Re: How can I refresh Etch completely?

On Tue, May 08, 2007 at 06:54:36PM -0500, Dennis G. Wicks wrote:
Greetings;


Is this a clue? When I try to use aptitude it wants to remove
150+ "unused" packages, including Gnome. Doesn't feel right
to me so I don't use it.

aptitude keep all ; aptitude install -sf

for a start. Then use aptitude / synaptic to dig through and resolve
packages.

OR

back up your home directory and any files you need to save, grab a
copy of DVD #1 from Etch and reinstall.

On a severely borked machine it may, very occasionally, be easier to
re-install and certainly quicker if you're pushed for time. The last
time I did this in anger was when I was trying to replace sysvinit with
file-rc for somebody, ran into conflicts whereby neither would work and
all the package managers stopped working :( Since there was no user data
on that machine, it was quicker and more straightforward to do so.

Andy [recovering from a 7 hour stint the other day trying to repair
a broken Debian on a Sparc. Don't volunteer to help someone out on
a Friday afternoon :) ]

Any way, any ideas short of the old Windows stand by,
"Format the hard drive and reinstall"?

Try the aptitude commands above: thereafter, try hard not to mix apt
and aptitude - occasionally, one confuses the other :)

Many TIA,
Dennis


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