error exit status 30
 

Installed as Knoppix 3.2, upgraded to Debian 3. apt-get upgrade has worked fine for last 2 months. After apt-get update & upgrade today, tetex-extra upgrade causes an error.

What does Exit status 30 mean ?

root@storage:~# uname -r
2.4.24-xfs

root@storage:~# apt-get upgrade
<<snip>>
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Setting up tetex-extra (2.0.2b-5) ...
Running updmap. This may take some time. ...
dpkg: error processing tetex-extra (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 30
Errors were encountered while processing:
tetex-extra
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

root@storage:~# dpkg --purge --force-remove-reinstreq tetex-extra
(Reading database ... 145548 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing tetex-extra ...
Purging configuration files for tetex-extra ...

root@storage:~# apt-get install tetex-extra
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
tetex-extra
Unpacking tetex-extra (from .../tetex-extra_2.0.2b-5_all.deb) ...
Setting up tetex-extra (2.0.2b-5) ...

Creating config file /etc/texmf/dvips/config.ams with new version
Creating config file /etc/texmf/dvips/config.cm with new version
Creating config file /etc/texmf/dvips/config.amz with new version
Creating config file /etc/texmf/dvips/config.cmz with new version
Running updmap. This may take some time. ...
dpkg: error processing tetex-extra (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 30
Errors were encountered while processing:
tetex-extra
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

root@storage:~# apt-get install -f tetex-extra
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
tetex-extra is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 88 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B of archives.
After unpacking 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Setting up tetex-extra (2.0.2b-5) ...
Running updmap. This may take some time. ...
dpkg: error processing tetex-extra (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 30
Errors were encountered while processing:
tetex-extra
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
root@storage:~#

Still don't know what error exit status 30 means (apart from something bad) ;-)
Fixed my problem by removing and then reinstalling. All seems fine now.

dpkg --purge --force-remove-reinstreq tetex-extra
dpkg --purge --force-remove-reinstreq tetex-bin

apt-get install -f tetex-bin
apt-get install -f tetex-extra

As have been emphasized by countless many in #debian on freenode, Knoppix may be "essentially Debian" but the thing is it is NOT Debian (i.e. type /topic when you arrive in #debian) for otherwise it would have been called not something else but Debian. Knoppix employs a strange mix of Stable, Testing and Unstable packages. It may be an "easy-to-install" variant of portable Debian, so easy that Grandma Tilley can do it but sooner or later problems will arise. The only uncertainty is whether such a problem is major enough to completely bork your install.

I'm still hearing of folks on Knoppix been told to to apt-get for a kernel-image and related dependencies e.g. module-init-tools via backports instead of either Debian Testing or Debian Unstable main if they want not to roll out their own kernels. For the uniniated e.g. fresh windows migrant, after a few months of honeymoon, the agony may soon take over. Such incompatibilities with the Debian pool can only and probably be resolved if either Knoppix comes up with its own compatible repos or conforms in totality with Debian e.g. tracking but only one branch e.g. Sarge.