How to delete broken packages in ubuntu

Question

I can not remove broken package. Use the following command: sudo apt-get -f install but I get the following response:

Preparing to unpack .../nodejs_0.10.28-1chl1~trusty1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking nodejs (0.10.28-1chl1~trusty1) over (0.10.25~dfsg2-2ubuntu1) ...
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/nodejs_0.10.28-1chl1~trusty1_amd64.deb (--unpack):
 trying to overwrite '/usr/share/man/man1/node.1.gz', which is also in package nodejs-legacy 0.10.25~dfsg2-2ubuntu1
dpkg-deb: error: subprocess paste was killed by signal (Broken pipe)
Processing triggers for man-db (2.6.7.1-1) ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /var/cache/apt/archives/nodejs_0.10.28-1chl1~trusty1_amd64.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

I tried various commands like

 2015  sudo apt-get clean
 2020  sudo dpkg --configure -a
 2023  sudo apt-get autoremove
 2034  sudo apt-get upgrade && sudo apt-get -f install

But I did not get any result. I can not install synaptic. Any ideas how can I remove the broken package ?

score 114 · Answer 1 · answered May 06 '15 at 08:53

114

run this command to remove broken packages in ubuntu.

sudo dpkg --remove --force-remove-reinstreq package_name

after removing package update your system with command

sudo apt-get update

restart system after successfully updation.

answered May 06 '15 at 08:53

premal

1,853

score 22 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 17 '14 at 10:28

22

This fixed my problem:

sudo dpkg -i --force-overwrite /var/cache/apt/archives/nodejs_0.10.28-1chl1~trusty1_amd64.deb

edited Sep 17 '14 at 10:28

Eliah Kagan

119,640

answered Sep 17 '14 at 10:06

Krasimir

1,233

score 21 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 17 '14 at 12:41

21

Open your terminal and use following command

sudo dpkg --purge nodejs-legacy
sudo apt-get install -f

It should solve your problem.

answered Sep 17 '14 at 12:41

g_p

19,034
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score 20 · Answer 4 · edited Mar 29 '16 at 17:36

I've found that:

sudo dpkg --remove --force-remove-reinstreq <packagename>

Works best. If it gives you an error that it won't remove a package because it is depended on by another package, remove that other package as well. You'll have to repeat this step several times and then reinstall your deleted packages.

The force-remove-reinstreq is THE "nuclear option" of deleting a package. It only fails if there is another package depending on the one you're about to delete -- Again, in that case, deleted the depending package too.

score 13 · Answer 5 · edited May 26 '21 at 10:02

13

If you have a broken dependency (which I have encountered with openjdk), you will want to purge the package and force it to skip over dependency problems:

sudo dpkg -P --force-depends package_name

I found the answer on another forum

edited May 26 '21 at 10:02

Mikey T.K.

473

answered Jan 18 '20 at 03:32

score 11 · Answer 6 · edited Feb 26 '22 at 13:21

11

NOTE: The following command will remove the installation and removal scripts including the list files. It won't remove the package, nor it will fix anything, it will just make dpkg forget about the error message.

rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/<package_name>.*

example:

rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/elasticsearch.*

edited Feb 26 '22 at 13:21

Error404

8,278
3
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answered Feb 03 '20 at 13:21

buycanna.io

219

score 9 · Answer 7 · edited Dec 12 '22 at 04:44

9

None of the above worked for me. Eventually I edited /var/lib/dpkg/status and removed the packages from there.

However, I would not advise this. It's just an option if all else fails.

edited Dec 12 '22 at 04:44

NotTheDr01ds

22,082

answered Feb 19 '18 at 12:48

BonifatiusK

241

score 5 · Answer 8 · edited Nov 10 '15 at 14:08

Here's one:

update your package list like this

 sudo apt-get update

then cleanup any partial packages

 sudo apt-get autoclean

Now clean the apt cache

 sudo apt-get clean

Now remove any unnecessary dependancies

 sudo apt-get autoremove

from the command above, you can identify any broken packages and forcefully remove it like this

 sudo dpkg --remove --force-remove-reinstreq package_name

Finally mopup any other packages with dependacies

 sudo apt-get -f install

Tell me how it goes.

score 3 · Answer 9 · answered Sep 17 '14 at 09:59

3

Open your terminal , and paste these line after line

sudo rm -rf  /var/cache/apt/archives/nodejs_0.10.28-1chl1~trusty1_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get autoclean
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

then try again

answered Sep 17 '14 at 09:59

Raja G

105,327
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score 3 · Answer 10 · edited Feb 01 '17 at 08:27

3

The same error repeats If we do apt-get clean and apt-get -f install unless we remove the junk data from /var/lib/dpkg/status file in Ubuntu.

Suppose we need to remove apache broken package. Initially we have to open the status file and search for the package apache. Remove the entire package description and save the status file. Then try using apt-get -f install and apt-get clean.

edited Feb 01 '17 at 08:27

d a i s y

5,551

answered Feb 01 '17 at 07:00

user649305

31

score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Jul 18 '17 at 12:45

2

None of the above worked for me

I used sudo aptitude.

It found the error immediately and offered options. You select and it fixes it.

answered Jul 18 '17 at 12:45

Aryeh Beitz

130

score 1 · Answer 12 · answered May 12 '17 at 23:48

1

I had a problem with broken kodi package. I opened synaptic package manager and used the "broken" filter to locate the package and marked it for complete removal. It worked like a champ.

answered May 12 '17 at 23:48

Joe

11

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Oct 20 '16 at 03:05

query all the packages that are installed today or yesterday awk -v foo=$(date '+%Y-%m-%d') -v bar=$(date -d "yesterday" '+%Y-%m-%d') '($1==foo || $1==bar) && $3~/^install$/ { print $4 }' /var/log/dpkg.log
wine-qqintl:i386 caused the problem, so I remove the package sudo dpkg -r wine-qqintl:i386
done.

How to delete broken packages in ubuntu

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