How One Package Broke My Whole System

#linux #ubuntu #dualboot

Back when I first started using Linux, I installed Ubuntu. I was really careful with the installation because I thought that if Linux got corrupted, Windows would also be affected. When setting up a dual-boot system, I ran the installer on a different computer, installed Ubuntu onto a USB hard drive, and then booted from that drive.

How Linux “Broke” My Windows

After I installed Linux, I started setting it up. Here's what I did:

Changed my wallpaper
Connected my Bluetooth headphones
Installed VSCode
Installed Node.js
Explored the pre-installed apps The next day, I forgot that I had Linux installed and booted into Windows. The first thing I did was try to connect my Bluetooth headphones, but it didn’t work. So I ended up using a wired connection instead. Also, the LAN port on the motherboard wouldn’t connect — only a LAN-to-USB adapter worked.

The next day, I booted into Linux again, and everything worked fine.

How I destroyed My Linux Setup

I think it was around four days into using Linux when I wanted to install an application (I don’t remember the name anymore). It was in the AppImage format, and the guide I was following said I needed to install a dependency called libfuse2. I installed it using apt and said "yes" to everything.

After installing the dependency, I wanted to run the AppImage file. I opened the file manager to launch it, but instead of running the app, I got a folder analysis view. Now I know that this usually appears when the file manager has been removed.

After that, I rebooted the system, but I couldn’t log in anymore. So I gave up on Linux and went back to using Windows.

What Actually Happened

Now I know a lot more about Linux and use it as my daily driver. Back then, when I had these issues, I didn’t search online for solutions.

Bluetooth Issues

When you connect a Bluetooth device, Windows stores the MAC address of the device and generates a link key, which is saved by both Windows and the Bluetooth device. In some cases—especially with certain headphones—the device may also store the MAC address of the PC it paired with.

When you switch to Ubuntu, your PC may use a different Bluetooth MAC address, and a new link key is generated. However, your headphones may still be expecting to connect to a device with the original MAC address and link key, so the pairing fails.

No File Manager and Login Failure

You might know the YouTuber Linus Tech Tips, who also tried using Linux and ran into issues when installing the steam package. The steam package had conflicts with some other packages, including ones responsible for the desktop environment.

When a package conflict occurs, the package manager asks whether to remove the conflicting packages. If you don’t read the output carefully and just say “yes” (like I did), things can go wrong.

In my case, Ubuntu already had fuse3 installed. I tried to install an older version (fuse2), which conflicted with fuse3. The package manager asked if I wanted to remove fuse3 — and all packages that depended on it. Unfortunately, many components of the GNOME desktop environment depend on fuse3.

As a result, I lost the file manager (since it's part of GNOME), and I couldn’t log in anymore because the system tried to load a desktop environment that I had unknowingly uninstalled.