[Bradford] Linux Help Please!

[Brian A]

Afaik the Ubuntu Software Centre uses apt-get. I would expect the Mint one
to be similar - though I know that the GUI interface on Mint is different.
Hence it will hang if, as you say, apt-get is not working.
Sometimes it is best to uninstall packages and start again. In this case
you need to 'apt-get purge' to get rid of the settings, as well as apt-get
remove. If apt get has been corrupted that I'm not sure what you can do to
get it back.
While I am typing this there are probably others doing the same. You could
see if 'aptitude' is there and try using that to do an install, but I think
that was left out of the Ubuntu repos so it probably isn't in Mint either -
but worth a try.
You can also try 'dpkg PACKAGENAME' to reconfigure packages.

I don't know how you do your installs but it is wise to put your home
folder on a separate partition. That way it is not much bother at all to
reinstall and you still have all your settings. I tend to try stuff out on
my working system instead of using VirtualBox - occasionally I've trashed
the system and I just do a reinstall - it is hardly any trouble at all.


On 5 January 2014 21:25, Brian A <bradlug at techchico.org.uk> wrote:

> Afaik the Ubuntu Software Centre uses apt-get. I would expect the Mint one
> to be similar - though I know that the GUI interface on Mint is different.
> Hence it will hang if, as you say, apt-get is not working.
> Sometimes it is best to uninstall packages and start again. In this case
> you need to 'apt-get purge' to get rid of the settings, as well as apt-get
> remove. If apt get has been corrupted that I'm not sure what you can do to
> get it back.
> While I am typing this there are probably others doing the same. You could
> see if 'aptitude' is there and try using that to do an install, but I think
> that was left out of the Ubuntu repos so it probably isn't in Mint either -
> but worth a try.
> You can also try 'dpkg PACKAGENAME' to reconfigure packages.
>
> I don't know how you do your installs but it is wise to put your home
> folder on a separate partition. That way it is not much bother at all to
> reinstall and you still have all your settings. I tend to try stuff out on
> my working system instead of using VirtualBox - occasionally I've trashed
> the system and I just do a reinstall - it is hardly any trouble at all.
>
> Brian
>
>
> On 5 January 2014 21:10, David Bolton <david at nucleon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> Hoping that you will be able to point me in the right direction ;-)
>>
>> I appear to have borked my Software Manager utility in Mint
>> (mintinstall.py)
>>
>> I was trying to uninstall GnuPG - and during the process the program
>> hung.  After cancelling, and restarting, it now always hangs when I select
>> a package in order to see details/reviews.
>>
>> I have tried reinstalling mintinstall by using "sudo apt-get install
>> mintinstall" - but I got the message:
>>
>> > sudo: apt-get: command not found
>>
>> Then I just typed: "apt-get" and got the bizarre message:
>>
>> > The program 'apt-get' is currently not installed. You can install it by
>> typing:
>> > sudo apt-get install apt
>>
>> So I type: "sudo apt-get install apt" - and get the message:
>>
>> > sudo: apt-get: command not found
>>
>> Searching my hard disc, I see that the apt-get script is still there...
>>
>> Before I keep going in ever decreasing circles, and disappear up my own
>> backside, I'd like to know if there is a way out of this without
>> reinstalling the complete OS from scratch.
>>
>> (ps. please don't just say "Mint? You don't want to use that! You should
>> use <insert fave distro> instead! ;-)
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> David
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Bradford mailing list
>> Bradford at mailman.lug.org.uk
>> https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bradford
>>
>
>
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