Re: debugging package breakage
summary: my questions are about + using Debian packaging and its tools (notably apt-*, aptitude) + fixing problems with same *not* - fixing broken functionality - LMDE - LMDE repositories If there is a better place to ask end-user-level questions about Debian packaging and its tools (vs dev- or builder-level), please point me to it. Meanwhile, I'm interested in ways to make `aptitude` see as unbroken packages that appear (notably, to `apt-get`) to be in fact unbroken. One such way is proposed below (purging and re-installing `aptitude`), but it appears problematic (more below). details: First, thanks to Darac Marjal for his detailed explanation of how to use the ncurses-based `aptitude` TUI to fix the following: original post @ http://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2011/08/msg01104.html Tom Roche Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:20:43 -0400 me@it:~$ aptitude search ?broken iB acl - Access control list utilities iB coreutils - GNU core utilities iB cups- Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - server iB libacl1-dev - Access control list static libraries and headers iB libarchive1 - Single library to read/write tar, cpio, pax, zip, iso9660, etc. iB libgnomevfs2-0 - GNOME Virtual File System (runtime libraries) iB libisofs6 - library to create ISO9660 images iB ntfs-3g - read-write NTFS driver for FUSE iB rsync - fast remote file copy program (like rcp) iB samba - SMB/CIFS file, print, and login server for Unix However, given the 5 facts below, ISTM the problem is with `aptitude`, not the packages. Scott Ferguson Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:28:44 +1000 I understand that you're trying to illustrate what you think is not working (ie. shown by Aptitude as broken but what is it that *is not* working? *Aptitude* appears (to me--ICBW) to be not working properly, based on the following 5 facts: F1 My LMDE box is not broken functionally (aside from last.fm audio, which I'm assuming is unrelated to the above): only some packages are, and only in aptitude (more on that below). Specifically, none of the functionality that I would expect to be broken from the above appears to be broken. Not that I've done exhaustive testing, but certainly all the coreutils that I've used appear to work. F2 I appreciate that, at some fundamental level, LMDE != Debian. However, Marc Shapiro Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:00:40 -0700 Linux Mint Debian Edition is based directly on Testing, with a rolling release. [LMDE is *not* the same as Mint's] regular version which is based on Ubuntu with discrete releases. So LMDE does not use Ubuntu's 'instant potato mix', but it does mash its own. They *claim* to be 100% compatible with Debian and NOT compatible with Ubuntu. See also http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1527 (but note that LMDE 64-bit, which I'm using, has arrived since then). In order of increasing Debianosity, Ubuntu LMDE Debian. F3 LMDE has its own repositories. where is your /etc/apt/sources.list is pointing to? me@it:~$ sudo cat /etc/apt/sources.list deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian main upstream import deb http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest testing main contrib non-free deb http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates main contrib non-free deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing main non-free If it is pointing to Debian repositories LMDE may not be as 100% compatible as they say. That's entirely possible, and if my package-breakage problem appears to be due to problems with one or more of these repositories I will certainly raise that issue with the LMDE folks. However, at this point, the problem appears to be limited to my `aptitude`: * There is no functional correlate to the aptitude package breakage (see fact 1). * The packages appear OK in `apt-get` (see next fact). F4 My `apt-get` shows no breakage, but my `aptitude` does: me@it:~$ sudo apt-get check | wc -l 3 me@it:~$ sudo apt-get check Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done me@it:~$ aptitude search ?broken iB acl - Access control list utilities iB coreutils - GNU core utilities iB cups- Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - server iB libacl1-dev - Access control list static libraries and headers iB libarchive1 - Single library to read/write tar, cpio, pax, zip, iso9660, etc. iB libgnomevfs2-0 - GNOME Virtual File System (runtime libraries) iB libisofs6 - library to create ISO9660 images iB ntfs-3g - read-write NTFS driver for FUSE iB rsync - fast remote file copy program (like rcp) iB samba - SMB/CIFS file, print, and login server for Unix F5 While setting up this box, I first used `apt-get` then `aptitude`. FWIW I've been doing this since I started using Ubuntu (few years/ releases), based on my reading of
Re: debugging package breakage
On Sunday 21 August 2011 16:48:07 Tom Roche wrote: me@it:~$ sudo cat /etc/apt/sources.list deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian main upstream import deb http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest testing main contrib non-free deb http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates main contrib non-free deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing main non-free Why did you use sudo? It is not necessary for this command, and it is generally considered better to act as root only when strictly necessary - as it would be, e.g., to edit your sources list. Lisi -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/201108211916.13662.lisi.re...@gmail.com
Re: debugging package breakage
Tom Roche Sunday 21 August 2011 16:48:07 me@it:~$ sudo cat /etc/apt/sources.list deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian main upstream import deb http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest testing main contrib non-free deb http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates main contrib non-free deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing main non-free Lisi Reisz Sun, 21 Aug 2011 19:16:13 +0100 Why did you use sudo? velocity(fingers) velocity(brain) It is not necessary for this command ... but so what? it's `cat` ... -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/87obzi7gph@pobox.com
Re: debugging package breakage
On Sunday 21 August 2011 19:38:34 Tom Roche wrote: ... but so what? it's `cat` ... yes - but why open root up when you don't need it?? -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/201108212007.41756.lisi.re...@gmail.com
Re: debugging package breakage
On 22/08/11 01:48, Tom Roche wrote: summary: my questions are about + using Debian packaging and its tools (notably apt-*, aptitude) + fixing problems with same *not* - fixing broken functionality - LMDE - LMDE repositories If there is a better place to ask end-user-level questions about Debian packaging and its tools (vs dev- or builder-level), please point me to it. As has been pointed out before - you are asking questions about Mint. Not Debian:- http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-choosing.en.html#s3.2.2 Regardless of the claims made by Mint developers - Mint is not Debian:- http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-choosing.en.html#s3.2 Though Mint developers claim Mint is 100% compatible with Debian Testing and Stable - Debian isn't 100% compatible with Testing AND Stable. Meanwhile, I'm interested in ways to make `aptitude` see as unbroken packages that appear (notably, to `apt-get`) to be in fact unbroken. One such way is proposed below (purging and re-installing `aptitude`), but it appears problematic (more below). Despite being unable to do a task, you insist you know what the problem is and how to fix it. But then you mix stable and testing without pinning snipped Scott Ferguson Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:28:44 +1000 I understand that you're trying to illustrate *what* you think is not working (ie. shown by Aptitude as broken but *what* is it that *is not* working? *Aptitude* appears (to me--ICBW) to be not working properly, based on the following 5 facts: snipped because it's not relevant I asked for the output of apt-get -sf install and apt-get -s install rsync. TIA, Tom Roche tom_ro...@pobox.com Cheers -- Music is a great energizer. It's a language everybody knows. ~ Bill Hicks -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/4e51c2b0.3040...@gmail.com
Re: debugging package breakage
On 08/18/11 21:28, Scott Ferguson wrote: On 19/08/11 13:20, Tom Roche wrote: summary: I'm a new debian user Not yet you're not - confused? You are still using Ubuntu. Debian makes potatoes. Ubuntu mashes the Debian potatoes, dries them, adds stuff, and repackages - to make a variety of potato based products. Mint uses Ubuntu instant potato mix as a basis for a vegetable based meal. Actually, I just checked the Linux Mint pages. Apparently Linux Mint Debian Edition is based directly on Testing, with a rolling release. They also have their regular version which is based on Ubuntu with discrete releases. So LMDE does not use Ubuntu's 'instant potato mix', but it does mash its own. They *claim* to be 100% compatible with Debian and NOT compatible with Ubuntu. Tom, where is your /etc/apt/sources.list is pointing to? Is it pointing to a Mint repository? Could it be pointing to their standard Ubuntu based repository? That would almost certainly cause breakage. If it is pointing to Debian repositories LMDE may not be as 100% compatible as they say. -- Marc Shapiro -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/4e4dfc08.7060...@gmail.com
Re: debugging package breakage
On 19/08/11 16:00, Marc Shapiro wrote: On 08/18/11 21:28, Scott Ferguson wrote: On 19/08/11 13:20, Tom Roche wrote: snipped Actually, I just checked the Linux Mint pages. Apparently Linux Mint Debian Edition is based directly on Testing, with a rolling release. LMDE = Gnome and XFCE They also have their regular version which is based on Ubuntu with discrete releases. KDE and Gnome. So LMDE does not use Ubuntu's 'instant potato mix', but it does mash its own. They *claim* to be 100% compatible with Debian and NOT compatible with Ubuntu. Not 100% compatible - if it was it'd just be themes and images, and wouldn't replace Debian packages with it's own substitutes (not simple repackages). Mint = Testing + Mintify. Mintify = Ubuntu + other Aside from the nonfree binary blobs, Mint incorporates a lot of non-free software. It also includes packages you will never see in Debian (main menu, backup tools, software portal, update manager, software portal) bound together with lots of python. Tom, where is your /etc/apt/sources.list is pointing to? Is it pointing to a Mint repository? Could it be pointing to their standard Ubuntu based repository? That would almost certainly cause breakage. If it is pointing to Debian repositories LMDE may not be as 100% compatible as they say. Apart from the differences - what Mint has in common with Debian is that testing tends to break, and requires care to modify (and fix). Cheers -- I love the Pope, I love seeing him in his Pope-Mobile, his three feet of bullet proof plexi-glass. That's faith in action folks! You know he's got God on his side. ~ Bill Hicks -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/4e4e0860.9040...@gmail.com
Re: debugging package breakage
On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 11:20:43PM -0400, Tom Roche wrote: summary: I'm a new debian user with some package breakage. I'd appreciate * assistance with my specific problem (i.e., give me a fish) * general heuristics for debug package breakage (i.e., teach me to fish) [cut] So I'm confused. Why does `aptitude` think these packages are broken? If it's wrong (i.e., the packages are not broken), how do I correct its misperception? If it's correct, how do I fix the packages, if `aptitude` won't force install? The main reason you've got package breakage is usually because upgrading them would conflict with some other package you have. Speaking purely from a personal perspective here, I've learned to get along very well with the curses interface to aptitude. Start by running aptitude as root (i.e. by su to root or by sudo as is your wont). There'll be a few seconds while aptitude does some calculations, then you get a graphical interface. At the top is a blue menu, next is a tree view of all the packages known to the system, another blue bar then heads a description pane and at the bottom is the status bar. Likely, in your situation the status bar is red. You will also see, at the top of the screen something like Broken: #N What we now do is press 'e' to 'E'xamine aptitude's suggestions on how to resolve these breakages. Aptitude will present you with a list of packages sorted by what it plans to do with them. For example, you'll get Remove the following packages:, Keep the following packages at their current version: and so on. You now have two options to pick a suitable resolution. The simple method is to use the '.' and ',' (mnemonic, they're the '' and '' keys, usually, but without shift) to cycle through aptitude's solutions until you find one that's suitable to you. Pay attention to each solution as it's presented as there may be some solutions you'd not thought of: the simplest solution is to hold every broken package back and hope that an update will fix it in a few days (happens a lot in unstable), or you may find that a package has been replaced by another of similar functionality (for example dhcp-client and isc-dhcp-client) or, if you have a particularly complicated set of sources, you may even have to downgrade a package to achieve solution. The more advanced method is to guide aptitude's resolver. Each time aptitude presents you with a solution, vote on whether you approve of or reject the solution for individual packages. For example, you say you want samba, so if aptitude wants to remove the samba package, scroll down to it and press 'r' to reject that suggestion. If aptitude wants to, say, upgrade a package but you don't like the whole of the solution, press 'a' on that package to approve it. Use this sparingly; although you're guiding aptitude, you're also restricting it. Finally, when you get to a solution you're happy with, press '! to apply the solution. You'll be take back to the package list and, hopefully, the Broken: #N message should be gone. Press 'g' to get a preview of the changes to be made and finally 'g' to actually download/install the packages. Feel free to forward or to point me to FM to RT, and TIA, Tom Roche tom_ro...@pobox.com -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/87d3g2xf1w@pobox.com -- Darac Marjal signature.asc Description: Digital signature
debugging package breakage
summary: I'm a new debian user with some package breakage. I'd appreciate
* assistance with my specific problem (i.e., give me a fish)
* general heuristics for debug package breakage (i.e., teach me to fish)
details: I'm a longtime ubuntu user who switched last week to
$ lsb_release -ds
Linux Mint Debian Edition
$ uname -rv
2.6.39-2-amd64 #1 SMP Tue Jul 5 02:51:22 UTC 2011
While I very much appreciate the better performance I'm getting on LMDE
(which is based on debian testing), I'm also appreciating the extent to
which ubuntu sheltered me from having to learn much about APT :-) So I'd
appreciate your assistance with debugging the following problem:
me@it:~$ aptitude search ?broken
iB acl - Access control list utilities
iB coreutils - GNU core utilities
iB cups- Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - server
iB libacl1-dev - Access control list static libraries and headers
iB libarchive1 - Single library to read/write tar, cpio, pax, zip,
iso9660, etc.
iB libgnomevfs2-0 - GNOME Virtual File System (runtime libraries)
iB libisofs6 - library to create ISO9660 images
iB ntfs-3g - read-write NTFS driver for FUSE
iB rsync - fast remote file copy program (like rcp)
iB samba - SMB/CIFS file, print, and login server for Unix
for PACKAGE in $(aptitude -F %p search ?broken) ; do
for CMD in \
apt-cache policy ${PACKAGE} \
aptitude why ${PACKAGE} \
; do
echo -e ${CMD}
eval ${CMD}
done
echo
done
apt-cache policy acl
acl:
Installed: 2.2.51-3
Candidate: 2.2.51-3
Version table:
*** 2.2.51-3 0
500 http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/ testing/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
aptitude why acl
i libsane Depends acl (= 2.2.49-4)
apt-cache policy coreutils
coreutils:
Installed: 8.5-1
Candidate: 8.5-1
Version table:
*** 8.5-1 0
500 http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/ testing/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
aptitude why coreutils
i xinit Depends coreutils (= 7.4-1)
apt-cache policy cups
cups:
Installed: 1.4.6-9
Candidate: 1.4.6-9
Version table:
*** 1.4.6-9 0
500 http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/ testing/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
aptitude why cups
i cups-driver-gutenprint Depends cups (= 1.3.0)
apt-cache policy libacl1-dev
libacl1-dev:
Installed: 2.2.51-3
Candidate: 2.2.51-3
Version table:
*** 2.2.51-3 0
500 http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/ testing/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
aptitude why libacl1-dev
Unable to find a reason to install libacl1-dev.
apt-cache policy libarchive1
libarchive1:
Installed: 2.8.4-1
Candidate: 2.8.4-1
Version table:
*** 2.8.4-1 0
500 http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/ testing/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
aptitude why libarchive1
i libtotem-plparser17 Depends libarchive1 (= 2.0.25)
apt-cache policy libgnomevfs2-0
libgnomevfs2-0:
Installed: 1:2.24.4-1
Candidate: 1:2.24.4-1
Version table:
*** 1:2.24.4-1 0
500 http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/ testing/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
aptitude why libgnomevfs2-0
i lock-keys-applet Depends libgnomevfs2-0 (= 1:2.17.90)
apt-cache policy libisofs6
libisofs6:
Installed: 1.1.2-1
Candidate: 1.1.2-1
Version table:
*** 1.1.2-1 0
500 http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/ testing/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
aptitude why libisofs6
i libbrasero-media0 Depends libisofs6 (= 0.6.14)
apt-cache policy ntfs-3g
ntfs-3g:
Installed: 1:2011.1.15AR.4+2011.4.12-2
Candidate: 1:2011.1.15AR.4+2011.4.12-2
Version table:
*** 1:2011.1.15AR.4+2011.4.12-2 0
500 http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/ testing/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
aptitude why ntfs-3g
i udisks Recommends ntfs-3g
apt-cache policy rsync
rsync:
Installed: 3.0.8-1
Candidate: 3.0.8-1
Version table:
*** 3.0.8-1 0
500 http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/ testing/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
aptitude why rsync
i live-tools Suggests rsync
apt-cache policy samba
samba:
Installed: 2:3.5.8~dfsg-5
Candidate: 2:3.5.8~dfsg-5
Version table:
*** 2:3.5.8~dfsg-5 0
500 http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/ testing/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
aptitude why samba
i nautilus-share Suggests samba (= 3.0.27a)
These all seem like things I'd want--definitely samba (gotta cope with
M$), rsync (my backup scripts use), libgnomevfs2-0 (I want
lock-keys-applet, or something with same function), cups (gotta print),
coreutils (who wouldn't want that?). libacl1-dev I only want because it
helped me solve an install problem (details here
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=141t=79619p=462540#p462488
). So I did
for PACKAGE in
Re: debugging package breakage
On 19/08/11 13:20, Tom Roche wrote: summary: I'm a new debian user Not yet you're not - confused? You are still using Ubuntu. Debian makes potatoes. Ubuntu mashes the Debian potatoes, dries them, adds stuff, and repackages - to make a variety of potato based products. Mint uses Ubuntu instant potato mix as a basis for a vegetable based meal. Apparently the instructions on the side of the packages made by Ubuntu and Mint aren't very good - so people come here asking about potatoes with some package breakage. I'd appreciate * assistance with my specific problem (i.e., give me a fish) * general heuristics for debug package breakage (i.e., teach me to fish) details: I'm a longtime ubuntu user who switched last week to $ lsb_release -ds Linux Mint Debian Edition $ uname -rv 2.6.39-2-amd64 #1 SMP Tue Jul 5 02:51:22 UTC 2011 While I very much appreciate the better performance I'm getting on LMDE (which is based on debian testing), I'm also appreciating the extent to which ubuntu sheltered me from having to learn much about APT :-) So I'd appreciate your assistance with debugging the following problem: The best way to learn apt is to use it :-) Aptitude != apt. me@it:~$ aptitude search ?broken iB acl - Access control list utilities iB coreutils - GNU core utilities iB cups- Common UNIX Printing System(tm) - server iB libacl1-dev - Access control list static libraries and headers iB libarchive1 - Single library to read/write tar, cpio, pax, zip, iso9660, etc. iB libgnomevfs2-0 - GNOME Virtual File System (runtime libraries) iB libisofs6 - library to create ISO9660 images iB ntfs-3g - read-write NTFS driver for FUSE iB rsync - fast remote file copy program (like rcp) iB samba - SMB/CIFS file, print, and login server for Unix snipped So I'm confused. Why does `aptitude` think these packages are broken? If it's wrong (i.e., the packages are not broken), how do I correct its misperception? If it's correct, how do I fix the packages, if `aptitude` won't force install? Feel free to forward or to point me to FM to RT, But we have Really Fine Manuals here ;-p and TIA, Tom Roche tom_ro...@pobox.com Mint != Debian, so you will get more relevant answers asking on Mint forums. Regardless of how helpful Debian users wish to be, we have little information on how Mint changes things - only that they do. In most cases your problems will be specific to Mint, and only confusing to Debian. I appreciate that Mint is regarded as Debian's red-headed step son - but even if someone here can help - it won't help the Mint community. I understand that you're trying to illustrate what you think is not working (ie. shown by Aptitude as broken but what is it that *is not* working? Are any of repositories that you use Debian repositories? NOTE: Debian style is not Debian. What does:- # apt-get update; apt-get -sf install output? When you've tried that (and noted the results), what does:- # apt-get -s install rsync output? Please paste both outputs to your post (with the other answers). Cheers -- I love the Pope, I love seeing him in his Pope-Mobile, his three feet of bullet proof plexi-glass. That's faith in action folks! You know he's got God on his side. ~ Bill Hicks -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/4e4de67c.6020...@gmail.com
