I am just getting my feet wet with linux and am enjoying the experience. I installed Redhat 8.0 on both my desktop PC and laptop without any difficulties. I installed and uninstalled packages using the GUI package manager yesterday without any difficulty. Today, when I select the package manager from the Gnome or KDE menu, the app reads the the system status and exits. No errors or messages are reported. I tried to solve the problem with info from other newbie posts without any luck. Can't find anything useful on Redhat newsgroups either. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've read some bad things about the gui's for rpm. try using the command line for what you wanna do, something like

rpm -i <package>.rpm

(I think)

My experience with Windows Registry gave me an idea of the probable cause and cure of the Gui RPM Package Manager problem. I opened a terminal as su and used the rpm -Va command to verify installed packages and find corrupt or missing package elements. I then reinstalled the corrupt or missing packages using rpm -iv --replacepkgs. A rechecked to verify that all the rpm installed packages were ok and the Redhat RPM GUI Package Manager worked perfectly once again.
I have been using linux for less than a week and I am enjoying the experience. I figure that you can use your windows skills to learn the new os.

what exactly are you typing in. I typed "rpm -Va" and some rpms were missing. And when I typed --replacepkgs it would give me an error saying it couldn't find the rpm. I know it's just something that I typed wrong. What exactly did you type when you found a missing rpm. An example would be really helpful. Thanks in advance.

the best source of information about rpm package management for newbies is Maximum RPM which is included on the Redhat documentation disk or here
hXXp://www.rpm.org/max-rpm/
Chapter 6. Using RPM to Verify Installed Packages
When Verification Fails - rpm -V Output

missing /var/spool/at/spool
This last example illustrates what RPM does when a file, that should be there, is missing entirely.

# rpm -V blather
Unsatisfied dependencies for blather-7.9-1: bother >= 3.1
#
It's pretty easy to see that the blather package requires at least version 3.1 of the bother package.

The --replacepkgs option is used to force RPM to install a package that it believes to be installed already. This option is normally used if the installed package has been damaged somehow and needs to be fixed up.
# rpm -iv --replacepkgs cdp-0.33-2.i386.rpm

hope this helps you get a better handle on rpm packages.

i'm still having problem with the GUI manager. I even reinstalled RH 8.0 and it worked fine for awhile. Then it just gave out on me just like before.
Would anyone know which rpm is responsible for the GUI in the package manager. thank you

By this stage, you may have already move beyond the problem posted here. If that's the case, please ignore this. Else, you or someone may benefit from the following.

You're welcomed to refer to the enclosed link which maybe of help to you.

http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/...g.cgi?id=73097

Herein, is a testimony of a procedure which I followed that resovled a problem similiar to what you described. Review the twelfth comment by Steve Davis which 'might' be of some assistance.

Best regards