glib error - rollback???

[jntaylor]

Hello,

NB - RH 8. New to Linux.

Is there any way to rollback to an earlier version of software?? I 'updated' the glibc packages through rh up2date and now I get every application crashing (glib-error can't allocate xxx...). Bloody nightmare...

regards
James

[Dolda2000]

That's strange... such a thing really shouldn't happen. Is your system completely unusable (ie. does even the boot scripts fail due to this), or is it just "higher-level" programs that exhibit this behaviour? Are you sure that it is glibc that is causing this (glib is not the same as glibc)?

[jntaylor]

Hi,

Linux works but only in Failsafe or WindowMaker modes - as soon as I go
to Gnome, all applications crash with the "Glib-error can't allocate
xxx". However the problems started after I tried to update glibc from
rhn, so yes there should be no connection.

Well it seems my problems may be deeper than I thought. It may/may not
have anything to do with glibc but I'm stumped.

This is what happened. I used rhn to update to the reccommended glibc
package (along with some others), and it said it needed another
package (glibc-common). It complained about the checksum not being
correct, but I checked the MD5 and it was so I ignored it. But later
in the download if threw up an error and exited (sorry can't
remember).

Since then I've checked the versions of glibc running against the
source CD and they are the same, except (and I might be confused here)
for glibc-common which I can't find on the source CD.

Since I am now properly logged in as root I notice I have over 7000
messages in the mail.(!!!)

The second one dates back to Feb 2nd:
**********
Message 2:
From root@x.x.x Wed Feb 12 12:35:03 2003
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 12:35:00 +1100
From: root@x.x.x (Cron Daemon)
To: root@x.x.x
Subject: Cron <root@x> /usr/bin/mrtg /etc/mrtg/mrtg.cfg
X-Cron-Env: <SHELL=/bin/bash>
X-Cron-Env: <PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin>
X-Cron-Env: <MAILTO=root>
X-Cron-Env: <HOME=/>
X-Cron-Env: <LOGNAME=root>

Errno architecture (i386-linux-thread-multi-2.4.18-11smp) does not
match executa
ble architecture (i386-linux-thread-multi-2.4.19-2mdkenterprise) at
/usr/lib/per
l5/5.8.0/i386-linux-thread-multi/Errno.pm line 11.
Compilation failed in require at
/usr/lib/perl5/5.8.0/i386-linux-thread-multi/IO
/Socket.pm line 17.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at
/usr/lib/perl5/5.8.0/i386-linux-thread-mult
i/IO/Socket.pm line 17.
Compilation failed in require at /usr/bin/../lib/mrtg2/SNMP_Session.pm
line 495.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at
/usr/bin/../lib/mrtg2/SNMP_Session.pm line
495.
Compilation failed in require at /usr/bin/../lib/mrtg2/SNMP_util.pm
line 35.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at
/usr/bin/../lib/mrtg2/SNMP_util.pm line 35.
Compilation failed in require at /usr/bin/../lib/mrtg2/MRTG_lib.pm
line 20.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /usr/bin/../lib/mrtg2/MRTG_lib.pm
line 20.
Compilation failed in require at /usr/bin/mrtg line 59.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /usr/bin/mrtg line 59.

********
And this is message 7000
***********

/Subject: Cron <root@x> /usr/bin/mrtg /etc/mrtg/mrtg.cfg
X-Cron-Env: <SHELL=/bin/bash>
X-Cron-Env: <PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin>
X-Cron-Env: <MAILTO=root>
X-Cron-Env: <HOME=/>
X-Cron-Env: <LOGNAME=root>

Errno architecture (i386-linux-thread-multi-2.4.18-11smp) does not
match executa
ble architecture (i386-linux-thread-multi-2.4.19-2mdkenterprise) at
/usr/lib/per
l5/5.8.0/i386-linux-thread-multi/Errno.pm line 11.
Compilation failed in require at
/usr/lib/perl5/5.8.0/i386-linux-thread-multi/IO
/Socket.pm line 17.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at
/usr/lib/perl5/5.8.0/i386-linux-thread-mult
i/IO/Socket.pm line 17.
Compilation failed in require at /usr/bin/../lib/mrtg2/SNMP_Session.pm
line 495.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at
/usr/bin/../lib/mrtg2/SNMP_Session.pm line
495.
Compilation failed in require at /usr/bin/../lib/mrtg2/SNMP_util.pm
line 35.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at
/usr/bin/../lib/mrtg2/SNMP_util.pm line 35.
Compilation failed in require at /usr/bin/../lib/mrtg2/MRTG_lib.pm
line 20.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /usr/bin/../lib/mrtg2/MRTG_lib.pm
line 20.
Compilation failed in require at /usr/bin/mrtg line 59.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /usr/bin/mrtg line 59.

*****************

So now I'm thinking that perhaps it's nothing to do with the failure
of the specific glibc download, although before I had downloaded this
package nautilus and gnome worked fine. Now they crap out with with
'Glib-error could not allocate xxxxx mem). Oh, when I have downloaded
the correct glibc packages and tried to install (under failsafe mode)
rpm says that there are 0 Source and 0 Binary packages, and another
message similar to the above appears in mail.

Now the messages seem to point to a version of software that is
running on a multiprocessing machine, which this is not - it's a
single AMD Athlon 1900, 512MB RAM shared with Windows XP. I can't for
the life of me remember downloading a specific piece of software for
SMP architecture, and why would I???

I'm stumped and in a mess, help!

Regards
James

[Dolda2000]

I dunno... you must have done something really strange when you upgraded; it seems your entire system is in chaos. There seems to be so many problems that I don't even know which one to start to attack.
Are you sure that it was the glibc upgrade that whined at you, and not a glib upgrade? glib is the utility library of the gtk+ widget toolkit.

[jntaylor]

What I need to do is trace which package was installed on/around 2nd Feb? I'll also get a better look in to the exact error messages.

Is there a rpm log located anywhere?

Regards
James

[Dolda2000]

It's quite possible that up2date keeps logs, but I don't know where.

[jntaylor]

OK,

I've checked the rpm logs (in /var/logs) and they don't go back far enough.

Can anyone explain why when I run RH up2date to try to update the glibc packages I continually get this message:

"error: rpmts_HdrFromFdno: MD5 digest: BAD expected(42d7e36f5574af1ee96306a10ab2001c) != (4b07da4911fa473fedb6bd45a546e7c0)"

This only happens with the updating of glibc (and assoc glibc-common/devel). Through the same sesson I have happily updated other software e.g. tcpdump and libpcap. So why this?

Another question:

I have also downloaded the packages from rhn direct and tried to install them but it seems that each one is dependant on each other...

e.g.

rpm -Uvh --test glibc-2.3.2-4.80.6.i686.rpm -

error: Failed dependencies:
glibc-common = 2.3.2-4.80.6 is needed by glibc-2.3.2-4.80.6
glibc = 2.2.93 is needed by (installed) glibc-devel-2.2.93-5

rpm -Uvh --test glibc-common-2.3.2-4.80.6.i386.rpm -

error: Failed dependencies:
glibc < 2.3.2 conflicts with glibc-common-2.3.2-4.80.6
glibc-common = 2.2.93-5 is needed by (installed) glibc-2.2.93-5

rpm -Uvh --test glibc-devel-2.3.2-4.80.6.i386.rpm -

error: Failed dependencies:
glibc = 2.3.2 is needed by glibc-devel-2.3.2-4.80.6

******************

I just want to take a sledgehammer to the box...

Any suggestions?

Oh - Does this help? -

Output from 'rpm -V glibc'

.......T c /etc/rpc
....L... /lib/i686/libc.so.6
....L... /lib/i686/libm.so.6
S.5....T /lib/i686/libpthread-0.10.so
....L... /lib/ld-linux.so.2
....L... /lib/libBrokenLocale.so.1
....L... /lib/libNoVersion.so.1
S.5....T /lib/libSegFault.so
....L... /lib/libanl.so.1

Output from 'rpm -V glibc-common' - nothing

Output from 'rpm -V glibc-devel' - nothing

Kind regards

James

[Dolda2000]

I have no idea why you get that MD5 difference. Just seems weird. That's not supposed to happen unless the actual download is corrupt.

To resolve the circular depencies, give rpm both filenames in one command, and it will see that there's no danger in installing them.

That rpm -V output seems pretty bad. Your libpthread isn't supposed to have a different MD5 checksum than what it should have. Those symlinks that are wrong could also very well be causing trouble.

[jntaylor]

Thanks to all, especially, Dolda2000, problem solved.

I did try to install a single package with the --force option and it still threw a failed dependancy message. And my Linux book says 'dangerous' for the other options, although I should have given them a go. I was also not sure as to the connection between the glib-error and glibc but that was a red herring I believe.

So to close the call, so to speak, this is what I did to fix.

1. Used the command 'rpm -Uvh glibc*.rpm' for the 3 glibc, glibc-common and glibc-devel to be installed at the same time. This allowed gnome & nautilus to start again. System response to 'rpm -V' for the 3 packages is now nothing.

2. I was still confused as to the MD5 hash error from up2date, but someone else suggested that it was because of a corrupt package in /var/spool/up2date. Sure enough there were broken glibc packages and these have been deleted.

3. Wrt the thousands of root messages for 'mrtg' - "Errno architecture (i386-linux-thread-multi-2.4.18-11smp) does not match executa ble architecture (i386-linux-thread-multi-2.4.19-2mdkenterprise) at /usr/lib/per l5/5.8.0/i386-linux-thread-multi/Errno.pm line 11. ". I did install this package but have now removed it and the messages have stopped.

So again I thank you for your help, great board, and in the words of an old British Rail slogan - 'We're getting there!"

James