D. R. Evans [2012.07.19 1742 -0600]: > Alex Belanger said the following at 07/18/2012 05:27 AM : > > pacman -Syu --ignore glibc pacman -Su > > > I had the same problem, went to archlinux website and they say exactly what > > you need to do and why. You shouldn't toy with it yourself, nor use the > > --force option. Try this, if it doesn't work, they have an in-depth guide > > too. > > > > I have tried this, and there seems to be a catch-22... > > 1. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/DeveloperWiki:usrlib > > ---- > > If running "pacman -Syu --ignore glibc" gives: > > warning: ignoring package glibc-2.16.0-2 > warning: cannot resolve "glibc>=2.16", a dependency of "gcc-libs" > > ... > > :: The following packages cannot be upgraded due to unresolvable dependencies: > binutils gcc gcc-libs > > Do you want to skip the above packages for this upgrade [y/N] > > Say "y" to skipping the packages, then install them all using (e.g.): > > ---- > > But if I do that, I hit the /var/run and /var/lock problem: > > ---- > > (127/127) checking for file conflicts > > [##########################################################################################] > 100% > error: failed to commit transaction (conflicting files) > filesystem: /var/lock exists in filesystem > filesystem: /var/run exists in filesystem > Errors occurred, no packages were upgraded. > [root@shack n7dr]# > > ---- > > 2. > https://www.archlinux.org/news/filesystem-upgrade-manual-intervention-required-1/ > > So instead of dealing with glibc, I try to deal with the /var/run and > /var/lock problem first. On my system, these are both symlinks. So, following > instructions, I do: > > ---- > > If the symlinks are already in place on your system (which should be the case > for most people), then you can simply perform > > pacman -Syu --ignore filesystem && pacman -S filesystem --force > > ---- > > and that gives: > > ---- > > error: failed to commit transaction (conflicting files) > glibc: /lib exists in filesystem > Errors occurred, no packages were upgraded. > > ---- > > So it looks to me that I'm being told, basically, "you have two errors, α and > β. Before you fix α you must fix β. And before you fix β you must fix α." > > Am I misinterpreting or misunderstanding the instructions? They seem pretty > clear, and I believe I followed them faithfully. > > Doc > > -- > Web: http://www.sff.net/people/N7DR > Well, the filesystem instructions are older and applied at the time the glibc upgrade was not an issue yet. Combining the two instructions, I would guess the following should work: pacman -Syu --ignore filesystem --ignore glibc pacman -S --force filesystem --ignore glibc pacman -Sd <everything you couldn't upgrade due to ignored glibc> pacman -Su Note that I did not try this, but it seems to be the logical combination of the two. Maybe one of the developers can chime in and confirm that this is the right strategy. Cheers, Norbert