[Synaptic-devel] "Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages."

[Andreas Schmidt]

Hi,

I have just noticed for the umpteenth time that there is something  
weird with the "Unable to correct problems, you have held broken  
packages"-message and finally decided to whine about it. :-)

The message pops up when one tries to apply changes and synaptic thinks  
there are some problems with dependencies -- which is OK. However, this  
also occurs when one tried to install a package that has unresolved  
dependencies and, upon being confronted with the "Mark required  
changes?" dialog, canceled this. (1) This is confusing, because one  
assumes that cancelling the upgrade had already reset the marked  
changes. Even worse, when one has a hunch that there may be some  
problem and selects "Fix Broken Packages" from the "Actions" menu the  
message pops up as well.

The message itself also seems to be weird. Whether it occurs after  
"Apply" or after "Fix Broken Packages" -- repeating the action works,  
so, apparently, the problems _could_ be fixed.

Just for the record: I use version 0.48.2-4, but noticed this behavior  
in previous versions as well.

Best regards,

Andreas


(1) A current example: lg-subscription is listed as upgradable (101 ->  
103). It depends on lg-issue102, which is not available. Upon choosing  
"Upgrade", I was informed that several other packages I selected for  
update (gksu, gnome-terminal, sound-juicer) would be kept. What is  
particularly weird is that no package depends on lg-subscription.