i have changed etch to lenny in my sources.list, and run aptitude update and aptitude safe-upgrade.

this is the error message i get (i suspect the vital clue is in the greened lines):

mac:/# aptitude safe-upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Reading task descriptions... Done
Building tag database... Done
The following packages have been automatically kept back:
kdemultimedia libarts1-xine libsasl2-2 libsasl2-modules libxine1
The following packages have been kept back:
gcc
The following partially installed packages will be configured:
linux-image-2.6-powerpc linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 6 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 0B will be used.
Setting up linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc (2.6.21-6) ...
Finding valid ramdisk creators.
Using mkinitramfs-kpkg to build the ramdisk.
mkinitramfs-kpkg failed to create initrd image.
Failed to create initrd image.
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 9
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-2.6-powerpc:
linux-image-2.6-powerpc depends on linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc; however:
Package linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6-powerpc (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc
linux-image-2.6-powerpc
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
A package failed to install. Trying to recover:
Setting up linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc (2.6.21-6) ...
Finding valid ramdisk creators.
Using mkinitramfs-kpkg to build the ramdisk.
mkinitramfs-kpkg failed to create initrd image.
Failed to create initrd image.
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 9
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-2.6-powerpc:
linux-image-2.6-powerpc depends on linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc; however:
Package linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6-powerpc (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc
linux-image-2.6-powerpc
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Reading task descriptions... Done
Building tag database... Done

Hya

safe-upgrade may or may not work for entire upgrade.

You can try dist-upgrade or manually install (configure) "linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc" by dpkg.

Hope this works

Happy Penguins!

thanks, but both those approaches gets me pretty much the same errors:

dpkg:

mac:/home/tmh# dpkg --configure linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc
Setting up linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc (2.6.21-6) ...
Finding valid ramdisk creators.
Using mkinitramfs-kpkg to build the ramdisk.
mkinitramfs-kpkg failed to create initrd image.
Failed to create initrd image.
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 9
Errors were encountered while processing:
linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc


dist-upgrade:

mac:/home/tmh# aptitude dist-upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Reading task descriptions... Done
Building tag database... Done
The following packages are BROKEN:
libsasl2
The following NEW packages will be automatically installed:
gcc-4.2 libasyncns0 libavcodec1d libavutil1d libgomp1 libmudflap0-4.2-dev libpostproc1d libpulse0
libxcb-shape0 libxcb-shm0 libxcb-xv0 libxcb1 libxine1-doc libxine1-ffmpeg
The following packages will be automatically REMOVED:
libmudflap0-dev
The following NEW packages will be installed:
gcc-4.2 libasyncns0 libavcodec1d libavutil1d libgomp1 libmudflap0-4.2-dev libpostproc1d libpulse0
libxcb-shape0 libxcb-shm0 libxcb-xv0 libxcb1 libxine1-doc libxine1-ffmpeg
The following packages will be REMOVED:
libmudflap0-dev
The following packages will be upgraded:
gcc kdemultimedia libarts1-xine libsasl2-2 libsasl2-modules libxine1
The following partially installed packages will be configured:
linux-image-2.6-powerpc linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc
6 packages upgraded, 14 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 6605kB of archives. After unpacking 7725kB will be used.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
libsasl2: Depends: libsasl2-2 (= 2.1.22.dfsg1-8) but 2.1.22.dfsg1-14 is to be installed.
Resolving dependencies...
The following actions will resolve these dependencies:

Remove the following packages:
libsasl2

Keep the following packages at their current version:
gcc [4:4.1.1-13 (now)]
gcc-4.2 [Not Installed]
libmudflap0-4.2-dev [Not Installed]
libmudflap0-dev [4.1.2-16 (testing, testing, testing, testing, now)]

Score is 276

Accept this solution? [Y/n/q/?] y
The following NEW packages will be automatically installed:
libasyncns0 libavcodec1d libavutil1d libpostproc1d libpulse0 libxcb-shape0 libxcb-shm0 libxcb-xv0
libxcb1 libxine1-doc libxine1-ffmpeg
The following packages will be automatically REMOVED:
libsasl2
The following packages have been kept back:
gcc
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libasyncns0 libavcodec1d libavutil1d libpostproc1d libpulse0 libxcb-shape0 libxcb-shm0 libxcb-xv0
libxcb1 libxine1-doc libxine1-ffmpeg
The following packages will be REMOVED:
libsasl2
The following packages will be upgraded:
kdemultimedia libarts1-xine libsasl2-2 libsasl2-modules libxine1
The following partially installed packages will be configured:
linux-image-2.6-powerpc linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc
5 packages upgraded, 11 newly installed, 1 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
Need to get 5846kB of archives. After unpacking 5280kB will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] y
Writing extended state information... Done
Get:1 http://security.debian.org lenny/updates/main libpulse0 0.9.5-7lenny2 [112kB]
Get:2 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main libsasl2-modules 2.1.22.dfsg1-14 [183kB]
Get:3 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main libsasl2-2 2.1.22.dfsg1-14 [116kB]
Get:4 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main libasyncns0 0.3-1 [15.0kB]
Get:5 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main libxcb1 1.0-3 [46.0kB]
Get:6 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main libxcb-shape0 1.0-3 [17.0kB]
Get:7 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main libxcb-shm0 1.0-3 [16.6kB]
Get:8 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main libxcb-xv0 1.0-3 [20.3kB]
Get:9 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main libxine1 1.1.7-1 [2840kB]
Get:10 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main libarts1-xine 4:3.5.7-3 [111kB]
Get:11 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main kdemultimedia 4:3.5.7-3 [19.8kB]
Get:12 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main libavutil1d 0.cvs20070307-6 [44.1kB]
Get:13 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main libavcodec1d 0.cvs20070307-6 [1659kB]
Get:14 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main libpostproc1d 0.cvs20070307-6 [63.2kB]
Get:15 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main libxine1-doc 1.1.7-1 [125kB]
Get:16 ftp://ftp.no.debian.org testing/main libxine1-ffmpeg 1.1.7-1 [457kB]
Fetched 5846kB in 6s (853kB/s)
(Reading database ... 145958 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing libsasl2 ...
(Reading database ... 145955 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace libsasl2-modules 2.1.22.dfsg1-8 (using .../libsasl2-modules_2.1.22.dfsg1-14_powerpc.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement libsasl2-modules ...
Preparing to replace libsasl2-2 2.1.22.dfsg1-8 (using .../libsasl2-2_2.1.22.dfsg1-14_powerpc.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement libsasl2-2 ...
Selecting previously deselected package libasyncns0.
Unpacking libasyncns0 (from .../libasyncns0_0.3-1_powerpc.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libpulse0.
Unpacking libpulse0 (from .../libpulse0_0.9.5-7lenny2_powerpc.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libxcb1.
Unpacking libxcb1 (from .../libxcb1_1.0-3_powerpc.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libxcb-shape0.
Unpacking libxcb-shape0 (from .../libxcb-shape0_1.0-3_powerpc.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libxcb-shm0.
Unpacking libxcb-shm0 (from .../libxcb-shm0_1.0-3_powerpc.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libxcb-xv0.
Unpacking libxcb-xv0 (from .../libxcb-xv0_1.0-3_powerpc.deb) ...
Preparing to replace libxine1 1.1.2+dfsg-2 (using .../libxine1_1.1.7-1_powerpc.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement libxine1 ...
Preparing to replace libarts1-xine 4:3.5.5-2 (using .../libarts1-xine_4%3a3.5.7-3_powerpc.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement libarts1-xine ...
Preparing to replace kdemultimedia 4:3.5.5-2 (using .../kdemultimedia_4%3a3.5.7-3_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement kdemultimedia ...
Selecting previously deselected package libavutil1d.
Unpacking libavutil1d (from .../libavutil1d_0.cvs20070307-6_powerpc.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libavcodec1d.
Unpacking libavcodec1d (from .../libavcodec1d_0.cvs20070307-6_powerpc.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libpostproc1d.
Unpacking libpostproc1d (from .../libpostproc1d_0.cvs20070307-6_powerpc.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libxine1-doc.
Unpacking libxine1-doc (from .../libxine1-doc_1.1.7-1_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libxine1-ffmpeg.
Unpacking libxine1-ffmpeg (from .../libxine1-ffmpeg_1.1.7-1_powerpc.deb) ...
Setting up linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc (2.6.21-6) ...
Finding valid ramdisk creators.
Using mkinitramfs-kpkg to build the ramdisk.
mkinitramfs-kpkg failed to create initrd image.
Failed to create initrd image.
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 128
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-2.6-powerpc:
linux-image-2.6-powerpc depends on linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc; however:
Package linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6-powerpc (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Setting up libsasl2-2 (2.1.22.dfsg1-14) ...
Setting up libsasl2-modules (2.1.22.dfsg1-14) ...
Setting up libasyncns0 (0.3-1) ...
Setting up libpulse0 (0.9.5-7lenny2) ...
Setting up libxcb1 (1.0-3) ...
Setting up libxcb-shape0 (1.0-3) ...
Setting up libxcb-shm0 (1.0-3) ...
Setting up libxcb-xv0 (1.0-3) ...
Setting up libavutil1d (0.cvs20070307-6) ...
Setting up libavcodec1d (0.cvs20070307-6) ...
Setting up libpostproc1d (0.cvs20070307-6) ...
Setting up libxine1-doc (1.1.7-1) ...
Setting up libxine1 (1.1.7-1) ...
Setting up libarts1-xine (4:3.5.7-3) ...
Setting up kdemultimedia (4:3.5.7-3) ...
Setting up libxine1-ffmpeg (1.1.7-1) ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc
linux-image-2.6-powerpc
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
A package failed to install. Trying to recover:
Setting up linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc (2.6.21-6) ...
Finding valid ramdisk creators.
Using mkinitramfs-kpkg to build the ramdisk.
mkinitramfs-kpkg failed to create initrd image.
Failed to create initrd image.
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 9
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-2.6-powerpc:
linux-image-2.6-powerpc depends on linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc; however:
Package linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6-powerpc (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc
linux-image-2.6-powerpc
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Writing extended state information... Done
Reading task descriptions... Done
Building tag database... Done

btw, here's my sources.list:

deb ftp://ftp.no.debian.org/debian testing main
deb ftp://ftp.uninett.no/debian testing main
deb ftp://ftp.at.debian.org/debian testing main

# deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux testing _Etch_ - Official Snapshot powerpc Binary-1 (20060810)]/ etch main

# deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian testing main
# deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-us testing/non-us main
# deb ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian testing main
# deb http://download.unesp.br/debian testing main
# deb ftp://ftp.debian.org.br/debian testing main
# deb http://debian.marked.no/debian testing main
# deb ftp://ftp.marked.no//debian testing main
# deb http://security.debian.org testing/updates main contrib non-free
# deb http://security.debian.org/ etch/updates main

deb http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ lenny main contrib non-free

#deb-src http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ lenny main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main contrib
#deb-src http://security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main contrib
#deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org lenny main
#deb http://deb.opera.com/opera/ lenny non-free
#deb http://download.skype.com/linux/repos/debian/ stable non-free
#deb http://debian.beryl-project.org lenny main
#deb-src http://debian.beryl-project.org lenny main

this info might also be helpful:

mac:/home/tmh# uname -r
2.6.16-2-powerpc

my system doesn't seem to have the latest kernel at all...

Hya,

With my penguin, so far, I have not had trouble with dpkg and/or dist-upgrade. So I only can guess.

1. edit your source file, testing -> lenny
2. run mkinitramfs-kpkg manually and look for possible error source, and do something.

Happy Penguins!

this is my home machine (a mac mini), and i was out of the country from february 2007 to august 2007, so i missed images 2.6.17, 18, 19 and 20. might this have something to do with the error?

as you can see, i only have image 2.6.16 on my machine, while all the errors concern image 2.6.21, which i obviously don't have (although i would have expected the dist-upgrade to install it).

i've played around with update-initramfs (which is recommended in stead of mkinitramfs-kpkg), and i keep getting error messages telling me things are missing from my system. here are the contents of the relevant directories:

mac:/home/tmh# ls -l /lib/modules/
total 1
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 1024 2006-10-18 22:16 2.6.16-2-powerpc

mac:/home/tmh# ls -l /boot/
total 43663
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 52048 2006-08-19 02:42 config-2.6.16-2-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 53174 2006-09-13 16:26 config-2.6.17-2-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 57721 2006-12-04 15:27 config-2.6.18-3-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 63917 2007-07-10 21:13 config-2.6.21-2-powerpc
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 27 2007-08-18 06:19 initrd.img -> initrd.img-2.6.18-3-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 2007-09-19 16:28 initrd.img-2.16-2-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5249164 2006-10-18 22:16 initrd.img-2.6.16-2-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5190746 2006-10-18 17:28 initrd.img-2.6.16-2-powerpc.bak
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 434176 2007-02-25 01:13 initrd.img-2.6.17-2-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5258624 2006-11-22 11:36 initrd.img-2.6.17-2-powerpc.bak
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5260833 2007-01-07 17:51 initrd.img-2.6.17-2-powerpc.dpkg-bak
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1911492 2007-08-18 06:19 initrd.img-2.6.18-3-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 913408 2007-09-19 16:13 initrd.img-2.6.21-2-powerpc.new
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 27 2006-10-18 22:21 initrd.img.old -> initrd.img-2.6.17-2-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 671423 2006-08-19 17:02 System.map-2.6.16-2-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 683125 2006-09-13 17:56 System.map-2.6.17-2-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 725330 2006-12-04 16:05 System.map-2.6.18-3-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 780925 2007-07-10 21:13 System.map-2.6.21-2-powerpc
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 24 2007-08-18 06:19 vmlinux -> vmlinux-2.6.18-3-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4105707 2006-08-19 17:01 vmlinux-2.6.16-2-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3995542 2006-09-13 17:55 vmlinux-2.6.17-2-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4401203 2006-12-04 16:04 vmlinux-2.6.18-3-powerpc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4694147 2007-07-10 21:12 vmlinux-2.6.21-2-powerpc
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 24 2006-10-18 22:21 vmlinux.old -> vmlinux-2.6.17-2-powerpc

i find it interesting that there is a link to 2.6.18 in /boot even though 2.6.16 is the only folder in /lib/modules.

Hya,

Now you have a clue.

workaround:
install 2.6.21 manually. or find the way to either force or fake initrd related files.

Happy Penguins!

i downloaded the package that mkinitramfs-kpkg kept complaining about from debian.org to /var/cache/apt/archives, cd'ed there, and installed it this way:

dpkg --install linux-image-2.6.21-2-powerpc_2.6.21-6_powerpc.deb

after that, i did an aptitude update and dist-upgrade. no error messages, and i'm happy!