apt-get install always returns 'Couldn't find package'

adetheheat · 09-16-2010, 11:35 AM

Debian linux:
I've tried apt-get install with the following packages:

gcc
glibc-headers

and others and always get 'Couldn't find package'.

I tried doing an
apt-get update
and that worked without problem.

cheers

tredegar · 09-16-2010, 11:55 AM

... Then please mark your thread as "Solved"
= Scroll up, "Thread tools" - "Mark as Solved".
TY

wpeckham · 09-16-2010, 11:56 AM

You did not say if you could do an
apt-get dist-upgrade
with success. ??

Anyway:

If you want-need the exact package name for the install, try
apt-cache search gcc
though you may want to pipe it through less.

I often do
apt-cache search gcc |grep -i gcc | less
then run 'apt-get install <pkg>' against the exact package I want.

Note that if there is a meta-package for what you want, you are better off installing the meta-package. It makes upgrades less painful.

tredegar · 09-16-2010, 12:02 PM

Quote:

You did not say if you could do an
apt-get dist-upgrade
with success. ??

No.

apt-get will not work unless it has been given a chance to search the repositories for what is currently available. The command to do this is apt-get update

Then it will work as expected.

Unfortunately, the OP has edited his question rather than following it up with another post, which causes confusion (as is happening here). adetheheat, please don't do this.

Edit: The text within the quote appears in a big font. Some sort of LQ Bug? It's not in my post-coding.
/Edit

adetheheat · 09-17-2010, 03:36 AM

[by the way my original post wasn't editted at all by me - it was all done in one go]

ok, sone of the apt-cache search calls work.
Some of the apt-get installs work.
I need to do about 16 installs.

question:

Some of the apt-cache search calls come back with nothing at all. Does this mean they can't be obtained or that they are already installed
or something else ? The thing is the work procedure I'm following says I need these 16 packages.

tredegar · 09-17-2010, 04:23 AM

Quote:

[by the way my original post wasn't editted at all by me - it was all done in one go]

Then why does it say "Last edited by adetheheat; Yesterday at 17:36." ?

Quote:

Some of the apt-cache search calls come back with nothing at all.

This means the package was not found.
You need to list the correct repositories in /etc/apt/sources.list
Then run apt-get update
Then apt-get install packagename

What packages are you having trouble with?

adetheheat · 09-17-2010, 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tredegar

What packages are you having trouble with?

glibc-headers
glibc-devel
libcstdc++-devel
gcc
gcc-c++
zlib-devel
rpm
rpm-build
ncurses-devel
bison
make
bzip
tftp
nfs-user-server

This might be more hassle than its worth. If I download the full debian installer will it have these packages built into it ?

tredegar · 09-17-2010, 04:55 AM

These packages are all common, and easily available, if you have configured your sources.list to tell apt where to look for the repositories.

http://linuxappfinder.com/addrepo

adetheheat · 09-17-2010, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tredegar

These packages are all common, and easily available, if you have configured your sources.list to tell apt where to look for the repositories.

http://linuxappfinder.com/addrepo

Ok my sources.list file looks bad:

Code:

deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 5.0.6 _Lenny_ -Official .....]/ lenny main

#Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
#deb http://security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main
#Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
#deb-src http://security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main

#Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
#deb http://volatile.debian.org/debian-volatile lenny/volatile main
#Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
#deb-src http://volatile.debian.org/debian-volatile lenny/volatile main

thanks

adetheheat · 09-17-2010, 06:41 AM

thanks,
due to this thread:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...=1#post4100480

things seem better now. I'm downlloading more packages than previously. I'll let you know if I need more help.

adetheheat · 09-20-2010, 05:19 AM

got further. managed to download most of the packages I need. Couldn't do:
glibc-headers
glibc-dev
libcstd++-devel
rpm-build
bzip

Get errors:
'Couldn't find package'

tredegar · 09-20-2010, 01:14 PM

In your other, very similar, thread here where you are also being advised to sort out your sources.list you say that you have "accidentally reinstalled" and now "kde works".

How anyone can accidentally reinstall linux is beyond me, but if everything is working, then please close this thread as SOLVED, if not then "Couldn't find package" means that your sources.list is wrong or incomplete.