Hi there everyone.

Someone please help, I tried install the boinc-client package from debian.org. I am running AMD64 Debian, and the install is only two days old. I downloaded linux 64 boinc client from boinc but it failed due to 'GLIBC-2.4' missing.

So I decided to install the debian package boinc-client. This has been miserable.

This is the output from 'apt-get install boinc-client' It fails everytime, I have tried every method I can think of to fix it including aptitude remove --purge etc.

Here is the output using 'apt-get install boinc-client'

GSRVD:/# apt-get install boinc-client
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
boinc-client is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B of archives.
After unpacking 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Setting up boinc-client (5.4.11-4) ...
chown: changing ownership of `/var/lib/boinc-client/global_prefs_override.xml': No such file or directory
dpkg: error processing boinc-client (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
boinc-client
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

I am trying to convince myself that Linux is worth messing with, but most things just simply work better on Windows.
Prove me wrong and help me fix this issue.
Thx.

It seems to think BOINC is installed already? Does /var/lib/boinc-client exist?
Maybe try apt-get update?

(I'm more of a Gentoo guy, but I have Debian on one box. We can figure this out...)

yes it is installed but it is obviously broken in some horrible way. apt-get update, apt-get -f install, all fail to fix the problem. Is there a way to manually remove a package? Is there a way to force it to download the package again, perhaps the package on the system is corrupted.

Now go make sure the /var/lib/boinc-client directory is gone.
then...

The full story is this. I installed it originally and there were no errors. I then used apt-get remove boinc-client and that is what started this mess. I have been unable to successfully remove or purge boinc-client using apt-get or dpkg.
I thank you for your response and help so far.

This line from the output in my original post:

chown: changing ownership of `/var/lib/boinc-client/global_prefs_override.xml': No such file or directory

that file 'global_prefs......" is really there, but for some reason can NOT be viewed and can not be deleted except by deleting the directory /boinc-client.

All attempts to access that file fail, even though an 'ls /var/lib/boinc-client' will list the file.

Something is broken.

I did all the commands as you specified in your post, to a tee!!! thx for your help so far

here is the output from 'apt-get --purge remove boinc-client'


GSRVD:/# apt-get --purge remove boinc-client
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
boinc-client*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B of archives.
After unpacking 836kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
(Reading database ... 24745 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing boinc-client ...
* BOINC client '/usr/bin/boinc_client' does not exist or is not executable.
invoke-rc.d: initscript boinc-client, action "stop" failed.
dpkg: error processing boinc-client (--purge):
subprocess pre-removal script returned error exit status 5
* BOINC client '/usr/bin/boinc_client' does not exist or is not executable.
invoke-rc.d: initscript boinc-client, action "start" failed.
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 5
Errors were encountered while processing:
boinc-client
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)


here is the output from 'apt-get install boinc-client'

GSRVD:/# apt-get install boinc-client
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
boinc-client is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B of archives.
After unpacking 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Setting up boinc-client (5.4.11-4) ...
chown: changing ownership of `/var/lib/boinc-client/global_prefs_override.xml': No such file or directory
dpkg: error processing boinc-client (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
boinc-client
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Whoops. Hate it when stuff like that happens.
I thank you for your response and help so far.


All it's trying to do is make sure the user boinc owns the file.
What happens if you try to do it by hand?

on a side note, what distro of Linux do you recommend, eventually this box will be a web, email, and database server, with extra cycles devoted to boinc. I will do some C++ programming on the box as well for proprietary server software.

I like Debian so far, however I do not have exprience with other distros.

This box used to run Windows Server 2008 64 bit Standard Edition, of which I do not have a single complaint. In fact it totally rocked for all my server needs as well as boinc'ing.

There is something about Linux that attracts me, other than the fact the I do not want to pay for Windows Server now that the trial has run out.

LOL

G

I tried that before

here is the output

GSRVD:/var/lib/boinc-client# chown -R boinc:boinc /var/lib/boinc-client
GSRVD:/var/lib/boinc-client# apt-get install boinc-client
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
boinc-client is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B of archives.
After unpacking 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Setting up boinc-client (5.4.11-4) ...
chown: changing ownership of `/var/lib/boinc-client/global_prefs_override.xml': No such file or directory
dpkg: error processing boinc-client (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
boinc-client
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
GSRVD:/var/lib/boinc-client# ls -l /var/lib/boinc-client
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 43 2009-02-03 19:54 global_prefs_override.xml -> /etc/boinc-client/global_prefs_override.xml
GSRVD:/var/lib/boinc-client#

i did it again just to be sure, no luck

OH! It's just a symbolic link.

ok I changed the ownership like this

GSRVD:/var/lib/boinc-client# chown -R boinc:boinc global_prefs_override.xml
GSRVD:/var/lib/boinc-client# ls
global_prefs_override.xml
GSRVD:/var/lib/boinc-client# ls -l
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 boinc boinc 43 2009-02-03 19:56 global_prefs_override.xml -> /etc/boinc-client/global_prefs_override.xml


but after i install the package it reverts to root for ownership


GSRVD:/var/lib/boinc-client# ls -l
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 43 2009-02-03 20:04 global_prefs_override.xml -> /etc/boinc-client/global_prefs_override.xml



is there a way i can install boinc-client using the boinc user?

is it possible that it reassigns owernship to the account installing the package? if so how do i fix that?

this

/etc/boinc-client/global_prefs_override.xml

does not exist

I don't think so.

What's installed? What are the contents of /etc/boinc-client?
Does /etc/init.d/boinc_client exist? If so, can you start it?


Sorry this is such a mess.
I'm betting not all of the files from the original installation were removed.

I wish I could tell you problems like this are rare and command line Linux is usually really easy, but I'd be lying

The bright side is, once we figure this out, Linux has so little overhead (especially with a custom built kernel) BOINC will be noticeably faster than if there were a GUI/Windows installed.

/etc/boinc-client does not exist

/etc/init.d does exist

/etc/init.d/boinc-client exists, but will not run

/etc/init.d/boinc_client does not exist





GSRVD:/etc/init.d# ls
acpid hwclock.sh mountnfs.sh skeleton
apache2 ifupdown mtab.sh ssh
atd ifupdown-clean networking stop-bootlogd
boinc-client keymap.sh nfs-common stop-bootlogd-single
bootclean killprocs openbsd-inetd sysklogd
bootlogd klogd portmap udev
bootmisc.sh libdevmapper1.02 procps.sh udev-mtab
checkfs.sh lvm rc umountfs
checkroot.sh makedev rc.local umountnfs.sh
console-screen.sh module-init-tools rcS umountroot
cron mountall-bootclean.sh README urandom
exim4 mountall.sh reboot x11-common
glibc.sh mountdevsubfs.sh rmnologin
halt mountkernfs.sh sendsigs
hostname.sh mountnfs-bootclean.sh single
GSRVD:/etc/init.d# boinc-client
-bash: boinc-client: command not found
GSRVD:/etc/init.d# /etc/init.d/boinc_client
-bash: /etc/init.d/boinc_client: No such file or directory
GSRVD:/etc/init.d# /etc/init.d/boinc-client
* BOINC client '/usr/bin/boinc_client' does not exist or is not executable.
GSRVD:/etc/init.d#

really appreciate your help so far

Ok, so that symbolic link is pointing to a file that does not exist.
That's why it keeps giving you the message "No such file or directory"

Try this and tell me what it says.


UPDATE: I had the wrong directory name. Updated the instructions. Try this instead.

ok nothing seemed to happen

i tried using different command line options with boinc-client but nothing happend

on a side note, i still am not knowledgeable about what the difference is between the different directories and their locations yet

GSRVD:/etc/default# chmod 777 /etc//default/boinc-client
GSRVD:/etc/default# /etc/default/boinc-client start
GSRVD:/etc/default# ps -A
PID TTY TIME CMD
1 ? 00:00:01 init
2 ? 00:00:00 migration/0
3 ? 00:00:00 ksoftirqd/0
4 ? 00:00:00 watchdog/0
5 ? 00:00:00 migration/1
6 ? 00:00:00 ksoftirqd/1
7 ? 00:00:00 watchdog/1
8 ? 00:00:00 migration/2
9 ? 00:00:00 ksoftirqd/2
10 ? 00:00:00 watchdog/2
11 ? 00:00:00 migration/3
12 ? 00:00:00 ksoftirqd/3
13 ? 00:00:00 watchdog/3
14 ? 00:00:00 events/0
15 ? 00:00:00 events/1
16 ? 00:00:00 events/2
17 ? 00:00:00 events/3
18 ? 00:00:00 khelper
19 ? 00:00:00 kthread
27 ? 00:00:00 kblockd/0
28 ? 00:00:00 kblockd/1
29 ? 00:00:00 kblockd/2
30 ? 00:00:00 kblockd/3
31 ? 00:00:00 kacpid
148 ? 00:00:00 khubd
150 ? 00:00:00 kseriod
212 ? 00:00:00 pdflush
213 ? 00:00:00 pdflush
214 ? 00:00:00 kswapd0
215 ? 00:00:00 kswapd1
216 ? 00:00:00 aio/0
217 ? 00:00:00 aio/1
218 ? 00:00:00 aio/2
219 ? 00:00:00 aio/3
829 ? 00:00:00 ata/0
830 ? 00:00:00 ata/1
831 ? 00:00:00 ata/2
832 ? 00:00:00 ata/3
833 ? 00:00:00 ata_aux
849 ? 00:00:00 scsi_eh_0
851 ? 00:00:00 scsi_eh_1
852 ? 00:00:00 scsi_eh_2
853 ? 00:00:00 scsi_eh_3
1054 ? 00:00:00 kmirrord
1147 ? 00:00:00 kjournald
1360 ? 00:00:00 udevd
1684 ? 00:00:00 kpsmoused
2002 ? 00:00:00 kjournald
2060 ? 00:00:00 portmap
2292 ? 00:00:00 syslogd
2298 ? 00:00:00 klogd
2379 ? 00:00:00 acpid
2427 ? 00:00:00 exim4
2439 ? 00:00:00 inetd
2464 ? 00:00:00 sshd
2486 ? 00:00:00 rpc.statd
2496 ? 00:00:00 atd
2503 ? 00:00:00 cron
2529 ? 00:00:00 dhclient3
2535 ? 00:00:00 apache2
2548 ? 00:00:00 sshd
2559 tty1 00:00:00 getty
2562 tty2 00:00:00 getty
2563 tty3 00:00:00 getty
2564 tty4 00:00:00 getty
2565 tty5 00:00:00 getty
2567 tty6 00:00:00 getty
2569 ? 00:00:00 apache2
2570 ? 00:00:00 apache2
2571 ? 00:00:00 apache2
2572 ? 00:00:00 apache2
2573 ? 00:00:00 apache2
2585 pts/0 00:00:00 bash
2622 pts/0 00:00:00 ps
GSRVD:/etc/default#

Sorry, I screwed up.
It should be /etc/init.d/ instead of /etc/default/

Change that and try it again.

this is the output

GSRVD:/etc/init.d# chmod 777 /etc/init.d/boinc-client
GSRVD:/etc/init.d# /etc/init.d/boinc-client start
* BOINC client '/usr/bin/boinc_client' does not exist or is not executable.
GSRVD:/etc/init.d#

on a whim i decided to see if installing another package would work, and all packages fail with the same output, it appears it is stuck on the broken boinc package

GSRVD:/etc/default# apt-get install php5
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
php5 is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B of archives.
After unpacking 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Setting up boinc-client (5.4.11-4) ...
chown: changing ownership of `/var/lib/boinc-client/global_prefs_override.xml': No such file or directory
dpkg: error processing boinc-client (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
boinc-client
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
GSRVD:/etc/default#

Believe it or not, I feel like we're getting closer...


Now we must remove anything the original installer left behind.
And now we'll try once more to install this sucker before I need to get some sleep

Oh. That's not good.

ok i am going to try what you suggest, about the package installer i think it tries to resolve other in progress package installs before starting something new

ok here goes
all output is posted
i am afraid no luck
Thanks for your help, I am going to have to get some sleep as well, I have time for one more try.
I will forward my email via private message.
In the meantime make a suggestion for a well updated and functional linux distro
I have a 2 CPU Dual core (4 core) AMD Opteron server, 64 Bit Linux Debian distro at the moment


GSRVD:/etc/default# dpkg -P boinc-client
(Reading database ... 24745 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing boinc-client ...
* BOINC client '/usr/bin/boinc_client' does not exist or is not executable.
invoke-rc.d: initscript boinc-client, action "stop" failed.
dpkg: error processing boinc-client (--purge):
subprocess pre-removal script returned error exit status 5
* BOINC client '/usr/bin/boinc_client' does not exist or is not executable.
invoke-rc.d: initscript boinc-client, action "start" failed.
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 5
Errors were encountered while processing:
boinc-client


GSRVD:/etc/default# apt-get clean
GSRVD:/etc/default# apt-get update
Get:1 http://ftp.us.debian.org etch Release.gpg [386B]
Get:2 http://security.debian.org etch/updates Release.gpg [189B]
Hit http://ftp.us.debian.org etch Release
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates Release
Ign http://ftp.us.debian.org etch/main Packages/DiffIndex
Ign http://security.debian.org etch/updates/main Packages/DiffIndex
Ign http://ftp.us.debian.org etch/main Sources/DiffIndex
Ign http://security.debian.org etch/updates/contrib Packages/DiffIndex
Ign http://security.debian.org etch/updates/main Sources/DiffIndex
Hit http://ftp.us.debian.org etch/main Packages
Ign http://security.debian.org etch/updates/contrib Sources/DiffIndex
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/main Packages
Hit http://ftp.us.debian.org etch/main Sources
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/contrib Packages
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/main Sources
Hit http://security.debian.org etch/updates/contrib Sources
Fetched 2B in 0s (2B/s)
Reading package lists... Done
GSRVD:/etc/default#

GSRVD:/etc/default# rm -dr /var/lib/boin*
GSRVD:/etc/default# rm -dr /usr/bin/boin*
rm: cannot remove `/usr/bin/boin*': No such file or directory
GSRVD:/etc/default# rm /etc/*/boinc-client
GSRVD:/etc/default# apt-get install boinc-client
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
boinc-client is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B of archives.
After unpacking 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Setting up boinc-client (5.4.11-4) ...
chown: changing ownership of `/var/lib/boinc-client/global_prefs_override.xml': No such file or directory
dpkg: error processing boinc-client (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
boinc-client
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
GSRVD:/etc/default#