Re: Long neglected OS ... updating
On Thu, 03 Dec 2015 00:36:23 -0500
Harry Putnam <reader@newsguy.com> wrote:
> Resurrecting a neglected OS, need a little coaching about the output
> of `aptitude full-upgrade'.
>
> I want to know if this output is fairly typical or what one might
> expect after neglecting an OS a good while... but mostly if going
> ahead is likely to land my subpar skilled behind in hot water.
>
> I've stripped the hefty lists of pkgs leaving only what I thought
> would be enough for an experienced hand to be able to offer an
> educated opinion if this looks like a problematic `full-upgrade' or
> if it is one to pursue.
>
> aptitude upgrade
> blah
> blah
>
> ,----
> | aptitude full-upgrade
> |
> | The following NEW packages will be installed:
> | [...]
> | {141 pkgs}
> |
> | The following packages will be REMOVED:
> | [...]
> | {76 pkgs}
> |
> | The following packages will be upgraded:
> | [...]
> | {957 pkgs}
> |
> | The following packages are RECOMMENDED but will NOT be installed:
> | [...]
> | { 19 pkgs}
> |
> | [...]
> |
> | The following packages have unmet dependencies:
> |
> | liblognorm2 : Breaks: liblognorm0 but 0.3.7-1 is installed.
> | libsigc++-2.0-0v5 : Conflicts: libsigc++-2.0-0c2a but 2.4.1-1 is
> installed. | libxapian22v5 : Conflicts: libxapian22 but 1.2.21-1 is
> installed. | libcwidget3v5 : Conflicts: libcwidget3 but 0.5.17-2 is
> installed. | libtag1v5-vanilla : Breaks: libtag1-vanilla but
> 1.9.1-2.1 is installed. | libtag1v5 : Conflicts: libtag1c2a but
> 1.9.1-2.1 is installed. |
> | The following actions will resolve these dependencies:
> |
> | Remove the following packages:
> | 1) aptitude
> | 2) liblognorm0
> | 3) libtag1-vanilla
> | 4) libtag1c2a
> | 5) synaptic
> |
> | Keep the following packages at their current version:
> | 6) gstreamer0.10-plugins-good [Not Installed]
> | 7) libcwidget3v5 [Not Installed]
> | 8) libept1.4.16 [Not Installed]
> | 9) libsigc++-2.0-0v5 [Not Installed]
> | 10) libxapian22v5 [Not Installed]
>
> NOTE: I'm a little puzzled at the above (6-10). Seems to be a bit
> of an oxymoron or something.
>
> | Leave the following dependencies unresolved:
> | 11) aptitude-common recommends aptitude
> | 12) task-lxde-desktop recommends synaptic
> | 13) iceweasel recommends gstreamer0.10-plugins-good
> |
> | Accept this solution? [Y/n/q/?]
> `----
>
> One thing bugging me is the idea of leaving the odd dependencies
> unresolved (the last items 11, 12, 13)
>
> Are there red flags in the above output that mean I need to do
> preliminary work before `full-uptrade' ?
>
By an odd coincidence, today I found a sid which needed help, to the
tune of over 900 upgrades, comparable with yours. It seems to have gone
smoothly...
Firstly, you might try again with apt-get, which I have already
recommended for large numbers of packages, and which did the job for me
today. Also, I am a little bothered by the fact that aptitude in your
case seems willing to remove itself. I'm sure that would work OK but
I'd still rather do the job from apt-get, rather than sawing off the
branch underneath me. I would worry a lot if the system wanted to
remove aptitude, synaptic *and* apt-get.
Don't worry about your items 11-13, they are only recommends, and most
of us don't install recommends. In this case, two are generated by
the temporary need to remove aptitude and synaptic, The explanation of
6-10 is that they are not currently installed, but a complete upgrade
would involve them being newly installed, but there's a problem with
that at the moment.
Sometimes you just have to grit your teeth, note down what is being
removed, and hope that after the dust settles, those things can be
replaced. Very often, they can be immediately reinstalled, as they
didn't really need to be removed, had the other upgrades been done in
the right order. Certainly aptitude and synaptic are installable in the
current state of unstable, there's no problem with them.
I've also found, from time to time, that a job that neither aptitude
nor apt-get can do is due to them attempting the upgrades in the wrong
order. I've cleared logjams by using synaptic to chip away at the list
of upgrades, replacing anything that will go easily, and continuing
until I get down to a hard core of non-upgradable packages. A few
times, I've found that they can all be upgraded, but that the apt tools
didn't discover the right order to achieve this.
Also, you can try answering 'no' to aptitude's suggested solution, in
which case, it will normally find another. It's up to you to guess what
might be a 'better' solution, and if you keep saying 'no', it
eventually sulks and says it will leave everything untouched. If you
tell it to quit without doing anything, it appears distinctly miffed.
--
Joe
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