How Do I Fix A Problem With An Annoying Suggestion From Debian and Aptitude?
 

{{{While I have been a member since 2005, I almost always post on "Linux - Newbie" since I had a stroke in 2011 and have brain-damage because of that stroke}}}

I am using Debian, Testing, and aptitude to do updates/upgrades.

For several weeks, I have been getting the same result using aptitude:

// BEGIN

The following packages will be DOWNGRADED:
libllvm10:i386
The following packages will be REMOVED:
libllvm10{a}
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 downgraded, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 16.5 MB of archives. After unpacking 78.7 MB will be freed.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
libxatracker2 : Depends: libllvm10 (>= 1:9~svn298832-1~) but it is not going to be installed
libgl1-mesa-dri : Depends: libllvm10 (>= 1:9~svn298832-1~) but it is not going to be installed
mesa-vdpau-drivers : Depends: libllvm10 (>= 1:9~svn298832-1~) but it is not going to be installed
mesa-va-drivers : Depends: libllvm10 (>= 1:9~svn298832-1~) but it is not going to be installed
The following actions will resolve these dependencies:

Keep the following packages at their current version:
1) libllvm10 [1:10.0.1-7 (now, unstable)]
2) libllvm10:i386 [1:10.0.1-7 (now, unstable)]



Accept this solution? [Y/n/q/?]

// END

I have tried to fix whatever the problem is causing this issue. I have installed the packages from unstable, I have tried to downgrade the packages to stable (not really a good idea, but I did it anyway), and I did this with apt-pinning, and by downloading the packages from Debian via DKMS.

Question: How do I fix this issue with my upgrades?

Thank you for your time, and have a good day!

Also:
I use aptitude since, in 2005, aptitude was the Debian-suggested tool rather than apt-get.

Your problem stems from using unstable for your sources. With it applications/libraries get uploaded all the time then they have to migrate to the testing branch. When you see the error like you have you need to see if the package it lists can be installed on its own at a version the same or greater than the one listed causing the error. This will allow the system to do it as it is supposed to do. But now I look again at the error it is broken packages causing the problem. Unless my reading of libllvm10 1:10.0.1-7 installed being newer thus higher version than libllvm10 1:9~svn298832-1~ is incorrect. You will either need to build the packages it lists with the 10 version or wait for the moron who broke the packages to fix the error.

I'll try your suggestions.
Thank you!

This may be a 'stupid obvious suggestion' but have you run apt clean/autoclean and made it rebuild the update directory in any of your troubleshooting? In addition to HappyTux's idea, it may be that your system is looking at/for packages that are no longer available/out of date/etc vs the repo (so the package list doesn't match reality, and its getting bad candidates and then error'ing out) - FWIW I've run into this with apt in the past when hastily trying to upgrade machines that don't get booted very often.

{sigh}

After much trials and tribulations, it remains the same.

Apt-Pinning didn't work.
Upgrading those that my problem packages to Sid didn't work, didn't work.
{Actually, it, yet again, caused some problems to my system, which I finally fixed}

So, as it stands, it remains, as usual, and every update I have to just bypass the weirdness with a <return>.

Yeah.... That is the danger/problem with testing. I guess it will be fixed when the current Testing becomes Stable.

I will call this as SOLVED, though.

{sigh}

You have been helpful, and my system is... hmmm... complex. Thank you all, and have a good day!

One of the problems with testing is that you have to expect, as a norm, that as things change other things break. If you were running the stable version you likely would not have near as many problems.

You might be able to assist in fixing things by reporting the bugs to the maintainers. I don't use debian so can only guess that you would do so at bugzilla?

Remove the unstable from your sources.list then apt update and see if that will allow it to solve the problem. You may have to manually downgrade to the -6 version that is in testing for the library. As has been mentioned if is best to stick to the stable version of these programs/libraries, those are guaranteed to install. Most times the system will correct itself when the packages have migrated containing the new version compiled against the new libraries. Oh to report it

https://www.debian.org/Bugs/

https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=libllvm10

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