentation fault, core dumped.' Connectagram seems to have gone to Qt6. I've added the PPA, but can't seem to download the latest version. There's a Flatpack version, but I don't want to go that way yet; I'm still getting used to Firefox as Snap (not really a problem).

[rab0171610]

There is a bug report filed for this. They have released a bugfix version for Kubuntu:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ci-train-ppa-service/4837
sudo apt-get update

You can read about it here:

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=453239

which links to this page about adding the PPA to get the newer version:

https://launchpad.net/~ci-train-ppa-...ve/ubuntu/4837

This was done on May 1 2022, so the it should be in the repositories eventually. I would recommend going ahead and trying to add this PPA with the commands above and it should update you to the newer pre-release version now.
Let me know if this works for you as well. The bug posters have said it solved their problem.

Good Luck!

Technical info:Apparently it was a Tool Chain issue when building. Kstars did not work with LTO enabled on the build.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ToolChain/LTO
You can also read the email discussion from the developers about it:
https://www.mail-archive.com/kde-bug...msg676628.html

[rab0171610]

Is connectagram installed as a flatpak? If not, maybe try installing it that way, I know it is available on flathub.

[claydoh]

I've added the PPA, but can't seem to download the latest version

I assume this PPA
https://launchpad.net/~gottcode/+archive/ubuntu/gcppa
and not this repo:
https://software.opensuse.org/downlo...ome%3Agottcode
This one ^^^ hasn't been updated to include the newest version yet.


One thing to remember is that for upgrades, all PPAs and addon repos are disabled, you you will need to re-enable this one, and make sure it is pointing to impish instead of jammy (iirc it *should* be). You can do via the Software Sources tool found in Discoverer's settings section, in the Other Software tab.

[oldgeek]

Following rab0-...'s suggestion, Kstars is up and running, thanks a lot. As for Claydoh's suggestion, for some reason I can't get into Software Sources--it won't accept my password either in Discover or Muon. I'll have to check that out. I used Stacer to check out the software sources, and I've re-enabled the PPA (the first one) for gottocode. Still doesn't work. Running from a terminal I got this error message:

qt.qpa.plugin: Could not find the Qt platform plugin "xcb" in ""
This application failed to start because no Qt platform plugin could be initializ
ed. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.

I re-installed it, got the same message. I think the latest version (1.3.2) uses Qt6. Jammy doesn't. Could that be the problem?

[Snowhog]

for some reason I can't get into Software Sources--it won't accept my password either in Discover or Muon.

See https://www.kubuntuforums.net/forum/...ackage-manager

[claydoh]

I can't get into Software Sources--it won't accept my password either in Discover or Muon

Apologies, I forget that this problem exists


Jammy does have Qt6 stuff, that should not be the issue, unless the packager forgot a dependency.

But:

$ sudo apt install connectagram
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
connectagram-data libb2-1 libqt6core6 libqt6dbus6 libqt6gui6 libqt6widgets6
qt6-gtk-platformtheme
The following NEW packages will be installed:
connectagram connectagram-data libb2-1 libqt6core6 libqt6dbus6 libqt6gui6
libqt6widgets6 qt6-gtk-platformtheme
0 upgraded, 8 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

then I get the same error message, so there is a missing package, or the binaries are looking for the wrong bits. This seems common in areas with mixed Qt versions available. Definitely a bug, and worth reporting to the developer.

In the meantime, this situation is perfect for using flatpak, since it has all the libraries and dependencies self-contained.

[oldgeek]

OK, I decided on Flatpack, and installed it. Then I downloaded the flatpack version of Connectagram. Trouble is, I couldn't find it! I had to search for it in Dolphin, then install it in Discover, then I still couldn't find it. Just where are Flatpack programs stored? Is there a special flatpack folder? I finally found it--it was in Discover, under Installed Applications-- and played it, and it works, but this seems a clumsy way to use a program. Since this is my first experience with Flatpack, I'm sure there must be an easier way. I just can't figure it out.

[oldgeek]

I just figured it out--I had to restart the computer. Now Connectagram is under Games, and problem solved. Thanks to all for your help.

[rab0171610]

Ok great, it sounds like all of your problems are solved for now. Good luck to you!