Re: [gentoo-user] Cleaning /var/lib/portage/packages -- a big mistake?

[Neil Bothwick]

Hello Kevin O'Gorman,

> I also cleaned out /usr/portage/packages (10 GB) but now emerge --sync
> is complaining about a large number of them, and apparently cannot
> update its cache.  I just moved them to another partition, they're not
> really gone, but I'd like to not be carrying around so many of them.
>
> I've been running with FEATURES="buildpkg" on in /etc/make.conf, so
> I've accumulated a lot of
> these things.  How do I now clean up my act?  If there's a way, I'd
> like to keep building them, but be able to manage them without ruining
> portage.

You shouldn't be able to damage portage with this, because it doesn't
need any binary packages, they are purely for your convenience.

> Most of the messages said the package "should be deleted".  This
> mystifies my as in effect
> that's what I already did.  What does it want me to do?
>
> The emerge --sync died eventually.  Maybe one or more of the packages
> is more vital than most.  So there may be packages I should not
> manage.  Here's the tail end of the output:
>
>
> !!! Invalid binary package: '/usr/portage/packages/All/less-394.tbz2'
> !!! This binary package is not recoverable and should be deleted.
> !!! Invalid binary package:
> '/usr/portage/packages/All/pycrypto-2.0.1-r5.tbz2'
> !!! This binary package is not recoverable and should be deleted.

I suspect you deleted the packages in /usr/portage/packages/All/ but not
the symlinks in /usr/portage/packages/cate-gory. emerge symlinks and do
symlinks -r -d /usr/portage/packages to get rid of them.

In future, it may be safer to use eclean to remove your binary packages.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

If a book about failures doesn't sell, is it a success?