Re: What to do when install/uninstall both fail?
On 07 Apr 2000, Oki DZ wrote:
>
>
> On Mon, 3 Apr 2000, Anthony Campbell wrote:
>
> > What can you do when you can neither install nor uninstall a package,
> > which is left broken?
>
> Did the installation stop when dpkg ran the config. scripts? (ie: all the
> files had been unpacked, but not yet configured). If yes, cd to
> /var/lib/dpkg/info, and look for tetex-base.pre* and tetex-base.post*.
> Then add "exit 0" after the first line (ie: after #!/bin/sh), then "dpkg
> -r tetex-base" command.
>
> > I've done this with tetex-base. Even using the force option to remove it
> > sith with dpkg doesn't work.
>
> Try:
> dpkg --unpack tetex-base*.deb (in /var/cache/apt/archives)
> dpkg -r tetex-base
>
> > I think I may have to make an entirely new installation of Debian :-(
>
> IMHO, this is the wrong way of doing things.
>
Problem is now solved. It was due to an obscure and unusual bug in dpkg
which had put a bogus copy of install-info in /usr/bin. V. difficult to
spot that this had happened.
Anthony
--
Anthony Campbell - running Linux Debian 2.1 (Windows-free zone)
Book Reviews: http://www.pentelikon.freeserve.co.uk/bookreviews/
Skeptical articles: http://www.freethinker/uklinux.net/
"To be forced by desire into any unwarrantable belief is a calamity."
I.A. Richards
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