Trouble with kde updates (repo config)

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#1

Under OpenSuSE 11.1I am having trouble with KDE 4 updates.

Just a little history; I tried to do an update yesterday, and I was having a continuous stream of error messages; I disabled a few of the more obscure repos to try to get that under control, but that didn’t work. It turns out that the problem was probably more to do with some problems on the network to which I was connected, rather than my box (some network ports blocked???), but, seemingly as a result I now have a situation in which I have various bits of kde 4 for which the ‘most up to date’ version is less recent than ‘the currently installed’ version, and I would like to put that right, before letting yast have a go at updating stuff.

I’ve had a look at the repo config and it looks ok to me (which probably just demonstrates how little I know). A couple of instant questions come to mind, to increase my understanding:

  • the priority determines which repo is used if the version numbers are equal. What if the numbers are not equal?
  • presumably, lower numbers represent higher priorities

On an only vaguely connected subject, I note that ‘apropos zypper’ doesn’t give any matches (nor does the equivalent ‘man -k zypper’), while ‘man zypper’ does. That can’t be right, can it?

here is the output of ‘zypper lr’, in case that helps

#  | Alias                                                    | Name                                                     | Enabled | Refresh
---+----------------------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+---------+--------
1  | 20090108-141023                                          | 20090108-141023                                          | No      | Yes
2  | 20090514-162334                                          | 20090514-162334                                          | No      | Yes
3  | Education                                                | Education                                                | Yes     | Yes
4  | Factory_KDE4                                             | Factory KDE4                                             | Yes     | Yes
5  | KDE:42                                                   | KDE:42                                                   | Yes     | Yes
6  | KDE_4.2_community_repo                                   | KDE 4.2 community repo                                   | Yes     | Yes
7  | KDE_4.2_repo                                             | KDE 4.2 repo                                             | Yes     | Yes
8  | Packman_(Halifax/Aachen)                                 | Packman (Halifax/Aachen)                                 | No      | Yes
9  | devel:tools:building                                     | devel:tools:building                                     | Yes     | Yes
10 | downloads                                                | downloads                                                | Yes     | Yes
11 | home:MasterPatricko                                      | home:MasterPatricko                                      | No      | Yes
12 | home:dmitry_serpokryl:Enlightenment-cvs-core-metapackage | home:dmitry_serpokryl:Enlightenment-cvs-core-metapackage | No      | Yes
13 | home:hfiguiere                                           | home:hfiguiere                                           | No      | Yes
14 | home:j-engel                                             | home:j-engel                                             | No      | Yes
15 | openSUSE 11.1-0                                          | openSUSE 11.1-0                                          | Yes     | No
16 | openSUSE-11.1-Updates                                    | openSUSE-11.1-Updates                                    | Yes     | Yes
17 | openSUSE:11.1:NonFree                                    | openSUSE:11.1:NonFree                                    | Yes     | Yes
18 | repo-debug                                               | openSUSE-11.1-Debug                                      | No      | Yes
19 | repo-non-oss                                             | openSUSE-11.1-Non-Oss                                    | Yes     | Yes
20 | repo-oss                                                 | openSUSE-11.1-Oss                                        | Yes     | Yes
21 | repo-source                                              | openSUSE-11.1-Source                                     | No      | Yes
22 | repo-update                                              | openSUSE-11.1-Update                                     | Yes     | Yes
23 | science                                                  | science                                                  | No      | Yes
#2

Not really sure what your 1st and 2nd repositories are, but your 4th repository is conflicting with upgrading to 4.2 since it’s actually housing the kde 4.3 beta.

So get rid of the 4th repository (KDE4 factory)

Also re-enable the packman repository #8

It might help if you give the output of

zypper lr --details

so we can see what the websites are and your priorities, as having certain repositories at certain priorities can screw things up as well.

Take Care,

Ian

#3

Here you go

zypper lr --details
#  | Alias                                                    | Name                                                     | Enabled | Refresh | Priority | Type     | URI                                                                                                                 | Service
---+----------------------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+---------+---------+----------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------
1  | 20090108-141023                                          | 20090108-141023                                          | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/server%3a/monitoring/openSUSE_11.1/                                       |
2  | 20090514-162334                                          | 20090514-162334                                          | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home%3a/lemmy04/openSUSE_11.1/                                            |
3  | Education                                                | Education                                                | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Education/openSUSE_11.1/                                                  |
4  | Factory_KDE4                                             | Factory KDE4                                             | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE%3a/KDE4%3a/Factory%3a/Desktop/openSUSE_11.1                           |
5  | KDE:42                                                   | KDE:42                                                   | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/42/openSUSE_11.1/                                                    |
6  | KDE_4.2_community_repo                                   | KDE 4.2 community repo                                   | Yes     | Yes     |  100     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE%3a/KDE4%3a/Community/openSUSE_11.1_KDE_42/                            |
7  | KDE_4.2_repo                                             | KDE 4.2 repo                                             | Yes     | Yes     |  100     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE%3a/42/openSUSE_11.1                                                   |
8  | Packman_(Halifax/Aachen)                                 | Packman (Halifax/Aachen)                                 | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/packman/suse/11.1/                                                                |
9  | devel:tools:building                                     | devel:tools:building                                     | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:/tools:/building/openSUSE_11.1/                                     |
10 | downloads                                                | downloads                                                | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | plaindir | dir:///home/markw/downloads/                                                                                        |
11 | home:MasterPatricko                                      | home:MasterPatricko                                      | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/MasterPatricko/openSUSE_11.1/                                       |
12 | home:dmitry_serpokryl:Enlightenment-cvs-core-metapackage | home:dmitry_serpokryl:Enlightenment-cvs-core-metapackage | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/dmitry_serpokryl:/Enlightenment-cvs-core-metapackage/openSUSE_11.1/ |
13 | home:hfiguiere                                           | home:hfiguiere                                           | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/hfiguiere/openSUSE_11.1/                                            |
14 | home:j-engel                                             | home:j-engel                                             | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/j-engel/openSUSE_11.1/                                              |
15 | openSUSE 11.1-0                                          | openSUSE 11.1-0                                          | Yes     | No      |   99     | yast2    | cd:///?devices=/dev/sr0                                                                                             |
16 | openSUSE-11.1-Updates                                    | openSUSE-11.1-Updates                                    | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/update/11.1                                                                            |
17 | openSUSE:11.1:NonFree                                    | openSUSE:11.1:NonFree                                    | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | yast2    | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/openSUSE:/11.1:/NonFree/standard/                                         |
18 | repo-debug                                               | openSUSE-11.1-Debug                                      | No      | Yes     |  100     | NONE     | http://download.opensuse.org/debug/distribution/11.1/repo/oss/                                                      |
19 | repo-non-oss                                             | openSUSE-11.1-Non-Oss                                    | Yes     | Yes     |  100     | yast2    | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.1/repo/non-oss/                                                        |
20 | repo-oss                                                 | openSUSE-11.1-Oss                                        | Yes     | Yes     |  100     | yast2    | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.1/repo/oss/                                                            |
21 | repo-source                                              | openSUSE-11.1-Source                                     | No      | Yes     |  100     | NONE     | http://download.opensuse.org/source/distribution/11.1/repo/oss/                                                     |
22 | repo-update                                              | openSUSE-11.1-Update                                     | Yes     | Yes     |   20     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/update/11.1/                                                                           |
23 | science                                                  | science                                                  | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/science/openSUSE_11.1/                                                    |

an example of the problem is kde4-akonadi for which the installed version is 4.2.3-2.3 and the available version is 4.1.3-3.14.19, which doesn’t seem ideal

#4

Ah, thought so. Your update repository has a priority of 20, whereas your kde repository has a priority of 99. Since the update repository houses kde 4.1.3 packages it will take precedent over the kde repository and thus give you tons of a conflicts when you try to upgrade.

First I’d like you to read this:

Repository Management - openSUSE Forums

This will explain to you how to manage your repositories.

Then read this:

KDE4.2.* (How To Add) Guide. - openSUSE Forums

This will explain to you what repositories are needed for kde 4.2.

You already have the repositories enabled and all you really need to do is get rid of the Factory repository and re-enable the packman repository, but those links will give you a better idea of how to keep your system up to par, without having all the hassle.

Good Luck,

Ian

#5

…but as you can see above, I’ve already done that…and now I’ve tried putting the kde repo at 19 and that’s done nothing, either

#6

What reason do you have to keep the KDE factory repository? You have it disabled but I would just delete it.

Also you have the kde 4.2 repos set at priority 100! That means not only will update get priority over them, so will everything else! The lower the number the higher priority.

Which is why I wanted you to read those two how-to’s because they tell you how to manage your repositories. As you can see you had two things wrong with your repositories.

1st. You have update set at 20 (which is fine but if you want something to have priority over it put its priority at 19).

2nd. You have the kde 42 repositories set at 100 so OSS, NON-OSS, UPDATE, and every other repository has precedence over the kde 42 repositories.

Also you have two of the same repositories, so get rid of the #7 kde 42 repository.

So set the two kde 42 repositories at 19, then try to upgrade, if you get conflicts post them here and we’ll get them straightened out.

Take Care,

Ian

#7

Sorry, I made a mistake, anything that has a 99 priority or a lower number would have precedence over the 42 repos when the 42 repos are set at 100. The ones at 100 will have the same precedence but Yast will take the higher package.

#8

OK, got it fixed now - well at least fixed in the sense that the most up-to-date packages are the most up-to-date ones and not older.

For me, the answer was (just in case it helps someone else):


zypper lr --details
#  | Alias                                                    | Name                                                     | Enabled | Refresh | Priority | Type     | URI                                                                                                                 | Service
---+----------------------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+---------+---------+----------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------
1  | 20090108-141023                                          | 20090108-141023                                          | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | [Index of /repositories/server:/monitoring/openSUSE_11.1](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/server%3a/monitoring/openSUSE_11.1/)                                       |     
2  | 20090514-162334                                          | 20090514-162334                                          | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | [Index of /repositories/home:/lemmy04/openSUSE_11.1](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home%3a/lemmy04/openSUSE_11.1/)                                            |     
3  | Education                                                | Education                                                | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | [Index of /repositories/Education/openSUSE_11.1](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Education/openSUSE_11.1/)                                                  |     
4  | Factory_KDE4                                             | Factory KDE4                                             | No      | Yes     |  110     | rpm-md   | [Index of /repositories/KDE:/KDE4:/Factory:/Desktop/openSUSE_11.1](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE%3a/KDE4%3a/Factory%3a/Desktop/openSUSE_11.1)                           |     
5  | KDE:42                                                   | KDE:42                                                   | Yes     | Yes     |   19     | rpm-md   | [Index of /repositories/KDE:/42/openSUSE_11.1](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/42/openSUSE_11.1/)                                                    |     
6  | KDE_4.2_community_repo                                   | KDE 4.2 community repo                                   | Yes     | Yes     |  100     | rpm-md   | [Index of /repositories/KDE:/KDE4:/Community/openSUSE_11.1_KDE_42](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE%3a/KDE4%3a/Community/openSUSE_11.1_KDE_42/)                            |     
7  | KDE_4.2_repo                                             | KDE 4.2 repo                                             | Yes     | Yes     |  100     | rpm-md   | [Index of /repositories/KDE:/42/openSUSE_11.1](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE%3a/42/openSUSE_11.1)                                                   |     
8  | Packman_(Halifax/Aachen)                                 | Packman (Halifax/Aachen)                                 | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | [Index of /packman/suse/11.1](http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/packman/suse/11.1/)                                                                |     
9  | devel:tools:building                                     | devel:tools:building                                     | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | [Index of /repositories/devel:/tools:/building/openSUSE_11.1](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:/tools:/building/openSUSE_11.1/)                                     |     
10 | downloads                                                | downloads                                                | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | plaindir | dir:///home/markw/downloads/                                                                                        |     
11 | home:MasterPatricko                                      | home:MasterPatricko                                      | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | [Index of /repositories/home:/MasterPatricko/openSUSE_11.1](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/MasterPatricko/openSUSE_11.1/)                                       |     
12 | home:dmitry_serpokryl:Enlightenment-cvs-core-metapackage | home:dmitry_serpokryl:Enlightenment-cvs-core-metapackage | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | [Index of /repositories/home:/dmitry_serpokryl:/Enlightenment-cvs-core-metapackage/openSUSE_11.1](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/dmitry_serpokryl:/Enlightenment-cvs-core-metapackage/openSUSE_11.1/) |     
13 | home:hfiguiere                                           | home:hfiguiere                                           | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | [Index of /repositories/home:/hfiguiere/openSUSE_11.1](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/hfiguiere/openSUSE_11.1/)                                            |     
14 | home:j-engel                                             | home:j-engel                                             | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | [Index of /repositories/home:/j-engel/openSUSE_11.1](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/j-engel/openSUSE_11.1/)                                              |     
15 | openSUSE 11.1-0                                          | openSUSE 11.1-0                                          | Yes     | No      |   90     | yast2    | cd:///?devices=/dev/sr0                                                                                             |     
16 | openSUSE:11.1:NonFree                                    | openSUSE:11.1:NonFree                                    | Yes     | Yes     |   80     | yast2    | [Index of /distribution/11.1/repo/non-oss](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/openSUSE:/11.1:/NonFree/standard/)                                         |     
17 | repo-debug                                               | openSUSE-11.1-Debug                                      | No      | Yes     |  100     | NONE     | [Index of /debug/distribution/11.1/repo/oss](http://download.opensuse.org/debug/distribution/11.1/repo/oss/)                                                      |     
18 | repo-non-oss                                             | openSUSE-11.1-Non-Oss                                    | Yes     | Yes     |  100     | yast2    | [Index of /distribution/11.1/repo/non-oss](http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.1/repo/non-oss/)                                                        |     
19 | repo-oss                                                 | openSUSE-11.1-Oss                                        | Yes     | Yes     |  100     | yast2    | [Index of /distribution/11.1/repo/oss](http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.1/repo/oss/)                                                            |     
20 | repo-source                                              | openSUSE-11.1-Source                                     | No      | Yes     |  100     | NONE     | [Index of /source/distribution/11.1/repo/oss](http://download.opensuse.org/source/distribution/11.1/repo/oss/)                                                     |     
21 | repo-update                                              | openSUSE-11.1-Update                                     | Yes     | Yes     |  102     | rpm-md   | [Index of /update/11.1](http://download.opensuse.org/update/11.1/)                                                                           |     
22 | science                                                  | science                                                  | No      | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md   | [Index of /repositories/science/openSUSE_11.1](http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/science/openSUSE_11.1/)                                                    |

Interestingly (?) another of the things that doesn’t work as well with kde4 as kde3 is that it is more difficult to get very wide screen captures for console, with wrap (the key is make it as wide as you can and then shrink the font…you didn’t have to shrink the font on kde3, as you could get, more or less, arbitrarily wide konsoles…even using the kde3 version of konsole under kde4 doesn’t allow this).

#9 
6  | KDE_4.2_community_repo                                   | KDE 4.2 community repo                                   | Yes     | Yes     |  100     | rpm-md   | Index of /repositories/KDE:/KDE4:/Community/openSUSE_11.1_KDE_42                            |     
7  | KDE_4.2_repo                                             | KDE 4.2 repo                                             | Yes     | Yes     |  100     | rpm-md   | Index of /repositories/KDE:/42/openSUSE_11.1                                                   |

Switch these to 19 as well.

You’re very persistent for someone asking for help. As you halfway followed most of the advice given to you.

I’m glad everything’s working out fine for you but priorities of 19,80, 99, 100, 102, 110 and a lot of your repos aren’t even enabled is…well, it’s just very sloppy I guess.

It would be so much more easier and beneficial for future reference if you follow those links so if you have package management problems in the future it’ll be easier to fix. If you provide that to someone else asking for zypper lr, they’ll probably tell you the same thing.

As I said before, Glad everything’s working for you :slight_smile:

Take Care,

Ian

#10

And for anybody else reading this for help, don’t follow his results, follow the two links I provided above (as they were written by a moderator who has a lot of experience in the matter) and you should be fine.

Take Care,

Ian

#11

What I wanted, and what I asked direct questions about, concerned understanding of how the system worked. As it happened, provoked by the lack of assistance in what I actually asked about, I did some experiments, including what you suggested, to try to discover how it worked (OK, I could have done that without asking a question at all, but I thought asking someone who knew would be helpful, rather than digging in and finding out for myself) and now I know.

Incidentally, I had read both of the threads that you suggested before starting this thread (twice), and it is because thay hadn’t helped in the way that I wanted that I did this.

And I was following the advice directly given in one of them

Post questions in a new thread in the forum: http://forums.opensuse.org/

a lot of your repos aren’t even enabled is…well, it’s just very sloppy I guess.

I strongly prefer leaving any repos that have been used in either/both disabled or at a low priority and that’s one of the reasons that I found your advice not directly applicable.

follow the two links I provided above (as they were written by a moderator who has a lot of experience in the matter) and you should be fine.

Note the advice given about priorities

…priority. By default you should probably NOT change these.

This is directly contrary to what you were telling me to do, although you could argue that I wasn’t in the default category.

#12

I do the same, leaving any repo addresses that I have used but don’t plan to use in the future as disabled - just in case.

I find it easier to change the priority number for all the repos that I use as 99.

#13

By default you should probably NOT change these. Therefore, advice given here is for advanced users who understand the implications. In order to achieve the correct installation of some 3rd party packages, such as those from Packman, you may need to set the priority of the OSS and NON-OSS repositories to a higher number than Packman. See the screen:

In my example the oss and non-oss are set to 120 and everything else to 99. In a default install the Update repo will be a lower number (20). However in my case, I don’t want it having priority over packages in some of my Factory repositories.

In general, keep your repositories to a minimum to avoid conflicts and breakage. A good choice would be those added by default at install: oss, non-oss, updates + just ‘Packman’ and ATI or Nvidia if you need these. That should give you all you need. The exception being if you need the libdvdcss package from the VLC repo. To acquire this, add the VLC repo – install libdvdcss and then disable this repo

Okay, I understand you wanted to know more about the system. Those two links provide everything you need to know. I would like to consider myself an advanced user when it comes to repositories, so taking advice from someone who already has KDE4 (BETA 2 to be exact) running, would be perfectly acceptable. I’ve installed openSUSE 11.1 with KDE 4 on many machines and have updated with no problems.

**I’ve had a look at the repo config and it looks ok to me (which probably just demonstrates how little I know). **A couple of instant questions come to mind, to increase my understanding:
the priority determines which repo is used if the version numbers are equal. What if the numbers are not equal?
presumably, lower numbers represent higher priorities

Yes, you’re correct, the priority determins which repo is used. The lower the number, the higher the priority, and visa versa.

So, with your problem, you had update repo at priority 20 (this is the default). The update repo has kde 4.1.3 packages in it. So these 4.1.3 packages take priority over any other packages, even if they’re newer packages (which is why it said you were up to date but there were newer packages). If two repositories have the same priority, then Yast or zypper will use the most up to date packages from both of them, since they’re equal priority.

So, for example (these are all hypothetical numbers), you have both KDE 42 and KDE 42 playground repositories enabled and set at 99. The KDE 42 desktop repository has amarok version 2.0.98, and the KDE 42 playground repository has amarok version 2.0.90. The package manager will use the amarok from KDE 42 playground since it has a higher package version.

Now, same repos and priorities. KDE 42 has K3b 1.1. KDE 42 playground has K3b 1.0.5. The package manager will take the package from KDE 42 repository because it has a higher package version.

So if you have two repositories set at the same priority, the package manager will take the highest package. This is why it’s preferred to have all repositories set to 99 except the two that the link states.

Sorry for saying your repository management was sloppy and I understand that my advice about cleaning it up was not applicable to you.

I’m at work now so if you have any other questions I’ll be happy to answer them later. Sorry if you got a wrong impression of me. I try to be as helpful as I can be, it was just that you didn’t fully follow my directions. But now I know understand why.

Take Care,

Ian