HOW TO: Revert installed packages to official release versions

[geoaraujo]

I was just wondering when we'll be able to enable those ppas again...

[doctordruidphd]

Are you running 13.10? I did the "degrade", and here is what I have:

greenman@Wolfenstein:~$ apt-cache policy kde-workspace
kde-workspace:
  Installed: 4:4.11.2-0ubuntu1
  Candidate: 4:4.11.2-0ubuntu1
  Version table:
 *** 4:4.11.2-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

Edit: yes, I see you are running Precise. There is no problem with the kubuntu repositories there.

[claydoh]

mmmm.... If I read the following right I'd be reversing my recent upgrade to KDE 4.11.2 back to KDE 4.8.5

$ apt-cache policy kde-workspace
kde-workspace:
  Installed: 4:4.11.2-0ubuntu1~ubuntu12.04~ppa1
  Candidate: 4:4.11.2-0ubuntu1~ubuntu12.04~ppa1
  Version table:
 *** 4:4.11.2-0ubuntu1~ubuntu12.04~ppa1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/backports/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     4:4.11.1-0ubuntu1~ubuntu12.04.1~ppa3 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/backports/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
     4:4.11.0-0ubuntu1~ubuntu12.04~ppa1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/backports/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
     4:4.10.5-0ubuntu0.1~ubuntu12.04~ppa2 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/backports/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
     4:4.8.5-0ubuntu0.3 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates/main amd64 Packages
     4:4.8.2a-0ubuntu4 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
$

I think this issue was for Saucy users, not Precise?
I don't recall the git daily builds were done for 12.04, though the KDE 4.111.2 stuff seems to no longer be there (hopefully temporarily). I wouldn't try using this fix, Greygeek, at least not without more input. You don't seem to have any offending git daily-build stuff installed.

[GreyGeek]

mmmm.... If I read the following right it doesn't look like my KDE 4.11.2 has been orphaned ... yet...

$ apt-cache policy kde-workspace
kde-workspace:
  Installed: 4:4.11.2-0ubuntu1~ubuntu12.04~ppa1
  Candidate: 4:4.11.2-0ubuntu1~ubuntu12.04~ppa1
  Version table:
 *** 4:4.11.2-0ubuntu1~ubuntu12.04~ppa1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/backports/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     4:4.11.1-0ubuntu1~ubuntu12.04.1~ppa3 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/backports/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
     4:4.11.0-0ubuntu1~ubuntu12.04~ppa1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/backports/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
     4:4.10.5-0ubuntu0.1~ubuntu12.04~ppa2 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/backports/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
     4:4.8.5-0ubuntu0.3 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates/main amd64 Packages
     4:4.8.2a-0ubuntu4 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main amd64 Packages
$

[SteveRiley]

Yes, disable the Kubuntu PPAs for now. I'll add that to my instructions when I'm back at my PC.

Added a step for disabling the Kubuntu PPAs, at least for now.

[doctordruidphd]

Yes, disable the Kubuntu PPAs for now. I'll add that to my instructions when I'm back at my PC.

As of now (14:00 PDT Oct 26th) there are still a handful of git packages in the kubuntu updates ppa. So it probably should remain disabled until this is resolved.

[SteveRiley]

Ah. So your excessive time spent at Milliways isn't without it's benefits after all!

It's where all my best ideas originate

[geoaraujo]

Nice. It worked. Thank you, Steve.

[SteveRiley]

But should I also disable some kubuntu ppa?

Yes, disable the Kubuntu PPAs for now. I'll add that to my instructions when I'm back at my PC.

[Snowhog]

Ah. So your excessive time spent at Milliways isn't without it's benefits after all!

[SteveRiley]

No, I meant, how did you figure out/discover that packages no longer were associated with a release?

A few days ago I noticed that APT was offering several upgraded packages, but I was on slow airport Wi-Fi and didn't let it run. Then yesterday APT no longer showed these available upgrades. "Hm, where did they go?" I mused. I ran the first apt-cache policy command above and immediately realized the problem when I saw that the installed package was no longer linked to anything.

At first, I simply disabled the Kubuntu updates PPA and tried a dist-upgrade. But a previous run last week had pulled in newer versions, and APT wouldn't downgrade because the official pockets are at priority 500. Forcing their priorities to 1001 did the trick.

[geoaraujo]

But should I also disable some kubuntu ppa?

After the downgrade and the removal of the file I've got:

$ apt-cache policy kde-workspace
kde-workspace:
  Instalado: 4:4.11.2-0ubuntu1
  Candidato: 4:4.11.2-0ubuntu1
  Tabela de versão:
 *** 4:4.11.2-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://br.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     4:4.11.1+git20130910+bzr48547+pkg822~ubuntu13.10.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/ppa/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
     4:4.11.0+git20130819+bzr48502+pkg815~saucy1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/ppa/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
     4:4.10.97+git20130805+bzr48465+pkg810~saucy1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/ppa/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages

[Snowhog]

No, I meant, how did you figure out/discover that packages no longer were associated with a release?

[SteveRiley]

How did you become aware of this?

I figured there had to be a better way than manually downgrading each package individually -- which probably would be fraught with troubles. I had already known about APT pinning in general the special case of package priorities greater than 1000. These two bits of information seemed to be the ideal method for accomplishing the task. So I created the preferences file and ran a dry run with apt-get -s dist-upgrade. The output showed that my idea would indeed work. Then I ran it "for real," rebooted, and all was back to normal.

[SteveRiley]

So in this unique case, using ppa-purge will not work properly, I take it?

Because APT no longer has any knowledge that these packages came from a PPA, I can't see how it would work.