[Solved]/usr/lib/libGL.so.1 symlink keeps changing on package installs

Question

Hello,
I recently switched my desktop from using the proprietary nvidia drivers to nouveau. After doing so, I experienced seg faults in many applications (emacs, xfce4-session). I tracked down the problem to be caused by the /usr/lib/libGL.so.1 symlink pointing to the wrong file. I noticed that if I looked in /usr/lib, I would see libGL.so.1 -> libGL.so.190.42 when in fact it should have been pointing to mesa-libGL.so.1.2.0.  ( https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=174663 )
Changing the symlink by hand ( sudo ln -sf mesa-libGL.so.1.2.0 libGL.so.1 ) makes everything work again, but every time I install something new the symlink goes back to libGL.so.190.42.
What is causing this symlink to change on every package install and how can I stop this from happening?
Thanks!
Last edited by mikej_96 (2013-12-23 21:25:19)

Answer 1

Oh wow - how can this even happen?
I verified that the libGL.so.1 symlink was correct:
ls -lah libGL.so*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 Dec 13 12:12 libGL.so -> mesa-libGL.so.1.2.0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 Dec 23 14:20 libGL.so.1 -> mesa-libGL.so.1.2.0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 Dec 13 12:12 libGL.so.1.2.0 -> mesa-libGL.so.1.2.0
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 775K Aug 29 2009 libGL.so.185.18.36
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 906K Oct 25 2009 libGL.so.190.42
Then rename the 'bad' libGL file.
$ mv libGL.so.190.42 libGL.so.190.42.why_is_this_here
Then, re-install archlinux wallpaper
$ pacman -S archlinux-wallpaper
warning: archlinux-wallpaper-1.4-1 is up to date -- reinstalling
resolving dependencies...
looking for inter-conflicts...
Packages (1):
Name Old Version New Version Net Change
extra/archlinux-wallpaper 1.4-1 1.4-1 0.00 MiB
Total Installed Size: 11.78 MiB
Net Upgrade Size: 0.00 MiB
:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n]
(1/1) checking keys in keyring [################################] 100%
(1/1) checking package integrity [################################] 100%
(1/1) loading package files [################################] 100%
(1/1) checking for file conflicts [################################] 100%
(1/1) reinstalling archlinux-wallpaper [################################] 100%
Then check the symlink again
$ ls -lah libGL.so*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 Dec 13 12:12 libGL.so -> mesa-libGL.so.1.2.0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 32 Dec 23 14:16 libGL.so.1 -> libGL.so.190.42.why_is_this_here
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 Dec 13 12:12 libGL.so.1.2.0 -> mesa-libGL.so.1.2.0
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 775K Aug 29 2009 libGL.so.185.18.36
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 906K Oct 25 2009 libGL.so.190.42.why_is_this_here
It moved back to the unwanted libGL file.