dependency cycle - HOWTO cure?

[ilna]

Hi!

With up to date Kubuntu Lucid (with backports) I have:

sudo apt-get --reinstall install x11-common x11-xkb-utils
[sudo] password for anli: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 2 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B/504kB of archives.
After this operation, 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? 
E: Couldn't configure pre-depend x11-common for x11-xkb-utils, probably a dependency cycle.

This error prevents from upgrading to Maveric. How to resolve the issue? How to find all others cycles (the thing is, upgrade procedure fetches all files at first, and then reports error)?

Additional information: temporary I had 'proposed' archive in my sources list. Probably, some evil trails still exist. How to clean them? And - how to regenerate all packages information? - I mean to force 'apt-get update' to reget all information and to rebuild all packages-related caches.

I see, too many questions

[xbruce]

Any solution to this problem?
I have the same problem though I am using the update-manager.
I am using Lucid and upgrading to the Maveric beta.
I get a window pop up that says "Could Not Install the upgrades. Error during commit."
The error message is:

'E:Couldn't configure pre-depend x11-common for x11-xkb-utils, probably a dependency cycle.'
Restoring original system state

Any help or ideas appreciated.

[ilna]

From console I have removed x11-xkb-utils (with all related packages from dependencies tree), and then installed 'xorg' (again, with all deps, of course). Now I'm writing from Maverick.

It's sad there are no common ways (or nobody knows) to resolve/answer all those question from the first thread message. They are essencial for every day use.

[coffeecat]

I should think it's the Backports repository that's causing problems when trying to upgrade to a release that's still in development. The Maverick backports repository is probably in an inconsistent state at the moment. Disable the backports repo, do a 'sudo apt-get update' and 'sudo apt-get upgrade' and then try your dist-upgrade again.

And @xbruce, do not use update-manager while Maverick is still in development.

@ilna, another thing. About the proposed repository. Are you aware of this:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuUpdates

Enabling the proposed updates repository can break your system. It is not recommended for inexperienced users.

Edit, @ilna, I see that you've managed to upgrade to Maverick, but...

They are essencial for every day use.

Upgrading to a development version is not "everyday use". The development version is provided for experienced users to try out in order to find bugs. Expect a rough ride before a version goes final.

[ilna]

I should think it's the Backports repository that's causing problems when trying to upgrade to a release that's still in development. The Maverick backports repository is probably in an inconsistent state at the moment. Disable the backports repo, do a 'sudo apt-get update' and 'sudo apt-get upgrade' and then try your dist-upgrade again.

As you can see in the first message, the problem isn't related to Maverick at all. It was just discovered on the way to Maverick.

[coffeecat]

As you can see in the first message, the problem isn't related to Maverick at all. It was just discovered on the way to Maverick.

Indeed. I misread your first post. Apologies.

Anyway, I should imagine the problem stems from either the Lucid backports or proposed repository. You said you temporarily enabled the proposed repo. Did you install anything from it? That's what I would point my finger at first. I see you removed x11-xkb-utils (with dependencies) and then reinstalled xorg. Was that after disabling proposed?

If not, I guess it was something from the backports repository which was the problem. Although the link I posted says of backports...

they can contain new features, but may also break compatibility with their older version. However, they are compiled specifically for your version of Ubuntu. In effect it saves you the hassle of broken dependencies and major downloads.

... perhaps in this case there was a dependency error.

[zabsv]

I was experiencing the same problem when trying to upgrade to Maverick, and I found a solution that may help others in the same situation.
Like you I had activated the proposed packages and that seems to have messed up the dependencies.
Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any way to easily revert to an older version of a package but I was lucky enough to find a older copy in the apt cache.

what I did was:
$ cd /var/cache/apt/archives
$ ls|grep xkb-utils
x11-xkb-utils_7.5+1_amd64.deb
x11-xkb-utils_7.5+5_amd64.deb

$ dpkg -i ./x11-xkb-utils_7.5+1_amd64.deb
- cut install info text here -

$ ls|grep x11-common
x11-common_1%3a7.5+6ubuntu3_all.deb

$ sudo dpkg -i ./x11-common_1%3a7.5+6ubuntu3_all.deb

Förbereder att ersätta x11-common 1:7.5+5ubuntu1 (med .../x11-common_1%3a7.5+6ubuntu3_all.deb)

- cut install info -

Note that although there is only one copy of x11-common in my cache, which should be the installed one, dpkg upgrades an older version.

I'm not sure why this happens, and I wouldn't be surprised if using dpkg to install packages from the cache creates other problems. But at least it seems to be possible to solve some dependency issues this way.

[robyshot]

I was experiencing the same problem when trying to upgrade to Maverick, and I found a solution that may help others in the same situation.
Like you I had activated the proposed packages and that seems to have messed up the dependencies.
Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any way to easily revert to an older version of a package but I was lucky enough to find a older copy in the apt cache.

what I did was:
$ cd /var/cache/apt/archives
$ ls|grep xkb-utils
x11-xkb-utils_7.5+1_amd64.deb
x11-xkb-utils_7.5+5_amd64.deb

$ dpkg -i ./x11-xkb-utils_7.5+1_amd64.deb
- cut install info text here -

$ ls|grep x11-common
x11-common_1%3a7.5+6ubuntu3_all.deb

$ sudo dpkg -i ./x11-common_1%3a7.5+6ubuntu3_all.deb

Förbereder att ersätta x11-common 1:7.5+5ubuntu1 (med .../x11-common_1%3a7.5+6ubuntu3_all.deb)

- cut install info -

Note that although there is only one copy of x11-common in my cache, which should be the installed one, dpkg upgrades an older version.

I'm not sure why this happens, and I wouldn't be surprised if using dpkg to install packages from the cache creates other problems. But at least it seems to be possible to solve some dependency issues this way.

this didn't work for me and if i try to remove these packages and reinstall xorg (as proprosed earlier) kpackagekit tries to remove 1.9 gb of apps and deps
how can i procede?

[robyshot]

this didn't work for me and if i try to remove these packages and reinstall xorg (as proprosed earlier) kpackagekit tries to remove 1.9 gb of apps and deps
how can i procede?

i resolved using this commands

dpkg --force-depends --remove x11-xkb-utils

dpkg --force-depends --remove x11-common

[kbrower]

I was experiencing the same problem when trying to upgrade to Maverick, and I found a solution that may help others in the same situation.
Like you I had activated the proposed packages and that seems to have messed up the dependencies.
Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any way to easily revert to an older version of a package but I was lucky enough to find a older copy in the apt cache.

what I did was:
$ cd /var/cache/apt/archives
$ ls|grep xkb-utils
x11-xkb-utils_7.5+1_amd64.deb
x11-xkb-utils_7.5+5_amd64.deb

$ dpkg -i ./x11-xkb-utils_7.5+1_amd64.deb
- cut install info text here -

$ ls|grep x11-common
x11-common_1%3a7.5+6ubuntu3_all.deb

$ sudo dpkg -i ./x11-common_1%3a7.5+6ubuntu3_all.deb

Förbereder att ersätta x11-common 1:7.5+5ubuntu1 (med .../x11-common_1%3a7.5+6ubuntu3_all.deb)

- cut install info -

Note that although there is only one copy of x11-common in my cache, which should be the installed one, dpkg upgrades an older version.

I'm not sure why this happens, and I wouldn't be surprised if using dpkg to install packages from the cache creates other problems. But at least it seems to be possible to solve some dependency issues this way.

Thanks this solution worked for me, after trying everything else up to this point in the thread.