HOWTO: Upgrade to Debian Unstable

[Hydralisk]

This is a tutorial on how to upgrade your just-installed KNOPPIX to debian unstable. I personally belive that using the sid repositories is better than using unofficial repositories so you can get the latest software.

The first step is to install knoppix. Boot from the CD, change things to your liking, and run the hdinstall script. Restart your computer.

Now that you've restarted, you should see the KDM login manager come on screen. Select the "console login" option. You will no be in a console with a login prompt. It should say something like this: "yourhostname login:" Log in as root. You will now have a root (#) prompt.

Type "vim /etc/apt/apt.conf" to edit your apt configuration file. Change the line APT::Default-Release "testing"; to APT::Default-Release "unstable";.

Now edit your /etc/apt/sources.list file so it looks something like this:



#/etc/apt/sources.list

# OFFICIAL-Security
deb http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates main contrib non-free

# OFFICIAL-Stable
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ stable main contrib non-free
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US/ stable/non-US main contrib non-free

# OFFICIAL-Testing
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US/ testing/non-US main contrib non-free

# OFFICIAL-Unstable
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US/ unstable/non-US main contrib non-free


Good, now that that is set up, quit vim and get ready to do some apt-ing. Enter the following commands:



# apt-get update
# apt-get dist-upgrade


The dist-upgrade command will probably prompt your to remove many large packages. When I did it, the dist-upgrade command told me it had to remove all of KDE, for instance. Don't worry, you can install it later.

When you are upgrading, you will probably encounter an error in which one package cannot overwrite another packages files. your apt-get process will end with an error like "error processing package: /var/cache/apt/archives/blahblah-2.3.deb". You can fix that like this.



# dpkg --force overwrite -i /var/cache/apt/archives/blahblah-2.3.deb
# apt-get install -f
# apt-get dist-upgrade


Eventually, the long process will end. You will probably want to reinstall KDE, GNOME, CUPS, etc. (if they weren't already removed) with their GCC-3.3 (or whatever unstable is currently at; it's GCC-3.3 at the time of this writing):



#apt-get remove kdelibs
#apt-get install kde
#apt-get install gnome
#apt-get install mozilla mozilla-xft


The KDE and GNOME metapackages for unstable are (at the time of this writing), version 3.1.1 and 2.2.1, respectively. When you have reinstalled all the necessary packages, restart your computer enjoy your new Debian-SID computer. It should now function identically to any other regularly installed SID system.

[stonent]

Looks interesting :)

[Hydralisk]

BTW, I tried out this tutorial and it should work with both 3.1 and 3.2.

[ScouseMouse]

Does this remove all the Knoppix related stuff in the process?

For example "dpkg -l | grep -i knoppix" currently gives me a list of about 20 packages that seem to be knoppix custom packages. I'm not in the mood to find out whether removing them is going ot break anything cos I haven't got the time to fix it at the minute!

Thanks!

[Hydralisk]

If you want, you can remove the knoppix-* packages with dpkg --remove packagename or apt-get remove packagename, whichever suits you. The knoppix packages don't hurt anything being there unless dpkg asks you to remove them during a dist-upgrade.

[god]

would this work to get woody if you replaced the line with "stable" where apropriate?

[Hydralisk]

It would work to some extent, but you would not have all of the versions of woody packages because some packages on woody are actually lower versions than the packages that come with Knoppix.

[Rono64]

This may be a dumb question, but hey i am a relative newbie, so it's expected of me. If I have the debian cd roms can I use them to install some missing programs I need?

[Stephen]

This may be a dumb question, but hey i am a relative newbie, so it's expected of me. If I have the debian cd roms can I use them to install some missing programs I need?

You can use them but you will need to use apt-cdrom to add them to your sources list you can not enter them manually. Look at man apt-cdrom for more information.

[Tortoise]

Sorry, it's unclear to me why you would want to do this - why not simply install Debian?

[eadz]

Sorry, it's unclear to me why you would want to do this - why not simply install Debian?

It is installing debian. Just not via the debian installer.

[Tortoise]

Well, that clears it up then.
Is there any advantage in this way?

[eadz]

Well, that clears it up then.
Is there any advantage in this way?

Well if you've installed via knoppix, and installed via the debian installer, you'd see that it's a lot easier with the knoppix installer as it detects your hardware for you, and pre-installs all the software.

[Tortoise]

Why hasn't whatever magic is in the Knoppix installer migrated to other distros, especially the supposedly noob friendly ones?

[Stephen]

Why hasn't whatever magic is in the Knoppix installer migrated to other distros, especially the supposedly noob friendly ones?

That's something you would have to ask them it is all released under the GPL so there is no problem with them using it and I would image like anything else there's already people looking at it to get ideas.

[Tortoise]

It was funny today at work, someone mentioned that they had used Linux at college, and had wanted to re-learn it, but was worried about how complex it would be to set up.
I got my Knoppix disc, put it in a spare computer, and it booted first time with full support for everything... I have never seen Win do that on the pieced together machines we use!

[Hydralisk]

That's basically the whole idea of this howto; you get an autoconfiguring installer for Debian unstable.

[beforewisdom]

Why would I want to do this ?

What will doing all of this give me that knoppix installed to my hard drive ( and using apt-get -t unstable install, with a modified sources.list ) will not give me?

Steve

[retroflash]

Why hasn't whatever magic is in the Knoppix installer migrated to other distros, especially the supposedly noob friendly ones?

Gentoo has a similar detection built into it. It is vert helpfull indeed, Problem with gentoo is that it has no binary packages which means you have to compile EVERYTHING.
Knoppix is the way to go. Plop in the cd, boot, shell and run knx-hdinstall and your golden in about 15 mins. Gentoo on the other hand, you plop in the cd (with a 45 page install manual in hand), and spend the next 3 days compiling a complete system with everything you need. And believe me, with compile times as they are you don't have ANYTHING that you dont need.

Cheers...and thanx to the knoppix team for an outstanding distro. :D

[Mistshadow]

Dumb question; how do you change the word "testing" to "unstable" without it just beeping at you? For that matter, how do exit it while saving you changes, since pressing escpae only caused it to beep? I've never used that before.

Um, another dumb question: what difference does it make to do it this way, if you just edit your apt sources and tell it to upgrade (apt-get dist-upgrade)?

[MilesDeus]

Thankyou for an invaluable thread. This has proven most useful.

[beforewisdom]

Over the last month several hard core Debian people have told me that apt-get dist-upgrade poses a real risk of screwinging up your packages, several even told me it is better to use apt-get upgrade.

"Unstable" is also labeled as such for a reason. I have gotten some pretty buggy stuff.

Steve

[Durand Hicks]

Based on my recent experiences, they're right. I have done a dist-upgrade just last week and found mozilla, pcmcia_cs, init_ mod_utils broken. I've fixed all of them on my own, but if you're a newbie, there's not an easy way to fix the problems especially if you're not a part-time hacker/developer. I routinely take apart things so I can fix it, and for the most part have been able to do so without having to resort to reinstalling Knoppix. Do a search on Google for apt-pinning and that should help a lot, especially with upgrades/dist-upgrades. I used it to keep my system mostly testing with a few unstable apps. Knoppix is more unstable (SID) than testing (SARGE), but with apt-pinning you can change the ratio to any degree you prefer. However, this is best realized with a fresh install, if you've already done any upgrades/dist-upgrades, you can still realize some benefits, but not as much as if you had done it at the beginning. FYI, apt.conf only works if there are no more than two sources for your repositories. More than 2 sources without apt-pinning results in unspecified/undesired effects.

HTH,

Durand

[MilesDeus]

Hmm. The only problems I've had so far was trying to apt-get install Konverse, which in turn wanted kdelibs3, which in turn caused apt-get to uninstall a large chunk of KDE.

Whoops.

Obivously I recovered, but it was a bit unexpected to say the least. From what I've been able to find out about the matter it looks like unstable has some dodgy dependancies.

Don't take my word for it - go hunting for answers of your own.

[Stephen]

Hmm. The only problems I've had so far was trying to apt-get install Konverse, which in turn wanted kdelibs3, which in turn caused apt-get to uninstall a large chunk of KDE.

Whoops.

Obivously I recovered, but it was a bit unexpected to say the least. From what I've been able to find out about the matter it looks like unstable has some dodgy dependancies.



If you were actually installing a package from unstable it may be true but you were installing a package from stable no wonder it removed half the system. You may want to edit the /etc/apt/sources.list and put a # character in front of the lines for stable to comment them out to save further mix ups in the future.



HappyTux:/home/stephen# apt-cache policy konverse
konverse:
Installed: (none)
Candidate: 0.2-9
Version Table:
0.2-9 0
500 http://ftp2.de.debian.org stable/main Packages

[debian_dummy]

Installed Knoppix 3.2 and upgraded to Debian unstable as per the instructions. I followed the instructions to the letter and am almost there except for 3 packages that can't be upgraded. My system works but it seems I cannot install new packages until I fix these errors. I googled for an answer but no joy.

root@coffer:~# apt-get install
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 842 not upgraded.
3 packages not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 0B will be used.
Setting up libpam-runtime (0.76-18) ...
dpkg: error processing libpam-runtime (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of libpam0g:
libpam0g depends on libpam-runtime; however:
Package libpam-runtime is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing libpam0g (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of libpam0g-dev:
libpam0g-dev depends on libpam0g (= 0.76-18); however:
Package libpam0g is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing libpam0g-dev (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
libpam-runtime
libpam0g
libpam0g-dev
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

[Durand Hicks]

You can do one of two things of your choice: in the console as root, type dpkg remove --purge libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev or you can type dpkg --force-overwrite libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev. One will remove the faulty packages and the other will force it in. Personally, I'd rather remove the packages and then apt-get -s -t unstable libpam-runtime to see if it takes first before going thru with the install.

HTH,

Durand

[debian_dummy]

Thanks Durand for the help and the prompt reply,

I think this might be a bug ? Or, more likely me ! I had to change some of the commands you gave me as they didn't work on my machine (syntax errors such as no action) Also, I couldn't figure out how to force the unstable option as in your reply. Here's what I did and it alll seemed to work until install time came. 3 commands and outputs are below. TIA

root@coffer:~# dpkg --purge --force- libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev
(Reading database ... 111824 files and directories currently installed.) Removing libpam-runtime ... Purging configuration files for libpam-runtime ... dpkg - warning: ignoring request to remove libpam0g-dev which isn't installed.
dpkg: libpam0g: dependency problems, but removing anyway as you request: sudo depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). partimage depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). screen depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). cvs depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). login depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). ssh depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). cupsys depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). kdebase-bin depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). kdm depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). partimage-server depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). squid depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). dante-client depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). php4 depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). ftpd depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). libpam-modules depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). libsasl7 depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). passwd depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). xdm depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). cron depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76). samba depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76); however:
Package libpam0g is to be removed.
ppp depends on libpam0g (>= 0.76).
Removing libpam0g ...
Purging configuration files for libpam0g ...

Quick test to ensure all packages are gone

root@coffer:~# dpkg --purge --force- libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev
dpkg - warning: ignoring request to remove libpam-runtime which isn't installed. dpkg - warning: ignoring request to remove libpam0g which isn't installed. dpkg - warning: ignoring request to remove libpam0g-dev which isn't installed.

Now try the test install of the 3 packages

root@coffer:~# apt-get -s -f install
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
apache apache-common apache-utils bonobo-activation gconf2 gnumeric
gnumeric-common kdelibs-bin kdelibs-data kdelibs4 koffice-data koffice-libs
libarts1 libasound2 libasound2-dev libatk1.0-0 libbonobo-activation4
libbonobo2-0 libbonobo2-common libbonoboui2-0 libbonoboui2-common libcomerr2
libdb3-dev libdb3-util libdb4.2 libfreetype6 libfreetype6-dev libgconf2-4
libgda2-1 libgda2-common libgnome2-0 libgnome2-common libgnomecanvas2-0
libgnomeprint2.2-0 libgnomeprint2.2-data libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgnomevfs2-0
libgnomevfs2-common libgnutls7 libgsf-1 libkeynote0 libncursesw5 libogg-dev
libogg0 liborbit2 libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev libpcre3 libpcre3-dev
libqt3-compat-headers libqt3-headers libqt3-mt-dev libqt3c102-mt libsasl-dev
libsasl7 libvorbis-dev libvorbis0a libvorbisenc2 libvorbisfile3 libx11-dev
libxcursor-dev libxcursor1 libxml2 libxrender-dev libxrender1 libxslt1.1
php4 php4-mysql qt3-dev-tools render-dev samba samba-common smbclient smbfs
squid squid-common ucf x-dev zlib1g zlib1g-dev
The following packages will be REMOVED:
libdb2-dev libxslt1 pppdcapiplugin
The following NEW packages will be installed:
apache-utils gnumeric-common libcomerr2 libdb3-dev libdb3-util libdb4.2
libkeynote0 libncursesw5 libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev libx11-dev
libxcursor-dev libxcursor1 libxrender-dev libxslt1.1 render-dev squid-common
ucf x-dev
61 packages upgraded, 20 newly installed, 3 to remove and 778 not upgraded. Inst libpam-runtime (0.76-18 Debian:unstable) [login on libpam0g] [libsasl7 libpam-modules php4 dante-client screen login passwd cvs sudo libsasl-dev kdebase-bin kdm cron partimage samba ppp ssh xdm squid partimage-server ftpd cupsys ] Inst libpam0g (0.76-18 Debian:unstable) [libsasl-dev ] Conf libpam-runtime (0.76-18 Debian:unstable) [libsasl-dev ] Conf libpam0g (0.76-18 Debian:unstable) [libsasl-dev ] Inst libdb3-util (3.2.9-19 Debian:testing) [libsasl-dev ] Inst libsasl-dev (1.5.28-6.1 Debian:testing) [] Inst libsasl7 (1.5.28-6.1 Debian:testing) [] Inst libpam0g-dev (0.76-18 Debian:unstable) [] Remv libdb2-dev (2:2.7.7.0-8.1 Debian:testing) [] Inst libdb3-dev (3.2.9-19 Debian:testing) Inst libbonobo-activation4 (1:2.4.0-4 Debian:testing) [] Inst bonobo-activation (1:2.4.0-4 Debian:testing) [] Inst liborbit2 (1:2.8.3-2 Debian:testing) [] Inst zlib1g-dev (1:1.2.1-5 Debian:testing) [] Inst zlib1g (1:1.2.1-5 Debian:testing) [] Inst libxml2 (2.6.8-1 Debian:unstable) [] Inst libbonobo2-common (2.4.3-1 Debian:testing) [] Inst libbonobo2-0 (2.4.3-1 Debian:testing) Inst libatk1.0-0 (1.4.1-1 Debian:testing) Inst gconf2 (2.4.0.1-4 Debian:testing) [] Inst libgconf2-4 (2.4.0.1-4 Debian:testing) Inst libgnutls7 (0.8.12-5 Debian:testing) Inst libgnomevfs2-common (2.4.1-5 Debian:testing) [] Inst libgnomevfs2-0 (2.4.1-5 Debian:testing) Inst libgnome2-0 (2.4.0-10 Debian:unstable) [] Inst libgnome2-common (2.4.0-10 Debian:unstable) Inst libgda2-common (1.0.3-2 Debian:unstable) [] Inst koffice-data (1:1.3.0-2 Debian:unstable) [koffice-libs ] Inst koffice-libs (1:1.3.0-2 Debian:unstable) [] Inst gnumeric (1.2.10-1 Debian:unstable) [] Inst kdelibs4 (4:3.2.2-1 Debian:unstable) [] Inst libgda2-1 (1.0.3-2 Debian:unstable) [] Inst kdelibs-bin (4:3.2.2-1 Debian:unstable) [] Remv libxslt1 (1.1.5-1 Debian:unstable) [] Inst libxslt1.1 (1.1.5-1 Debian:unstable) [] Inst libasound2-dev (1.0.3b-1 Debian:testing) [] Inst libasound2 (1.0.3b-1 Debian:testing) [] Inst libogg-dev (1.1.0-1 Debian:testing) [] Inst libogg0 (1.1.0-1 Debian:testing) [] Inst libfreetype6-dev (2.1.7-2 Debian:testing) [] Inst libfreetype6 (2.1.7-2 Debian:testing) [] Inst libqt3-compat-headers (3:3.2.3-2 Debian:testing) [] Inst libqt3-mt-dev (3:3.2.3-2 Debian:testing) [] Inst libqt3-headers (3:3.2.3-2 Debian:testing) [] Inst libxrender1 (0.8.3-7 Debian:testing) [] Inst libxcursor1 (1.0.2-5 Debian:testing) [] Inst qt3-dev-tools (3:3.2.3-2 Debian:testing) [] Inst x-dev (4.3.0-7 Debian:testing) [] Inst libx11-dev (4.3.0-7 Debian:testing) [] Inst render-dev (0.8-4 Debian:testing) [] Inst libxrender-dev (0.8.3-7 Debian:testing) [] Inst libxcursor-dev (1.0.2-5 Debian:testing) [] Inst libqt3c102-mt (3:3.2.3-2 Debian:testing) [] Inst libvorbis-dev (1.0.1-1 Debian:testing) [] Inst libvorbisenc2 (1.0.1-1 Debian:testing) [] Inst libvorbisfile3 (1.0.1-1 Debian:testing) [] Inst libvorbis0a (1.0.1-1 Debian:testing) [] Inst libarts1 (1.2.2-1 Debian:unstable) [] Inst libpcre3-dev (4.5-1.1 Debian:testing) [] Inst libpcre3 (4.5-1.1 Debian:testing) [] Inst kdelibs-data (4:3.2.2-1 Debian:unstable) [] Inst libgnomecanvas2-0 (2.4.0-3 Debian:testing) [] Inst libbonoboui2-0 (2.4.3-2 Debian:testing) [] Inst libbonoboui2-common (2.4.3-2 Debian:testing) [] Inst libgnomeprint2.2-data (2.4.2-4 Debian:testing) [] Inst libgnomeprint2.2-0 (2.4.2-4 Debian:testing) [] Inst libgnomeprintui2.2-0 (2.4.2-2 Debian:testing) [] Inst libgsf-1 (1.8.2-6 Debian:testing) [] Inst gnumeric-common (1.2.10-1 Debian:unstable) Remv pppdcapiplugin (1:3.3-8 Debian:testing) Inst squid (2.5.5-1 Debian:testing) [] Inst squid-common (2.5.5-1 Debian:testing) Inst libcomerr2 (1.35-4 Debian:testing) Inst libdb4.2 (4.2.52-16 Debian:testing) Inst libncursesw5 (5.4-3 Debian:testing) Inst libkeynote0 (2.3-10 Debian:testing) Inst apache (1.3.29.0.2-4 Debian:testing) [] Inst apache-common (1.3.29.0.2-4 Debian:testing) [] Inst apache-utils (1.3.29.0.2-4 Debian:testing) [] Inst ucf (1.02 Debian:unstable) Inst php4-mysql (4:4.3.4-4 Debian:unstable) [] Inst php4 (4:4.3.4-4 Debian:unstable) Inst smbfs (3.0.2a-1 Debian:testing) [] Inst smbclient (3.0.2a-1 Debian:testing) [] Inst samba (3.0.2a-1 Debian:testing) [] Inst samba-common (3.0.2a-1 Debian:testing) Conf libdb3-util (3.2.9-19 Debian:testing) Conf libsasl7 (1.5.28-6.1 Debian:testing) Conf libpam0g-dev (0.76-18 Debian:unstable) Conf libdb3-dev (3.2.9-19 Debian:testing) Conf libsasl-dev (1.5.28-6.1 Debian:testing) Conf liborbit2 (1:2.8.3-2 Debian:testing) Conf zlib1g (1:1.2.1-5 Debian:testing) Conf libxml2 (2.6.8-1 Debian:unstable) Conf libbonobo2-common (2.4.3-1 Debian:testing) Conf libbonobo2-0 (2.4.3-1 Debian:testing) Conf libbonobo-activation4 (1:2.4.0-4 Debian:testing) Conf bonobo-activation (1:2.4.0-4 Debian:testing) Conf zlib1g-dev (1:1.2.1-5 Debian:testing) Conf libatk1.0-0 (1.4.1-1 Debian:testing) Conf libgconf2-4 (2.4.0.1-4 Debian:testing) Conf gconf2 (2.4.0.1-4 Debian:testing) Conf libgnutls7 (0.8.12-5 Debian:testing) Conf libgnomevfs2-0 (2.4.1-5 Debian:testing) Conf libgnomevfs2-common (2.4.1-5 Debian:testing) Conf libgnome2-common (2.4.0-10 Debian:unstable) Conf libgnome2-0 (2.4.0-10 Debian:unstable) Conf libxslt1.1 (1.1.5-1 Debian:unstable) Conf libgda2-1 (1.0.3-2 Debian:unstable) Conf libgda2-common (1.0.3-2 Debian:unstable) Conf libasound2 (1.0.3b-1 Debian:testing) Conf libogg0 (1.1.0-1 Debian:testing) Conf libfreetype6 (2.1.7-2 Debian:testing) Conf libxrender1 (0.8.3-7 Debian:testing) Conf libxcursor1 (1.0.2-5 Debian:testing) Conf libqt3c102-mt (3:3.2.3-2 Debian:testing) Conf libvorbis0a (1.0.1-1 Debian:testing) Conf libvorbisfile3 (1.0.1-1 Debian:testing) Conf libarts1 (1.2.2-1 Debian:unstable) Conf libpcre3 (4.5-1.1 Debian:testing) Conf kdelibs-bin (4:3.2.2-1 Debian:unstable) Conf kdelibs-data (4:3.2.2-1 Debian:unstable) Conf kdelibs4 (4:3.2.2-1 Debian:unstable) Conf koffice-libs (1:1.3.0-2 Debian:unstable) Conf koffice-data (1:1.3.0-2 Debian:unstable) Conf libgnomecanvas2-0 (2.4.0-3 Debian:testing) Conf libbonoboui2-common (2.4.3-2 Debian:testing) Conf libbonoboui2-0 (2.4.3-2 Debian:testing) Conf libgnomeprint2.2-data (2.4.2-4 Debian:testing) Conf libgnomeprint2.2-0 (2.4.2-4 Debian:testing) Conf libgnomeprintui2.2-0 (2.4.2-2 Debian:testing) Conf libgsf-1 (1.8.2-6 Debian:testing) Conf gnumeric-common (1.2.10-1 Debian:unstable) Conf gnumeric (1.2.10-1 Debian:unstable) Conf libasound2-dev (1.0.3b-1 Debian:testing) Conf libogg-dev (1.1.0-1 Debian:testing) Conf libfreetype6-dev (2.1.7-2 Debian:testing) Conf libqt3-headers (3:3.2.3-2 Debian:testing) Conf libqt3-compat-headers (3:3.2.3-2 Debian:testing) Conf qt3-dev-tools (3:3.2.3-2 Debian:testing) Conf x-dev (4.3.0-7 Debian:testing) Conf libx11-dev (4.3.0-7 Debian:testing) Conf render-dev (0.8-4 Debian:testing) Conf libxrender-dev (0.8.3-7 Debian:testing) Conf libxcursor-dev (1.0.2-5 Debian:testing) Conf libqt3-mt-dev (3:3.2.3-2 Debian:testing) Conf libvorbisenc2 (1.0.1-1 Debian:testing) Conf libvorbis-dev (1.0.1-1 Debian:testing) Conf libpcre3-dev (4.5-1.1 Debian:testing) Conf squid-common (2.5.5-1 Debian:testing) Conf squid (2.5.5-1 Debian:testing) Conf libcomerr2 (1.35-4 Debian:testing) Conf libdb4.2 (4.2.52-16 Debian:testing) Conf libncursesw5 (5.4-3 Debian:testing) Conf libkeynote0 (2.3-10 Debian:testing) Conf apache-utils (1.3.29.0.2-4 Debian:testing) Conf ucf (1.02 Debian:unstable) Conf apache-common (1.3.29.0.2-4 Debian:testing) Conf apache (1.3.29.0.2-4 Debian:testing) Conf php4 (4:4.3.4-4 Debian:unstable) Conf php4-mysql (4:4.3.4-4 Debian:unstable) Conf samba-common (3.0.2a-1 Debian:testing) Conf smbfs (3.0.2a-1 Debian:testing) Conf smbclient (3.0.2a-1 Debian:testing) Conf samba (3.0.2a-1 Debian:testing)

I was a bit concerned there was no Woo Hoo ! success message at the end of the above text but I soldiered on anyway. Now I tried the real install

root@coffer:~# apt-get -f install
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
apache apache-common apache-utils bonobo-activation gconf2 gnumeric
gnumeric-common kdelibs-bin kdelibs-data kdelibs4 koffice-data koffice-libs
libarts1 libasound2 libasound2-dev libatk1.0-0 libbonobo-activation4
libbonobo2-0 libbonobo2-common libbonoboui2-0 libbonoboui2-common libcomerr2
libdb3-dev libdb3-util libdb4.2 libfreetype6 libfreetype6-dev libgconf2-4
libgda2-1 libgda2-common libgnome2-0 libgnome2-common libgnomecanvas2-0
libgnomeprint2.2-0 libgnomeprint2.2-data libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgnomevfs2-0
libgnomevfs2-common libgnutls7 libgsf-1 libkeynote0 libncursesw5 libogg-dev
libogg0 liborbit2 libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev libpcre3 libpcre3-dev
libqt3-compat-headers libqt3-headers libqt3-mt-dev libqt3c102-mt libsasl-dev
libsasl7 libvorbis-dev libvorbis0a libvorbisenc2 libvorbisfile3 libx11-dev
libxcursor-dev libxcursor1 libxml2 libxrender-dev libxrender1 libxslt1.1
php4 php4-mysql qt3-dev-tools render-dev samba samba-common smbclient smbfs
squid squid-common ucf x-dev zlib1g zlib1g-dev
The following packages will be REMOVED:
libdb2-dev libxslt1 pppdcapiplugin
The following NEW packages will be installed:
apache-utils gnumeric-common libcomerr2 libdb3-dev libdb3-util libdb4.2
libkeynote0 libncursesw5 libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev libx11-dev
libxcursor-dev libxcursor1 libxrender-dev libxslt1.1 render-dev squid-common
ucf x-dev
61 packages upgraded, 20 newly installed, 3 to remove and 778 not upgraded. Need to get 0B/53.9MB of archives. After unpacking 34.2MB will be used. Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y Preconfiguring packages ... Selecting previously deselected package libpam-runtime. (Reading database ... 111797 files and directories currently installed.) Unpacking libpam-runtime (from .../libpam-runtime_0.76-18_all.deb) ... Selecting previously deselected package libpam0g. Unpacking libpam0g (from .../libpam0g_0.76-18_i386.deb) ... Setting up libpam-runtime (0.76-18) ...
dpkg: error processing libpam-runtime (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of libpam0g: libpam0g depends on libpam-runtime; however:
Package libpam-runtime is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing libpam0g (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
libpam-runtime
libpam0g
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

[Stephen]

Package libpam-runtime is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing libpam0g (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
libpam-runtime



Go to http://bugs.debian.org and put libpam-runtime in the search box and under normal bugs you will see your problem The line that has to be changed in in the third post in the patch the file to be changed is /var/lib/dpkg/info/libpam-runtime.postinst, once you have changed the line then use the dpkg --configure command suggested in the first post reporting the bug.

[Durand Hicks]

Here the problem: You typed:
dpkg --purge --force- libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev You need to enter one of the following, depending on which action you want to take:
To remove the faulty package type:
dpkg remove --purge libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev To force the package in (override errors), type:
dpkg --force-overwrite libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev To clean up any strays for any packages that didn't finish installing but were downloaded already, you type:
dpkg --reconfigure -a These are separate commands and normally you don't put three very different actions on one line. You can reinstall the missing packages without these three packages for the time being and then come back to clear up these 3 packages. I checked the bug report Stephen referred you to and it looks like the version in unstable is faulty. You'll need to do this to get the good install:
apt-get -s -t testing libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev If that checks out, eliminate the -s and press enter and you will get those packages (and others dependent on it) installed okay. Finally, to see all packages that needs to be upgraded to testing type:
apt-get -s -t testing upgrade or if you want sid, type:
apt-get -s -t unstable upgrade

HTH,

Durand

P.S. sorry if I confused you earlier, I should have been more clear to make sure it was spelled out easily enough for you to follow.

[debian_dummy]

Thanks for the reply and the link to the bugs site. I'm learning all the time !

Anyway, my libpam-runtime.postinst file already includes the patch - I didn't touch it. Contents of that file are below. I also tried changing the version number as suggested in the first post at the bugs.debian site but still no joy. Have I got it right ? I tried running dpkg --configure libpam-runtime but got an error 1. Results at base of post.

<< contents of file>>

#!/bin/sh -e

# If the user has removed the config file, respect this sign of dementia # -- only create on package install.

if [ -z "$2" ] || dpkg --compare-versions "$2" lt 0.76-17
then
for configfile in common-auth common-account common-session \
common-password
do
if [ ! -f /etc/pam.d/$configfile ] || \
fgrep -q `md5sum /etc/pam.d/$configfile` \
/usr/share/pam/$configfile.md5sums 2>/dev/null
then
cp /usr/share/pam/$configfile /etc/pam.d/
fi
done
test -r /etc/pam.d/other.pre-upgrade &&rm -f /etc/pam.d/other.pre-upgrade fi

<< end of file>>


root@coffer:~# dpkg --configure libpam-runtime
Setting up libpam-runtime (0.76-18) ...
dpkg: error processing libpam-runtime (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1 Errors were encountered while processing: libpam-runtime

[Durand Hicks]

I just ran apt-get -s install -t unstable libpam-runtime and it shows version 0.76-17 as well as being a clean package. Version 0.76-18 is the faulty one and it appears it might have been replaced moments ago?

[debian_dummy]

Thanks for your help, it's greatly appreciated. This bug seems super fresh as the patch was entered only today 13/14 April.

BTW - My version of apt-get seems to be very old. I checked because the commands you gave me just don't work unless I change them. My version is 0.5.4, Aug 19, 2001.

For example -
1) dpkg remove --purge libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev
dpkg: need an action option

I tried a apt-get -f install apt but it just keeps harping on about dependencies. Gee .. this is more fun than pulling off Band Aids/ sticking plaster .... :-)

[Durand Hicks]

Ok, what if you tried:
dpkg --purge libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev? Does that remove it correctly? And you say apt-get doesn't work like mine does? Meaning you can't use:
apt-get -s install -t testing libpam-runtime?

[Durand Hicks]

Oops, I made a boo boo. Two posts ago I typed:
dpkg remove --purge libpam-runtime which obviously is incorrect. I meant to say:
apt-get remove --purge libpam-runtime They are similar, you'd think they are one and the same. Apt-get is more for package management and resolving dependencies in one shot whereas dpkg does it one package at a time. Still dpkg --purge is the better command of the two as you won't be removing half of your install as you would with apt-get. But apt-get does have a fail safe with the -s in its command, allowing you to simulate if apt-get can resolve the packages or not prior to commiting the command.

[debian_dummy]

OKAY - finally got rid of the 3 packages by using

dpkg --force- --purge libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev

What's next ?

root@coffer:~# dpkg --force- --purge libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev
(Reading database ... 111824 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing libpam-runtime ...
Purging configuration files for libpam-runtime ...
<I snipped out lots of stuff about dependancies>
Purging configuration files for libpam0g ...
root@coffer:

A test to make sure

root@coffer:~# dpkg --purge libpam-runtime libpam0g libpam0g-dev
dpkg - warning: ignoring request to remove libpam-runtime which isn't installed.
dpkg - warning: ignoring request to remove libpam0g which isn't installed.
dpkg - warning: ignoring request to remove libpam0g-dev which isn't installed.
root@coffer:~#

[debian_dummy]

Success !! Thanks for your great help, patience and support Durand ! :lol:

I did a apt-get update and then apt-get -f install and then numerous dpkg --force overwrite command and then the apt-get -f install went smoothly ..... Sweeeeet ...

One final question - how do I avoid this happening again ? Stick to stable or is this a rare occurence that an update will break a system ?

[Durand Hicks]

Whew! I'm glad you got this sorted out. As for preventing this from happening again, you can't, but you can minimize the problems with various tools at your disposal. Remember the apt-get tricks I showed you? If you have a mixed system of stable/testing/unstable and you want to make it unstable, you would first edit /etc/apt/apt.conf and change the default release to unstable. Next you would open a console as root and type:
apt-get update followed by:
apt-get upgrade However, IMO, I think the better idea would be to test first and then commit instead:
apt-get -s -t unstable upgrade followed by:
apt-get -t unstable upgrade To get a more debian system as opposed to knoppix/debian, you would do this:
apt-get -s -t unstable dist-upgrade That will remove some programs and add new ones to make it more debian specific but some knoppix components will remain. Debian unstable is, from what I understand, more stable than most distributions' stable entries. But it is experimental software and you must consider it as such. Think of it as beta software, and you will need to be aware that there will be some broken packages that can't resolve properly. Testing is supposedly beta too, but it's more polished as most of the bugs have been or is being worked out before it is released as stable. Personally, I think testing is more current than stable and just as stable as stable, but not as bleeding edge as unstable.

[rarrr]

Sorry, it's unclear to me why you would want to do this - why not simply install Debian?

Mmmm... hardware detection. Some of us have painfully weird hardware, and want the advantages of what Knoppix does for us - but are still set on having a good ole' Debian install.

There are other ways to do this, I'm sure, but... this works well enough for me :wink:

Crap... can't delete this post either. I just realized I was replying to something written a year ago... sorry folks ;)

[A. Jorge Garcia]

That's ok, I must have missed this thread when it first came out and I have found it most useful now!

Thanx,
AJG

[Jansi]

This was a fantastic way for me to transition to a full debian install. Thanks so much!

update:
I used this approach 4 times; on the 4th, a week after the other three, apt-get dist-upgrade downloaded everything, but then failed because of perl problems, spitting out stuff like along the lines of
debconf: Perl may be unconfigured [...]

Googling stuff suggested that perl was essential to the apt-get process, but that it also got hosed during the apt-get process, probably because stuff at Debian.org had changed some dependencies...

I am not sure what exactly fixed it (an hour of messing around, basically), but in the end I know it had to do with my manually installing perl from the
http://packages.debian.org/unstable/perl/
site -- at least enough to really break it by running dkpg -i on anything that had "perl" it (!), then running dkpg -f install to finally wake up and fix it! (initially, dkpg -f install would fail like everything else).

I know that's not a lot of detail, but if someone else gets in that position, it will be better than anything I found on the net. Moral of the story seems to be that you can get in to a catch-22 situation when updating perl, and that by manually installing at deb or two, you can get dkpg -f install working enough again to actually fix it for you.

[spottyrover]

could some one give me some kind of idea of how much net time and what speed they are on.
so that I could decide if this is possible for me to do

thanks

[Jansi]

could some one give me some kind of idea of how much net time and what speed they are on.
so that I could decide if this is possible for me to do

thanks

I have DSL -- at around 170kps, downloading took about an hour, I guess. I can't imagine doing it with a dial-up connection.

[spottyrover]

Hi i've tried to follow your upgrade to unstable but I do not seem to be getting anywhere
I hope someone can help

I am using a clean install of knoppix 3.6
installed to hard drive by sudo knoppix-installer


I cahanged the source list to

# /etc/apt/sources.list for Knoppix
# If you want to do a "full upgrade", you should first
# upgrade the Packages from Debian/unstable (KDE & Co.)
# before doing a (dist-)upgrade for Debian/testing.
#
# See sources.list(5) for more information, especialy
# Remember that you can only use http, ftp or file URIs
# CDROMs are managed through the apt-cdrom tool.

# Security updates for "stable"
deb http://security.debian.org stable/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org testing/updates main contrib non-free

## Stable
#deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian stable main contrib non-free
#deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian-non-US stable/non-US main contrib non-free

# Stable Sources
#deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian stable main contrib non-free
#deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian-non-US stable/non-US main contrib non-free

# Testing
#deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian testing main contrib non-free
#deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian-non-US testing/non-US main contrib non-free

# Testing Sources
#deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian testing main contrib non-free
#deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/pub/debian-non-US testing/non-US main contrib non-free

# Unstable
#deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free
#deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian-non-US unstable/non-US main contrib non-free

# Unstable Sources
#deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free
#deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian-non-US unstable/non-US main contrib non-free

# Experimental
#deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian ../project/experimental main contrib non-free

# Experimental Sources
#deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian ../project/experimental main contrib non-free

# Java
#deb ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/java/linux/debian woody main non-free
#deb-src ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/java/linux/debian woody main non-free
#deb ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/java/linux/debian unstable main non-free
#deb-src ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/java/linux/debian unstable main non-free

## More wireless stuff
# deb http://debian.isg.ee.ethz.ch/public woody madwifi
# deb-src http://debian.isg.ee.ethz.ch/public woody madwifi
# deb http://debian.isg.ee.ethz.ch/public woody airo-mpi
# deb-src http://debian.isg.ee.ethz.ch/public woody airo-mpi
# deb ftp://ftp.tcweb.org/pub/debian unstable main
# deb-src ftp://ftp.tcweb.org/pub/debian unstable main

## NX stuff
# deb http://www.kalyxo.org/debian/ experimental main

# ndiswrapper
# deb http://rigtorp.se/debian unstable/
# deb-src http://rigtorp.se/debian unstable/

## Blades Repository (pppoeconf & co)
# deb http://people.debian.org/~blade/testing ./
# deb-src http://people.debian.org/~blade/testing ./

## deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 r3 _Potato_ - Official i386 Binary-1 (20010427)]/ unstable contrib main non-US/contrib non-US/main

## Knoppix special packages resource at LinuxTag HQ
# deb http://developer.linuxtag.net/knoppix ./
# deb-src http://developer.linuxtag.net/knoppix ./

# deb http://snapshot.debian.net/archive pool gcc
# deb-src http://snapshot.debian.net/archive pool gcc


#steve

#Official-Stable
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ stable main contrib non-free
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US/ stable/non-US main contrib non-free

#Official-testing
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US/ testing/non-US main contrib non-free

#Official-UnStable
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US/ unstable/non-US main contrib non-free


and the apt.conf to:

APT::Default-Release "unstable";
APT::Cache-Limit 10000000;
Apt::Get::Purge;



then I did a apt-get update

with the result of

root@box:~# apt-get update
Err http://security.debian.org stable/updates/main Packages
Could not connect to security.debian.org:80 (1.0.0.0), connection timed out
etc

could some one tell me what I am dooing wrong
by the way I can surf the net ok with adsl via a lan so I assume that my connection is ok



thanks

[empro]

sorry.... i am a newbie.... how do i change the line APT::Default-Release "testing"; to APT::Default-Release "unstable";. ..... my internet connection is pretty fucked up and i cannot get it detected before logging in to kde and configuring it myself...... so i cant log in console and do like what the instructions said....... so i edited sources.list while in kde.... but im still finding out how to change that line.... anyone can help me ?