Broken install on neon update

Help
1

Hello,

I am trying to an upgrade on an MS Surface (been working great with plasma 5 for the last couple of years) but I have a completely broken upgrade currently. I don’t know if this is a bug or dependency hell.

When performing the upgrade it fails with:

Fatal error: Error while installing package: trying to overwrite ‘/usr/share/doc/HTML/ca/kcontrol/cursortheme/index.cache.bz2’, which is also in package plasma-desktop-data 4

Nothing in my linux fu has helped, ‘pkcon update’ fails. ‘apt --fix-broken install’ fails (both fail on the exact same file)

Any pointers to fixing this?

Thanks

2

You can try the command (you will need to enter your password) in konsole:

sudo pkcon install libdecor-0-0 libsdl2-2.0-0 plasma-desktop plasma-desktop-data --allow-reinstall

I’m really sorry this happened. There has been some packaging issues in Neon. And neon maintainers are very conscious of the issue.

3

No good

sudo pkcon install libdecor-0-0 libsdl2-2.0-0 plasma-desktop plasma-desktop-data --allow-reinstall
[sudo] password for jmorris:
Resolving [=========================] More than one package matches:

  1. plasma-desktop-4:5.26.5-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build17.amd64 [auto:local]

  2. plasma-desktop-4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build52.amd64 [user_jammy-jammy-main]
    Please choose the correct package: 2
    [=========================] More than one package matches:

  3. plasma-desktop-data-4:5.26.5-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build17.all [auto:local]

  4. plasma-desktop-data-4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build52.all [user_jammy-jammy-main]
    Please choose the correct package: 2
    [=========================]
    Querying [=========================]
    Testing changes [=========================]
    Finished [ ] (0%)
    The following packages have to be updated:
    breeze-4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build49.amd64 Default Plasma theme (meta-package).
    breeze-cursor-theme-4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build49.all Default Plasma cursor theme.
    kdeplasma-addons-data-4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build33.all locale files for kdeplasma-addons
    kwin-addons-4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build33.amd64 additional desktop and window switchers for KWin
    plasma-calendar-addons-4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build33.amd64 additional calendar plugins for Plasma 6
    plasma-desktop-4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build52.amd64 Tools and widgets for the desktop
    plasma-desktop-data-4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build52.all dummy transitional package
    plasma-runners-addons-4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build33.amd64 additional runners for Plasma 6 and Krunner
    plasma-widgets-addons-4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build33.amd64 additional widgets for Plasma 6
    plasma-workspace-4:6.0.0-1xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build70.amd64 Plasma Workspace for KF6
    Proceed with changes? [N/y] y

                           [=========================]

Installing [=========================]
Loading cache [=========================]
Running [=========================]
Finished [=========================]
Fatal error: Error while installing package: trying to overwrite ‘/usr/share/doc/HTML/ca/kcontrol/cursortheme/index.cache.bz2’, which is also in package plasma-desktop-data 4

I also tried option 1, same error

4

You can try, it might be better:

5

This also fails early on:

sudo apt autoremove
[sudo] password for jmorris:
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree… Done
Reading state information… Done
You might want to run ‘apt --fix-broken install’ to correct these.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
breeze : Depends: kde-style-breeze (= 4:5.26.5-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build21) but 4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build49 is installed
Depends: kwin-style-breeze (= 4:5.26.5-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build21) but 4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build49 is installed
plasma-dataengines-addons : Depends: kdeplasma-addons-data (= 4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build33) but 4:5.26.5-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build14 is installed
plasma-wallpapers-addons : Depends: kdeplasma-addons-data (= 4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build33) but 4:5.26.5-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build14 is installed
plasma-widgets-addons : Depends: plasma-dataengines-addons (= 4:5.26.5-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build14) but 4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build33 is installed
plasma-workspace : Depends: liblayershellqtinterface5 (>= 5.26.5) but it is not installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try ‘apt --fix-broken install’ with no packages (or specify a solution).

So let’s try the above:

sudo apt --fix-broken install
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree… Done
Reading state information… Done
Correcting dependencies…Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Done
Done
Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
breeze-icon-theme breeze5 clinfo kaccounts-providers kaccounts5-integration kde-style-breeze5 kdeconnect kdoctools6 kdsoap-ws-discovery-client kpeople-vcard kross kwayland-data libavif13 libcolorcorrect5 libfakekey0 libhyphen0 libinih1 libkdsoap2-qt6 libkf5calendarevents5 libkf5configqml5 libkf5contacts-data libkf5contacts5 libkf5holidays-data libkf5holidays5 libkf5i18nlocaledata5 libkf5krosscore5 libkf5krossui5 libkf5people-data libkf5people5 libkf5peoplebackend5
libkf5peoplewidgets5 libkf5pulseaudioqt3 libkf5purpose-bin libkf5su-bin libkf5su-data libkf5su5 libkf5sysguard-data libkf5unitconversion-data libkf5unitconversion5 libkfontinst5 libkfontinstui5 libkpipewire5 libkpipewirerecord5 libksgrd9 libksysguardsensors1 libllvm13 libphonon4qt5-data libplasma-geolocation-interface5 libprocessui9 libqaccessibilityclient-qt6-0 libqmobipocket2 libqt5quickparticles5 libqt5quickshapes5 libqt5script5 libqt5sensors5 libqt5webenginewidgets5
libqt5webkit5 libsignon-qt5-1 libweather-ion7 libwoff1 libzxingcore1 linux-headers-5.15.0-58 linux-headers-5.15.0-58-generic linux-headers-6.1.3-surface linux-headers-6.1.6-surface linux-image-5.15.0-58-generic linux-image-6.1.3-surface linux-image-6.1.6-surface linux-modules-5.15.0-58-generic linux-modules-extra-5.15.0-58-generic power-profiles-daemon python3-certifi python3-psutil python3-pygdbmi python3-sentry-sdk python3-urllib3 qdbus-qt5 qml-module-org-kde-kaccounts
qml-module-org-kde-kconfig qml-module-org-kde-kholidays qml-module-org-kde-people qml-module-org-kde-purpose qml-module-org-kde-runnermodel qml-module-qtquick-particles2 qml-module-qtquick-shapes qml-module-qtwebengine qml-module-ubuntu-onlineaccounts qml6-module-qt-labs-platform qml6-module-qt-labs-settings qml6-module-qtquick-dialogs signon-kwallet-extension sshfs vulkan-tools
Use ‘sudo apt autoremove’ to remove them.
The following additional packages will be installed:
breeze breeze-cursor-theme kdeplasma-addons-data kwin-addons plasma-calendar-addons plasma-runners-addons plasma-widgets-addons plasma-workspace
The following packages will be upgraded:
breeze breeze-cursor-theme kdeplasma-addons-data kwin-addons plasma-calendar-addons plasma-runners-addons plasma-widgets-addons plasma-workspace
8 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 81 not upgraded.
20 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0 B/76.1 MB of archives.
After this operation, 41.4 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
(Reading database … 342894 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack …/plasma-workspace_4%3a6.0.0-1xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build70_amd64.deb …
Unpacking plasma-workspace (4:6.0.0-1xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build70) over (4:5.26.5-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build20) …
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/plasma-workspace_4%3a6.0.0-1xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build70_amd64.deb (–unpack):
trying to overwrite ‘/usr/share/doc/HTML/ca/kcontrol/cursortheme/index.cache.bz2’, which is also in package plasma-desktop-data 4:5.26.5-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build17
dpkg-deb: error: paste subprocess was killed by signal (Broken pipe)
Errors were encountered while processing:
/var/cache/apt/archives/plasma-workspace_4%3a6.0.0-1xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build70_amd64.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

6

Through selective use of dpkg I was able to get KDE uninstalled and I think I am out of dependency hell.

What package should I be installing to get KDE back?

neon-dekstop?
plasma-desktop?

7

Don’t forget to sudo apt update before trying stuff. Might be worse retrying, the previous solutions if you hadn’t.

You got:

 dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/plasma-workspace_4%3a6.0.0-1xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build70_amd64.deb (–unpack):
trying to overwrite ‘/usr/share/doc/HTML/ca/kcontrol/cursortheme/index.cache.bz2’, which is also in package plasma-desktop-data 4:5.26.5-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build17

So uninstall manually plasma-desktop-data before retrying previous solution might unlock sudo apt autoremove and the rest.

Installing both would be preferable.
apt show neon-desktop
apt show plasma-desktop
Should help you decide.

8

I rebooted, made sure apt looked clean before:

sudo apt install neon-desktop plasma-desktop

During the installation, I received what appears to be the same error:

Preparing to unpack …/breeze_4%3a6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build49_amd64.deb …
dpkg-divert: warning: please specify --no-rename explicitly, the default will change to --rename in 1.20.x
Adding ‘diversion of /usr/share/cups/data/default-testpage.pdf to /usr/share/cups/data/default-testpage.pdf.distrib by breeze’
Unpacking breeze (4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build49) …
Selecting previously unselected package breeze-cursor-theme.
Preparing to unpack …/breeze-cursor-theme_4%3a6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build49_all.deb …
Unpacking breeze-cursor-theme (4:6.0.0-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build49) …
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of breeze-cursor-theme:
breeze-cursor-theme depends on breeze; however:
Package breeze is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package breeze-cursor-theme (–configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
breeze-cursor-theme
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

However, I was able to successfully run the command
sudo apt --fix-broken install

I then reissued the command

sudo apt install neon-desktop plasma-desktop

The installation was completed without errors, and the desktop started normally. Great!

I didn’t document all of the packages I removed with dpkg, however, I started with trying to remove “plasma-desktop” and “plasma-workspace” and removing dependencies that cropped up.

9

I found myself with a similar problem after trying to upgrade to Plasma 6 - the computer booted to a black screen with a cursor, no login box, and when trying anything apt-related, the error message Fatal error: Error while installing package: trying to overwrite ‘/usr/share/doc/HTML/ca/kcontrol/cursortheme/index.cache.bz2’, which is also in package plasma-desktop-data 4 was produced.

My computer had been running Neon + Plasma 5 before the failed upgrade.

I seem to have fixed things by removing entire neon-desktop, plasma-desktop, plasma-workspace and plasma-workspace-data using dpkg:

dpkg -r neon-desktop
dpkg -r plasma-desktop
dpkg -r plasma-workspace
dpkg -r plasma-workspace-data

Then installing a specific plasma-workspace version (the version string was copied from another working computer):

apt install plasma-workspace=4:6.1.2-0xneon+22.04+jammy+release+build100

After this, apt update, pkcon refresh and pkcon update started working normally again and pkcon update even seems to have reinstalled the neon-desktop and plasma-desktop packages.

Finally, I did a cleanup using apt autoremove and rebooted. The system managed to boot into full GUI just fine. Hope this helps any poor souls stuck on the same problem.

1 Like
10

Thank you @madmaxoft! You are my hero. I was struggling with this for many hours now.

My approach:

I followed your post (see the post above this one).

I got the error message when executing sudo pkcon update:
Fatal error: rror while installing package: trying to overwrite '/user/share/sddm/themes/breeze/background.wmp', which is also in package sddm-theme-breeze 4

I asked ChatGPT and executed:
2. Remove the Conflicting Package
If the sddm-theme-breeze package is not necessary, you can remove it before reinstalling breeze:

sudo apt remove --purge sddm-theme-breeze

3. Reinstall breeze
Now, try reinstalling the breeze package:

sudo apt install --reinstall breeze

Finally, I executed sudo pkcon update again and it worked.

I closed with apt autoremove and rebooted, as stated by you.

11

Just letting people know that I used the above method to fix this problem:

“the current theme cannot be loaded due to the errors below”

I used sudo with

dpkg -r neon-desktop
dpkg -r plasma-desktop
dpkg -r plasma-workspace
dpkg -r plasma-workspace-data

I may have deleted some other items.

Then:

sudo apt remove --purge sddm-theme-breeze

and

sudo apt install --reinstall breeze

Finally:

sudo apt-get update && full-upgrade

1 Like