Package: apt Version: 0.6.46.3-0.2 Severity: grave I had been posting to http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=401263 but it has become clear from the patch posted yesterday that that bug is a separate issue to the one I am seeing with the Debian Installer. Most of the information in this bug report was previously posted to #401263.
apt seems to be creating corrupt package cache files (/var/cache/dpkg/*.bin) when it is first installed during installation of Debian with the Debian Installer on an Linksys NSLU2 (arm). Below are the last messages recorded in /var/log/syslog before the installer stops. Dec 6 03:27:45 base-installer: info: Found kernels 'linux-image-ixp4xx,linux-image-2.6.17-2-ixp4xx,linux-image-2.6-ixp4xx' Dec 6 03:27:45 base-installer: info: arch_kernel candidates: linux-image-2.6-ixp4xx Dec 6 03:27:45 base-installer: info: arch_kernel: linux-image-2.6-ixp4xx (present) Dec 6 03:27:45 base-installer: info: Using kernel 'linux-image-2.6-ixp4xx' Dec 6 03:27:45 base-installer: info: Setting do_initrd='yes'. Dec 6 03:27:45 base-installer: info: Setting link_in_boot='yes'. Dec 6 03:27:46 base-installer: info: Available initramfs generator(s): 'initramfs-tools yaird' Dec 6 03:27:47 apt-install: Reading package lists... Dec 6 03:27:47 apt-install: Dec 6 03:27:47 apt-install: Building dependency tree... Dec 6 03:27:49 base-installer: error: exiting on error base-installer/kernel/failed-package-install Running 'apt-get -f install' manually shows that apt-get segfaults while building the dependency tree. ~ # chroot /target/ sh-3.1# mount -t proc none /proc sh-3.1# apt-get -f install Reading package lists... Done Segmentation faulty tree... 50% A search of existing bugs filed against apt turned up http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=81829 and all of its reincarnations. Historically, problem has been blamed on faulty lower level functionality (kernel, filesystem, networking, hardware), but two different people started seeing it at around the the same time with Installer daily builds, so I doubt that it can be hardware. This leaves kernel, filesystem, and networking issues. I tried disabling TCP window scaling which can cause networking issues, but apt-get still failed during the install in the same way. I'm not sure how to test for filesystem or kernel problems. I then started investigating whether this problem was due to corrupt cache files in /var/cache/apt which has been mentioned as a cause to #81829. With the original /var/cache/apt/*.bin files created when apt is installed, apt-get seg faults. sh-3.1# ls -l /var/cache/apt total 12516 drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 12288 Dec 1 07:25 archives -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6424232 Dec 6 04:27 pkgcache.bin -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6423706 Dec 6 04:27 srcpkgcache.bin sh-3.1# gdb apt-get GNU gdb 6.5-debian Copyright (C) 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc. GDB is free software, covered by the GNU General Public License, and you are welcome to change it and/or distribute copies of it under certain conditions. Type "show copying" to see the conditions. There is absolutely no warranty for GDB. Type "show warranty" for details. This GDB was configured as "arm-linux-gnu"...Using host libthread_db library "/lib/libthread_db.so.1". (gdb) run -f install Starting program: /usr/bin/apt-get -f install Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree... 50% Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault. 0x4008b2dc in pkgDepCache::CheckDep (this=0x3fc60, Dep= {Dep = 0x409efa4c, Type = pkgCache::DepIterator::DepVer, Owner = 0x3ecb0}, Type=1, [EMAIL PROTECTED]) at depcache.cc:123 123 depcache.cc: No such file or directory. in depcache.cc (gdb) backtrace #0 0x4008b2dc in pkgDepCache::CheckDep (this=0x3fc60, Dep= {Dep = 0x409efa4c, Type = pkgCache::DepIterator::DepVer, Owner = 0x3ecb0}, Type=1, [EMAIL PROTECTED]) at depcache.cc:123 #1 0x40090fb0 in pkgDepCache::CheckDep (this=0x3fc60, Dep= {Dep = 0x409efa4c, Type = pkgCache::DepIterator::DepVer, Owner = 0x3ecb0}, Type=1) at ../build/include/apt-pkg/depcache.h:142 #2 0x4008be58 in pkgDepCache::DependencyState (this=0x3fc60, [EMAIL PROTECTED]) at depcache.cc:360 #3 0x4008f74c in pkgDepCache::Update (this=0x3fc60, Prog=0xbee68350) at depcache.cc:431 #4 0x400902b8 in pkgDepCache::Init (this=0x3fc60, Prog=0xbee68350) at depcache.cc:91 #5 0x400c9284 in pkgCacheFile::Open (this=0xbee688d8, [EMAIL PROTECTED], WithLock=true) at cachefile.cc:101 #6 0x0002e39c in CacheFile::Open (this=0xbee688d8, WithLock=true) at apt-get.cc:96 #7 0x0002e4e4 in CacheFile::OpenForInstall (this=0xbee688d8) at apt-get.cc:107 #8 0x00023114 in DoInstall ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) at apt-get.cc:1415 #9 0x40072e80 in CommandLine::DispatchArg (this=0xbee68e04, Map=0xbee68d94, NoMatch=true) at contrib/cmndline.cc:337 #10 0x00011050 in main (argc=3, argv=0xbee68e84) at apt-get.cc:2606 Removing the cache files (/var/cache/apt/*.bin) causes apt-get to start working, and when apt-get is run, the cache file are recreated. sh-3.1# cp -p /var/cache/apt/*.bin cache-files-broken/ sh-3.1# rm /var/cache/apt/*.bin sh-3.1# gdb apt-get GNU gdb 6.5-debian Copyright (C) 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc. GDB is free software, covered by the GNU General Public License, and you are welcome to change it and/or distribute copies of it under certain conditions. Type "show copying" to see the conditions. There is absolutely no warranty for GDB. Type "show warranty" for details. This GDB was configured as "arm-linux-gnu"...Using host libthread_db library "/lib/libthread_db.so.1". (gdb) run -f install Starting program: /usr/bin/apt-get -f install Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree... Done 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Program exited normally. (gdb) quit sh-3.1# ls -l /var/cache/apt total 12520 drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 12288 Dec 1 07:25 archives -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6423756 Dec 6 05:15 pkgcache.bin -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6423706 Dec 6 05:15 srcpkgcache.bin Note that the size of pkgcache.bin has changed, i.e. there is difference in size between the original and recreated pkgcache.bin files. Then, just to check that it was actually the cache files that were causing the apt-get to seg fault, I copied the original pkgcache.bin and srcpkgcache.bin back to /var/cache/apt, and apt-get segfaults as before. sh-3.1# cp -p /var/cache/apt/*.bin cache-files-fixed/ sh-3.1# rm /var/cache/apt/*.bin sh-3.1# cp -p cache-files-broken/*.bin /var/cache/apt/ sh-3.1# gdb apt-get GNU gdb 6.5-debian Copyright (C) 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc. GDB is free software, covered by the GNU General Public License, and you are welcome to change it and/or distribute copies of it under certain conditions. Type "show copying" to see the conditions. There is absolutely no warranty for GDB. Type "show warranty" for details. This GDB was configured as "arm-linux-gnu"...Using host libthread_db library "/lib/libthread_db.so.1". (gdb) run -f install Starting program: /usr/bin/apt-get -f install Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree... 50% Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault. 0x4008b2dc in pkgDepCache::CheckDep (this=0x3fc60, Dep= {Dep = 0x409efa4c, Type = pkgCache::DepIterator::DepVer, Owner = 0x3ecb0}, Type=1, [EMAIL PROTECTED]) at depcache.cc:123 123 depcache.cc: No such file or directory. in depcache.cc (gdb) backtrace #0 0x4008b2dc in pkgDepCache::CheckDep (this=0x3fc60, Dep= {Dep = 0x409efa4c, Type = pkgCache::DepIterator::DepVer, Owner = 0x3ecb0}, Type=1, [EMAIL PROTECTED]) at depcache.cc:123 #1 0x40090fb0 in pkgDepCache::CheckDep (this=0x3fc60, Dep= {Dep = 0x409efa4c, Type = pkgCache::DepIterator::DepVer, Owner = 0x3ecb0}, Type=1) at ../build/include/apt-pkg/depcache.h:142 #2 0x4008be58 in pkgDepCache::DependencyState (this=0x3fc60, [EMAIL PROTECTED]) at depcache.cc:360 #3 0x4008f74c in pkgDepCache::Update (this=0x3fc60, Prog=0xbef25350) at depcache.cc:431 #4 0x400902b8 in pkgDepCache::Init (this=0x3fc60, Prog=0xbef25350) at depcache.cc:91 #5 0x400c9284 in pkgCacheFile::Open (this=0xbef258d8, [EMAIL PROTECTED], WithLock=true) at cachefile.cc:101 #6 0x0002e39c in CacheFile::Open (this=0xbef258d8, WithLock=true) at apt-get.cc:96 #7 0x0002e4e4 in CacheFile::OpenForInstall (this=0xbef258d8) at apt-get.cc:107 #8 0x00023114 in DoInstall ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) at apt-get.cc:1415 #9 0x40072e80 in CommandLine::DispatchArg (this=0xbef25e04, Map=0xbef25d94, NoMatch=true) at contrib/cmndline.cc:337 #10 0x00011050 in main (argc=3, argv=0xbef25e84) at apt-get.cc:2606 So it is obviously the cache files that are created initially that are causing the problem. But why does apt-get create corrupt cache files during the installation process ? This seems to be the heart of the problem. I have copies of both the corrupt and recreated cache files that I can send to somebody if need be. The only seemingly obvious problem that I have found so far that Pkg.CurrentVer().VerStr() returns a pointer to a location that is not addressable. (gdb) directory /root/apt-0.6.46.3/apt-pkg:/root/apt-0.6.46.3/apt-pkg/contrib:/root/apt-0.6.46.3/apt-pkg/deb:/root/apt-0.6.46.3/apt-inst:/root/apt-0.6.46.3/apt-inst/deb:/root/apt-0.6.46.3/cmdline Source directories searched: /root/apt-0.6.46.3/apt-pkg:/root/apt-0.6.46.3/apt-pkg/contrib:/root/apt-0.6.46.3/apt-pkg/deb:/root/apt-0.6.46.3/apt-inst:/root/apt-0.6.46.3/apt-inst/deb:/root/apt-0.6.46.3/cmdline:$cdir:$cwd (gdb) run -f install Starting program: /usr/bin/apt-get -f install Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree... 50% Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault. 0x4008b310 in pkgDepCache::CheckDep (this=0x3fc60, Dep= {Dep = 0x409efa4c, Type = pkgCache::DepIterator::DepVer, Owner = 0x3ecb0}, Type=1, [EMAIL PROTECTED]) at depcache.cc:123 123 Dep.TargetVer()) == true) (gdb) list 123 118 { 119 PkgIterator Pkg = Dep.TargetPkg(); 120 // Check the base package 121 if (Type == NowVersion && Pkg->CurrentVer != 0) 122 if (VS().CheckDep(Pkg.CurrentVer().VerStr(),Dep->CompareOp, 123 Dep.TargetVer()) == true) 124 return true; 125 126 if (Type == InstallVersion && PkgState[Pkg->ID].InstallVer != 0) 127 if (VS().CheckDep(PkgState[Pkg->ID].InstVerIter(*this).VerStr(), (gdb) print Pkg.CurrentVer().VerStr() $1 = 0xd5323001 <Address 0xd5323001 out of bounds> Any suggestions for things to try ? Other information: I am using Debian GNU/Linux 4.0, kernel 2.6.18-3-ixp4xx. There is a thread about this problem in debian-boot [1] since it causes the installer to fail on the Linksys NSLU2. Gordon [1] http://lists.debian.org/debian-boot/2006/11/msg01207.html -- Gordon Farquharson -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
