[SOLVED] How to fix broken update packages?

[Charles123]

Hi, I have moved to Linux Mint 9 Main Edition from XP in the last few weeks & on the whole I'm really enjoying it. I've been able to do/fix most niggles by browsing the forum & web up to now but would like a little advice on what options I have.

Mint update manager is saying there are three Level 3 Updates for my system; pgld 2.2.0.1-1~natty, pglcmd 2.2.0.1-1~natty, & pgl-gui 2.2.0.1-1~natty.

I know they are for Peer Guardian (a firewall type application) but when I try to install them I get the error; Could not apply changes!
Fix broken packages first.

Does this mean that there are conflicts with something else installed or have the packages been corrupted somehow?
I have installed a couple of 'non-standard apps' ie. using deb packages etc. specifically; get-player 2.80, minitube 1.71 & HID Point (for my keyboard/mouse). Everything else has come through Software Manager.

I don't use Peer Guardian much so if I have to un-install it's not the end of the world but a fix of some kind would be better. I would really like to keep get-iplayer & minitube though, until I upgrade to the next LTS.

Thanks in advance,

Charles.

[remoulder]

Could not apply changes! Fix broken packages first

This often means you have conflicting packages, have you added any additional repos? If you run synaptic package manager and attempt the updates in that, it should give you a more informative message as to the cause.

[Charles123]

Thanks for the tip remoulder. I've had a look in sysnaptic and it tells me I also need to install package pglgui (in order for plg-gui to work)

However when I mark pglgui for installation I get the following error;



To me this looks like the latest Peer Guardian is 'conflicting' with Linux Mint 9 as opposed to another program? As I used software manager to install it I assume all the necessary repos were added.

Is there a solution to this & if not can I keep the current version without damaging my OS?

[oobetimer]

I choose only level 1 and 2 updates. Level 3 "safe but not tested" ..

You can repair broken packages via Synaptic.

[remoulder]

You could try manually installing libqtcore4 4.4.7.0-beta1 if it is available then trying again, seeing if you get another error then trying to resolve that and so on. However looking at your OP it mentions updates for natty which is incorrect, mint 9 is based on ubuntu lucid, so there is something else going on here, perhaps an issue with your repos? If you look at the entries in Software Sources, there should be no mention of anything other than (mint 9) isadora and (ubuntu 10.04) lucid.

[Charles123]

Thanks oobetimer. I suppose I could just install levels 1 &2.

Does anyone know if my diagnosis of the problem is correct ie. older version of linux being the problem?
As I said earlier I'm very new to all this and somewhat fumbling my my way through.

If I wanted to keep level 3 updates, would it be possible to make mintUpdate ignore the three Peer guardian updates so that it says my system is up to date?

Also, out of curiosity, is this what is known as a broken OS or is that something else all together?

Just saw your post remoulder - I'll have a go at that. I wondered the same about the natty thing. I'm pretty sure the repos are only for lsadora or lucid but I'll double check.

[Charles123]

Ok I've had a look and libqtcore4 4.4.7.0-beta1 is not available from synaptic.

Here's a pic of my repos



Is the file:///usr/share......... repo normal?

[oobetimer]

If I wanted to keep level 3 updates, would it be possible to make mintUpdate ignore the three Peer guardian updates so that it says my system is up to date?

You can freeze Peer guardian updates via Synaptic -> Lock the package.

[Charles123]

Brilliant!

Unless someone has a better solution I think that's the way to go. My system seems stable - I just don't want it to keep nagging me about an update I can't install.

Many thanks again to both of you.

[Charles123]

Sorry to be back so soon.

I locked the version in synaptic ok, but mintUpdate still is still asking me to install them. Is there any way to lock the version in mintUpdate? Or is it a choice of live with it, or loose level 3 updates?

[travalon]

I had some broken packages and the solution was 1 or all of the following,

1st go to synaptic pkg mgr and select custom filters on the bottom left. in the left window 2nd from the top click "broken" it will show you your broken packages.

1st I would mark all of them for reinstall. If that doesn't work make a note of them and mark them for complete removal. after removal use the CLI and purge everything you can that relates to the package. reboot and see what happens. if the pkg mgr shows nothing under the broken filter then you can reinstall the pkgs you made note of. this is how I fixed mine.

[Charles123]

Thanks Travalon, in the end I think it was more a case of incompatible updates rather than broken as such. The 'natty' thing was the clue. I tracked it down to the very first PPA I added when trying to get minitube working! It would be nice if there was a way to know which reppo/PPA each update came from to help remedy any future similar issues, although I realise that it was my actions in adding the wrong PPA in the first place that caused the problem.

Thanks to everyone for their help,

Charles.