Urgent: RPM & URPMI broken, can't install anything.

System: Mandriva 2008.1 (Cooker), x86_64

After trying to install a small application, I failed to notice that
it was also uninstalling stuff from the system (idiotic dependencies)
- had _nothing_ to do with using cooker. I managed to stop the
removals after a few files removed, so damage limited. However, it
managed to break / delete the use of RPM and URPMI.

Now when I try to install an application (the ones below) I get the
following error:

"rpm: error while loading shared libraries: librpm-4.4.so: cannot open
shared object file: No such file or directory"

The following files were removed before interrupted by me.

removing package drakxtools-curses-10.6.23-1mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package lib64gwsoap0-3.5.9-4mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package perl-URPM-3.11-1mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package urpmi-5.6-1mdv2008.1.noarch
removing package libwnck-2.21.92-1mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package usermode-1.94-1mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package lib64bonoboui2_0-2.21.90-1mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package hylafax-5.2.0-2mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package pan-0.132-3mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package gnome-python-canvas-2.21.1-1mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package perl-Gtk2-Notify-0.04-2mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package openoffice.org64-core-2.3.99.4-2mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package lib64rpm4.4-4.4.2.3-0.rc1.2mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package rpmdrake-4.3.1-1mdv2008.1.noarch
removing package lib64kdesdk1-3.5.9-2mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package lib64kdegames1-3.5.9-1mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package lib64gs8-8.61-59mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package compiz-decorator-gtk-0.7.0-3mdv2008.1.x86_64
removing package tetex-3.0-46mdv2008.1.x86_64

I copied over some of these files to a memory card using Knoppix
(won't allow me to write to any Linux partition) using the files from
the Mandriva install DVD, but they can't install when back in Mandriva
- the error above occurs.

Any suggestions on how to fix this. There are one or two _small_
things broken, but most the system is actually running fine.
Re-installing the entire OS is the least favourite option, considering
how much of the system it will break.

Darius

Darius wrote:[color=blue]
> System: Mandriva 2008.1 (Cooker), x86_64
>
> After trying to install a small application, I failed to notice that
> it was also uninstalling stuff from the system (idiotic dependencies)
> - had _nothing_ to do with using cooker.[/color]

Cooker contains packages with software expected to have problems.
You download from cooker, see if it works, report when it does not,
and generally expect that anything on the system may be broken
at any time by upgrades either in isolation or combination or
complex interplay.

If you are going to use Cooker, you should have a complete backup
of all system software -- that works -- on hand at all times. When
all goes to Hotel in a handbasket, you simply restore everything
from backup.

In the last few weeks, most of the Cooker rpm/urpmi packages have
been replaced at least three or four times. Interrupting the update
process while these are being updated is a sure recipe for problems.
In the last 48 hours, Cooker has provided at least 180 update
packages for my system. Most were minor changes from earlier
update packages installed less than a week earlier. If you do not
want this constant churn of flaky software, do not use Cooker.

And you probably do not want to use Backports either, as these
are more likely to break your system than basic release and updates
alone. Do get update pacakages, as you need them for security
reasons, as well as to correct major flaws that come to light
after the basic system is released.

If you have no backup, reinstall the OS as an upgrade, or use rescue
mode to fix things if you know how. (You do not, or you would not
have the problems you currently have.) Make sure your mirrors are
properly set for the correct version and the amount of broken
software you are prepared to cope with.

Cheers!

jim b.


--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly; it merely
expects users to be computer-friendly.