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:warning: :information_source: BIG FAT WARNING :information_source: :warning:

How to update OpenMandriva system
OpenMandriva policy on system upgrade is different!
To upgrade system the distro-sync command is needed instead of update

General

Official Naming Policy
OpenMandriva is not <put your distro here>

Download

- Default Download at SourceForge
Download OpenMandriva Lx
.
- Read here If you have trouble downloading OMLx nightly builds from abf

- Wayland warning:
We provide also a ROME Plasma6 Wayland ISO, however we believe Wayland still not to be mature enough to replace X11 by default for most users.
Please note the Wayland ISO in VirtualBox may boot to a black screen, and/or crash (experienced crash both the guest and the host), and/or not properly work. The most recent OMLx install images (Plasma Wayland and Gnome spin) may need VMSVGA controller be set to boot successfully in VirtualBox 7.0.x and above.
It works fine on most hardware and in QEmu with KVM.

Q: Is there a plan to drop systemd in OpenMandriva?
A: Short answer is no, not at this point.
But note that OM systemd is modified to disable its more questionable components and use just the basics. Those basics are not actually bad, and provide many features that desktops have come to rely on because they are a good idea, such as user sessions. We are open to switching to something else if and when something that is actually better comes along
(OpenMandriva is not <put your distro here>)

Q: Is there a plan for a release on ROME Server?
A: Yes it should be ready soon ( OpenMandriva )

Q: What you mean when you mention “UM”?
A: “UM” is the process to copy cooker (the development branch) repositories to rolling (ROME)

About OMLx Spins (other desktops)

Installation

Before Installation

How to use Ventoy to install OpenMandriva (old workaround if any need)
What to do if there is a problem installing OMLx

- :window: Windows users - Rufus:
If you use Rufus you must select the ‘dd’ mode, otherwise it will truncate the volume name and break the boot process.

After Installation

How To use dnf (any version of OMLx)
How to configure printer in OMLx

Plasma6 vs. Plasma5 package naming

  • use dnf install plasma6-package_name for Plasma6 packages
    (install/upgrade/remove/etc.);
  • use dnf install package_name for Plasma5 packages
    (install/upgrade/remove/etc.)
    We are going to drop Plasma5 right after 6.0 release.

:information_source: 2025-09-01T22:00:00Z At the time of writing this addendum our ROME Plasma6 users want to install/upgrade/remove/etc. the prefixed plasma6-* packages name.
This will change after next copy of cooker repository to rolling (ROME) as in cooker we already got rid of Plasma5.
We’ll publish proper communication and instructions here: ROME major upgrade expected
As for Rock/6.0 Plasma6 users nothing changes (still use plasma6-* packages name) until stable Rock 6.1 release.

Current default package manager:
DnfDrake
DnfDrake overview (needs screenshots update)

Flatpak manager GUI:
FlatDrake
sudo dnf install flatdrake --refresh

Q: Can I switch from Cooker to ROME or from ROME to Rock?
A: No, you should only move forward.
However there will be a short time frame when we sync the cooker repository to rolling (ROME), or the rolling repository to rock, at which point there won’t be a difference and switching should be safe.
Just make sure you do it exactly in the time frame between the sync and the next bigger update.

ungoogled-chromium
Can I install extensions or themes from the Chrome Webstore?

Forum and Support request

How to get better results when posting about problems
Resources (tutorials and tips&tricks category)
Resources Index
How to submit bug report to Github Issues (needs screenshots update)

Users Involvement

How to contribute user’s documentation

Testing

QA forum category
Help with testing OMLx
Getting Started with QA

ROME users

Keep up with this topic before upgrade your ROME system
ROME major upgrade expected

Nightly builds up-to-date installation media (download from abf)
Officially announced releases (download from sourceforge)

ROME/Notes
ROME/Errata
…

Rock users

Rock (OMLx 6.0) is the home and workstation edition published by the OpenMandriva Association. Also for individual users who do not want many updates, be it because they prefer their system to remain the same or because of slow internet connection. Releases are scheduled around once a year.
It would be the most stable and suitable for users that like things to stay as they are and just work. Package upgrades will be limited mostly to bug fixes, and security updates.
Rock repositories consist of a symbolic link to the latest stable version of OpenMandriva Lx. Currently Rock is linked to OMLx 6.0, however when a new OMLx point release will be out Rock will automatically be switched to it.
Any stable version will eventually reach EOL (End Of Life) after the new version is released and there will be no more updates of any kind.

Nightly builds (download from abf)
Officially announced releases (download from sourceforge)

6.0/Release Notes
6.0/Errata

Notes:

:warning: Please note: This topic is a Work in Progress.
It will be supplemented by new content when needed.

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Just as a FYI, Plasma 5 seems to handle Wayland quite well. I am having no problems with it. I am also forcing most software to use Wayland. Somethings, like Steam still default to X11, and run without issues as well.

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If convenient, testing Wayland on Plasma 6 would be helpful. We plan to replace Plasma 5 in the very near future. We are seeing performance issues with Plasma 6 with Wayland and Nvidia proprietary drivers (reports on KDE’s Discuss for the open source drivers, also) and are investigating.

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I would include this and this. Or some rewrite of those.

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This may beyond the scope of what you are trying to accomplish with this but I would suggest something like the Ubuntu handbook. Where they go over the use of the desktop and the changes they made from the default to make it more unique to the distro.
I’m not as familiar with KDE and would find that very beneficial to know what OMLx has tweaked it to do.
Along with what all the default apps are for. Some are definitely intutive and obvious what they are for others not so much.
As soon as I learn more about KDE I would be happy to help with something like that.

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OMG you can believe me I looked for it, as I remember you did, not finding. Not a clue on how it has happened :crazy_face:
Sure will fix the link, thanks.
Done

Yes.

Good to know, thanks for the feedback :+1:

Need to look at it. Any link?

That would be great. We are in huge need of help of new contributors.
How to contribute user's documentation

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This is a great idea, solid effort.

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been using rome plasma6 wayland on an older t480 since yesterday ,been on it plenty of hours so far so good , with general consumer usage. :ok_hand:
would it make sense to just install cosmic on top of it to give it a test ride?

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Any help and feedback is much appreciated. Thank you.

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cosmic does install on top of an already running system (plasma or gnome iso)
sudo dnf --refresh install task-cosmic

ss_20250108_115601
ss_20250108_1156011440×900 75.9 KB

Please open a new discussion if any need though, sorry it’s OffTopic here :wink:

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Install dnfdrake and flatdrake for managing and updating from the GUI, and provide the commands to update from the TUI.

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Please include dnf commands. I was unfamiliar with dsync. A sentence or two explaining that this is not the same as fedora would be great, along with a link to dnf in general for people like myself who are coming from a non-rpm distro.

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For information or inclusion in Newcomers Tips:

How To use dnf (any version of OMLx)

Edit: We have to keep mentioning for new users that for OMLx it is preferred to use sudo dnf dsync --refresh to upgrade your system rather than sudo dnf up --refresh. This is because of OpenMandriva’s unique approach to software packaging.

Upgrading OMLx systems

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It’s an html doc thats included on the distro and linked to in the dock.
It covers using Gnome and their tweaks to it.
Includes detailed explanations of most of the default apps.
Also links to all the places to get help.
Very similar to the About OpenMandriva thats currently on our desktop.
Just a lot more extensive.

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on arch i just installed cosmic session with its dependencies on top of xfce/i3 buggy but then i am no expert
il give it a try ,thanks

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I installed the OpenMandrivaLx.rolling-snapshot.20241225.3525-plasma6.znver1.iso on a BeeLink AMD system to try it out and it is flawless on Wayland. This is a system with the GPU on the processor.

I have a Ryzen 9 7900X and a new motherboard, etc. shipping as we speak and I will be putting this same ISO on it as well. I don’t know if I will stick the Nvidia 2070 Super into it or wait until Kernel 6.13 and go with the Intel ARC B580 GPU. I am leaning on waiting, but I may test it with the Nouveau drivers on wayland, just to let you guys know the results. I will let you make the call.

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@rugyada I was thinking something like this quick mock up I did using Grok to do the leg work.
Only much more stylized and prettier.

image
image1920×1080 207 KB

I’m thinking the list of the apps down the left side that one would click on the app and it would show the use cases and quick tutorial on that app.

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@UnkleBonehead that looks nice :+1:
Let me the time to sort the current tasks for 6.0 release and I’ll be back to you.
(I’m afraid it’s too late so the feature can’t be shipped anyway with this release)

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Getting the iso right is the proority, lol. I just want to throw that out so people knew what I was talking about.

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On every distro I’ve installed oneof the first things i have wanted to do is have numlock turned on at boot. Most non english keyboards require shift to use the top row numbers and as my password always contains letters and numbers i like to use the number pad for logging in. It’s a small things but the number of times i have typed my password and it failed because i forgot to switch on numlock, so i like when it’s automatic. For plasma & sddm just edit the /etc/sddm.conf file from Numlock=none to Numlock=on, if you want it left on after login change the keyboard settings, I think for gnome which i assume uses GDM normally you install numlockx which i think is just numlock in the OM repos and turn on in the login screen options. Its similar for lightdm but you normally aslo edit the lightdm.conf with something like /user/bin/numlockx=on if memory serves. I have never found this info in official docs and always had to google around for it and with different package name conventions this can be confusing if the answer isn’t for your particular distro.

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