Re: [SLUG] Can't uninstall Debian nvidia drivers: package in very bad inconsistent state

[Michael (Micksa) Slade]

Mary Gardiner wrote:

Hey folks,

I'm trying to either upgrade an nvidia-kernel-2.4.24-1-686 Debian
package or get rid of it.
The existing package is 1.0.4496-2 and I built it against the
kernel-headers-2.4.24-1-686 headers using the nvidia-kernel-source
scripts (debian/rules binary_modules).
Debian is now distributing nvidia-kernel-2.4.24-1-686_1.0.5336+1
(presumably in non-free) and I'm trying to upgrade.
I can't upgrade, remove or reinstall this pacakge (see full errors below).

The major problem seems to be in the post-removal script:

   cat: alsa: No such file or directory

The closest Google match I can find is
http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/msg81130.html
and I've made sure /etc/modutils/alsa exists on my system.
I know I can tell dpkg to force the removal of the package even though a
reinstall is recommended (although... maybe it will try running the
post-remove again!), but I want to know if there's a cleaner way out of
this.
I've also tried strace-ing the dpkg processes to find out which
particular 'alsa' file it is seeking, all strace lines looking for
'alsa' are at the end of the mail -- I don't really know how to read
strace output :(
 

If you're adventurous enough you could *remove* the postinstall script 
from /var/lib/dpkg/info.
Messy but it works when a script is being a particular pain in the arse.

If not, try putting a "set -x" at the top of it.

The file will be "/var/lib/dpkg/info/nvidia-kernel-2.4.24-1-686.postrm" 
or similar.

Mick.

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