Installed wrong version of libpcap and can't get the right one back

[ediblestarling]

In playing around with some wireless network auditing tools I ran into a problem that told me to try and use a previous version of libpcap. In a rookie move I tried to install both the 64 bit and the i386 versions...and older versions at that. Didn't work correctly, and now I can't seem to get the proper version restored. I tried to start by uninstalling Wireshark, and here's what happens when I run into:

root@murray:/home/bill# sudo apt-get -f remove wireshark wireshark-common
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:
 libpcap0.8 : Breaks: libpcap0.8:i386 (!= 1.5.3-2) but 1.4.0-2 is to be installed
 libpcap0.8:i386 : Breaks: libpcap0.8 (!= 1.4.0-2) but 1.5.3-2 is to be installed
 libpcap0.8-dev:i386 : Depends: libpcap0.8:i386 (= 1.5.3-2) but 1.4.0-2 is to be installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

Following the instructions gives me this:

root@murray:/home/bill# apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  libalgorithm-diff-perl libalgorithm-diff-xs-perl libalgorithm-merge-perl
  libstdc++-4.8-dev
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following extra packages will be installed:
  libpcap0.8:i386
The following packages will be upgraded:
  libpcap0.8:i386
1 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 34 not upgraded.
3 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0 B/108 kB of archives.
After this operation, 9,216 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
(Reading database ... 216931 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libpcap0.8_1.5.3-2_i386.deb ...
Unpacking libpcap0.8:i386 (1.5.3-2) over (1.4.0-2) ...
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/libpcap0.8_1.5.3-2_i386.deb (--unpack):
 trying to overwrite shared '/usr/share/man/man7/pcap-filter.7.gz', which is different from other instances of package libpcap0.8:i386
Processing triggers for man-db (2.6.7.1-1) ...
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

And for reference the command I tried to use when rolling back libpcap:

wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/libp/libpcap/libpcap0.8_1.4.0-2_i386.deb http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/libp/libpcap/libpcap0.8-dev_1.4.0-2_i386.deb

then install:

sudo dpkg -i libpcap0.8_1.4.0-2_i386.deb libpcap0.8-dev_1.4.0-2_i386.deb Note: if you have a 64bit OS, then change out to: libpcap0.8_1.4.0-2_amd64.deb libpcap0.8-dev_1.4.0-2_amd64.deb

sudo dpkg -i libpcap0.8_1.4.0-2_amd64.deb libpcap0.8-dev_1.4.0-2_amd64.deb

I just hopped back on the Ubuntu wagon after 3 years away, and I know the forums are great so thank you very much to anyone who can help me get this sorted out!

[Jsmooth622]

I too am having this exact error, can not upgrade filesystem until this is resolved. PLEASE HELP!!!

[ediblestarling]

I thing it's time for a bit of a bump. Anyone able to help? I was thinking maybe I could just manually delete the files causing the conflict, but I don't know where to look for them.

[Bashing-om]

ediblestarling; Hello;

I can see where this could get "nasty", but as it has been so long and no other has responded; I will see what we can do.
What results:

sudo apt-get remove libpcap0.8

As we are messing about with system libraries, I strongly advise NOT to reboot the system once we start until this situation is under control.

Depending on how that command runs, and what the package manager advises is what determines our next step.

the longest journey begins

with that 1st step

[ediblestarling]

Yay! thanks for jumping down the rabbit hole with us. This is what I get:

colin@powell:~$ sudo apt-get remove libpcap0.8
[sudo] password for stephen: 
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:
 libpcap0.8-dev:i386 : Depends: libpcap0.8:i386 (= 1.5.3-2) but 1.4.0-2 is to be installed
 ppp : Depends: libpcap0.8 (>= 0.9.8) but it is not going to be installed
 reaver : Depends: libpcap0.8 (>= 0.9.8) but it is not going to be installed
 tcpdump : Depends: libpcap0.8 (>= 1.2.1) but it is not going to be installed
 wireshark : Depends: libpcap0.8 (>= 0.9.8) but it is not going to be installed
 wireshark-common : Depends: libpcap0.8 (>= 1.0.0) but it is not going to be installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

[Bashing-om]

ediblestarling; Good morning !

A bit the wiser, let's try:

sudo apt-get remove libpcap0.8-dev:i386

See what that will do for us,
As we work toward removing 'wireshark' .

a piece at the time

[ediblestarling]

Aye aye cap'n! Here's what I get (spoiler: more of the same):

george@michaels:~$ sudo apt-get remove libpcap0.8-dev:i386
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:
 libpcap0.8 : Breaks: libpcap0.8:i386 (!= 1.5.3-2) but 1.4.0-2 is to be installed
 libpcap0.8:i386 : Breaks: libpcap0.8 (!= 1.4.0-2) but 1.5.3-2 is to be installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

[Bashing-om]

ediblestarling; Well shucks !

As round and around we go !
Let's see if we can find out why we go R and R.
What returns:

apt-cache policy libpcap0.8
apt-cache policy libpcap0.8:i386

Presently the package manager says:
- ppp
- reaver
- tcpdump
- wireshark
- wireshark-common
Are broken !

Keeping in mind:

dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/libpcap0.8_1.5.3-2_i386.deb (--unpack):

such that there may be another way to deal with this.

Looking for a way

to break this viscous cycle

[Jsmooth622]

Firstly thank you for taking the time to help us with our dilemma! After imputing the above code, it returns:

thechildren@TheChildren:~$ apt-cache policy libpcap0.8
libpcap0.8:
Installed: 1.5.3-2
Candidate: 1.5.3-2
Version table:
*** 1.5.3-2 0
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
thechildren@TheChildren:~$ apt-cache policy libpcap0.8:i386
libpcap0.8:i386:
Installed: 1.4.0-2
Candidate: 1.5.3-2
Version table:
1.5.3-2 0
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/main i386 Packages
*** 1.4.0-2 0
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
thechildren@TheChildren:~$

[Bashing-om]

Jsmooth622; Well, maybe;

In your case try:

sudo apt-get remove libpcap0.8:i386

and we see what results, and where to go from here.
Please use code tags for the command outputs, to maintain formatting and readability.
code tag tutorial:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...8#post12776168

maybe yes

maybe not so yes