Update locked up and now can not update

[mikkl]

Went to install the latest package of updates to the new kde and part of the way through the process my machine locked up.  Required a hard shut down.  I boot into console mode to run apt-get to complete the process and receive the following error:

After successfully hitting http://pclinuxos.fi pclinuxos/2010 kde4 release I receive the output:

rpmdb:  unable to allocate space from the buffer cache
error:  db4 error(12) from dbcursor->c_get: Cannot allocate memory

I thought the root drive might be out of space so using a LiveUSB, I moved the /cache/ directory to a different drive and replaced all of the directories with links.

I receive the same error messages at the same location.

Any ideas?

mikkl

[Old-Polack]

Went to install the latest package of updates to the new kde and part of the way through the process my machine locked up.  Required a hard shut down.  I boot into console mode to run apt-get to complete the process and receive the following error:

After successfully hitting http://pclinuxos.fi pclinuxos/2010 kde4 release I receive the output:

rpmdb:  unable to allocate space from the buffer cache
error:  db4 error(12) from dbcursor->c_get: Cannot allocate memory

I thought the root drive might be out of space so using a LiveUSB, I moved the /cache/ directory to a different drive and replaced all of the directories with links.

I receive the same error messages at the same location.

Any ideas?

mikkl

Try this;

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,80839.0.html

[mikkl]

Thank you. I'll give it a try tomorrow. Off to bed.

[mikkl]

Well, that gets me much closer.  Now apt-get update will work correctly, however the rpm --rebuilddb command completes immediately and booting into synaptic shows that no programs are listed as installed.  This makes me think that the path to the headers is not correct.


Where are the headers stored?

mikkl

[Texstar]

Well, that gets me much closer.  Now apt-get update will work correctly, however the rpm --rebuilddb command completes immediately and booting into synaptic shows that no programs are listed as installed.  This makes me think that the path to the headers is not correct.


Where are the headers stored?

mikkl

/var/lib/rpm is where the rpm database is stored.

[mikkl]

Thanks.  Any thoughts on why the database rebuilds so quickly and synaptic shows no installed applications?

mikkl

[Old-Polack]

Thanks.  Any thoughts on why the database rebuilds so quickly and synaptic shows no installed applications?

mikkl

It shouldn't and it doesn't, it takes a while. Did you possibly enter rm -rf /var/lib/rpm/_db.* as the command? Note there should be two underscores in the db name... rm -rf /var/lib/rpm/__db.*. If all the damaged __db.* files are not properly removed rpm --rebuilddb will not run properly.

Try again with these three commands;

[root@localhost ~]# rm -rf /var/lib/rpm/__db.*                  <Enter>

Verify the deletion with;

[root@localhost ~]# ls -l /var/lib/rpm              <Enter>

If there are no __db.00? files present, then;

[root@localhost ~]# rpm -vv --rebuilddb                  <Enter>

The -vv will result in very verbose reporting of the database rebuilding process, so you can see what's happening as it progresses.

[Texstar]

And if you've damaged it beyond repair then back up your data and install test2 iso. You know I install a lot of stuff here and I have never had Synaptic lock up on me. I've had a few times where it seem to get stuck but I'd leave it alone and it would eventually complete the transaction.

[mikkl]

Thanks team,

Yes, OP, I only used one underscore.

Surprisingly, it does boot to the desktop and I've gone it and seen that all .db* files are gone before I enter the --rebuilddb command (though I did not include looking for hidden files).  I will try your latest recommendations and see if that helps.

Failing that, I will do a reinstall with the new test iso.

One question on that Tex -- does the default kdm splash screen that is used in that iso work with smaller netbook screens or will I have to load to a command line and change the splash screen?  The last time I checked, the brushed metal kdm screen would not test properly on my desktop and we've assumed it is because of the smaller size (1024*600).

Thanks to you both for the support,

mikkl

[Joble]

There used to be a parameter to change the splash screen so it will work in 1024x600 but I can't remember what it was and I can't find it now.  Looking for it still, I think I had it written down somewhere.

vga=315  (I believe that's what it was.  Will try it when I can)

[mikkl]

And if you've damaged it beyond repair then back up your data and install test2 iso. You know I install a lot of stuff here and I have never had Synaptic lock up on me. I've had a few times where it seem to get stuck but I'd leave it alone and it would eventually complete the transaction.

It surprised me too but when the cursor and the clock were both frozen I knew something "bad" had taken place.

mikkl

[Texstar]

And if you've damaged it beyond repair then back up your data and install test2 iso. You know I install a lot of stuff here and I have never had Synaptic lock up on me. I've had a few times where it seem to get stuck but I'd leave it alone and it would eventually complete the transaction.

It surprised me too but when the cursor and the clock were both frozen I knew something "bad" had taken place.

mikkl

Yeh that is a BAD sign.

[Joble]

Hmm, after updating everything the splash screen is working on my netbook 1024x600 screen.  The code I was thinking of in the grub line was vga=0x315 and it's already in there.  Anyway it's working for me now, didn't have to change anything.

[mikkl]

Hmm, after updating everything the splash screen is working on my netbook 1024x600 screen.  The code I was thinking of in the grub line was vga=0x315 and it's already in there.  Anyway it's working for me now, didn't have to change anything.

Thanks, I'll give it a try.  Since I used a different theme, the new packages were not automatically installed.  I needed to switch the themes myself.  The grub screen, wallpaper and fonts worked well on the smaller screen.  In System Settings I tested the kdm screen before selecting and this test failed.  The consensus here in the forums is that this is likely due to the theme not shrinking appropriately.  To your point, it may well be that I need to modify the vga line.

I'll give it a try after I futz around with synaptic a bit more and report back the results.

mikkl

[mikkl]

OP,

Here's the results of the session.  The rebuild step completed as quickly as I clicked enter.


[root@eeePC brian]# rm -rf /var/lib/rpm/__db.*
[root@eeePC brian]# ls -l /var/lib/rpm
total 14100
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Jun 19 18:32 alternatives/
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5357568 Jun 19 18:33 Basenames
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   12288 Jun 19 18:33 Conflictname
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1847296 Jun 19 18:33 Dirnames
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5296128 Jun 19 18:33 Filedigests
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Jun 19 18:21 filetriggers/
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   28672 Jun 19 18:33 Group
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   40960 Jun 19 18:33 Installtid
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   81920 Jun 19 18:33 Name
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   12288 Jun 19 18:33 Packages
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  667648 Jun 19 18:33 Providename
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  155648 Jun 19 18:33 Provideversion
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  524288 Jun 19 18:33 Requirename
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  262144 Jun 19 18:33 Requireversion
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  172032 Jun 19 18:33 Sha1header
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   86016 Jun 19 18:33 Sigmd5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   12288 Jun 19 18:26 Triggername
[root@eeePC brian]# rpm -vv --rebuilddb
D: rebuilding database /var/lib/rpm into /var/lib/rpmrebuilddb.3969
D: creating directory /var/lib/rpmrebuilddb.3969
D: opening old database with dbapi 3
D: opening  db environment /var/lib/rpm/Packages create:mpool:joinenv
D: opening  db index       /var/lib/rpm/Packages rdonly mode=0x0
D: locked   db index       /var/lib/rpm/Packages
D: opening new database with dbapi 3
D: opening  db environment /var/lib/rpmrebuilddb.3969/Packages create:mpool:joinenv
D: opening  db index       /var/lib/rpmrebuilddb.3969/Packages create mode=0x42
D: closed   db index       /var/lib/rpm/Packages
D: closed   db environment /var/lib/rpm/Packages
D: closed   db index       /var/lib/rpmrebuilddb.3969/Packages
D: closed   db environment /var/lib/rpmrebuilddb.3969/Packages
D: verified db index       /var/lib/rpmrebuilddb.3969/Packages
D: removing directory /var/lib/rpmrebuilddb.3969

And synaptic shows no software installed.

mikkl