[Bradford] Linux Help Please!

[David Bolton]

Many thanks Brian,

This is v14.1 - which is still mainly based on Ubuntu repos, I think 
(they seem to be gradually moving towards vanilla Debian)

But it does have apt too. I've tried using apt to install a new apt-get 
but that failed. I'll have another go when I've got time. Purging may 
well be necessary first - the command seems to be part of the "apt" 
collection too.

But I need to do some more backing up before I do anything more 
drastic....  ;-)

Dave

On 05/01/14 21:27, Brian A 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.
>
>
> On 5 January 2014 21:25, Brian A <bradlug at techchico.org.uk 
> <mailto: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
>     <mailto: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
>
>
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>
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