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Re: /var/lib/dpkg/status missing?



On Thursday 31 January 2002 06:40 pm, ben wrote:
> On Thursday 31 January 2002 06:35 pm, Robert L. Harris wrote:
> > No such file (both 0 length).  Is it possible to put a 0 length file and
> > have it try to re-install or such?
>
> nah! you're screwed, as far as i know. if anyone knows better, speak up,
> and save us all that horror. i've taken to making a backup of everything
> that's text under /var/lib/dpkg.
>
> btw, don't cc to me. i read the list.

just a follow up on that--the same thing happened to me back in december, the 
crash during the download, that is. i tried to reconstruct the status file 
from what was left in /lost+found, getting syntax errors regardless of which 
editor i used. i managed, after about 2 weeks of farting around, to get the 
system back to a semi-functional state. some apps would run, some wouldn't; 
upgrade attempts were a plague of dependency issues, as well as cron jobs 
regularly crashing the whole machine. after the last such crash, i backed up 
what i really needed, trashed the rest, reinstalled, and i've been happy 
since.

you could go the long way around it, as i did, and learn a lot about your 
system in the process, but if your concern is getting a stable system going 
soon, and you don't have a lot invested in what you have now, dump it and 
reinstall.

ben



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