On Sun, 16 Mar 2008, Paul M Foster wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 16, 2008 at 12:11:54AM -0400, Eben King wrote:
>
>> So I tried to upgrade mplayer. apt wanted to do what seems to be its usual
>> thing now, which is to uninstall package A and then install package A++.
>> (There were 63 things to do.) This time, it hung partway through (couldn't
>> remove /usr/X11/bin which is used by opera). So some things (for example
>> xterm) got uninstalled and never reinstalled. What I think is the solution
>> is to go to runlevel 1 and use aptitude (or apt-get) to fix the problem. I
>> don't know the syntax for either one of those. Help?
>
> To move to single user mode,
>
> telinit 1
Right, knew that.
> Then you can run aptitude as usual.
That's what I don't know.
I restored /usr from (yesterday's) backup. Didn't fix X -- I still can't
run startx. Maybe it depends on something in / .
> Apt-get really has only four main commands:
>
> apt-get update, which updates your repository package list,
>
> apt-get upgrade, which upgrades everything (takes you, for example, from
> stable to testing),
>
> apt-get install somepackage which installs somepackage, and
>
> apt-get remove somepackage which removes somepackage.
>
> There are other commands, but you don't need to run them unless
> instructed by apt-get to do so. In that case, follow apt-get's
> instructions on which variant to run (such as apt-get -f check).
>
> I've had to do "surgical" apt-gets before, where you just let apt-get do
> what it wants, and then clean up after it. Sometimes that involves
> uninstalling whole subsystems like X, and then doing fresh installs of
> them. Sometimes, you have to call up aptitude to find out what package or
> packages something is depending upon, or what package conflicts with it.
> You can search in aptitude with "/" and "n" for next match. Once you find
> a package in question, you can hit <Enter>r do and see what its
> dependencies, recommendations, and the like are. When done with the view
> of package dependencies, you hit "q" to quit back up to the next level.
Does it just say "These are its dependencies", or does it optionally
satisfy them?
> In any case, sometimes you have to go one package at a time and do
> repair as you go along. That's why I don't recommend apt-get upgrade
> unless you can avoid it, because upgrade tends to cause problems like
> this.
Noted. In the future...
-- -eben QebWenE01R@vTerYizUonI.nOetP royalty.mine.nu:81 PISCES: Try to avoid any Virgos or Leos with the Ebola virus. You are the Lord of the Dance, no matter what those idiots at work say. -- Weird Al, _Your Horoscope for Today_ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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