Debian Synaptic Package Manager error: xserver-xorg stripped

[craig61107]

I have used Debian Linux for two years, most recently the seventh or so iteration of Version 5. I use the Gnome desktop and the Synaptic Package Manager, not the Update Manager, for updates because it's easier to build a log with the former.

In my most recent update, Synaptic stripped out all the xserver-xorg files—47 in all. I thought it peculiar but did not know enough to interfere. When I rebooted, the system told me I must install xserver or correct GDM configuration and restart.

Have I been hacked? Am I being tested by the Linux Illuminati? Or does it have something to do with the warning message I received at the end of the update-upgrade, attached? And how do I go about reinstalling xserver? With Aptitude? I have tried running apt-get -f install, to no effect.

Thanks for any assistance.

Debian_error_msg.jpg

[rokytnji]

Don't know how to fix yet. Looks like you got bit by Debian Sid bug reported on Monday.

Re: sid: upgrade wants to remove xserver packages

sid: upgrade wants to remove xserver packages - Linux Archive

When I do a apt-get dist-upgrade in terminal. The first thing I check is what is going to be removed. If I do not like what I see. I cancel the dist-upgrade for a few days and see if issue is resolved. So wait a few days and see if they get this issue resolved.

A handy site I use also before upgrading is Debian Quality Assurance -- Debian weather

[rokytnji]

Did a quick check today.

b$ sux
Password:
# apt-get update
Get:1 http://security.debian.org testing/updates Release.gpg [835 B]
Ign http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates/contrib Translation-en         
Ign http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates/contrib Translation-en_US      
Ign http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates/main Translation-en            
Ign http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates/main Translation-en_US         
Ign http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates/non-free Translation-en        
Ign http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates/non-free Translation-en_US     
Get:2 http://security.debian.org testing/updates Release [38.4 kB]             
Get:3 http://ftp.us.debian.org testing Release.gpg [835 B]                     
Ign http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing/contrib Translation-en            
Ign http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing/contrib Translation-en_US         
Ign http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing/main Translation-en
Ign http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing/non-free Translation-en
Ign http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing/non-free Translation-en_US
Get:4 http://ftp.us.debian.org testing Release [82.1 kB]             
Get:5 http://security.debian.org testing/updates/main i386 Packages [14 B]    
Get:6 http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing Release.gpg [198 B]             
Ign http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ testing/main Translation-en             
Ign http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ testing/main Translation-en_US          
Get:7 http://security.debian.org testing/updates/contrib i386 Packages [14 B] 
Get:8 http://security.debian.org testing/updates/non-free i386 Packages [14 B]
Ign http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ testing/non-free Translation-en          
Ign http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ testing/non-free Translation-en_US
Get:9 http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing Release [21.4 kB]
Get:10 http://ftp.us.debian.org testing/main i386 Packages/DiffIndex [1,760 B]
Get:11 http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing/main i386 Packages/DiffIndex [781 B]
Get:12 http://ftp.us.debian.org testing/contrib i386 Packages/DiffIndex [505 B]
Get:13 http://ftp.us.debian.org testing/non-free i386 Packages/DiffIndex [781 B]
Get:14 http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing/non-free i386 Packages [5,517 B]
Get:15 http://ftp.us.debian.org testing/main i386 Packages [6,740 kB]  
Get:16 http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing/main i386 Packages [69.9 kB]
Get:17 http://ftp.us.debian.org testing/contrib i386 Packages [57.6 kB]        
Get:18 http://ftp.us.debian.org testing/non-free i386 Packages [112 kB]        
Fetched 7,132 kB in 34s (205 kB/s)                                             
Reading package lists... Done
# apt-get dist-upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  acpi-fakekey acpi-support alpine-doc growisofs libdjvulibre-text
  libdjvulibre21 libfile-basedir-perl libfile-desktopentry-perl
  libfile-mimeinfo-perl libsox-fmt-all libsox-fmt-ao libsox-fmt-ffmpeg
  libsox-fmt-mp3 libsox-fmt-oss libsox-fmt-pulse miscfiles xscreensaver
  xscreensaver-data
The following packages will be upgraded:
  acpi-support-base alpine apvlv avahi-daemon bsdmainutils cdparanoia
  consolekit cpio cpp cpp-4.4 cups cups-client cups-common cups-ppdc debconf
  debconf-i18n debconf-utils debianutils defoma dvd+rw-tools dwm
  eeepc-acpi-scripts fakeroot feh flac flashplugin-nonfree fluxbox g++ g++-4.4
  gcc gcc-4.4 gcc-4.4-base ghostscript ghostscript-cups ghostscript-x hostname
  imagination imagination-common iptables iso-codes klibc-utils
  libavahi-client3 libavahi-common-data libavahi-common3 libavahi-core7
  libavahi-glib1 libbluetooth3 libcdparanoia0 libck-connector0
  libcompress-raw-zlib-perl libconfig-inifiles-perl libcups2 libcupscgi1
  libcupsdriver1 libcupsimage2 libcupsmime1 libcupsppdc1 libcurl3
  libcurl3-gnutls libdb4.7 libdb4.8 libflac8 libfm-gtk0 libfm0 libfontenc1
  libfs6 libgcc1 libgfortran3 libgimp2.0 libgksu2-0 libgoffice-0.8-8
  libgoffice-0.8-8-common libgomp1 libgs8 libgsf-1-114 libgsf-1-common
  libgstfarsight0.10-0 libhtml-parser-perl libhtml-tree-perl libice6 libicu44
  libidn11 libjack0 libkate1 libkeyutils1 libklibc libmodplug1
  libneon27-gnutls libnewt0.52 libnss3-1d libpam-ck-connector libsepol1 libsm6
  libsndfile1 libsqlite3-0 libstdc++6 libstdc++6-4.4-dev libsub-name-perl
  libsvga1 libsvga1-dev libtalloc2 liburi-perl libv4l-0 libwpd8c2a libwww-perl
  libxapian22 libxaw7 libxcomposite1 libxcursor1 libxdmcp6 libxinerama1
  libxkbfile1 libxmu6 libxmuu1 libxpm4 libxrandr2 libxss1 libxtst6 libxv1
  libxvmc1 libxxf86dga1 libxxf86vm1 lsb-base lsb-release mhwaveedit
  mime-support mlocate nano nmap numlockx odbcinst odbcinst1debian2 patch
  pcmanfm ppp procps psmisc python-simplejson python-support python-xapian
  rox-filer rxvt-unicode sed sensible-utils sgml-data smbnetfs suckless-tools
  sudo svgalib-bin synaptic tar testdisk tzdata unixodbc unrar vim-common
  vim-tiny w32codecs whiptail whois wmii wmii-doc wvdial xauth xbitmaps
  xdg-utils xfonts-100dpi xfonts-base xfonts-encodings xfonts-utils xinit
  xserver-xorg-video-geode xterm xutils-dev zim
175 upgraded, 18 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 117 MB of archives.
After this operation, 35.5 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]?

So looks ok to me.

My Debian version in AntiX is

lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Debian
Description:	Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 (squeeze)
Release:	6.0
Codename:	squeeze

I'm on the fence debating on whether to apt-get dist-upgrade to wheezy yet as it may be a bit early.

[craig61107]

Many thanks for your interest and for bringing your expertness to bear on this.

I ran apt-get update. It found all the repos, but didn't download nor unpack any of the updates. Something about a Hash Sum mismatch.

There also appears to be a problem with the lenny DVD and-or the drive, but I won't burden you with that. I'll look into it a bit further, then perhaps do another posting.

One other point: it says I'm running wheezy/sid. I don't know how I got there!

I've pulled in 6.0.0 (squeeze). If I continue to have difficulty with lenny/wheezy/sid, I might just start over with squeeze.

I'd be glad for any thoughts you have on any of this.

[rokytnji]

Sid can be like walking on a cliff edge and if you are walking blindfolded you will fall.

Like you did when X was removed. Before doing a upgrade in Debian. Take a look at your /etc/apt/sources.list and make sure the repositories you have enabled are the ones you want to use. Saves you grief later.

I run AntiX with Debian Test repos with a little Sid thrown in on my EEEPC. I keep track of what will be removed before I agree to any type of upgrade.

Just a example of my /etc/apt/sources.list

# See sources.list(5) for more information

# Note:If you want maximum stability, only use the stable repos.
# If you want to install kde3.5, you MUST only use the stable repos.
# (this will change when kde3.5 is no loger available in stable)

# MEPIS 8 series. 
# Only for kernel upgrades. Best NOT to use.
# deb ftp://ftp.mepis.com/mepis/ mepis-8.5 main 
# MEPIS mirrors
# deb ftp://ftp.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.mepis.org/mepis/ mepis-8.0 main 
# deb http://fr1.mepis-deb.org/mepis/ mepis-8.0 main 
# deb http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.mepis.org/mepis/ mepis-8.0 main 

# Debian Testing. 
# Testing enabled for 'rolling' release.
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free  
deb http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates main contrib non-free 
# deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free 

# Debian Stable
# This will 'soon' be "Squeeze". Use for maximum stability.
# deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ stable main contrib non-free 
# deb http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main contrib non-free 
# deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ stable main contrib non-free 
# deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ stable non-free main  

# Multimedia Stable and Testing
# deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ stable main non-free 
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ testing main non-free 

# Goggles music manager
#deb http://apt.progchild.de/ stable main 

# opera
# deb http://deb.opera.com/opera/ lenny non-free 

# virtualbox
# deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/ lenny non-free 

# liquorix kernels 
# deb http://liquorix.net/debian/ sid main 

###### Debian Unstable/Sid#####
###### Use at your own risk! ########
# deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free 
# deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ unstable main non-free 

#######EEEPC Debian Sid uapproved Repositories########
###### Use at your own risk! ######
#deb http://eeepc.debian.net/debian sid main contrib non-free
#deb-src http://eeepc.debian.net/debian sid main contrib non-free

Depending on what I want. Like the latest java. I will uncomment debian sid and get the latest java ,then comment out sid again when done. I run testing on a regular basis though. I only used the Mepis repo to get my kernel. Then commented out Mepis. Kinda like tap dancing with Linux. I run AntiX as a rolling release like Arch Linux.