SOLVED: Problems with latest tzdata upgrade

[EricS1]

I'm running Linux Mint 9 and ran mintupdate (4.0.7) this morning (as 'root') -- ran into problems with the first package in the upgrade list, tzdata.

I get the following error when mintupdate is run:

==========begin
Preconfiguring packages ...
Setting up tzdata (2010k-0unbuntu0.10.04) ...
restorecon set context /etc/localtime->system_u:object_r:locale_t:s0 failed: 'Operation not supported'
dpkg: error processing tzdata (--configure):
subprocess installed post-installation script returned error ext status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
tzdata
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
A package failed to install. Trying to recover:
Setting up tzdata (2010k-0ubuntu0.10.04) ...
restorecon set context /etc/localtime->system_u:object_r:locale_t:s0 failed:'Operation not supported'
dpkg: error processing tzdata (--configure):
subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
tzdata
==========end

mintupdate terminates without upgrading any other packages. Seems that many packages depend upon tzdata so no other packages get be updated due to this error.

Tried running 'apt-get update tzdata' and got the following:

==========begin
# apt-get install tzdata
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
tzdata is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 21 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Setting up tzdata (2010k-0ubuntu0.10.04) ...
restorecon set context /etc/localtime->system_u:object_r:locale_t:s0 failed:'Operation not supported'
dpkg: error processing tzdata (--configure):
subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
tzdata
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
==========end

Ran 'dpkg -C' and get:

==========begin
# dpkg -C
The following packages are only half configured, probably due to problems
configuring them the first time. The configuration should be retried using
dpkg --configure <package> or the configure menu option in dselect:
tzdata time zone and daylight-saving time data
==========end

Can't install package 'dselect' due to tzdata problem.

Need help trying to resolve this. Can find any other references to this error on the net.

Linux Mint still works, but I can't update any packages or install new ones due to this error.

Help!

--Eric

[dawgdoc]

Are you able to run

Code: Select all

dpkg --configure tzdata

if that does not work try

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get -f install

[EricS1]

Dawgdoc, thanks for the response!

Additional note: I'm running the 64-bit version of Linux Mint 9 on an AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3500+ cpu

1) Logged in as 'root' and attempted to run 'dpkg --configure tzdata' --got the following:
==========
# dpkg --configure tzdata
Setting up tzdata (2010k-0ubuntu0.10.04) ...
restorecon set context /etc/localtime->system_u:object_r:locale_t:s0 failed:'Operation not supported'
dpkg: error processing tzdata (--configure):
subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
tzdata
==========

2) Logged in as 'root' and attempted to run 'apt-get -f install tzdata' -- got the following:
==========
# apt-get -f install tzdata
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
tzdata is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 21 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Setting up tzdata (2010k-0ubuntu0.10.04) ...
restorecon set context /etc/localtime->system_u:object_r:locale_t:s0 failed:'Operation not supported'
dpkg: error processing tzdata (--configure):
subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
tzdata
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
==========

Still stuck!

--Eric

[dawgdoc]

can you open Synaptic find the tzdata package, right click on it, select properties, determine the version that you had been using and then force install it instead of the newest version? Look under the Package menu entry. If this works, you may want to set Update Manager to ignore this package.

[EricS1]

Dawgdoc, I tried the synaptic suggestion to force a tzdata downgrade to the previous version. I received the following error message while running synaptic:

E: tzdata: subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1

After which synaptic reports that the previous version of tzdata (2010i-1) is installed. With tzdata version 2010k being available for update.

However, I receive the following when running 'dpkg -C' to see if any packages are only halfway installed:

==========
# dpkg -C
The following packages are only half configured, probably due to problems
configuring them the first time. The configuration should be retried using
dpkg --configure <package> or the configure menu option in dselect:
tzdata time zone and daylight-saving time data
==========

So it appears that the downgraded version of tzdata didn't have a fully successful installation either.

--Eric

[dawgdoc]

In your original post you said

I'm running Linux Mint 9 and ran mintupdate (4.0.7) this morning (as 'root') -- ran into problems with the first package in the upgrade list, tzdata.

I took that to mean you clicked on the icon and entered your password when the dialog popped up. Or did you start it from terminal with sudo mintupdate ? Or did you log in as root? I do not know if it makes any difference, but then it may.

My next thought is a Complete Removal with Synaptic of tzdata or using the terminal

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get purge tzdata

then re-install. After that I am at a loss.

[EricS1]

I logged in as 'root' to perform the software updates. Tried command line invocations of apt-get and dpkg in addition to running mintupdate in graphic interface mode.

I'll try your 'synaptic purge' option from the command line.

Thanks.

-Eric

[EricS1]

Logged into Gnome session as 'root' and tried the synaptic purge approach to get rid of the tzdata package which did not completely install.

Synaptic says that getting rid of tzdata triggers the deletion of more than 2100 other packages. Many of these packages are very basic to running, configuring and administering Linux Mint.

Yikes! Sounds like a near complete reinstall of Linux Mint will be needed if I go that route.

Is there another way to resolve the tzdata install problem?!

[dawgdoc]

Logged into Gnome session as 'root' and...

I have never logged into a session as root. This may be the source of the problems. It is possible that this has caused permission problems. I have only ever logged in as my main user, clicked on the Update Manager icon and provided the sudo/root password when the pop-up dialog appears.

tried the synaptic purge approach to get rid of the tzdata package which did not completely install.
Synaptic says that getting rid of tzdata triggers the deletion of more than 2100 other packages.

Did you open Synaptic (Synaptic=Package Manager in the Menu) and mark the one package for removal. OR, did you open the command line? If in the command line did you enter the package name or enter the command w/o the package name? I can see how running this w/o the package name would cause apt-get to want to un-install the entire system. To verify the correct terminology check the man page -- man apt-get If you used the command sudo apt-get remove <package_name> it would remove the package without removing any config files or dependencies. This is a less thorough/drastic approach.

If doing this while logged into the system as root is what has caused the problems, I am out of my depth.

[EricS1]

Dawgdoc,

I tried using synaptic via the Gnome graphical user interface while logged in under a Gnome session as user 'root'. I can try this as a user without administrative rights and see what happens after granting synaptic root privileges for the tzdata removal operation.

Based upon what I've observed so far, it appears that a great many programs have dependency links to tzdata and removing this one package triggers the removal of all dependent packages.

I'll try using synaptic while logged into Gnome as a non-privileged user.

Hope that something gives here. Thanks much for your assistance and patience!

-Eric

[EricS1]

All,

Problem solved by booting Linux Mint while pressing the [shift] key -- this brings up the Grub boot menu.

Select the [recovery mode] boot option.

On next screen, select the [repair broken packages] option.

Linux Mint checked the packages and found that the tzdata package wasn't completely installed.

It then downloaded the latest version of tzdata and successfully installed it. After which it upgraded those packages (which had updates available) which were dependent upon having the latest version of tzdata properly installed.

Thanks for your help.

--Eric