Shared object "libxcb.so.2" not found

[xavi]

Hi,

My version of FreeBSD 9.2 stopped running X and gnome2 recently. Instead of displaying the login dialog it now displays a command-line login prompt. And when I type startx I get the following error:

Shared object "libxcb.so.2" not found, required by "libXmuu.so.1"

Searching for this string on the internet led me to an entry in /usr/ports/UPDATING (for 20140416) which states to use either of the following commands to fix the issue:

portmaster -r freetype2 -r libxml2 -r pixman -r freeglut -r libxcb or portupgrade -rf freetype2 libxml2 pixman freeglut libxcb

However, running the first command gives an error of:

'The argument to -r must match only one port'

And running the second gives an error of:

origins - not a string (NilClass): Cannot read the pkgdb!
Command failed [exit code 1]: /usr/local/sbin/pkgdb -aFOQ

I've tried to follow the advice given of building sysutils/bsdadminscripts and running pkg_libchk to see which libraries need rebuilding but this gives an error of:

Shared object "libarchive.so.5" not found, required by "pkg"

I upgraded to 10.0-RELEASE using freebsd-update(8) in the hope that this would fix it, but it hasn't. I've also read the thread '[Solved] libxcb.so.2 missing' at https://forums.freebsd.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=46256 a number of times, but being a relative newbie with FreeBSD I still don't understand what the solution is.

So, can someone explain in layman's terms please:

1. What's happened to break things?
2. Why it's happened?
3. What I can do to fix it?
4. How to prevent it happening in the future?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[SirDice]

What's happened to break things?

A dependency changed its version number and whatever depended on it wasn't rebuilt to link against the new version.

Why it's happened?

Not following /usr/ports/UPDATING

What I can do to fix it?

A portmaster -r libxcb should probably fix it.

How to prevent it happening in the future?

Reading /usr/ports/UPDATING before updating. Sometimes things need to be updated in a specific order.

 

[wblock@]

pkg_libchk -qo will show the ports that need to be rebuilt, and can even be fed straight into portmaster(8): portmaster `pkg_libchk -qo`.

For a quick "best practices" document on maintaining ports, please see Upgrading FreeBSD Ports.