So, I installed Ubuntu 18.04 with gnome3 and then lured by the prettiness of elementary OS 5.0, I installed that as per the instructions. Now, I have purged all the PPAs as suggested by this or other answers here. However, I still get elementary os screen at the boot and when I see the about in gnome UI.
Cosmetics is not much of a problem for me but when I am trying to upgrade from 18.04 to 18.10, I am not receiving any update when I do sudo do-release-upgrade -d or sudo do-release-upgrade.
How do I completely restore my gnome? or more directly How do I move to 18.10?
Output of dpkg -l | grep -i elementary is
ii base-files 10.1ubuntu2.3+elementary12~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 Debian base system miscellaneous files
ii bash 4.4.18-2ubuntu1+elementary3~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 GNU Bourne Again SHell
ii browser-plugin-evince 3.28.2-1+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 plugin for web browsers to display documents (PostScript, PDF, …)
ii desktop-file-utils 0.23-1ubuntu3.18.04.1+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 Utilities for .desktop files
rc elementary-default-settings 5.0-0~304~ubuntu5.0.1 all Default settings for elementary OS
rc elementary-icon-theme 4.4.0+r2076~ubuntu5.0.1 all simple and appealing Tango-styled icon theme
ii epiphany-browser 3.28.1-1ubuntu1+elementary20~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 Intuitive GNOME web browser
ii epiphany-browser-data 3.28.1-1ubuntu1+elementary20~ubuntu5.0.1 all Data files for the GNOME web browser
ii evince 3.28.2-1+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 Document (PostScript, PDF) viewer
ii evince-common 3.28.2-1+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 all Document (PostScript, PDF) viewer - common files
ii file-roller 3.28.0-1ubuntu1+elementary4~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 archive manager for GNOME
rc fonts-croscore-config-elementary 5.0-0+33~ubuntu5.0.1 all Map open-source Croscore fonts to MS fonts
ii geoclue-2.0 2.4.7-1ubuntu1+elementary2+r2~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 geoinformation service
ii gir1.2-evince-3.0:amd64 3.28.2-1+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 GObject introspection data for the evince libraries
ii gir1.2-geoclue-2.0:amd64 2.4.7-1ubuntu1+elementary2+r2~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 convenience library to interact with geoinformation service (introspection)
ii gir1.2-gnomebluetooth-1.0:amd64 3.28.0-2+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 Introspection data for GnomeBluetooth
ii gir1.2-gtksource-3.0:amd64 3.24.7-1+elementary5~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 gir files for the GTK+ syntax highlighting widget
ii gir1.2-ibus-1.0:amd64 1.5.17-3ubuntu4+elementary2+r1~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 Intelligent Input Bus - introspection data
ii gir1.2-nmgtk-1.0:amd64 1.8.10-2ubuntu1+elementary2~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 GObject introspection data for libnm-gtk
ii gnome-settings-daemon 3.28.1-0ubuntu1+elementary3~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 daemon handling the GNOME session settings
ii gnome-settings-daemon-schemas 3.28.1-0ubuntu1+elementary3~ubuntu5.0.1 all Shared schemas for gnome-settings-daemon
ii ibus 1.5.17-3ubuntu4+elementary2+r1~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 Intelligent Input Bus - core
ii ibus-gtk:amd64 1.5.17-3ubuntu4+elementary2+r1~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 Intelligent Input Bus - GTK+2 support
ii ibus-gtk3:amd64 1.5.17-3ubuntu4+elementary2+r1~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 Intelligent Input Bus - GTK+3 support
rc io.elementary.cerbere 0.2.4+r70-0+pkg30~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 service to relaunch Pantheon shell components
rc io.elementary.dpms-helper 1.0+r8+pkg11~ubuntu5.0.1 all script and settings for X DPMS
ii language-selector-common 0.188.1+elementary4~ubuntu18.04.1 all Language selector for Ubuntu
ii language-selector-gnome 0.188.1+elementary4~ubuntu18.04.1 all Language selector for Ubuntu
ii libevdocument3-4:amd64 3.28.2-1+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 Document (PostScript, PDF) rendering library
ii libevview3-3:amd64 3.28.2-1+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 Document (PostScript, PDF) rendering library - Gtk+ widgets
ii libgeoclue-2-0:amd64 2.4.7-1ubuntu1+elementary2+r2~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 convenience library to interact with geoinformation service
ii libgnome-bluetooth13:amd64 3.28.0-2+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 GNOME Bluetooth tools - support library
ii libgtksourceview-3.0-1:amd64 3.24.7-1+elementary5~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 shared libraries for the GTK+ syntax highlighting widget
ii libgtksourceview-3.0-common 3.24.7-1+elementary5~ubuntu5.0.1 all common files for the GTK+ syntax highlighting widget
ii libibus-1.0-5:amd64 1.5.17-3ubuntu4+elementary2+r1~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 Intelligent Input Bus - shared library
ii libibus-1.0-dev:amd64 1.5.17-3ubuntu4+elementary2+r1~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 Intelligent Input Bus - development file
ii libnm-gtk0:amd64 1.8.10-2ubuntu1+elementary2~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 library for wireless and mobile dialogs (libnm-glib version)
ii libnma0:amd64 1.8.10-2ubuntu1+elementary2~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 library for wireless and mobile dialogs (libnm version)
ii lsb-base 9.20170808ubuntu1+elementary4~ubuntu18.04.1 all Linux Standard Base init script functionality
ii lsb-release 9.20170808ubuntu1+elementary4~ubuntu18.04.1 all Linux Standard Base version reporting utility
ii mutter-common 3.28.3-2~ubuntu18.04.1+elementary3~ubuntu5.0.1 all shared files for the Mutter window manager
ii network-manager-gnome 1.8.10-2ubuntu1+elementary2~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 network management framework (GNOME frontend)
rc plank 0.11.4+git20180707.0a842b45-0elementary0.5.1 amd64 Elegant, simple, clean dock
ii python-apt-common 1.6.2+elementary6~ubuntu5.0.1 all Python interface to libapt-pkg (locales)
ii python3-apt 1.6.2+elementary6~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 Python 3 interface to libapt-pkg
ii python3-cupshelpers 1.5.11-1ubuntu2+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 all Python utility modules around the CUPS printing system
ii python3-software-properties 0.96.24.32.5+elementary7~ubuntu18.04.1 all manage the repositories that you install software from
ii software-properties-common 0.96.24.32.5+elementary7~ubuntu18.04.1 all manage the repositories that you install software from (common)
ii software-properties-gtk 0.96.24.32.5+elementary7~ubuntu18.04.1 all manage the repositories that you install software from (gtk)
ii system-config-printer 1.5.11-1ubuntu2+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 all graphical interface to configure the printing system
ii system-config-printer-common 1.5.11-1ubuntu2+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 all backend and the translation files for system-config-printer
ii system-config-printer-gnome 1.5.11-1ubuntu2+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 all graphical interface to configure printers (transitional package)
ii system-config-printer-udev 1.5.11-1ubuntu2+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 Utilities to detect and configure printers automatically
rc unattended-upgrades 1.1ubuntu1.18.04.5+elementary5~ubuntu5.0.1 all automatic installation of security upgrades
ii xdg-user-dirs 0.17-1ubuntu1+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 tool to manage well known user directories
ii xdg-user-dirs-gtk 0.10-2+elementary2~ubuntu5.0.1 amd64 tool to manage well known user directories (Gtk extension)
Best Answer
It is bad idea do upgrade from LTS to non-LTS version. You will need to wait for 20.04 LTS with all possible stops as 19.04 and 19.10. Consider to stay on 18.04 LTS.
If you have added elementary by PPAs, then you can remove them with commands below:
then reinstall GNOME Shell with
As we have the output of
dpkg -l | grep -i elementarythen I can suggest two things:1. Purge remaining packages with
rcstate (with remaining config files):2. Reinstall packages with elementary versions from current repositories: