System hangs when using "rpm" command
 

My RedHat 9 system hangs when using most "rpm" commands. I first noticed it when attempting to install VNC, but it seems to hang when using any rpm command. I've tried using the command "rpm --rebuilddb", but it hangs then, too.

type:
rm -rf /var/lib/rpm/__db*
rpm -vv --rebuilddb
that should help ya...

Thanks for the tip. When I tried it, it hung after this message:
D: opening db index /var/lib/rpm/Packages rdonly mode=0x0

i noticed this part, so is it safe to say you tried this as a normal user?? if so you have to be root..

No, I ran it as root. I did, however, figure out what the problem was. When I attempted to delete the db files from /var/lib/RPM/Packages, I didn't use a double underscore in the file name. Once I corrected that, your solution worked. Thanks for your help.

This problem should have been fixed in RHL9 (make sure your up2date on your rpm version), however, another common pitfall I see is that people download rpm files with Internet Exploder (spelling is correct) and the browser with insert a "[1]" (or similar) into the filename.

Here is an example:
file name: kernel-smp-2.4.20-20.9.i586.rpm
IE downloaded name: kernel-smp-2.4.20-20.9.[1]i586.rpm


Solution:
rename the file with mv:
mv kernel-smp-2.4.20-20.9.[1]i586.rpm kernel-smp-2.4.20-20.9.i586.rpm

Then install the rpm.... rpm -ivh kernel-smp-2.4.20-20.9.i586.rpm.

Just wanted to bring this common pitfall out, it's hard to notice sometimes.