[clug] Ubu 10.04 apt upgrade fail / low disk space / old kernel removal problems

[Scott Ferguson]

On 24/03/12 14:11, Ben Davies wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I've encountered a circular problem whilst trying to do a kernel
> update for Ubuntu 10.04 & was wondering if anyone can help. The update
> failed on one of the kernel packages, with the log message reported a
> disk full error. The log is included below. I found several old kernel
> packages, and tried to remove them, but apt-get failed with the
> following:
> 
> $ sudo apt-get purge linux-headers-2.6.32-33-generic
> <snip some lines>
> You might want to run `apt-get -f install' to correct these:
> The following packages have unmet dependencies:
>   linux-headers-2.6.32-40-generic: Depends: linux-headers-2.6.32-40
> but it is not going to be installed
> E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or
> specify a solution).
> 
> Obviously I can't fix the packages due to the disk space problem, and
> perusing the manpages and some blogs didn't locate option (I am sick
> as a dog, so may have missed something in my drugged up state).
> 
> How would I go about safely repairing this?
> 
> 
> Ben
> 
> 
> ----- Update LOG ------

1. Clear some space

Unless you have a separate /boot partition - the simplest way to clear
some space is probably just to clear your package cache (if it's not set
to autoclear already).

Check space used:-
# du -h /var/cache/apt/archives/

If you want to clear it:-
# apt-get clean


2. Don't take drugs while running as root (or with scissors).

3. See what a "forced" install is going to do.
# apt-get -sf install | less


NOTE: "old kernel removal problems" - to remove the old kernel is a
different task (eg. apt-get *remove* $kernel)


Kind regards