I've been away for awhile, but still using PC Linux Os.

[raymac46]

I just tried a command line upgrade apt-get update then apt-get dist-upgrade and it went OK. One package (bash) upgraded. So it works for me in VBox at least.

[onederer]

Yes, dpkg is usable in PCLOS. If you call Synaptic from the terminal, and not use "&&", it will show up in the terminal, what the GUI is doing. For what it's worth, I didn't think of doing this and watching the printout of what's happening. Could be that I can understand the output, or maybe not.

 

When I su to root, I don't have that problem. A password is requested from me. Check to see if you have an applicatio "run as root, running, or there is something in the settings that can disable having to use a password to used root.

Edited February 18, 2017 by onederer

[onederer]

Below is a copy of the resources. I also used the coding in the previous page. Have to wait 'till there are some upgrades to download, to find out if all the indexes will be downloaded, while using the same link that I had used earlier. If all the links do come down, and the installation is complete, then the job is done. And if so, thanks!

 

[onederer@localhost apt]$ cat ./sources.list

# 64bit package repository URL's, working as of 01/23/2017

#==================================================================

# Please enable only ONE (1) entry !!!

#==================================================================

rpm http://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://ftp.fau.de/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://spout.ussg.indiana.edu/linux/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://pclinuxos.c3sl.ufpr.br/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://mirror.uta.edu.ec/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://mirror.cedia.org.ec/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://ftp.belnet.be/pclinuxonline.com/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://ftp.cc.uoc.gr/mirrors/linux/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://distrib-coffee.ipsl.jussieu.fr/pub/linux/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/Linux/PCLinuxOS/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://mirrors.uni-ruse.bg/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://pclinuxos.mirror.wearetriple.com/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

# rpm http://ftp.klid.dk/ftp/pclinuxos/apt/ pclinuxos/64bit x86_64 kde xfce4

[saturnian]

Uh-oh.

 

Having insulted the way our distro works he has completed his mission - and left!

 

http://www.pclinuxos...html#msg1202764

 

Sensitive!

[raymac46]

[onederer]

I'm still waiting for updates/upgrade(s) to come in. to test the changes. Hopefully I'll no longer have to play musical mirrors to keep updated from now on.

 

Cheers!

[raymac46]

Just a quick update. I have PCLOS running nicely in VirtualBox with the Guest Additions in place. I was able to do another update and upgrade today with Synaptic, So it's working normally so far.

[onederer]

I'm about ready to throw up my hands and to give up. After rebuilding the database, and those other things that were suggested, things haven't changed. As you can see from above, the resources are the latest. What I've not done lately, is using the CLI to see if it would still hang up at the installation phase of an upgrade.

 

There is one thing that I noticed last night, while doing a Synaptic upgrade. I had to shutdown Synaptic, and restart it. Based on that, I did not have to move down to the next repository, and I had previously used the main repo, before, to boot! So for Synaptic, if that's what it takes, then I guess that I will have to restart Synaptic, before using the same repository twice, and ALL the indexes were downloaded, thus resulting in a successful upgrade.

 

As far as the CLI, when a next upgrade comes up, what I'll do is to make sure that Synaptic is not running. And I'll try an update using the text mode. If an update/upgrade goes to full completion, I see if that was the key for a full upgrade, without any freeze up. That will tell me to make sure that Synaptic is shutdown before starting a text-mode upgrade.

 

Cheers!

[raymac46]

I just did another update/upgrade on PCLOS in VirtualBox and everything worked normally using Synaptic.

[onederer]

I just did another update/upgrade on PCLOS in VirtualBox and everything worked normally using Synaptic.

 

OK, now try to do an upgrade with Synaptic. After the upgrade, keep Synaptic running 'till another upgrade comes up. don't shut it down. Try to do the next upgrade, and don't change the repository before the upgrade. Did all the indexes download? If not, that's exactly what I'm experiencing. If the indexes did download, congratulations!

 

For me, the indexes did not fully download, if I tried to use the same repository twice for two consecutive upgrades, and keeping Synaptic alive, between the upgrades. For success, I was forced to move on to the next repository.

 

However, my last discovery was that I had shutdown Synaptic, and restarted it. I had an upgrade waiting for me. I did NOT change repositories, from the last upgrade. And because I had shutdown Synaptic, this time, ALL the indexes downloaded, and the update was successful.

 

Does this clarify the situation?

 

I've had no upgrades come up since that time, so I can't do any further tests for see if the CLI will freeze in the installation phase.

I intend to shutdown Synaptic before using the text mode for an upgrade, and then see if the upgrade will go to completion. If so, that's the answer to the problem of the text mode installation phase, and the freeze up. It would have something to do with Synaptic running, while doing an upgrade in text mode. But that's yet to be seen. I also intend to shutdown and restart Synaptic, for a next upgrade, to see if the text mode will freeze up, while Synaptic is running.

 

I've run out of other ideas, unless you can come up with something else. I've got the latest database, and performed the aforementioned recommendations. The repositories are also the latest.

 

Cheers!

[raymac46]

I never keep Synaptic running. After the upgrade I close it down. It doesn't make sense to me to have any apt process running unless you are trying to upgrade or install. It's never a good idea to attempt to have more than one apt instance on the go, In fact I reboot before I try any upgrading..

[saturnian]

Same here -- in Debian as well as back when I used to run PCLOS. I close Synaptic after I finish updating. I've left Synaptic running by mistake before, though. Perhaps onederer has figured out the problem. As I recall, updating Debian systems with apt-get when Synaptic is running does not work, so it's probably the same sort of thing in PCLOS.

[onederer]

I understand that your preference is to shutdown Synaptic. However, this time, I'm asking you to try what I had done, to verify what I found is not just a singular occurrence here, and that this manifestation is a global thing. This will provide the answers that I seek.

 

Also try to update/upgrade something without changing the repository. Try this twice in a row. See if the second time, Synaptic will fail to download all of the indexes, or if it will download all seven of the indexes.

 

Then for the CLI, keep Symantic running while you try to upgrade the OS via text mode. Will the upgrade freeze in the installation mode, or will it go all the way? And if it does freeze, what did you have to do to kill the operation?

 

The next try would be to shut down Synaptic, and do a text mode upgrade. This time, does the upgrade freeze? Or, does the upgrade complete it's installation phase?

 

I'll be looking forward to reading about your results.

 

Another question that came to mind. If Synaptic is simply a graphic extension of the text mode, When I did have to change repository, and was successful in completing an upgrade, then why did the text mode fail and freeze in installation phase?

 

Cheers!

Edited February 22, 2017 by onederer

[raymac46]

My preference is to do what is correct. And that is to do the upgrade and shut Synaptic down. I don't see how I could keep Synaptic running between updates anyway since when I am finished with the PC session I shut the computer down, and don't keep the machine running for days. That will kill VBox and anything running in it.

There is no way to keep Synaptic running while you try a CLI update. I know from experience that running more than one instance of apt will not work. In fact in Debian distros you'll get an error message right at the beginning. I can try that knowing it will fail.

[raymac46]

OK I tried leaving Synaptic running and then tried to do a CLI upgrade. The terminal crashed and I ended up with an old and new version of the portreserve package on my system. I removed it using Synaptic.

All of which convinces me that it is a dumb idea to do an upgrade and then leave the upgrade tool running. I don't do that in any Linux distro, even where there is a formal Update Manager.

I also tried to reload (refresh) Synaptic repeatedly while it was running. It downloaded 1 then 7 files the first time and then only 6 upon repeated tries. If I shut down Synaptic and restarted it it would download 1 then 7 files every time.

Nothing here that doesn't convince me to start Synaptic, do my thing and then shut dowm.

[onederer]

I haven't had the chance yet to try the CLI, and it's results. I need another upgrade to try that.

 

Based on your report above, I find that it corroborates with what I found out, about having to shutdown Synaptic before doing an upgrade.

Otherwise, it won't download all the indexes, and the upgrade will fail. Before knowing these facts, what bothers me is that for the longest time, I had kept Synaptic running. And during that time, this flaw had not shown up. Then suddenly it came up, and I was dumbfounded. So I used the runaround until recently, and I then finally decided to do something about it. That brought me here.

 

For the information for someone else who don't know these facts, is there a write-up that would be useful for them? It would save them a lot of consternation!

 

Cheers!

[raymac46]

http://pclinuxoshelp.com/index.php/Update_Your_PCLinuxOS

 

Mentions at the end of the update "You may close Synaptic." Maybe it should say: "You should close it." In any event if you restart after an upgrade Synaptic will be closed.

[saturnian]

Before knowing these facts, what bothers me is that for the longest time, I had kept Synaptic running. And during that time, this flaw had not shown up.

 

That's something I was wondering about. I'd think that if you had always done things this way, this would have come up before. I don't even think of it as a "flaw", kinda makes sense to me that Synaptic ties things up.

 

It's funny, with PCLOS as well as with Debian and Debian-based distros, I prefer to do updates and most other package management with Synaptic, and not with apt-get commands. Other types of distros, it depends. Arch or Arch-based, I only want to use pacman. openSUSE, I prefer to use YaST. When I ran Sabayon, I didn't like to use their GUI package manager, I thought it was best to use the CLI.

 

But I don't generally use both GUI and CLI for updating/package management for any one particular distro; I tend to go one way or the other and stick with that. I don't know, seems to make things easier for me.

Edited February 23, 2017 by saturnian

[raymac46]

Honestly I never would have run into this issue. Even if I forgot to close Synaptic I would have shut down the machine after I used it, and this would have killed the process anyway. Because I usually get reminders that I can only run one apt process at a time, I usually just close Synaptic after using. It would never occur to me to keep it running.

[onederer]

Well, i guess that with all this information, it put's us all on the same page! Thanks for your collaboration. I really appreciated your input. It put a light on the topic.

 

Cheers!

[raymac46]

You're welcome onederer - I hope your updates go smoothly from here on in. I assume you let the boys at PCLOS know you fixed it.

[securitybreach]

Glad you all got it working, good job

 

I was confused along the way as normally you cannot run any apt-get command with Synaptic still running. Normally on distros that use apt-get/synaptic will give you this error:

 

Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/) is another process using it?

[raymac46]

I fully expected to get that apt-get error as well. I think what with using Synaptic and apt-get for RPM packages as PCLOS does, it doesn't work quite the same as it does in Debian.

To recap what works for me:

• Launch Synaptic
  
• Reload - you should get one source file downloaded, then 6 more (2 through 7.)
  
• Mark all for upgrade.
  
• Apply
  
• When finished, close Synaptic
  

This has worked every time on a new install of PCLOS in VBox.

[onederer]

The only error message we got was: 'unable to download all indexes'. There was no real clue to get to the real cause. It took trial and error efforts to smoke out the real cause of the problem. Being able to jump to the next available repository, put more fog on the root cause, since a good upgrade was possible then. The real clue arrived after Synaptic was shutdown, and then started when needed. It was then possible to use the same repository twice, with no index error message, and get a full upgrade.

 

Then the CLI,that would only complete an upgrade without freezing, in the install phase, if Synaptic was not running at the same time.

 

So now, no more musical repository switches! It's easy to just stick to only one and the same all the time. and as for the text mode, no more forced hard system kill job, to regain control of the text mode and the aborted upgrade. Ahh, peace!

Edited February 24, 2017 by onederer

[raymac46]

This isn't the most active forums site but we have a lot of experience here and we are willing to troubleshoot for anyone who's having an issue. We try to fix the problem, not the blame. And we are kind. Bruno's legacy - may it live forever.

[securitybreach]

This isn't the most active forums site but we have a lot of experience here and we are willing to troubleshoot for anyone who's having an issue. We try to fix the problem, not the blame. And we are kind. Bruno's legacy - may it live forever.

 

Indeed

 

Although, if I would of realized that they were both running, I would of known the solution. But with a hybrid RPM/Deb system, it is hard to troubleshoot especially with a kind of generic error message... I didn't realize back when I tried PcLos years ago that it was such a mixed up mess. Now that isn't all the way correct as Texlive does do a nice job of making it work for the most part but to most distro developers, this is a hacked together environment.

[Hedon James]

This isn't the most active forums site but we have a lot of experience here and we are willing to troubleshoot for anyone who's having an issue. We try to fix the problem, not the blame. And we are kind. Bruno's legacy - may it live forever.

 

Indeed

 

Although, if I would of realized that they were both running, I would of known the solution. But with a hybrid RPM/Deb system, it is hard to troubleshoot especially with a kind of generic error message... I didn't realize back when I tried PcLos years ago that it was such a mixed up mess. Now that isn't all the way correct as Texlive does do a nice job of making it work for the most part but to most distro developers, this is a hacked together environment.

 

Agreed. Back in my "formative years" of distro cruising, I spent some time with PCLOS...more than a casual dalliance...and I liked it A LOT! But I never could wrap my head around the RPM/apt-get fusion. Anyone have any idea what Texstar was thinking when he put that together? He may have went to all that trouble to see if it worked, as a proof of concept, but he kept it for a reason. Why else would you continue, unless there was a benefit we don't see. Anyone know the back story on that?

[securitybreach]

Indeed, I would like to know as well!!!

[raymac46]

It is a wild experience. You use Synaptic, but when Synaptic does the updates it looks and feels just like the RPM style updater in the Mageia Control Center.

Nice looking distro though.

 

[raymac46]

For Mageia - the RPM based distro which I know best - the equivalent package managers are:

 

rpm=dpkg

urpmi=apt-get

rpmdrake=synaptic

 

Since PCLOS has the same origins as Mageia (namely Mandrake/Mandriva) I don't know why Texstar went away from the Mandriva package management model. I do know he wasn't the biggest fan of the way Mandrake/Mandriva ran its operations.