ianw1974 Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 I just borked a Debian install, when attempting to use the "unstable" repos. So, perhaps I got something wrong there :) Now, I've reinstalled with Debian, currently using stable repos. So, any ideas how I should be configuring my repos so I don't break it again. I want to have the latest packages, so believe that I either have to use testing/unstable for this. Here is my current /etc/apt/sources.list file: elan:/home/ian# cat /etc/apt/sources.list #deb file:///cdrom/ sarge main deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 r0a _Sarge_ - Official i386 Binary-2 (20050607)]/ unstable contrib main deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 r0a _Sarge_ - Official i386 Binary-1 (20050607)]/ unstable contrib main deb http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main contrib deb http://ftp.pl.debian.org/debian/ stable main contrib non-free Some questions. 1. Is it safe to disable the DVD media now, and just go directly from the internet? Since, it never really used these during installation anyhow, and downloaded a load of packages from the internet instead of using DVD 1 and 2. 2. If I add the testing and/or unstable repos, so I leave the stable ones in place, or do I remove these completely (or just # them out)? Any ideas, I don't really fancy borking it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 Ok, once you've got a system up and running, you've got no need for the CD's. If you use testing or unstable testing packages, then you're better off dist-upgrading all the way up to testing or unstable respectively. Library versions and such will differ between different repos, and as a result, packages from unstable, probably wont even run on stable. The same may also apply with testing. debian unstable... in my experience, isnt very unstable, it's far more solid than mandriva. You're probably best just dist-upgrading straight to it if you want the latest stuff. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted February 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 OK, so, what I should do is this then: 1. Change repo from below to unstable (disabling CD and all other repos), so: deb http://ftp.pl.debian.org/debian/ stable main contrib non-free becomes: deb http://ftp.pl.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free 2. apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade and that should pretty much do the trick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 Yeah, I suppose it should. But it has been a little while since i used debian. Though what ever changes in debian ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted February 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 OK, that was kinda pretty much how I did it last time, except that I did: apt-get upgrade first, followed by: apt-get dist-upgrade second. Maybe that was what borked it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted February 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 Hmmm, not really sure about doing this. As this will do what it did last time. With the dist-upgrade, it's going to remove the 2.4 kernel that comes with stable. Which means, I need to install a kernel first. But installing that kernel first, wants to install a whole load of other packages too, and removing a lot of stuff as well. So might have to do the kernel install first, reboot with this, and then finish with the dist-upgrade. Think will leave it for the time being, and do next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polemicz Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 I'd recommend doing a net install of the most recent Etch and then changing to unstable, so so much changed from Sarge and the older kernels (including the 2.6.8 in Sarge) as well as xfree to xorg. You can do a minimal install of Etch (just the basic system) then change your sources to unstable and do an apt-get update followed by apt-get dist-upgrade. Also right now there is little difference between Etch and unstable. Seems that when Etch froze things quieted on the unstable front. That will change when Etch goes stable. My experience from the past is that unstable and testing are most unstable after the release of a new stable. When Sarge came out I waited a couple of months before upgrading to testing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 Hmmm, not really sure about doing this. As this will do what it did last time. With the dist-upgrade, it's going to remove the 2.4 kernel that comes with stable. If that's the case then you don't have the current stable (from memory) Which means, I need to install a kernel first. But installing that kernel first, wants to install a whole load of other packages too, and removing a lot of stuff as well. So might have to do the kernel install first, reboot with this, and then finish with the dist-upgrade. Think will leave it for the time being, and do next week. If you do that then the HAL/DBUS stuff won't work... it needs a 2.6 kernel... Your current upgrade is old stable to new ... and its apt-get update & apt-get dist-upgrade (not apt-get upgrade) btw If your install is really minimal (no Xorg etc.) it might be efficient to do this... but if not its best to start from unstable just like polemicz suggests. My experience from the past is that unstable and testing are most unstable after the release of a new stable. True and the time leading up to it which is one reason why the whole kanotix thing happened ... I'd really suggest you use the link to h2's script I sent you ... it will do everything including your sources but I would do as suggested above and install unstable from scratch first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 I second to do an etch net-install and swith then the repos to unstable. Upgrading from sarge to etch (or sid) is quite problematic because of the kernel and the new X base. It's not to say that it is impossible or really not recommended, but imho, the net-install approach is way faster and will cause you less trouble adjusting the x server and other library issues you might run into. I keep my system running on the "testing" branch. That way I have a rolling but quite stable distro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagwah Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 arctic (or anyone else), I have just downloaded and installed from the netinstall iso, went through and selected the repositories etc, it is now downloading and installing the software for the 'Desktop' choice I think it was called. well, was there somewhere I should have changed the repos to unstable, or do I do this later? I didn't really see anywhere I could have done it, I was using the GUI Installer though, if that makes any difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 You will have to switch the repos later through synaptic or from by editing your /etc/apt/sources.list file with an editor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 You will have to switch the repos later through synaptic or from by editing your /etc/apt/sources.list file with an editor. Yes but the installer allows you to choose unstable right at the beginning... least mine did? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 I think mine didn't... or am I wrong? It's been such a long time ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 I think mine didn't... or am I wrong? It's been such a long time ago... Yep ... thats the thing about rolling distro's..... install seems so long away in a galaxy far far away... It was the excuse (I say excuse cos I don't think its a good reason) the installer was so basic for so long... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted February 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2007 Yeah, it's Debian 3.1, stable so sarge. Oh, and: apt-get upgrade is an OK command. The update, updates the repositories, the upgrade does a minimal package upgrade, prob security related stuff, and dist-upgrade rolls in the new kernels, and other stuff. I found this out when trying to get this sorted. Will see how my install works out, and if not, then I'll get etch and work with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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