After kernel upgrade, Synaptic won't update because of dependencies

[davey]

After upgrading to kernel 3.8.18-pclos.a64, I get this error message when trying to update:

E: Error, pkgProblemResolver::Resolve generated breaks, this may be caused by held packages.

If I try to continue I get

Could not upgrade the system!
Fix broken packages first.

The package list says there's one broken package, but there aren't any marked broken in the upgrade list. Tried it with the earlier kernel and get the same result, so maybe this is due to an earlier software update, not the kernel. Synaptic is trying to remove a bunch of Calligra stuff, which had problems before now, is a good candidate for the cause. Any suggestions?

[agmg]

In terminal:

su (password)
apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade

You will see what package causes the error.

[davey]

Thanks amg. It says "The following packages have unmet dependencies:
  kdenetwork-kppp-provider: Obsoletes: kdenetwork4-kppp-provider (<= 4.6.5)".

Modified: Synaptic shows kdenetwork4 as installed, but kdenetwork is shown not installed.

[agmg]

You could uninstall the problematic package, perform the update and install the newer version.
But I find it strange...
How can you still have a 4.6.5 package in your system?
Have you updated regurarly? Are you using KDE 4.9.5, which is the latest version?

Again in terminal, type: kde4-config -v
This will show you the current version of KDE on your system.

[davey]

Before your reply I uninstalled kdenetwork4-kppp-provider (<= 4.6.5) and installed kdenetwork-kppp-provider, which was supposedly newer. Everything went to hell, when I tried to boot to any of the PCLOS versions all I got was a login box, which took me to 2 terms that did nothing except bring on a black screen.

So this topic has become irrelevant. I installed mini2012 on an extra partition, but have problems getting it configured (no Libre Office, for example). I thought it might be able to at least open some of the files on the old partition, but nothing even finds that install. Anyway, that's another topic. Might be time to try a different distro after all these years. Anyway, thanks for trying to help.

[agmg]

You can't blame the distro for your own mistakes...

You haven't updated for a long time and messed things up.
You installed a version of PCLinuxOS that is for advanced users and you couldn't find your way around.

Who's to blame?

[davey]

I update regularly, for your information. The original installation was working OK until the update. Before your reply I did what you suggested on my own. Certainly not blaming you, if that's what your jerky reply is about. The only thing I did wrong was to try to update. Since I can no longer access the old update I don't know exactly which version it was, but it wasn't old. I always wondered why there was all this talk about the PCLOS forums being full of nasty, unhelpful folks. At least now I get it.

[Old-Polack]

I update regularly, for your information. The original installation was working OK until the update. Before your reply I did what you suggested on my own. Certainly not blaming you, if that's what your jerky reply is about. The only thing I did wrong was to try to update. Since I can no longer access the old update I don't know exactly which version it was, but it wasn't old. I always wondered why there was all this talk about the PCLOS forums being full of nasty, unhelpful folks. At least now I get it.

Yes, I get it too... the only nastiness I see is from you. 

Lose the attitude.

[DeBaas]

@agmg
Have some PCLos users at the monthly computerclub who broke there installs.
They didn't blame PCLos but the fiddling and experimenting.
The easyest way to go on was installing from a fresh and latest iso.
Most important preserving/backup the /home partition. Rename your [user] folder to something as agmg.old
After installing you can copy the important stuf as Documents, .mozilla, .thunderbird, .kde and so on back to your new user map. All done in about 30 minutes.
If your /home is not on its own partition, the only way is backup, but also, 30 minutes.
My personal reccord for an LXDE newinstall, 7 minutes

[agmg]

If that's what I get for trying to help, fine, I'll take it.

I successfully helped you find the package which was causing the problem with your updates.
I thought at first that uninstalling the old package and installing the new one would fix it.
But the presence of a very old package (4.6.5) in your system made me suspicious...
That's why I wanted to know the version of KDE in your system before proceeding, so I could identify the exact status of your system and be able to provide more help, by giving you specific instructions to be followed.
KDE 4.6.5 is very old and there have been many changes since then: KDE 4.8.3, then 4.9.2 and recently 4.9.5 were released.
The transition from 4.6.5 to 4.8.3 was difficult but if you followed the instructions carefully, you should be able to update without major issues.

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,108162.0.html

Did you update your system then?

Beyond that, in the beginning of this year, a migration of the PCLinuxOS servers took place.
This move required some simple changes in the repositories information to be made by the users.
Did you proceed with those changes?

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,112036.0.html

My "jerky reply" was natural since you came back, having ruined your system and blaming PCLinuxOS for that.
You gave no information about the steps you took, you didn't answer my question that could save you a lot of trouble, you didn't really want to be helped. Even after the unsuccessful update, you could save your system. All you had to do was ask. And, of course, be ready to receive help and follow the instructions that me, or any other forum member, would provide, trying to help.
You also blamed PCLinuxOS because you couldn't find LibreOffice in a MiniMe version, which is for advanced users (unlike yourself) as clearly stated in the download page.

Release date: 02-01-2013
KDE MiniMe Version (pclinuxos-kde-minime-2013.02.iso)
Size: 549.2 MB
md5sum: de66fd46bc83dbc3e067d16952c8eb52
Produced by: Pinoc
User Level: Advanced

I want go any further with this. I have better things to do.
If you want to leave and try some other distros, no one is stoping you.
But stop having that attitude and going in several threads and posts, blaming others for something that's your fault.
You can't blame a Ferrari for hitting a brick wall if you can't drive it properly...

[agmg]

@agmg
Have some PCLos users at the monthly computerclub who broke there installs.
They didn't blame PCLos but the fiddling and experimenting.
The easyest way to go on was installing from a fresh and latest iso.
Most important preserving/backup the /home partition. Rename your [user] folder to something as agmg.old
After installing you can copy the important stuf as Documents, .mozilla, .thunderbird, .kde and so on back to your new user map. All done in about 30 minutes.
If your /home is not on its own partition, the only way is backup, but also, 30 minutes.
My personal reccord for an LXDE newinstall, 7 minutes

Thanks for the information, DeBaas, but it wasn't me with the problem 

I would suggest a re-installation because I suspected a system that had not been updated for quite some time.
But I wanted to be sure first. Of course, that system is long gone now, as you can read

[davey]

OK, I'm not interested in a flamewar. My frustration was showing because in all the years of using PCLOS I've never had anything close to this happen. It felt like being betrayed by an old friend. Apologies for letting that show here. Being repeatedly told that I'm not "advanced" enough, even though I've been happily using PCLOS for many years, doesn't help. I upgraded as usual, and it went wrong. I didn't make any mistakes there. When the upgraded version wouldn't upgrade further because of a broken package, agmg helped me find the problem and I did the logical thing and removed the offending package. This was before agmg made the same suggestion, so there's no blame there, just gratitude for the effort to help. It was the logical answer.

Now I keep hearing how I'm incapable of  installing MiniMe, when this has nothing to do with the new install --  It's about an install I've been happily using and upgrading since the 4.2.8 event. Am I wrong to take this constant refrain about my incompetence as insulting? I'd like to know the mistake I made that I keep hearing about. I'm told to ask for help, which I did right here. agmg was the only one who bothered to try and help, which I greatly appreciate. His/her advice made perfect sense, in fact it's what I did BEFORE the reply came in. If I gave the impression of blaming him for something, my apologies -- I'm grateful for the help.

To answer some of the questions/accusations, yes, I update too often if anything. I did the repo switch. If KDE was very old, something was wrong, because the system was up to date as of a few weeks ago. I used KInfocenter for the version number -- maybe it reported wrong, maybe I somehow reported it wrongly. I can't get at the old install to verify. I didn't break the update, and it has nothing to do with installing the latest MiniMe. The problem started with the update for whatever reason -- DeBass's post seems to verify that I wasn't the only one this happened to. And after that my attempt (after asking for help) to fix it. Anyway, this topic is over. I'll probably ask for advice on trying to get at part of the old install on a new topic -- breaking up with PCLOS is too hard to do unless there's no other option.

[hedgeclippers]

agmg I was having the same problem Davey was having and your advice helped a good deal. Not sure why I had held packages but I found the offending packages that were causing me problems and deleted them in Synaptic. After that I reloaded Synaptic and did my updates no problem at all. I am fairly new myself to Linux but have found that if you look for an answer here you can usually find it and if you can't you can post a question here and usually get an answer. So thank you agmg for such a great answer to my question.

[johnmart]

Davey, I think your help request went off-track because you didn't really follow agmg's suggestions.

You could uninstall the problematic package, perform the update and install the newer version.
But I find it strange...
How can you still have a 4.6.5 package in your system?
Have you updated regurarly? Are you using KDE 4.9.5, which is the latest version?

Again in terminal, type: kde4-config -v
This will show you the current version of KDE on your system.

It seems you jumped to follow agmg's first thought, but there was no mention of following through with his other questions. Your next reply was that you had trashed your install and blamed the OS & basically decided to hop off.
Taking time to consider his questions and answer his questions very possibly would've got you fixed up. That's how a help forum works.
1. You have a problem & need help
2. Ask forum help
3. Stick with someone who shows up to lend a hand
4. Answer their questions---that's how they help you.

You were called up on your complaint that MiniMe had no LO, because it was very obviously the wrong iso to install if you wanted to open office files. No meanness intended.

There are good learning points here that will benefit you in any linux forum.
Hope you stick around.