[SOLVED] How to replace a hplip package which is not functioning correctly.

achim_59 · 04-07-2015, 05:19 AM

It would seem that this is a known problem with hplip 3.12.6, which is the default version for debian wheezy. The hplip package is resposible for the detection and operation of a wide variety of HP printers & scanners. The afore mentioned version has a known bug which results in the error message "end of file reached" when attempting to use the scanner (in my case an Office Pro L5790 printer/scanner).

A potential solution is shown here for slackware. I haven't found any relevant information for debian. The slackware solution is to replace the version of hplip with an older or newer one which is known to work.

Debian squeeze uses hplip 3.10.x and jessie has 3.14.x. There is also the possibility of installing hplip from a tar archive, though I have no idea how to do this... yet. Apparently hplip 3.12.9 does not have this bug.

I'd rather not install from a tar archive because this involves manual config issues which I'd prefer to avoid. Checking my debian administrators guide has not helped, or maybe I just haven't found the relevant entry. Can somebody tell me how to replace just the one package with one from an older version or from testing? Or maybe just point me to the relevant documentation?

Thanks in advance.

Achim

knudfl · 04-07-2015, 06:31 AM

Building a "Jessie package" : Add a line to /etc/apt/sources.list :
deb-src <URL> jessie main
.... and run # apt-get update

# apt-get build-dep hplip
# apt-get install fakeroot

$ mkdir /home/<name>/tmp/hplip
$ cd tmp/hplip/
$ apt-get -b source hplip=3.14.6-1
... and the (12) hplip packages will be created in the current directory.
https://packages.debian.org/source/jessie/hplip

-

achim_59 · 04-09-2015, 07:09 AM

Thanks for the advice knudfl.

I tried the suggested commands, but didn't get further than build-dep before I ran into an error:

Code:

E: Build-Depends dependency for hplip cannot be satisfied because candidate version of package pyppd can't satisfy version requirements

Since then I've been scouring various tutorials, forums, and checking through the admin guide for hints as to how I might get around this problem. In the process I've come to understand just what those suggested commands do and have an idea of what I need to do in addition to fix the scanner problem. The pyppd matter has to be solved first, though.

I note that pyppd is a python package and the version in wheezy is 0.4.9-6. Hence it might be just a matter of updating pyppd to the testing version as well. The package version for jessie is 1.0.2-2, so I will give that a try tonight using the same approach as suggested by knudfl and the installation procedure in this tutorial.

However, any helpful hints on how to proceed or traps to avoid would be more than welcome!

Whatever happens, I will post the results.

knudfl · 04-09-2015, 09:39 AM

Quote:

package pyppd can't satisfy version requirements

The same goes for pyppd : # apt-get build-dep pyppd
$ apt-get -b source pyppd=1.0.2-2
... to get a new package.

Please check the list here https://packages.debian.org/source/jessie/hplip
... Section "Other Packages Related to hplip" :
To verify what versions the other ~26 build deps should be.

-

replica9000 · 04-09-2015, 01:58 PM

You could possibly install the older packages from one of Debian's repository snapshots.

http://snapshot.debian.org/

achim_59 · 04-10-2015, 03:27 AM

@knudfl

Quote:

The same goes for pyppd : # apt-get build-dep pyppd
$ apt-get -b source pyppd=1.0.2-2
... to get a new package.

Yep. Tried that and promptly came up with a new dependency error:

Code:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 debhelper : Depends: po-debconf but it is not going to be installed

I've already checked that link and am working through the list of dependencies marked with "(>= some.version.id)". If that doesn't help or takes too long...

@replica9000

Quote:

You could possibly install the older packages from one of Debian's repository snapshots.

I'll try that if I get too bogged down with the jessie packages. My printer/scanner is not exactly new (I've had it for 4 or 5 years now), so using the older package might work. Still, downgrading a package seems to me to be a step backward and can also lead to dependency problems, since somwe dependencies are markde with "(<= some.version.id)", though admittedly not many.

I'll keep you posted.

achim_59 · 04-10-2015, 04:40 AM

Just a quick update:
When checked for po-debconf package, it was not installed. I tried using synaptic to install it and it was immediately markedf as "broken".
When I tried to correct the problem with synaptic, I got the following:

Code:

E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
E: Error, pkgProblemResolver::Resolve generated breaks, this may be caused by held packages.
E: Unable to correct dependencies
E: Unable to lock the download directory

I'm starting to think that there is something seriously wrong with my installation. What bothers me the most is that I haven't found a decent explanation of what "held packages" are, broken or not.
I haven't installed any jessie packages, so there shouldn't be any conflicts. On a suggestion from another forum I tried to find out what was being held:

Code:

dpkg --get-selections | grep hold

but hat gave no result whatever.

I'll post again when I've had a chance to read some more.

To put this in perspective, I just did an update/upgrade and got some new packages along with a new kernel image (3.16). This suggests, that things are not too broken at all.

knudfl · 04-10-2015, 08:43 AM

Re #7.

Broken packages :
If you failed with Synaptic : Edit >> Fix Broken Packages,
... then close Synaptic, and do : $ sudo apt-get install -f

achim_59 · 04-11-2015, 03:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knudfl

Re #7.

Broken packages :
If you failed with Synaptic : Edit >> Fix Broken Packages,
... then close Synaptic, and do : $ sudo apt-get install -f

This achieves nothing (I'd already tried it). You see I only get the "held broken packages" message when I select po-debconf for installation. There are other packages to be installed as well, but only po-debconf comes up as broken. Just for the sake of the record:

Code:

root@ascomtux:/etc/apt# apt-get install po-debconf
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 po-debconf : Depends: gettext (>= 0.16)
              Depends: intltool-debian (>= 0.34.2+20060512) but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
root@ascomtux:/etc/apt# apt-get install -f
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.

I get exactly the same effect when I try to install intltool-debian in synaptic.

As mentioned, after my first attempt to do the preceeding install, I did an update and upgrade. This bestowed a new kernel upon me amongst other things (which means it worked). This leads me to believe that the problem is something a bit more complicated. From what I've read so far, I am led to believe that I will need to run through the chain of dependencies one by one and install them. This leaves me wondering what I will have to do, when I get to the root cause of the problem... cross that bridge when I get to it, I suppose. I will need a free day and probably litres of coffee to attempt this.

I thought APT was deigned to avoid this kind of thing. I must be doing something wrong.

It'd be nice to know:
1. Precisely what held broken packages are;
2. Why they are being held; and
3. What it means for a package to be roken when it isn't even installed.

replica9000 · 04-11-2015, 08:26 AM

I'm not sure why apt is complaining about the version of intltool-debian. Every branch of Debian currently has intltool-debian 0.35.0+20060710.1, which should meet the dependency requirement of po-debconf.

I'm sure you've run apt-get update right? What does the output of apt-cache policy intltool-debian show?

achim_59 · 04-13-2015, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by replica9000

I'm not sure why apt is complaining about the version of intltool-debian. Every branch of Debian currently has intltool-debian 0.35.0+20060710.1, which should meet the dependency requirement of po-debconf.

I'm sure you've run apt-get update right? What does the output of apt-cache policy intltool-debian show?

Thanks for the response. You'd be correct with your assumption. The cache shows:

Code:

root@ascomtux:/etc/apt# apt-cache policy intltool-debian
intltool-debian:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 0.35.0+20060710.1
  Version table:
     0.35.0+20060710.1 0
        500 http://http.debian.net/debian/ wheezy/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy/main amd64 Packages

I'm not sure what to make of it, to be honest. I haven't been able to work on the problem for a couple of days, but I'm reading the manual again and checking various forums. I haven'tz found anything enlightening to date. If nothing else works, then I'll try a few changes "on spec" so to speak.

replica9000 · 04-13-2015, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by achim_59

Thanks for the response. You'd be correct with your assumption. The cache shows:

Code:

root@ascomtux:/etc/apt# apt-cache policy intltool-debian
intltool-debian:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 0.35.0+20060710.1
  Version table:
     0.35.0+20060710.1 0
        500 http://http.debian.net/debian/ wheezy/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy/main amd64 Packages

I'm not sure what to make of it, to be honest. I haven't been able to work on the problem for a couple of days, but I'm reading the manual again and checking various forums. I haven'tz found anything enlightening to date. If nothing else works, then I'll try a few changes "on spec" so to speak.

So that's showing the intltool-debian is available in the repository. intltool-debian depends on gettext and perl, but not a specific version of either. Your earlier attempts didn't show any complaints about gettext. Could you post the output of apt-get install intltool-debian?

achim_59 · 04-14-2015, 04:58 AM

This is really getting way beyond what I was trying to do initially (i.e. build a jessie version of hplip). However it would seem that there is something seriously amiss in my installation.

@replica9000: I tried as you suggested:

Code:

root@ascomtux:/etc/apt# apt-get install intltool-debian
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 intltool-debian : Depends: gettext
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

Just to be on the safe side, I removed the testing deb-src entry from my sources.list. I then decided to check some dependencies as follows:

Code:

root@ascomtux:/etc/apt# apt-get build-dep hplip
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 debhelper : Depends: po-debconf but it is not going to be installed
 libcups2-dev : Depends: libgnutls-dev but it is not going to be installed
 libusb-1.0-0-dev : Depends: libusb-1.0-0 (= 2:1.0.11-1) but 2:1.0.19-1~bpo70+1 is to be installed
E: Build-dependencies for hplip could not be satisfied.

...

root@ascomtux:/etc/apt# apt-get build-dep debhelper
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 po4a : Depends: gettext (>= 0.16)
E: Build-dependencies for debhelper could not be satisfied.

...

root@ascomtux:/etc/apt# apt-get build-dep gettext
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  default-jdk fastjar libcroco3-dev libglib2.0-dev libunistring-dev libxml2-dev openjdk-6-jdk
0 upgraded, 7 newly installed, 0 to remove and 8 not upgraded.
Need to get 19.8 MB of archives.
After this operation, 35.4 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
Get:1 http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates/main openjdk-6-jdk amd64 6b34-1.13.6-1~deb7u1 [15.9 MB]
Get:2 http://http.debian.net/debian/ wheezy/main default-jdk amd64 1:1.6-47 [834 B]                                                        
Get:3 http://http.debian.net/debian/ wheezy/main fastjar amd64 2:0.98-3 [90.2 kB]                                                          
Get:4 http://http.debian.net/debian/ wheezy/main libunistring-dev amd64 0.9.3-5 [650 kB]                         
Get:5 http://http.debian.net/debian/ wheezy/main libcroco3-dev amd64 0.6.6-2 [156 kB]                                              
Get:6 http://http.debian.net/debian/ wheezy/main libglib2.0-dev amd64 2.33.12+really2.32.4-5 [2,051 kB]                                    
Get:7 http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates/main libxml2-dev amd64 2.8.0+dfsg1-7+wheezy4 [902 kB]                                     
Fetched 19.8 MB in 10s (1,860 kB/s)                                                                                                        
Selecting previously unselected package openjdk-6-jdk:amd64.
(Reading database ... 203719 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking openjdk-6-jdk:amd64 (from .../openjdk-6-jdk_6b34-1.13.6-1~deb7u1_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package default-jdk.
Unpacking default-jdk (from .../default-jdk_1%3a1.6-47_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package fastjar.
Unpacking fastjar (from .../fastjar_2%3a0.98-3_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libxml2-dev:amd64.
Unpacking libxml2-dev:amd64 (from .../libxml2-dev_2.8.0+dfsg1-7+wheezy4_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libglib2.0-dev.
Unpacking libglib2.0-dev (from .../libglib2.0-dev_2.33.12+really2.32.4-5_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libcroco3-dev:amd64.
Unpacking libcroco3-dev:amd64 (from .../libcroco3-dev_0.6.6-2_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libunistring-dev:amd64.
Unpacking libunistring-dev:amd64 (from .../libunistring-dev_0.9.3-5_amd64.deb) ...
Processing triggers for install-info ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Processing triggers for libglib2.0-0:amd64 ...
Setting up openjdk-6-jdk:amd64 (6b34-1.13.6-1~deb7u1) ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/appletviewer to provide /usr/bin/appletviewer (appletviewer) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/extcheck to provide /usr/bin/extcheck (extcheck) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/idlj to provide /usr/bin/idlj (idlj) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jar to provide /usr/bin/jar (jar) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jarsigner to provide /usr/bin/jarsigner (jarsigner) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/javac to provide /usr/bin/javac (javac) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/javadoc to provide /usr/bin/javadoc (javadoc) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/javah to provide /usr/bin/javah (javah) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/javap to provide /usr/bin/javap (javap) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jconsole to provide /usr/bin/jconsole (jconsole) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jdb to provide /usr/bin/jdb (jdb) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jhat to provide /usr/bin/jhat (jhat) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jinfo to provide /usr/bin/jinfo (jinfo) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jmap to provide /usr/bin/jmap (jmap) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jps to provide /usr/bin/jps (jps) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jrunscript to provide /usr/bin/jrunscript (jrunscript) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jsadebugd to provide /usr/bin/jsadebugd (jsadebugd) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jstack to provide /usr/bin/jstack (jstack) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jstat to provide /usr/bin/jstat (jstat) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jstatd to provide /usr/bin/jstatd (jstatd) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/native2ascii to provide /usr/bin/native2ascii (native2ascii) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/rmic to provide /usr/bin/rmic (rmic) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/schemagen to provide /usr/bin/schemagen (schemagen) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/serialver to provide /usr/bin/serialver (serialver) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/wsgen to provide /usr/bin/wsgen (wsgen) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/wsimport to provide /usr/bin/wsimport (wsimport) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/xjc to provide /usr/bin/xjc (xjc) in auto mode
Setting up default-jdk (1:1.6-47) ...
Setting up fastjar (2:0.98-3) ...
Setting up libxml2-dev:amd64 (2.8.0+dfsg1-7+wheezy4) ...
Setting up libglib2.0-dev (2.33.12+really2.32.4-5) ...
Setting up libcroco3-dev:amd64 (0.6.6-2) ...
Setting up libunistring-dev:amd64 (0.9.3-5) ...

That seemed to suggest, that installing gettext should work. However, I knew from my earlier tests with synaptic that I would get the "held broken packages" message. For the sake of the record I tried it anyway:

Code:

root@ascomtux:/etc/apt# apt-get install gettext
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 gettext : Depends: libasprintf0c2 (= 0.18.1.1-9) but 0.19.3-2~bpo70+1 is to be installed
           Recommends: autopoint but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

The version of libasprintf0c2 to be installed comes from wheezy-backports. I checkeed this with apt-get changelog libasprintf0c2:

Code:

gettext (0.19.3-2~bpo70+1) wheezy-backports; urgency=low

  * Rebuild for wheezy-backports. No changes. Closes: #776645.

 -- Santiago Vila <sanvila@debian.org>  Fri, 30 Jan 2015 18:47:54 +0100 
...

Now for some questions:
1. I can install an older version of libasprintf0c2 but should I really do that?
2. There are other packages which give similar error messages when I try to install them. I'm guessing once I find the source of the dpendency error I will need to do the same each one, right?
3. Is there another way to clean up my installation? I added the wheezy-backports to my sources.list to fix a problem with my surf-stick. but I'm hoping not to have to use that device anymore. Should I remove the backports from my sources.list?

To make the information complete, here is my sources.list file.

Code:

deb http://http.debian.net/debian wheezy main contrib non-free
deb-src http://http.debian.net/debian wheezy main contrib non-free

deb http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates main contrib
deb-src http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates main contrib

deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/ wheezy-updates main contrib
deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/ wheezy-updates main contrib

deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian wheezy-backports main contrib non-free
deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian wheezy-backports main contrib non-free

deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main
deb-src http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main

#deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian jessie main contrib non-free

If anyone has a hint for me as to how to tackle this, I'd be very grateful. In the meantime I'm going to try going back to an earlier version of hplip to see if that works. I will almost certainly hve to install that by building the source (shudder... "dependency hell" here I come).

knudfl · 04-14-2015, 05:04 AM

Expected release of Jessie in 6 days.

Suggest : distupgrade to Jessie.

replica9000 · 04-14-2015, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by achim_59

This is really getting way beyond what I was trying to do initially (i.e. build a jessie version of hplip). However it would seem that there is something seriously amiss in my installation.

@replica9000: I tried as you suggested:

Code:

root@ascomtux:/etc/apt# apt-get install intltool-debian
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 intltool-debian : Depends: gettext
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

Just to be on the safe side, I removed the testing deb-src entry from my sources.list. I then decided to check some dependencies as follows:

Code:

root@ascomtux:/etc/apt# apt-get build-dep hplip
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 debhelper : Depends: po-debconf but it is not going to be installed
 libcups2-dev : Depends: libgnutls-dev but it is not going to be installed
 libusb-1.0-0-dev : Depends: libusb-1.0-0 (= 2:1.0.11-1) but 2:1.0.19-1~bpo70+1 is to be installed
E: Build-dependencies for hplip could not be satisfied.

...

root@ascomtux:/etc/apt# apt-get build-dep debhelper
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 po4a : Depends: gettext (>= 0.16)
E: Build-dependencies for debhelper could not be satisfied.

...

root@ascomtux:/etc/apt# apt-get build-dep gettext
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  default-jdk fastjar libcroco3-dev libglib2.0-dev libunistring-dev libxml2-dev openjdk-6-jdk
0 upgraded, 7 newly installed, 0 to remove and 8 not upgraded.
Need to get 19.8 MB of archives.
After this operation, 35.4 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
Get:1 http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates/main openjdk-6-jdk amd64 6b34-1.13.6-1~deb7u1 [15.9 MB]
Get:2 http://http.debian.net/debian/ wheezy/main default-jdk amd64 1:1.6-47 [834 B]                                                        
Get:3 http://http.debian.net/debian/ wheezy/main fastjar amd64 2:0.98-3 [90.2 kB]                                                          
Get:4 http://http.debian.net/debian/ wheezy/main libunistring-dev amd64 0.9.3-5 [650 kB]                         
Get:5 http://http.debian.net/debian/ wheezy/main libcroco3-dev amd64 0.6.6-2 [156 kB]                                              
Get:6 http://http.debian.net/debian/ wheezy/main libglib2.0-dev amd64 2.33.12+really2.32.4-5 [2,051 kB]                                    
Get:7 http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates/main libxml2-dev amd64 2.8.0+dfsg1-7+wheezy4 [902 kB]                                     
Fetched 19.8 MB in 10s (1,860 kB/s)                                                                                                        
Selecting previously unselected package openjdk-6-jdk:amd64.
(Reading database ... 203719 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking openjdk-6-jdk:amd64 (from .../openjdk-6-jdk_6b34-1.13.6-1~deb7u1_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package default-jdk.
Unpacking default-jdk (from .../default-jdk_1%3a1.6-47_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package fastjar.
Unpacking fastjar (from .../fastjar_2%3a0.98-3_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libxml2-dev:amd64.
Unpacking libxml2-dev:amd64 (from .../libxml2-dev_2.8.0+dfsg1-7+wheezy4_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libglib2.0-dev.
Unpacking libglib2.0-dev (from .../libglib2.0-dev_2.33.12+really2.32.4-5_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libcroco3-dev:amd64.
Unpacking libcroco3-dev:amd64 (from .../libcroco3-dev_0.6.6-2_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libunistring-dev:amd64.
Unpacking libunistring-dev:amd64 (from .../libunistring-dev_0.9.3-5_amd64.deb) ...
Processing triggers for install-info ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Processing triggers for libglib2.0-0:amd64 ...
Setting up openjdk-6-jdk:amd64 (6b34-1.13.6-1~deb7u1) ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/appletviewer to provide /usr/bin/appletviewer (appletviewer) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/extcheck to provide /usr/bin/extcheck (extcheck) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/idlj to provide /usr/bin/idlj (idlj) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jar to provide /usr/bin/jar (jar) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jarsigner to provide /usr/bin/jarsigner (jarsigner) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/javac to provide /usr/bin/javac (javac) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/javadoc to provide /usr/bin/javadoc (javadoc) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/javah to provide /usr/bin/javah (javah) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/javap to provide /usr/bin/javap (javap) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jconsole to provide /usr/bin/jconsole (jconsole) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jdb to provide /usr/bin/jdb (jdb) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jhat to provide /usr/bin/jhat (jhat) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jinfo to provide /usr/bin/jinfo (jinfo) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jmap to provide /usr/bin/jmap (jmap) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jps to provide /usr/bin/jps (jps) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jrunscript to provide /usr/bin/jrunscript (jrunscript) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jsadebugd to provide /usr/bin/jsadebugd (jsadebugd) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jstack to provide /usr/bin/jstack (jstack) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jstat to provide /usr/bin/jstat (jstat) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/jstatd to provide /usr/bin/jstatd (jstatd) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/native2ascii to provide /usr/bin/native2ascii (native2ascii) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/rmic to provide /usr/bin/rmic (rmic) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/schemagen to provide /usr/bin/schemagen (schemagen) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/serialver to provide /usr/bin/serialver (serialver) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/wsgen to provide /usr/bin/wsgen (wsgen) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/wsimport to provide /usr/bin/wsimport (wsimport) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/bin/xjc to provide /usr/bin/xjc (xjc) in auto mode
Setting up default-jdk (1:1.6-47) ...
Setting up fastjar (2:0.98-3) ...
Setting up libxml2-dev:amd64 (2.8.0+dfsg1-7+wheezy4) ...
Setting up libglib2.0-dev (2.33.12+really2.32.4-5) ...
Setting up libcroco3-dev:amd64 (0.6.6-2) ...
Setting up libunistring-dev:amd64 (0.9.3-5) ...

That seemed to suggest, that installing gettext should work. However, I knew from my earlier tests with synaptic that I would get the "held broken packages" message. For the sake of the record I tried it anyway:

Code:

root@ascomtux:/etc/apt# apt-get install gettext
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 gettext : Depends: libasprintf0c2 (= 0.18.1.1-9) but 0.19.3-2~bpo70+1 is to be installed
           Recommends: autopoint but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

The version of libasprintf0c2 to be installed comes from wheezy-backports. I checkeed this with apt-get changelog libasprintf0c2:

Code:

gettext (0.19.3-2~bpo70+1) wheezy-backports; urgency=low

  * Rebuild for wheezy-backports. No changes. Closes: #776645.

 -- Santiago Vila <sanvila@debian.org>  Fri, 30 Jan 2015 18:47:54 +0100 
...

Now for some questions:
1. I can install an older version of libasprintf0c2 but should I really do that?
2. There are other packages which give similar error messages when I try to install them. I'm guessing once I find the source of the dpendency error I will need to do the same each one, right?
3. Is there another way to clean up my installation? I added the wheezy-backports to my sources.list to fix a problem with my surf-stick. but I'm hoping not to have to use that device anymore. Should I remove the backports from my sources.list?

To make the information complete, here is my sources.list file.

Code:

deb http://http.debian.net/debian wheezy main contrib non-free
deb-src http://http.debian.net/debian wheezy main contrib non-free

deb http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates main contrib
deb-src http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates main contrib

deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/ wheezy-updates main contrib
deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/ wheezy-updates main contrib

deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian wheezy-backports main contrib non-free
deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian wheezy-backports main contrib non-free

deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main
deb-src http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main

#deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian jessie main contrib non-free

If anyone has a hint for me as to how to tackle this, I'd be very grateful. In the meantime I'm going to try going back to an earlier version of hplip to see if that works. I will almost certainly hve to install that by building the source (shudder... "dependency hell" here I come).

Which version of libasprintf0c2 do you have installed now? You want the version from wheezy 0.18.1.1-9, not wheezy-backports 0.19.3-2. If you need to downgrade, it will ask you to remove libasprintf-dev, which is provided by gettext 0.18.1.1-9, so you may need to downgrade that too. If you have to downgrade more than that, I'd wait for the Jessie release as knudfl suggests.