Upgrading To Jessie -- Best Practices

[Caitlin]

Hi all,

I understand now that when getting packages, the FIRST priority is the "standard" set of jessie repositories, and the SECOND priority is downloading the package from individual web pages. Adding additional repositories is a distant third if at all.

I have already provided a link to the package page for DOSBox in this post:
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?p=618221#p618221

Here is the page for build-essential:
https://packages.debian.org/jessie/build-essential

Yes, but I was specifically referring to the fact that they are NOT IN THE REPOSITORIES. QUESTION 24: Shouldn't they be? Isn't the whole idea to take ALL of the packages that exist and are reasonably bug-free and put them into one place? I was concerned that if I DON'T install the "right" way I would just paint myself into a corner again.

I unchecked

Code: Select all

deb     cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 8.2.0 _Jessie_ - Official amd64 DVD Binary-1 20150906-11:13]/ jessie           main contrib

and checked

Code: Select all

deb     http:// security.debian.org/                                                          jessie/updates   contrib main
deb     http://ftp.debian.org/debian/                                                         jessie-updates   contrib main
deb     http://ftp.debian.org/debian/                                                         jessie-backports contrib main

.
I didn't include the source repositories or any "non-free" sections. QUESTION 25: Should I have included non-free or made any other changes to the above?

Also, I had added the following lines to /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/70debconf:

Code: Select all

// auto-remove breaks on meta packages
APT::Get::AutomaticRemove "0";
APT::Get::HideAutoRemove "1";
// Recommends are as of now still abused in many packages
APT::Install-Recommends "0";
APT::Install-Suggests "0";
Debug::pkgAutoRemove "0";
// PDiffs reduce the required download for apt-get update, but increase the
// CPU requirements and quite often fail.
Acquire::PDiffs "0";
// Remove apt unauthenticated warnings
APT::Get::AllowUnauthenticated "0";

QUESTION 26: those changes aren't going to mess anything up, are they?

I went to the jessie/build-essential web page and it said "if you do not plan to build Debian packages, you don't need this package". I don't plan to build Debian packages, but I do do compiles, so I chose to install it anyway. QUESTION 27: would I have been better off just installing the gcc, libc6, and perhaps make packages instead? When I reached the download page, I saw the line "if you are running Debian, it is strongly suggested to use a package manager like aptitude or synaptic to download and install packages, instead of doing so manually via this website". QUESTION 28: How can I do that if this package is not in any of the repositories?

I downloaded build-essential_11.7_amd64.deb and moved it to /ddisk/l/packages. I then entered "apt install --no-install-recommends build-essential" knowing it wouldn't work because apt-get HAS NO IDEA where I put it:

Code: Select all

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Package build-essential is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source

E: Package 'build-essential' has no installation candidate

QUESTION 29: should I have moved the package directly into the apt cache, whatever/wherever that is?

So I try "dpkg --install /ddisk/l/packages/build-essential_11.7_amd64.deb" instead, and this is what I got:

Code: Select all

Selecting previously unselected package build-essential.
(Reading database ... 119559 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../build-essential_11.7_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking build-essential (11.7) ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of build-essential:
 build-essential depends on libc6-dev | libc-dev; however:
  Package libc6-dev is not installed.
  Package libc-dev is not installed.
 build-essential depends on gcc (>= 4:4.9.1); however:
  Package gcc is not installed.
 build-essential depends on g++ (>= 4:4.9.1); however:
  Package g++ is not installed.
 build-essential depends on make; however:
  Package make is not installed.
 build-essential depends on dpkg-dev (>= 1.17.11); however:
  Package dpkg-dev is not installed.

dpkg: error processing package build-essential (--install):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 build-essential

Then, in an attempt to resolve dependencies, I enter "apt-get install --no-install-recommends -f" and get:

Code: Select all

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
  libc6
Suggested packages:
  glibc-doc
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  build-essential
The following packages will be upgraded:
  libc6
1 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 206 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 4,666 kB of archives.
After this operation, 29.7 kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] {I replied y-Enter of course}
Get:1 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/main libc6 amd64 2.19-18+deb8u3 [4,666 kB]
Fetched 4,666 kB in 0s (4,819 kB/s)
Reading changelogs... Done
Preconfiguring packages ...
(Reading database ... 119567 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing build-essential (11.7) ...
(Reading database ... 119559 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libc6_2.19-18+deb8u3_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libc6:amd64 (2.19-18+deb8u3) over (2.19-18+deb8u1) ...
Setting up libc6:amd64 (2.19-18+deb8u3) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.19-18+deb8u1) ...

I notice package gcc wasn't installed, even though build-essential depends on it. QUESTION 30: Why not? This is probably the one package I need the most in this group. I was unable to install it separately.

Before my latest root partition restore, I WAS able to install both gcc and DOSBox and make them work successfully. I'm not sure how I did that; it was with a lot of changing parameters and flailing around. But I was concerned that I didn't do it the right way, and broke something else by doing so. This time I want to do it right.

Do you have an internet connection?

Yes.

Please post the full output of:

Code: Select all

# apt install dosbox build-essential

Build-essential above, dosbox below.

Code: Select all

"dpkg --install /ddisk/l/packages/dosbox_0.74-4_amd64.deb"

Selecting previously unselected package dosbox.
(Reading database ... 119559 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../dosbox_0.74-4_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking dosbox (0.74-4) ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of dosbox:
 dosbox depends on libsdl-net1.2; however:
  Package libsdl-net1.2 is not installed.
 dosbox depends on libsdl-sound1.2 (>= 1.0.1); however:
  Package libsdl-sound1.2 is not installed.

dpkg: error processing package dosbox (--install):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.22-1) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.58) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.0.2-5) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.13-1) ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 dosbox

"apt-get install --no-install-recommends -f"

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  dosbox
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 206 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 2,811 kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] n  {I replied n-Enter}
Abort.

together with the output Head_on_a_Stick asked you, can you also provide the output of

Code: Select all

apt-cache policy

Code: Select all

Package files:
 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     release a=now
 500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/main Translation-en
 500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/contrib Translation-en
 100 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/main amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian Backports,a=jessie-backports,n=jessie-backports,l=Debian Backports,c=main
     origin ftp.debian.org
 100 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/contrib amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian Backports,a=jessie-backports,n=jessie-backports,l=Debian Backports,c=contrib
     origin ftp.debian.org
 500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates/main Translation-en
 500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates/contrib Translation-en
 500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates/main amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=stable-updates,n=jessie-updates,l=Debian,c=main
     origin ftp.debian.org
 500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates/contrib amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=stable-updates,n=jessie-updates,l=Debian,c=contrib
     origin ftp.debian.org
 500 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/main Translation-en
 500 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/contrib Translation-en
 500 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/main amd64 Packages
     release v=8,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian-Security,c=main
     origin security.debian.org
 500 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/contrib amd64 Packages
     release v=8,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian-Security,c=contrib
     origin security.debian.org
Pinned packages:

Still flailing around,

Caitlin

[kiyop]

I have read only some parts of some posts in this thread. Thus I maybe misunderstand what Caitlin wants to do. If so, excuse me.

Unfortunately, I DID require it. I installed version 4.8.4 of KWrite, then invoked apt-get to resolve its dependencies, and quite unexpectedly, IT UPGRADED KWRITE TO THE LATEST VERSION AT THE SAME TIME! Grrr!

If Caitlin wants to use KWrite version 4.8.4 and DOSBox, how about suggesting Caitlin installing wheezy?
https://packages.debian.org/wheezy/kwrite
https://packages.debian.org/wheezy/dosbox
Long term support for wheezy lasts until 31st May 2018: https://wiki.debian.org/LTS/
Fortunately, now wheezy repository is available such as in http://ftp.jp.debian.org/debian/dists/wheezy/ (Japan)
and netinst kernel and initramfs files are available such as in http://ftp.jp.debian.org/debian/dists/w ... ler/amd64/ (for amd64, Japan)

To Caitlin,

I installed my favorite text editor, KWrite (now up to version 16.04.1) and was shocked to find they removed one of its most important features -- the ability to use a .kateconfig file to automatically switch between DOS and UNIX end-of-lines.

How about posting in "wish reports" for KWrite ?
https://www.kde.org/applications/utilit ... evelopment
... although I am not sure if it can be done easily by some other functionality.
cf)

Code: Select all

man nkf

But there are actually 10 backup candidates: the above 7, the MBR (first 446 bytes), the partition table (including any partition tables in secondary partitions), and the hidden area between the MBR and the first partition (not sure what's in there).
(snip by kiyop)
Restoring the first 446 bytes of the MBR would be good when installing Windows after installing Linux.

For old MSDOS-type (BIOS?) partition table, the hidden area between the MBR and the first partition may contain boot loader codes.
You can do all the above with dd, can't you?
For example, if sector size is 512 bytes,

BACKUP the MBR first 446 bytes of /dev/sda, to /PATH/TO/FILENAME:

Code: Select all

dd if=/dev/sda bs=1 count=446 of=/PATH/TO/FILENAME

RESTORE from /PATH/TO/FILENAME, to the MBR first 446 bytes of /dev/sda:

Code: Select all

dd if=/PATH/TO/FILENAME bs=1 count=446 of=/dev/sda

BACKUP the hidden area between the MBR and the first partition of /dev/sda, to /FILENAME2:

Code: Select all

dd if=/dev/sda bs=512 skip=1 count=NUMBER of=/FILENAME2

NUMBER should be (the first sector number of the first partition in /dev/sda) - 1.

RESTORE from /FILENAME2, to the hidden area between the MBR and the first partition of /dev/sda

Code: Select all

dd if=/FILENAME2 bs=512 count=NUMBER seek=1 of=/dev/sda

The first sector number of each partition is displayed by

Code: Select all

fdisk -lu

Read the manual of dd by

Code: Select all

man dd

As for extended partition table (extended partition boot record), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_boot_record
(And I found http://thestarman.pcministry.com/asm/mb ... ables2.htm , but I have not review this one.)
But it may be difficult to understand for you.

[Caitlin]

... I installed version 4.8.4 of KWrite, then invoked apt-get to resolve its dependencies, and quite unexpectedly, IT UPGRADED KWRITE TO THE LATEST VERSION AT THE SAME TIME! Grrr!

If Caitlin wants to use KWrite version 4.8.4 and DOSBox, how about suggesting Caitlin installing wheezy?

I think you just did.

Seriously, I've considered falling back to Wheezy. I've even considered skipping ahead to Stretch, because much of the other software I need is right there in the Stretch repositories.

To Caitlin,

I installed my favorite text editor, KWrite (now up to version 16.04.1) and was shocked to find they removed one of its most important features -- the ability to use a .kateconfig file to automatically switch between DOS and UNIX end-of-lines.

How about posting in "wish reports" for KWrite ?
https://www.kde.org/applications/utilit ... evelopment
... although I am not sure if it can be done easily by some other functionality.

I doubt anything I suggest will be implemented any time soon. And if they took this functionality OUT, they probably did so for some (very dumb) reason -- and would be reluctant now to do an about-face and put it back in.

But there are actually 10 backup candidates: the above 7, the MBR (first 446 bytes), the partition table (including any partition tables in secondary partitions), and the hidden area between the MBR and the first partition (not sure what's in there).
(snip by kiyop)
Restoring the first 446 bytes of the MBR would be good when installing Windows after installing Linux.

For old MSDOS-type (BIOS?) partition table, the hidden area between the MBR and the first partition may contain boot loader codes.
You can do all the above with dd, can't you?
For example, if sector size is 512 bytes,

BACKUP the MBR first 446 bytes of /dev/sda, to /PATH/TO/FILENAME:

Code: Select all

dd if=/dev/sda bs=1 count=446 of=/PATH/TO/FILENAME

(much snipped)

The point is, Redo Backup (which I had so much hope in) restores these areas AUTOMATICALLY even if you are just trying to restore one partition. In doing so, it trashes the rest of the disk. What I was looking for was to restore just the one (root) partition while leaving everything else ALONE.

But it may be difficult to understand for you.

And just why would you think that, hmmm?

Caitlin

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Code: Select all

Package files:
 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     release a=now
 500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/main Translation-en
 500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/contrib Translation-en
 100 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/main amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian Backports,a=jessie-backports,n=jessie-backports,l=Debian Backports,c=main
     origin ftp.debian.org
 100 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/contrib amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian Backports,a=jessie-backports,n=jessie-backports,l=Debian Backports,c=contrib
     origin ftp.debian.org
 500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates/main Translation-en
 500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates/contrib Translation-en
 500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates/main amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=stable-updates,n=jessie-updates,l=Debian,c=main
     origin ftp.debian.org
 500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates/contrib amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=stable-updates,n=jessie-updates,l=Debian,c=contrib
     origin ftp.debian.org
 500 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/main Translation-en
 500 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/contrib Translation-en
 500 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/main amd64 Packages
     release v=8,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian-Security,c=main
     origin security.debian.org
 500 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/contrib amd64 Packages
     release v=8,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian-Security,c=contrib
     origin security.debian.org
Pinned packages:

You have no main repositories.

This is probably because you decided to not set a mirror during the installation process.

Use this command:

Code: Select all

# apt edit-sources

Then add this line:

Code: Select all

deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian jessie main contrib non-free

Then update your database:

Code: Select all

# apt update

Then install your packages:

Code: Select all

# apt install dosbox build-essential

Finally, post an apology for maligning the good name of Debian

[sgosnell]

Once you bork your sources.list file, you're going to have problems. As pointed out, you have no main repository in your sources.list, thus most packages won't be available. This is basic stuff, and indicates taht you need to do a lot of work before complaining about Debian not working. It works fine, as long as you use sane and logical choices in what you do. You have not, but you may be getting there. Google searching will give you a reasonable default sources.list, and you're almost there. Just be careful, and do some research, before jumping off cliffs.

[Caitlin]

I followed the suggested links and did a LOT of reading. I see now that while I had the three Jessie revision repos, I didn't have the base repo. It was like having the icing without the cake.

Having restored my root partition (yet AGAIN), I set up the repos properly and tried once more. This time I was able to install build-essential (and all of its dependents, like gcc) without drama.

On another thread someone else had a similar question and I am proud to say I was able to explain how to do it -- to give back, as it were. (I do wish the install process had made it more clear what the mirrors were there for.)

I also tried to install KWrite 4.8.4. I was able to do so with "apt-get --no-install-recommends --no-upgrade install kwrite={version} katepart={version} libkatepartinterfaces4={version}". Unfortunately, it installed the configuration piece at version 4.14.2, so I still ended up with the feature I wanted missing. AND in spite of --no-install-recommends, it pulled in a lot of other crapware like VLC. (Really. What does a text editor need with VLC?) I need to do more research.

Pinning didn't work. On the internet, some posts say to put pinning triplets into /etc/apt/preferences, and some say put them into /etc/apt/preferences.d/{packagename}. QUESTION 31: can anyone enlighten me on what the right way to do pinning is?

And thanks again to all those that got me this far.

Caitlin

[Head_on_a_Stick]

can anyone enlighten me on what the right way to do pinning is?

APT pinning should probably only be used by those who know exactly what they are doing.

Specifically, you should not use that technique until you have read and fully understand apt_preferences(5).

To get newer package versions in Debian stable, check the jessie-backports repository or backport them yourself or compile them from source.

https://wiki.debian.org/Backports

https://wiki.debian.org/SimpleBackportCreation

[stevepusser]

KDE in Debian by default depends on phonon-backend-vlc, so that'll need a vlc library, not all of VLC. You can also use the gstreamer backend instead.

Do you know which version of kwrite (kate) dropped support for your feature? I just want to make sure the Jessie version is not going to work for you, and it's not the KDE 5 version from testing that was causing trouble. As far as I know, Kate and Kwrite in Jessie use a katerc file to store configurations.

I'm trying a rebuild of the Wheezy 4.8.4 debianized Kate source on Jessie. So far, it's building correctly, and the dependencies listed in the control file look like the finished packages can be installed on Jessie, though there are some that are automatically generated that remain to be seen--but I haven't seen those cause any trouble in the past.

[Caitlin]

I'm making some good progress now.

I spoke too soon when I said the most recent version of KWrite had dropped the feature I wanted. Rather, the feature was changed so I didn't recognize it. Given the right configuration parameter, there it is.

One minor annoyance with the new KWrite: the colorings for C programs have changed. I'm trying to put everything back to the way it was; I'm used to the old colorings.

I'm pleased to say I finally figured out how to change the main menu (Applications) for MATE. I've given up on menu editors such as mozo; I've been editing the /etc and /usr files directly. I even jailbroke Search for Files; now it defaults to searching the File System rather than just the Home directories.

Now I have to figure out a way to safely blow away Wodim.

Thanks again,

Caitlin

[stevepusser]

Good--I did manage to rebuild the older 4.8.4 Kate/Kwrite packages on the Jessie 4.14 KDE after some modifications, but haven't installed them on any test system yet. Now I don't have to.

[Caitlin]

Well, it seems I spoke too soon again.

That KWrite feature I was speaking about -- the one that had changed a bit in the way you invoke it -- is there in the new KWrite but has one problem -- IT DOESN'T WORK.

If anyone's interested, I submitted KDE bug report 365705.

Caitlin

[Caitlin]

... I installed my favorite text editor, KWrite (now up to version 16.04.1) and was shocked to find they removed one of its most important features -- the ability to use a .kateconfig file to automatically switch between DOS and UNIX end-of-lines. ...

As I have said, this feature was changed, not removed, and I figured out how to activate it in the latest stable version. But it still didn't work -- I submitted KDE bug report 365705 asking for it to be fixed.

The KDE team has responded with a one-line change:

Code: Select all

diff --git a/src/document/katedocument.cpp b/src/document/katedocument.cpp
index eb30049..93c3bb1 100644
--- a/src/document/katedocument.cpp
+++ b/src/document/katedocument.cpp
@@ -4578,7 +4578,12 @@ void KTextEditor::DocumentPrivate::readVariableLine(QString t, bool onlyViewAndR
                 QStringList l;
                 l << QStringLiteral("unix") << QStringLiteral("dos") << QStringLiteral("mac");
                 if ((n = l.indexOf(val.toLower())) != -1) {
+                    /**
+                     * set eol + avoid that it is overwritten by auto-detection again!
+                     * this fixes e.g. .kateconfig files with // kate: eol dos; to work, bug 365705
+                     */
                     m_config->setEol(n);
+                    m_config->setAllowEolDetection(false);
                 }
             } else if (var == QLatin1String("bom") || var == QLatin1String("byte-order-marker")) {
                 if (checkBoolValue(val, &state)) {

The question is, what do I do now? I read up on compiling from source ( http://www.wikihow.com/Compile-a-Program-in-Linux ), and although I've done it before, I'm still not comfortable with it. The first step is to download the source -- but how and from where? I've tried this and got that:

Code: Select all

root@Blackbird:/home/user# apt-get source katepart
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Picking 'kate' as source package instead of 'katepart'
E: Unable to find a source package for kate

I tried again substituting katedocument for katepart; also katedocument.cpp, ktexteditor.cpp, ktexteditor, and ktexteditor.git. Same result. (And yes, I did enable the source repositories.)

Okay, maybe the source is not available through apt-get. I browsed around the KDE and GIT websites for a while, but couldn't figure out how to download source or even what the correct source name is.

Could someone help me?

Caitlin

[Caitlin]

I'm still trying to download the source for katedocument.cpp, so I can enter in a bug fix and solve my problem (as described in the previous post).

I've been unable to find the source in the Debian repositories, the GIT website, or the KDE website.

I've been reading up on building from source and related topics.

Could someone please help me find the source?

Caitlin

[Dai_trying]

Did you update apt-db (apt-get update) after adding source repositories?

[Caitlin]

Yes, Dai_trying -- I use Synaptic to search the database and change repositories, and Synaptic forces you to update (perhaps a bit too much). I use apt-get for the actual installs, however.

I contacted the developer and he told me that to add this one line of code, I would have to rebuild so much that it's near impossible. He suggested I wait for a fix to enter a repository (perhaps as a backport?) So I guess I'm just going to have to wait for a while.

Caitlin

[RU55EL]

[...] Could someone please help me find the source?

A shot in the dark;

I found this when I tried to download the source files:

NOTICE: 'kate' packaging is maintained in the 'Git' version control system at:
git://anonscm.debian.org/pkg-kde/kde-sc/kate.git

Code: Select all

russel@debian-nuc:~$ apt-get source kate
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
NOTICE: 'kate' packaging is maintained in the 'Git' version control system at:
git://anonscm.debian.org/pkg-kde/kde-sc/kate.git
Need to get 2,777 kB of source archives.
Get:1 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie/main kate 4:4.14.2-2 (dsc) [2,433 B]
Get:2 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie/main kate 4:4.14.2-2 (tar) [2,765 kB]
Get:3 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie/main kate 4:4.14.2-2 (diff) [9,708 B]
Fetched 2,777 kB in 3s (817 kB/s)
sh: 1: dpkg-source: not found
Unpack command 'dpkg-source -x kate_4.14.2-2.dsc' failed.
Check if the 'dpkg-dev' package is installed.
E: Child process failed