Hi Michael, Always POST YOUR VERSIONS and DISTRO to LUG listservers, so we don't have to ask later. We need to know what is not getting upgraded? I imagine these are probably displayed from # *apt-get upgrade* You are instructed there to try apt-get with a -f with a list of issues (quote these and respond - see also the links below related to recommends and new apt-get settings). *-f* *--fix-broken* Fix; attempt to correct a system with broken dependencies in place. This option, when used with install/remove, can omit any packages to permit APT to deduce a likely solution. Any Package that are specified must completely correct the problem. The option is sometimes necessary when running APT for the first time; APT itself does not allow broken package dependencies to exist on a system. It is possible that a system's dependency structure can be so corrupt as to require manual intervention (which usually means using *dselect(8)* or *dpkg --remove* to eliminate some of the offending packages). Use of this option together with *-m* may produce an error in some situations. Configuration Item: APT::Get::Fix-Broken. So, we essentially need more information from the former command, as well as your distro to help you at a very deep level. (See also changes in APT distro versions' dependencies also quoted below) On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 9:31 AM, Michael Havens wrote: > I was trying to update something synaptic when it told me I need to fix > some packages. SO.... > > mike@mike-desktop:~$ sudo apt-get install -f > Reading package lists... Done > Building dependency tree > Reading state information... Done > 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 11 not upgraded. > mike@mike-desktop:~$ > > I think I did that wrong. How should I do it? > You might also have the newer version of APT, like from Lenny? It's useful to post your distro and versions with your issue, FYI. *Purpose: * If you are using Debian Lenny and are installing software packages using apt-get then you might have noticed the new version of apt-get in Lenny installs the “recommends” packages automatically thus increasing the number of packages installed on your computer. The “apt-get” in Debian Etch (4.0) did not use to install “recommends” packages. In this post, we will see how we can permanently tell apt-get NOT to install “recommends” packages. For those of you who are not sure about Debian’s “depends”, “recommends” and “suggested” packages, please refer to this doc. This is important if you have limited storage space on your system, say for example an embedded system. *The Problem*: Let’s see how to do this with an example. Suppose we need to install the perl package. If you do: # apt-get update # apt-get install perl You will get something like this: # apt-get install perl Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following extra packages will be installed: perl-doc perl-modules Suggested packages: libterm-readline-gnu-perl libterm-readline-perl-perl groff The following NEW packages will be installed: perl perl-doc perl-modules 0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Need to get 15.9MB of archives. After this operation, 41.4MB of additional disk space will be used. Do you want to continue [Y/n]? Notice that if you go ahead with this (say Y) you will end up using 41.4 MB of disk space. However if you look here, you can see that the package perl-doc is optional because it is just a “recommends” package and not a “depends” package. Red = Depends Green = Recommends (optional) Blue = Suggests (optional) *The Solution*: Create or Edit the file */etc/apt/apt.conf *file and add the following contents to it: // Recommends are as of now still abused in many packages APT::Install-Recommends "0"; APT::Install-Suggests "0"; Now save the file and run: #apt-get update # apt-get install perl Now you should get something like this: # apt-get install perl Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following extra packages will be installed: perl-modules Suggested packages: libterm-readline-gnu-perl libterm-readline-perl-perl Recommended packages: perl-doc The following NEW packages will be installed: perl perl-modules 0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Need to get 7731kB of archives. After this operation, 27.5MB of additional disk space will be used. Do you want to continue [Y/n]? If you noticed now that the total size of the installation reduced from 41.4 MB to 27.5 MB i.e. almost 33% less disk space will be used now. This is very helpful if you storage space is a concern for you. Also you can see that “apt-get” now lists “recommended” package as a separate entity above (see green above). *Temporary Solution*: Also if you do not want to create the “apt.conf” file because you do want “apt-get” to install “recommends” package but sometime you don’t want to install the “recommends” packages selectively for a particular package install then you can give the following command: # apt-get --no-install-recommends install perl and it will have the same effect as having those lines “*apt.conf*” file but you will have to give the flag “*–no-install-recommends*” every time you use apt-get to install any package. As usual, please leave a *comment/feedback* if you have any. Comments encourages bloggers to post more and keep their spirits high. Also don’t forget to *rate* this post below. Reference: http://linux.koolsolutions.com/2009/01/07/howto-tell-apt-get-not-to-install-recommends-packages-in-debian-linux/ > -- > :-)~MIKE~(-: > > > -- (503) 754-4452 (623) 688-3392 http://www.obnosis.com