unstable system dies: apt-get dist-upgrade
Yesterday, 3 July (GMT+10) I attempted to resolve dependency problems
for the dist-upgrade that I'd left running overnight. My system
is now dead. I have installed a new installation on a different
filesystem, and am starting from scratch.
I do these upgrades fairly often. Sometimes I'll let it go a
month, or even two. In general I have few real problems.
Fairly often however I am harassed by messages from
"install-info". I have developed a standard operating
procedure in these cases: edit the offending file (eg
*.prerm or *postinst) and run "dpkg --configure". I'm not
happy of course, but this or some other similar procedure
*usually* (TM) takes care of these things.
I have posted to these lists in the past my feeling about
this install-info. Why should installation of documentation
be the most common pediment to upgrades? Rarely do I have
any other problem.
I have begun to think it's time to reinstall. I am sure there
is major cruft I am not taking care of. After over perhaps two
years of incremental upgrades, one or two major partition shifts,
it's time.
Well, it happened. I don't even know what. I am embarrassed that
I cannot even relate to the list what messages I received. After
a number of vexing complaints from apt-get/dpkg, which I overcame
in the way I have described, as well as by "force-overwrite", etc.,
the system came to total loss.
No keyboard input into login prompts. Messages about init. I think
that sysvinit might have been hosed. I had to reinstall login a few
weeks ago, to solve a somewhat similar problem. THis is not the libpam
issue, as I had gotten through that one in an hour.
I am reinstalling, but if I can figure this one out, I will save myself
a month of work. This was a well loaded system with lots of
self-installed packages. I am starting from potato, now have upgraded to
woody.
Does any of this mean anything to anyone?
Alan Davis
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