Package: dpkg Version: 1.10.9 The short story:
This is an unstable machine. Dpkg has problems to untar deb archives. So version 1.10.9 cannot upgrade itself to 1.10.10. frodo:/# apt-get install dpkg Reading Package Lists... Done Building Dependency Tree... Done 1 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 131 not upgraded. Need to get 0B/1140kB of archives. After unpacking 16.4kB will be freed. dpkg-deb (subprocess): failed to exec tar: Too many levels of symbolic links dpkg-deb: subprocess tar returned error exit status 2 dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/dpkg_1.10.10_i386.deb (--unpack): subprocess dpkg-deb --control returned error exit status 2 Errors were encountered while processing: /var/cache/apt/archives/dpkg_1.10.10_i386.deb E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) the long story: I realised this when it failed to install some .deb packages like minicom: frodo:~# apt-get install minicom Reading Package Lists... Done Building Dependency Tree... Done The following NEW packages will be installed: minicom 0 packages upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 132 not upgraded. 12 packages not fully installed or removed. Need to get 0B/274kB of archives. After unpacking 913kB will be used. Preconfiguring packages ... dpkg-deb (subprocess): failed to exec tar: Too many levels of symbolic links dpkg-deb: subprocess tar returned error exit status 2 dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/minicom_2.1-2_i386.deb (--unpack): subprocess dpkg-deb --control returned error exit status 2 Errors were encountered while processing: /var/cache/apt/archives/minicom_2.1-2_i386.deb E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) Also trying to get the package directly does not help: frodo:/tmp# dpkg -i minicom_2.1-2_i386.deb dpkg-deb (subprocess): failed to exec tar: Too many levels of symbolic links dpkg-deb: subprocess tar returned error exit status 2 dpkg: error processing minicom_2.1-2_i386.deb (--install): subprocess dpkg-deb --control returned error exit status 2 Errors were encountered while processing: minicom_2.1-2_i386.deb frodo:/tmp# dpkg -i minicom_1.83.1-4.5_i386.deb dpkg-deb (subprocess): failed to exec tar: Too many levels of symbolic links dpkg-deb: subprocess tar returned error exit status 2 dpkg: error processing minicom_1.83.1-4.5_i386.deb (--install): subprocess dpkg-deb --control returned error exit status 2 Errors were encountered while processing: minicom_1.83.1-4.5_i386.deb frodo:/tmp# frodo:/tmp# dpkg --info minicom_1.83.1-4.5_i386.deb new debian package, version 2.0. size 192642 bytes: control archive= 2851 bytes. dpkg-deb (subprocess): failed to exec tar: Too many levels of symbolic links dpkg-deb: subprocess tar returned error exit status 2 frodo:/tmp# dpkg --info minicom_2.1-2_i386.deb new debian package, version 2.0. size 274438 bytes: control archive= 5297 bytes. dpkg-deb (subprocess): failed to exec tar: Too many levels of symbolic links dpkg-deb: subprocess tar returned error exit status 2 it also happens to other packages: Preconfiguring packages ... dpkg-deb (subprocess): failed to exec tar: Too many levels of symbolic links dpkg-deb: subprocess tar returned error exit status 2 dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/libncurses5_5.3.20030510-1_i386.deb (--unpack): subprocess dpkg-deb --control returned error exit status 2 Errors were encountered while processing: /var/cache/apt/archives/libncurses5_5.3.20030510-1_i386.deb E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) Most dpkg options return an error: frodo:/tmp# dpkg -x minicom_2.1-2_i386.deb /tmp/minicom dpkg-deb (subprocess): failed to exec tar: Too many levels of symbolic links dpkg-deb: subprocess tar returned error exit status 2 frodo:/tmp# dpkg -c minicom_2.1-2_i386.deb dpkg-deb (subprocess): failed to exec tar: Too many levels of symbolic links dpkg-deb: subprocess tar returned error exit status 2 frodo:/tmp# dpkg -e minicom_2.1-2_i386.deb dpkg-deb (subprocess): failed to exec tar: Too many levels of symbolic links dpkg-deb: subprocess tar returned error exit status 2 frodo:/tmp# dpkg -f minicom_2.1-2_i386.deb dpkg-deb (subprocess): failed to exec tar: Too many levels of symbolic links dpkg-deb: subprocess tar returned error exit status 2 frodo:/tmp# dpkg -X minicom_2.1-2_i386.deb /tmp/minicom dpkg-deb (subprocess): failed to exec tar: Too many levels of symbolic links dpkg-deb: subprocess tar returned error exit status 2 But: dpkg --fsys-tarfile minicom_2.1-2_i386.deb > /tmp/minicom.tar tar -tf minicom.tar frodo:/tmp# tar -tvvf minicom.tar drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/man/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/man/man1/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 13294 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/man/man1/minicom.1.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 320 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/man/man1/xminicom.1.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 1155 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/man/man1/ascii-xfr.1.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 2894 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/man/man1/runscript.1.gz drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/locale/cs/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/locale/cs/LC_MESSAGES/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 34984 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/locale/cs/LC_MESSAGES/minicom.mo drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/locale/es/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/locale/es/LC_MESSAGES/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 30395 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/locale/es/LC_MESSAGES/minicom.mo drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/locale/fr/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/locale/fr/LC_MESSAGES/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 36547 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/locale/fr/LC_MESSAGES/minicom.mo drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:54 ./usr/share/locale/fi/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/fi/LC_MESSAGES/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 34189 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/fi/LC_MESSAGES/minicom.mo drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/hu/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/hu/LC_MESSAGES/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 34955 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/hu/LC_MESSAGES/minicom.mo drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/ja/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/ja/LC_MESSAGES/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 34470 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/ja/LC_MESSAGES/minicom.mo drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/pl/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/pl/LC_MESSAGES/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 34622 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/pl/LC_MESSAGES/minicom.mo drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/pt_BR/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/pt_BR/LC_MESSAGES/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 29497 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/pt_BR/LC_MESSAGES/minicom.mo drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/ru/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/ru/LC_MESSAGES/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 32951 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/locale/ru/LC_MESSAGES/minicom.mo drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/examples/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 1112 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/examples/minicom.users -rw-r--r-- root/root 129 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/examples/minirc.dfl -rw-r--r-- root/root 56 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/examples/htsalogin -rw-r--r-- root/root 711 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/examples/saralogin -rw-r--r-- root/root 1246 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/examples/unixlogin -rw-r--r-- root/root 251 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/examples/minirc.nullmodem drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/intl/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 1765 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/intl/japanese -rw-r--r-- root/root 3666 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/intl/Locales -rw-r--r-- root/root 686 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/intl/pl-translation.txt -rw-r--r-- root/root 461 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/intl/portugues-brasil -rw-r--r-- root/root 783 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/intl/suomeksi -rw-r--r-- root/root 5205 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/intl/ABOUT-NLS.gz drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/term/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 1912 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/term/README.termcap -rw-r--r-- root/root 1601 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/term/README.terminfo -rw-r--r-- root/root 263 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/term/terminfo -rw-r--r-- root/root 2859 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/term/termcap.long.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 2520 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/term/termcap.short.gz drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/todo/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 454 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/todo/TODO -rw-r--r-- root/root 836 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/todo/TODO.lrzsz -rw-r--r-- root/root 579 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/todo/Todo -rw-r--r-- root/root 537 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/todo/Todo.175 -rw-r--r-- root/root 1357 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/todo/Todo.fsel -rw-r--r-- root/root 1816 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/todo/Todo.Irix.dif.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 1807 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/todo/Todo.emacskey.dif.gz drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/tables/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 512 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/tables/mc.iso -rw-r--r-- root/root 512 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/tables/mc.noconv -rw-r--r-- root/root 512 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/tables/mc.pc8 -rw-r--r-- root/root 512 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/tables/mc.sf7 -rw-r--r-- root/root 1776 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/AUTHORS -rw-r--r-- root/root 1123 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/copyright -rw-r--r-- root/root 760 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/README.Debian -rw-r--r-- root/root 5224 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/changelog.Debian.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 3478 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/HistSearch.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 1368 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/COMPATABILITY.lrzsz -rw-r--r-- root/root 2150 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/fselector.txt -rw-r--r-- root/root 3303 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/Macros.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 3023 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/minicom.FAQ -rw-r--r-- root/root 730 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/README.lrzsz -rw-r--r-- root/root 6955 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/changelog.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 6442 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/share/doc/minicom/changelog.old.gz drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/bin/ -rwxr-xr-x root/root 146904 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/bin/minicom -rwxr-xr-x root/root 14296 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/bin/runscript -rwxr-xr-x root/root 6332 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/bin/ascii-xfr -rwxr-xr-x root/root 1119 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/bin/xminicom drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/lib/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/lib/menu/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 242 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./usr/lib/menu/minicom drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./etc/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./etc/minicom/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 1112 2003-05-19 00:13:55 ./etc/minicom/minicom.users frodo:/tmp# apt-get install dpkg Reading Package Lists... Done Building Dependency Tree... Done 1 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 131 not upgraded. 10 packages not fully installed or removed. Need to get 0B/1140kB of archives. After unpacking 16.4kB will be freed. dpkg-deb (subprocess): failed to exec tar: Too many levels of symbolic links dpkg-deb: subprocess tar returned error exit status 2 dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/dpkg_1.10.10_i386.deb (--unpack): subprocess dpkg-deb --control returned error exit status 2 Errors were encountered while processing: /var/cache/apt/archives/dpkg_1.10.10_i386.deb E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) I untared the contents of dpkg.deb and install them over version 1.10.9. the problem still persists. dpkg --fsys-tarfile dpkg_1.10.10_i386.deb > /tmp/dpkg.tar frodo:/# tar -xvvf /tmp/dpkg.tar Any hints? Cheers Mark -- Krisztian Mark Szentes produktivIT - Open-Source Solution Provider
