How to fix broken packages on Ubuntu 10.04 Desktop?

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redragnor

13 posts

Geek

#65017 27-Jul-2010 21:45

Would anybody here know how to fix broken pakages on ubuntu 10.04?
i get a message that only a partial update can be done..

Phaedrus

74 posts

Master Geek

#357408 27-Jul-2010 22:07

Can you post the full text of the exact message you get and the command that produced it?

Ta, P.

redragnor

13 posts

Geek

#357467 27-Jul-2010 22:55

i could post a screen shot if i knew how to get one at boot time

I mean by not having to use the camera to take a picture...

LennonNZ

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#357472 27-Jul-2010 23:06

tried via the command line?

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

Phaedrus

74 posts

Master Geek

#357484 27-Jul-2010 23:17

Most things like this are contained in log files so you shouldn't need to capture a screenshot per se. If this is occuring on bootup you could try (using a terminal) to see what it says using something like #dmesg perhaps.

That said on the same terminal session it may also be worth issuing the command #apt-get update, possibly followed by #apt-get upgrade. The first command merely updates the package list and, to an extent may be all you need. The second command will actually do stuff and upgrade any packages that need it, generally it's ok to do this but on some rare occasions it's broken things for me - mostly on some rather esoteric app, usually it won't be a problem.

Update: I see LennonNZ has posted much the same and is a faster typist than me

, it's worth noting you may need to precede all commands with 'sudo' (eg. sudo apt-get update) assuming you're not actually logged in as root. It'll ask for root's password of course.

Cheers, P.

michaelmurfy

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#357500 27-Jul-2010 23:58

Tip: apt-get is now outdated, and not used to the same degree in the Debian world, aptitude does a better job at package management, it's a good idea to get into the habit of using aptitude instead of apt-get. Run this to make the switch before the world ends!

sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude install gtkorphan

The && just means if the first command runs successfully, the 2nd one will attempt to run.

1) Start off by running:

sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude upgrade

This is just a simple double-check you have all the updates.

2) Then run:

sudo aptitude -f

This should clear out the broken packages.

To avoid this mess in future, use aptitude!

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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redragnor

13 posts

Geek

#361182 1-Aug-2010 20:24

Thanks guys for all your help. I have not tried anything yet, but i will post how it goes..Thanks again

Vibuntu

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#366488 11-Aug-2010 21:40

HI
I got the same problem after ubuntu 10.04 locked during installation of some packages. I tried to install MySql stuff and those did not make it trough the process. I tried with aptitude but I got this message.

(Reading database ... 170261 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking libmysqlclient16 (from .../libmysqlclient16_5.1.41-3ubuntu12.6_i386.deb) ...
dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/libmysqlclient16_5.1.41-3ubuntu12.6_i386.deb (--unpack):
trying to overwrite '/usr/lib/libmysqlclient.so.16.0.0', which is also in package mysql-cluster-client-5.1 0:7.0.9-1ubuntu7
dpkg-deb: subprocess paste killed by signal (Broken pipe)
Errors were encountered while processing:
/var/cache/apt/archives/libmysqlclient16_5.1.41-3ubuntu12.6_i386.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
A package failed to install. Trying to recover:
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of libqt4-sql-mysql:
libqt4-sql-mysql depends on libmysqlclient16 (>= 5.1.21-1); however:
Package libmysqlclient16 is not installed.
dpkg: error processing libqt4-sql-mysql (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
libqt4-sql-mysql
Press return to continue.

So any suggestions what to do next? I think the aptitude command helped installing some packages that also had failed before.

I'm a novice to linux so any help would be great!

-Vibuntu

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michaelmurfy

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#366564 11-Aug-2010 23:35

Vibuntu: HI
I got the same problem after ubuntu 10.04 locked during installation of some packages. I tried to install MySql stuff and those did not make it trough the process. I tried with aptitude but I got this message.

(Reading database ... 170261 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking libmysqlclient16 (from .../libmysqlclient16_5.1.41-3ubuntu12.6_i386.deb) ...
dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/libmysqlclient16_5.1.41-3ubuntu12.6_i386.deb (--unpack):
trying to overwrite '/usr/lib/libmysqlclient.so.16.0.0', which is also in package mysql-cluster-client-5.1 0:7.0.9-1ubuntu7
dpkg-deb: subprocess paste killed by signal (Broken pipe)
Errors were encountered while processing:
/var/cache/apt/archives/libmysqlclient16_5.1.41-3ubuntu12.6_i386.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
A package failed to install. Trying to recover:
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of libqt4-sql-mysql:
libqt4-sql-mysql depends on libmysqlclient16 (>= 5.1.21-1); however:
Package libmysqlclient16 is not installed.
dpkg: error processing libqt4-sql-mysql (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
libqt4-sql-mysql
Press return to continue.

So any suggestions what to do next? I think the aptitude command helped installing some packages that also had failed before.

I'm a novice to linux so any help would be great!

-Vibuntu

Heya, what you can try is this:

sudo rm '/var/cache/apt/archives/libmysqlclient16_5.1.41-3ubuntu12.6_i386.deb'

This will remove the broken package. Next just do a update of Aptitude:

sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude upgrade

If this went through fine, try installing mysql again, if it still doesn't like you comment back and I will try another route.

smac

333 posts

Ultimate Geek

#366761 12-Aug-2010 13:11

Phaedrus:
Update: I see LennonNZ has posted much the same and is a faster typist than me , it's worth noting you may need to precede all commands with 'sudo' (eg. sudo apt-get update) assuming you're not actually logged in as root. It'll ask for root's password of course.

Cheers, P.

Minor point, but sudo asks for the user's password, not root's :)

Vibuntu

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#367366 13-Aug-2010 21:14

It finaly worked but...

After I ran an upgrade on the installation it would not boot again. This was before I tried your solution. So i reinstalled ubuntu. I was "lucky" cause I got the same problem with the new installation.
After i deleted the file you asked me to I had to go to synaptic pack updater and completely remove the installition, cuase it still said the package was broken after I tried your fix.

Off topic-

On the update, what I think was the reason for my first install of ubuntu to not boot, was an message that there was some problem with installing some grub thing that I ignored... does this make sense?

I'm as I said new to linux, and has not had much time to play around with it... but my experience so far, is that I've had problems, and big once after installing packages or updated the system. this is the third time I had major issues with booting after upgrading. the first two was with ubuntu 9.04

Thanx for the help.

And I used my user pass when prompted :)
I usually open terminal and goes sudo bash and types my commands from there.

michaelmurfy

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#367382 13-Aug-2010 21:42

Vibuntu: It finaly worked but...

After I ran an upgrade on the installation it would not boot again. This was before I tried your solution. So i reinstalled ubuntu. I was "lucky" cause I got the same problem with the new installation.
After i deleted the file you asked me to I had to go to synaptic pack updater and completely remove the installition, cuase it still said the package was broken after I tried your fix.

Off topic-

On the update, what I think was the reason for my first install of ubuntu to not boot, was an message that there was some problem with installing some grub thing that I ignored... does this make sense?

I'm as I said new to linux, and has not had much time to play around with it... but my experience so far, is that I've had problems, and big once after installing packages or updated the system. this is the third time I had major issues with booting after upgrading. the first two was with ubuntu 9.04

Thanx for the help.

And I used my user pass when prompted :)
I usually open terminal and goes sudo bash and types my commands from there.

You can just use "Sudo -s"