problems upgrading from 14.04 to 16.04

[J.L. Blom]

On 26/09/16 15:36, Tom H wrote:
> On Mon, Sep 26, 2016 at 9:26 AM, J.L. Blom <joep at neuroweave.nl> wrote:
>> On 26/09/16 14:53, Colin Law wrote:
>>> sudo apt-get  remove --purge gcc-5-base
>>> sudo apt-get autoremove
>>> sudo apt-get install gcc-5-base
>>>
>>> If that goes ok then
>>> sudo apt-get install -f
>> Thanks. However,  this doesn't work.
>> When I gave the first command, this is the result:
>>
>> joep at laguna:~$ sudo apt-get remove --purge gcc-5-base
>> [sudo] password for joep:
>> Reading package lists... Done
>> Building dependency tree
>> Reading state information... Done
>> You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these:
>> The following packages have unmet dependencies:
>>   gcj-5-jre-lib : Depends: gcc-5-base (>= 5.2.1-23) but it is not going to be
>> installed
>>   libgcj16 : Depends: gcc-5-base (>= 5.2.1-23) but it is not going to be
>> installed
>>   libstdc++6 : Depends: gcc-5-base (= 5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.2) but it is not
>> going to be installed
>>                Breaks: libkolabxml1 (<= 1.1.0-3) but 1.0.1-0ubuntu3 is to be
>> installed
>>                Breaks: libstdc++6:i386 (!= 5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.2) but
>> 6.2.0-3ubuntu11~14.04 is to be installed
>>   libstdc++6:i386 : Breaks: libstdc++6 (!= 6.2.0-3ubuntu11~14.04) but
>> 5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.2 is to be installed
>> E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify
>> a solution).
>>
>> As I see it it' a chicken & egg problem: all packages involved are not
>> installed because of the dependencies that aren't solved.
>> Is that solvable or do I have to try --force to remove gcc-5-base?
> Run
> apt-get install -s gcc-5-base=5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.2
> to check what'll happen.
>
> If it looks OK, run
> apt-get install gcc-5-base=5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.2
>
> If that doesn't work, you'll have to try to force it:
>
> apt-get install -s -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-all"
> gcc-5-base=5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.2
> then
> apt-get install -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-all"
> gcc-5-base=5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.2
>
Tom, thanks for the suggestions.
First, I don't think I downloaded this from a testing PPA as I always 
use only LTS for ubuntu.
Second, I followed your suggestions and neither the first nor the forged 
second version did do anything else than the chicken and egg problem. I 
think something -not directly mentioned in the error messages prevents 
the re-installation of the gcc-5-base library.
Maybe I have to forcibly remove this library, hoping at doesn't corrupt 
completely the rest of the system.
But any suggestion is welcome.
Joep