[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: apt-get dist-upgarde error: can't perform configuration on initscript



Aryan Ameri wrote:
I downloaded the weekly debian Sid CDs produced by fsn.hu and added those 14 CDs to my sources.list using apt-cdrom. Then I proceded to upgrade my woody/ Sarge/Sid mixture to Sid. Everything seemed to work fine, I resolved a couple of problems with 'apt-get -f install' and then issued the 'apt-get dist-upgrade' command, it asked me to put the first CD in the drive, I did, everything seemed to go fine; but then I received the following error:

E: Internal Error, Could not perform immediate configuration (2) on initscripts

I Googled a bit and followed the instructions on http://www.lugod.org/
mailinglists/archives/vox-tech/2003-06/msg00339.html which means I installed a couple of libdb3 and libpam packages using dpkg -i. But my problem wasn't solved and I couldn't find any more meaningful reference using Google.

Your situation is not good. It's difficult to know just in what state your system is in, and so I'm not sure that I can give the best advice. You've encountered a serious error.

The general idea is to get your system back to a state where you can install and upgrade packages again. You should get your system functioning again first, and only then worry about completing the upgrade.

Is your system in the process of attempting to install the version of the "initscripts" package? If so, it appears that the sid version you have of the package is broken.

To remove the initscripts package you might try:
# dpkg -r initscripts

or

# dpkg --purge initscripts

You may need to add the appropriate --force-[xxxx] or --force-all option - it's all risky.

If you aren't familiar with it, take some time to read through "man dpkg" so that you can be confident in what you are doing.

"initscripts" does not exist in woody. I believe in woody its functionality is provided as part of the woody version of the "sysvinit" package.

However, if you remove "initscripts", you will want to put "sysvinit" back. If sysvinit has already been upgraded to its sid version, then your situation is even worse, because one thing that Debian does not (in my experience) handle well is downgrading packages.

In this case, you would need to remove sysvinit, and then install the woody version of sysvinit again by either:

# apt-get -tstable install sysvinit

or:

# apt-get install sysvinit/stable

Note that this could leave your system unbootable. Be sure that you have a recovery disk with "chroot" handy. So long as you have this, you can almost always recover your system. It is just a matter of how much tinkering you are willing to do.

If you can get your system back to a state where you can install and upgrade packages, try performing an "apt-get upgrade" before you do "apt-get dist-upgrade" (if you do at all).

Note that if you have limited bandwidth, trying to keep up with updates in sid may not be realistic, and may leave you with a system that is substantially less secure than your woody system.

There are other options than a full dist-upgrade for installing newer packages for selected software.

dircha



Reply to: