[Bug 863675] [NEW] dpkg wrongly claims that a foreign-arch package is disappeared by a removed native-arch package

Wed Oct 5 16:56:10 UTC 2011

On Fri, 30 Sep 2011, Steve Langasek wrote:
> 3. Confirm that skype is now removed, but not purged.
> $ dpkg -l skype:*
> Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
> | Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
> |/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
> ||/ Name           Version        Description
> +++-==============-==============-============================================
> rc  skype          2.2.0.35-1     Skype
> ii  skype:i386     2.2.0.35-0onei VOIP and instant messaging client

Even this result is not entirely normal. The state "config-files" doesn't
mean much at this point since the .list file has been taken over by
skype:i386.

> 5. See that skype:i386 really has been disappeared, and skype:amd64 is still in state 'rc'.
> $ dpkg -l skype:*
> Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
> | Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
> |/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
> ||/ Name           Version        Description
> +++-==============-==============-============================================
> rc  skype          2.2.0.35-1     Skype
> un  skype:i386     <none>         (no description available)

This is the result of two bugs:
1/ The .list file is incorrectly rewritten at the end of the installation
of skype:i386. The one of "skype:amd64" overwrites the one of skype:i386
resulting in an almost empty packages from the point of view of dpkg.
2/ The fact the same .list file is loaded twice and associated to
skype:amd64 and skype:i386 which in turns leads the code that checks
for disappearing packages to believe that the files for skype:amd64
are taken over by skype:i386...

The 2 attached patchs should fix this. They are against the current
pu/multiarch/full branch but they should hopefully apply fine on the
ubuntu package or be trivial to adapt.

But I will go further than this in the upstream branch and will make
sure that the conflicting package are properly "disappeared" as soon
as the replacement package is unpacked.

  tag patch
  status inprogress

Cheers,
-- 
Raphaël Hertzog ◈ Debian Developer

Pre-order a copy of the Debian Administrator's Handbook and help
liberate it: http://debian-handbook.info/go/ulule-rh/

** Patch added: "0001-dpkg-do-not-try-to-drop-files-from-other-packages-in.patch"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/863675/+attachment/2513740/+files/0001-dpkg-do-not-try-to-drop-files-from-other-packages-in.patch

** Patch added: "0002-dpkg-ensure-a-given-.list-file-is-read-for-one-packa.patch"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/863675/+attachment/2513741/+files/0002-dpkg-ensure-a-given-.list-file-is-read-for-one-packa.patch

** Changed in: dpkg (Ubuntu)
       Status: Triaged => In Progress

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/863675

Title:
  dpkg wrongly claims that a foreign-arch package is disappeared by a
  removed native-arch package

Status in “dpkg” package in Ubuntu:
  In Progress
Status in “dpkg” source package in Oneiric:
  In Progress

Bug description:
  This bug has been hovering in the background for a while with
  multiarch, and I've recently pinned it down.

  When a native-architecture package is removed and a foreign-
  architecture package gets installed, dpkg makes a wrong calculation
  somewhere which, on upgrade, results in the foreign-architecture
  package being "disappeared" from the database.  This results in all
  the files from the package being left on disk (orphaned), and apt
  happily removing any dependencies of the package that were auto-
  installed.

  Reproducer:

  1.Download the 64-bit skype package from <http://www.skype.com/intl
  /en-us/get-skype/on-your-computer/linux/downloading.ubuntu64> and
  install it with dpkg (fixing up the dependencies with 'apt-get -f
  install').

  2. Install the skype:i386 package from the Canonical Partner repository for oneiric, using either Software Center or 'apt-get install skype:i386'.
  $ sudo apt-get install skype:i386
  Reading package lists... Done
  Building dependency tree
  Reading state information... Done
  The following packages will be REMOVED:
    skype
  The following NEW packages will be installed:
    skype:i386
  0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 1 to remove and 156 not upgraded.
  Need to get 0 B/23.6 MB of archives.
  After this operation, 489 kB of additional disk space will be used.
  Do you want to continue [Y/n]?

  3. Confirm that skype is now removed, but not purged.
  $ dpkg -l skype:*
  Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
  | Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
  |/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
  ||/ Name           Version        Description
  +++-==============-==============-============================================
  rc  skype          2.2.0.35-1     Skype
  ii  skype:i386     2.2.0.35-0onei VOIP and instant messaging client

  4. Make sure at least one package is out of date on the system and run 'sudo apt-get upgrade':
  [...]
  Preparing to replace libasound2-python 1.0.24.1-0ubuntu8 (using .../libasound2-p
  ython_1.0.24.1-0ubuntu10_amd64.deb) ...
  Unpacking replacement libasound2-python ...
  (Noting disappearance of skype:i386, which has been completely replaced.)
  [...]
  Setting up unity-2d (4.12.0-0ubuntu1) ...
  Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
  ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
  Processing triggers for python-support ...
  The following package disappeared from your system as
  all files have been overwritten by other packages:
    skype
  Note: This is done automatic and on purpose by dpkg.
  $

  5. See that skype:i386 really has been disappeared, and skype:amd64 is still in state 'rc'.
  $ dpkg -l skype:*
  Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
  | Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
  |/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
  ||/ Name           Version        Description
  +++-==============-==============-============================================
  rc  skype          2.2.0.35-1     Skype
  un  skype:i386     <none>         (no description available)

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
  Package: dpkg 1.16.0.3ubuntu4
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-11.18-generic 3.0.4
  Uname: Linux 3.0.0-11-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu2
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Fri Sep 30 13:48:16 2011
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100816.1)
  ProcEnviron:
   PATH=(custom, user)
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: dpkg
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to oneiric on 2011-09-23 (6 days ago)
  modified.conffile..etc.dpkg.dpkg.cfg: [modified]
  mtime.conffile..etc.dpkg.dpkg.cfg: 2011-08-16T12:02:14.243634

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