[SOLVED] Many of my packages are suddenly unowned

ArbitraryRenaissance · 2024-04-29 18:42:04

When I try to perform a system upgrade via

sudo pacman -Syu

I get a

failed to commit transaction (conflicting files)

error message, followed by a list of thousands of lines of the form

vim-runtime: [file] exists in filesystem

or

vim: [file] exists in filesystem

I checked to see the packages I had that were unowned via

sudo pacreport --unowned-files

and this too produced a list thousands of lines long, and included files like /boot/grub, /usr/bin/vim, etc/passwd-, etc.

Following the the steps in https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman … )%22_error would be infeasible considering the sheer quantity of files I would need to rename. I also feel like there's a deeper problem at hand that I do not understand.

This problem arose after I attempted to upgrade my system last week, but a fatal crash caused it to stop prematurely. The bootloader got corrupted, and I needed to correct the issue by entering from an Arch ISO, following the steps outlined in this forum post: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=286193

I'd like some insight as to what's causing this issue. Any help would be appreciated.

Last edited by ArbitraryRenaissance (2024-04-30 01:03:08)

impossibleveins23 · 2024-04-29 20:07:24

You can pass pacman -Syu --overwrite '*' to overwrite the existing files.
I think you should probably reinstall all the packages just to be on the safe side (and sync pacman db this way).

Trilby · 2024-04-29 21:25:55

A global --overwrite should be an absolutely last resort. The problem seems to be the local db "files" files. I'd first use a --dbonly installation of the relevant packages, e.g., `pacman -Qnq | pacman -S - --dbonly` then after than try `pacman -Syu`.

seth · 2024-04-29 21:35:48

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/System … n_commands

I'd rather re-install the packages --dbonly first to sanitize the metadata, then re-install them again properly to fix/update the package contents.

Edit: F5..

Last edited by seth (2024-04-29 21:36:12)

ArbitraryRenaissance · 2024-04-29 22:12:02

Might have gotten a little impatient. I attempted to reinstall my packages, but ran into the exact same "failed to commit transaction (conflicting files)" problem as before, at which point I felt like I was out of options and passed in the --overwrite flag. My system is now working nicely on the surface, but are there any processes I should run to make sure I didn't accidentally do any damage?

seth · 2024-04-29 22:18:57

Nope.
If you steamrolled over unrelated issues that has now happened.

You can run

sudo LC_ALL=C pacman -Qkk | grep -v ', 0 altered files'

for an overall health assessment, but that will probably not show any issues?

ArbitraryRenaissance · 2024-04-29 22:53:50

seth wrote:

Nope.
If you steamrolled over unrelated issues that has now happened.
You can run
sudo LC_ALL=C pacman -Qkk | grep -v ', 0 altered files'
for an overall health assessment, but that will probably not show any issues?

It's seeing a lot of size, checksum, and modification time mismatches. Here's a small snippet:

backup file: filesystem: /etc/crypttab (Modification time mismatch)
backup file: filesystem: /etc/crypttab (Size mismatch)
backup file: filesystem: /etc/crypttab (SHA256 checksum mismatch)
backup file: filesystem: /etc/fstab (Modification time mismatch)
backup file: filesystem: /etc/fstab (Size mismatch)
backup file: filesystem: /etc/fstab (SHA256 checksum mismatch)
backup file: filesystem: /etc/group (Modification time mismatch)
backup file: filesystem: /etc/group (Size mismatch)
backup file: filesystem: /etc/group (SHA256 checksum mismatch)

There are a couple of permissions mismatches too.

seth · 2024-04-29 22:55:58

Some deviations (eg. all the ones you posted) are perfectly normal.

Arch Linux

#1 2024-04-29 18:42:04

[SOLVED] Many of my packages are suddenly unowned

#2 2024-04-29 20:07:24

Re: [SOLVED] Many of my packages are suddenly unowned

#3 2024-04-29 21:25:55

Re: [SOLVED] Many of my packages are suddenly unowned

#4 2024-04-29 21:35:48

Re: [SOLVED] Many of my packages are suddenly unowned

#5 2024-04-29 22:12:02

Re: [SOLVED] Many of my packages are suddenly unowned

#6 2024-04-29 22:18:57

Re: [SOLVED] Many of my packages are suddenly unowned

#7 2024-04-29 22:53:50

Re: [SOLVED] Many of my packages are suddenly unowned

#8 2024-04-29 22:55:58

Re: [SOLVED] Many of my packages are suddenly unowned

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