How do I fix the problem of apt-get and Synaptic not letting me install packages?
Summary:
======== I use apt-get and Synaptic to install packages. But when I try to install them, on the majority of occasions (80%), apt-get and Synaptic give errors that prevent the package being installed. With Synaptic, a recurring problem is that when installing different packages, Synaptic wants to remove a long list of important packages that are vital to the system. Obviously something is very wrong here, so I don't proceed with the installation. With apt-get, a recurring problem is that when installing different packages, I'm getting the SAME ERROR MESSAGE, and the packages won't install. In the case of both apt-get and Synaptic, the problems arise BEFORE the Internet is accessed. The following shows the output that apt-get is giving. This example shows me attempting to install Wine, but I get the SAME error message when installing other packages: Code:
$ sudo apt-get install wine feeling is that the problem with apt-get is not necessarily to do with init-system-helpers and util-linux. They seem to have appeared out of no-where, and I think they might be a red herring. The problems I'm getting with both apt-get and Synaptic suggest to me that there is something wrong with the package information maintenance system, ie that something has got mixed up. Please could you suggest step by step what I need to do to identify what's wrong, and what to do to put things right. I'm happy to give you any info you need. I'd rather not use a bulldozer solution, if a pair of tweezers is what's needed. A MAJOR THOUGHT: Because there is no guarantee that I can install a package at the moment, I may not be able to use a solution that involves installing anything. Apologies for the fact that there are a lot of details below, but they're all relevant. Full Details: ============= 1. I've removed a package to try and cure the problem but it hasn't worked. =========================================================================== I got a clue about what might be wrong from www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpE6IcDiu38, in which he could not install anything either. He found that he had previously installed virtualbox but it hadn't installed properly. So he removed it with $ apt-get autoremove virtualbox After that, he could successfully do installations of any packages. So I looked back through the package installations I have personally done since installing my system about 3 years ago, thinking that perhaps I have installed a package that hasn't installed properly. Going back 3 installations from now, I found the package "convertall", which my notes showed me had given warning messages during the install (installed with Synaptic). (However, it did install and run.) So using the same basic principle of the above user, I removed convertall with $ sudo apt-get purge convertall But after this, when using "apt-get install <package>", I STILL got the same error output as originally. 2. Things I've tried so far: ============================ a) $ sudo apt-get check Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done $ man says: check is a diagnostic tool; it updates the package cache and checks for broken dependencies. So to me, the above output implies that there are no broken dependencies. b) Code:
$ sudo apt-get install -f I assume that the above output suggests there are no broken dependencies. Also, there doesn't seem to be any point in removing the "no longer required" packages because I don't see how that could fix the problem I have. c) Code:
$ sudo dpkg --audit on your system. dpkg will suggest what to do with them to get them working. Regarding cloop-utils above, I seem to remember that I have ALWAYS had a message about cloop-utils at boot-time, but despite that have had no previous problems with installing packages. So I don't believe that re-installing cloop-utils will improve my problem. Regarding the 2nd long list of packages above ("missing the md5sums ..."), I can't help thinking that they're not related to MY problem, and that re-installing them won't make any difference. But in any case, I can't guarantee that apt-get or Synaptic will let me install them, as things stand at the moment. BUT AM I WRONG IN THINKING that re-installing them won't make any difference? 3. Solutions offered on the web (but I don't see how they will fix anything). ============================================================================= Regarding my problem of not being able to install packages, I've seen the following suggestions on the web, given as possible solutions. But I've added my thoughts below about why I don't think these suggestions will fix anything (except for "d)"). Therefore (except for "d)") I HAVEN'T tried any of the suggestions. a) $ apt-get clean man says: Clears out the local repository of retrieved package files. My comment: But how can emptying /var/cache/apt/archives/ of the .deb files (that just sit there doing nothing) fix unmet dependencies (broken packages)? b) $ apt-get autoclean man says: Same as clean but only removes package files that can no longer be downloaded, and are largely useless. My comment: But how can doing this (as with clean) fix unmet dependencies? c) $ apt-get autoremove man says: Used to remove packages that were automatically installed to satisfy dependencies for other packages and are now no longer needed. My comment: But surely, doing this won't fix unmet dependencies. d) $ dpkg --configure -a man says: "Configure a package which has been unpacked but not yet configured. -a means all unpacked but unconfigured packages are configured. Configuring consists of the following steps: i) Unpack the conffiles, and at the same time back up the old conffiles, so that they can be restored if something goes wrong. ii) Run postinst script, if provided by the package." My comment: I did a simulation of this command as follows: $ sudo dpkg --simulate --configure -a $ The command completed very quickly. I presume the fact that there is no output suggests that there are no unconfigured packages. 4. Has my /etc/apt/sources.list got a wrong mix of repositories? ================================================================ a) I gather that it's possible to get my problem if you mix different types of repositories in /etc/apt/sources.list. I'm not sure but does this mean you shouldn't mix any of the following: unstable, testing, stable. Does this mean that you should only specify ONE of these 3 types in sources.list? I've shown my /etc/apt/sources.list at "c)" below. My brain has actually seized, so I don't know what I'm looking for. Is the list OK, or is there something wrong with it? The list came pre-installed on a Live Knoppix DVD. I installed this Knoppix system from the DVD to my hard drive some time ago, and it works fine. The hard drive form of the Live DVD is effectively Debian. b) IF it's the contents of sources.list that is the ORIGINAL cause of my problem, then with your kind help I can put that right. BUT OF COURSE I still need to know how to fix the PRESENT problem of not being able to install packages with apt-get and Synaptic. After the apt-get error messages occur, apt-get exits, and the Internet is never accessed, and so (as far as I can tell) sources.list is not being accessed at the moment. c) Contents of my /etc/apt/sources.list: Code:
# Debian/Squeeze is the stable base for this installation ==================================================================== Is it possible that one of the following two things that I've done in the past have contributed to the present installing problems: a) In the past, when I've installed packages, I haven't always run Synaptic Reload first (same as "apt-get update"). (I've mainly used Synaptic to install packages.) b) COULD THE FOLLOWING BE VERY SIGNIFICANT? There have been a couple of packages that I've installed in the past (with Synaptic), that I uninstalled (using "Mark for complete removal"). But in both cases, it didn't uninstall the other packages that had been installed along with the main package. So I uninstalled those individually, using "Mark for complete removal". The two main packages that I uninstalled were: jokosher, and ecasound. |
The current version of Debian is Debian 8 "Jessie" released in April 2015.
However, your /etc/apt/sources.list makes reference to Debian 6 "Squeeze" released in February 2011 and end-of-life since February 2016. This suggests to me you are running an obsolete/end-of-life system with mixed/conflicting software sources. My recommendation is to back up all your data and perform a fresh reinstall of Debian 8 (or another currently-supported distribution that will meet your needs). The Knoppix FAQ's are a good source for additional information why you are getting these errors: http://knoppix.net/wiki/Full_HD_install_-_warning In layman's terms, Knoppix was not designed/intended to be installed on your hard drive and upgraded through the years across multiple Debian releases. Knoppix is a good live/demo/recovery distribution, but probably not the right "tool for the job" if you are looking for a long-term supported, full install to your hard drive. |
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Do as snowpine says - install a sane system. |
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