broken package dependencies, surgery on package database

[Richard Weil <rcweil@yahoo.com>]

I posted this question to the user list but haven't
gotten a response; since it shades into developer
territory, I thought I'd try here ...

While uninstalling a couple of packages I created
using kpkg I really broke some dependencies, so now I
can't do anything with dselect/aptitude. None of the
dpkg commands, even using --force, is helping me fix
the problem packages. So, I'm looking for some help on
how to perform surgery on the package database.

I compiled the 2.4.23 kernel and alsa, i2c and
lm-sensors using kernel-package to make .debs. Since
I'm now a couple of kernels further along, I selected
all of the packages for removal (purge actually)
during a dselect upgrade. The kernel and alsa were
removed, but i2c and lm-sensors were left in a broken
state. With these packages broken, I could no longer
use dselect or aptitude -- they kept getting hung up
on the problem packages.

I recomplied the 2.4.23 kernel, alsa, i2c and
lm-sensors and reinstalled them, thinking I might then
be able to remove them in the correct order. No go. I
have tried all of the various dpkg permutations I'm
aware of (from man page) to remove or otherwise
un-break these packages. Still a no go.

So, is there a way for me to directly manipulate the
package database to remove all traces of these
packages? Can I go into /var/lib/dpkg and edit certain
files so that at least dselect will no longer hang?

Thanks for any help,

Richard

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Search - Find what you?re looking for faster
http://search.yahoo.com