Hello,
This is my first post to these forums. I sincerely hope that I am in the right place. Please forgive me me if I am not.
I am very new to Linux and I have been dealling with my problem for the past 9 days. I have installed Debian to my hard drive from a DSL disk. It seems like it is an old distripution (kernal is Linux 2.4.26 on i686). I saw that there was an old version of Firefox that desparately needs to be upgradeed. I tried to install the latest version with out any luck. It was the same situation when I tried to the install Flash Player plugin. I then tried to upgrade the distribution by doing the following:


root@box:~# apt-get update
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/main Packages
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/main Release
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/contrib Packages
Hit http://ftp.debian.org etch/main Packages
Hit http://ftp.debian.org etch/main Release
Hit http://ftp.debian.org etch/contrib Packages
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/contrib Release
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/non-free Packages
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/non-free Release
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/main Sources
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/main Release
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/contrib Sources
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/contrib Release
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/non-free Sources
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/non-free Release
Hit http://ftp.debian.org etch/contrib Release
Hit http://ftp.debian.org etch/non-free Packages
Hit http://ftp.debian.org etch/non-free Release
Hit http://ftp.debian.org etch/main Sources
Hit http://ftp.debian.org etch/main Release
Hit http://ftp.debian.org etch/contrib Sources
Hit http://ftp.debian.org etch/contrib Release
Hit http://ftp.debian.org etch/non-free Sources
Hit http://ftp.debian.org etch/non-free Release
Reading Package Lists... Done
root@box:~#



Then I went for the upgrade:


root@box:~# apt-get upgrade
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
The following packages have been kept back
adduser apt apt-utils base-passwd bash bsdutils busybox bzip2 cdrecord cloop-utils
console-common console-tools coreutils cpp csh debianutils deborphan dhcp3-common
dpkg dselect e2fsprogs eject fdutils file findutils fluxbox fontconfig grep gzip
hostname hotplug ifupdown joe less libao2 libaudiofile0 libblkid1 libbz2-1.0 libc6
libconsole libdb1-compat libdb3 libesd0 libexpat1 libfontconfig1 libfreetype6 libgcc1
libglib1.2 libgtk1.2 libid3tag0 libjpeg62 liblocale-gettext-perl libmad0 libmagic1
libncurses5 libogg0 libpam-modules libpam0g libperl5.8 libpng12-0 libpopt0
libssl0.9.7 libstdc++2.10-glibc2.2 libstdc++5 libtext-charwidth-perl
libtext-iconv-perl libvorbis0a libvorbisenc2 libvorbisfile3 libwrap0 libxaw7 libxft2
lilo linux-wlan-ng login mbr menu mkisofs modconf module-init-tools modutils mpg321
ncurses-base ncurses-bin net-tools netbase netkit-ping nfs-common nvi passwd
pcmcia-cs perl-base portmap ppp pppoe pppoeconf pppstatus procps psmisc pump
rxvt-beta sed ssh sudo tar tcpd ted-common tinyirc unzip usbutils usbview util-linux
vorbis-tools whiptail wireless-tools xbase-clients xfonts-75dpi xfonts-base
xlibs-data xmms xterm xutils zlib1g
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 123 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B of archives.
After unpacking 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Setting up pcmcia-cs (3.1.33-6woody1) ...
update-rc.d: /etc/init.d/pcmcia: file does not exist
dpkg: error processing pcmcia-cs (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
pcmcia-cs
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
root@box:~#





I recieve this error no matter what plugin/program/package I try to install:

Setting up pcmcia-cs (3.1.33-6woody1) ...
update-rc.d: /etc/init.d/pcmcia: file does not exist
dpkg: error processing pcmcia-cs (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
pcmcia-cs
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)






I then tried to install the pcmcia package:

root@box:~# apt-get install pcmcia-cs
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
e2fslibs e2fsprogs libblkid1 libc6 libcomerr2 libdevmapper1.02 libselinux1 libsepol1
libss2 libsysfs2 libuuid1 lsb-base module-init-tools pcmciautils tzdata
Suggested packages:
gpart e2fsck-static glibc-doc pcmcia-modules
The following NEW packages will be installed:
e2fslibs libcomerr2 libdevmapper1.02 libselinux1 libsepol1 libss2 libsysfs2 libuuid1
lsb-base pcmciautils tzdata
The following packages will be upgraded
e2fsprogs libblkid1 libc6 module-init-tools pcmcia-cs
5 upgraded, 11 newly installed, 0 to remove and 118 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B/6698kB of archives.
After unpacking 3502kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
E: This installation run will require temporarily removing the essential package e2fsprogs due to a Conflicts/Pre-Depends loop. This is often bad, but if you really want to do it, activate the APT::Force-LoopBreak option.
E: Internal Error, Could not early remove e2fsprogs
root@box:~#




This scared me a bit so I searched the internet for a solution where I found people had the same problem I have, but the solutions given, which worked for them, did not work for me.

I also tried using the dpkg and aptitude methods of installation, and with no luck.

I am desparately hopeing that some of you may help me.

Thank you for reading this.

Sincerely yours,
Sean
One frustrated Irishman in New York

Hya,

You have installed "etch", which is an old stable. Current stable is "lenny'

First, edit /etc/apt/sources.list (change etch -> lenny), then apt-get update, apt-get full-upgrade.

I think something changed with pcmcia package.

Hope this helps.

Happy Penguins!

Thank you kaz2100,
I made the changes to the sources in my source.list and updated with no issue. When I went with the apt-get dist-upgrade, everything seemed to be going well until the kernal needed to be upgraded from 2.4 to 2.6. I attempted to correct this but had no luck.

Here is the last lines of the output from an apt-get dist-upgrade referencing the jernal upgrade and my feeble attempts at the kernal upgrade:

root@box:~# apt-get install -t etch linux-image-2.6
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
Package linux-image-2.6 is a virtual package provided by:
linux-image-2.6.26-2-xen-686 2.6.26-21lenny3
linux-image-2.6.26-2-vserver-686-bigmem 2.6.26-21lenny3
linux-image-2.6.26-2-vserver-686 2.6.26-21lenny3
linux-image-2.6.26-2-openvz-686 2.6.26-21lenny3
linux-image-2.6.26-2-amd64 2.6.26-21lenny3
linux-image-2.6.26-2-686-bigmem 2.6.26-21lenny3
linux-image-2.6.26-2-686 2.6.26-21lenny3
linux-image-2.6.26-2-486 2.6.26-21lenny3
linux-image-2.6.26-1-xen-686 2.6.26-13lenny2
linux-image-2.6.26-1-vserver-686-bigmem 2.6.26-13lenny2
linux-image-2.6.26-1-vserver-686 2.6.26-13lenny2
linux-image-2.6.26-1-openvz-686 2.6.26-13lenny2
linux-image-2.6.26-1-amd64 2.6.26-13lenny2
linux-image-2.6.26-1-686-bigmem 2.6.26-13lenny2
linux-image-2.6.26-1-686 2.6.26-13lenny2
linux-image-2.6.26-1-486 2.6.26-13lenny2
You should explicitly select one to install.
E: Package linux-image-2.6 has no installation candidate
root@box:~# apt-get install linux-image-2.6.26-2-686 2.6.26-21lenny3
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
E: Couldn't find package 2.6.26-21lenny3
root@box:~# apt-get install linux-image-2.6.26-2-686-bigmem 2.6.26-21lenny3
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
E: Couldn't find package 2.6.26-21lenny3
root@box:~# apt-get install linux-image-2.6.26-2-686 2.6.26-21lenny2
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
E: Couldn't find package 2.6.26-21lenny2
root@box:~# apt-get install linux-image-2.6.26-1-686 2.6.26-l3lenny2
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
E: Couldn't find package 2.6.26-l3lenny2
root@box:~#

Any ideas on how I can update the kernal to 2.6??? All help is greatly appreciate.
Thanks again kaz2100

Read the release notes at http://www.debian.org/releases/lenny/releasenotes. Ensure your Etch installation is up to date (aptitude update; aptitude dist-upgrade). Edit your /etc/apt/sources.list and change all non-local mentions of "etch" to "lenny". aptitude update; aptitude install aptitude; aptitude safe-upgrade; aptitude full-upgrade.

During <etch->lenny>, apt may warn 'W: There is no public key available for the following key IDs: 4D270D06F42584E6'. Lenny's Release file is signed by two keys, only one of which you have. The chain of trust has not been broken and you can proceed with the upgrade. This is a different message to if you had untrusted sources. Once the lenny version of "debian-archive-keyring" is installed, the message goes away.

Are you sure you don't actually have Sarge installed? I don't think Etch came with a 2.4 kernel. The 2.4 kernel is ancient. In any case, your best bet really would be a complete reinstall unless you have a lot of data that you can't backup.

Thank you everyone for your help. I tried all your advice but I still have problems. I reinstalled the same distribution (from DSL to Debian) since it is the only CD I have. I then repeated all your suggestions but had no luck. I even tried to burn a new CD with the latest Debian release ISO, but this also wouldn't work.

After I reinstalled I ran an 'apt-get dist-upgrade' command, but I again received an error. Here is the last few lines of the output:

//mirror.aarnet.edu.au oldstable/main wireless-tools 28-1+etchnhalf.1 [107kB]
Fetched 36.1MB in 8m43s (68.9kB/s)
E: This installation run will require temporarily removing the essential package e2fsprogs due to a Conflicts/Pre-Depends loop. This is often bad, but if you really want to do it, activate the APT::Force-LoopBreak option.
E: Internal Error, Could not early remove e2fsprogs
root@box:~#



It's very disheartening to see output actually says "This is often bad,"

Anyway, if you guys see a way around this error I would greatly appreciate it. If not can you advise me how to upgrade Firefox and install the Flash plugin? I know I am asking a lot, but I do hope that you can help.

Thank you again for all your past advice and attention to my issue.

Sean