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How to solve this Dependencies apt --fix-broken install

Asked 4 years, 2 months ago Modified 10 months ago Viewed 52k times

When I use the command

9 apt --fix-broken install

I get the following errors:

Reading package lists... Done

Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... failed.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
libhogweed4 : Depends: libnettle6 (= 3.3-1+b1) but 3.4-1 is installed
mana-toolkit : Depends: dnsmasq but it is not installable
E: Error, pkgProblemResolver::Resolve generated breaks, this may be caused by held packages.
E: Unable to correct dependencies

I am unable to install anything because of this.

What can I do?

debian installation kali-linux dependencies

Share Improve this question Follow edited Dec 20, 2018 at 12:32 asked Dec 20, 2018 at 10:07
zx485 GM games
2,170 11 17 23 99 1 1 3

3 Answers Sorted by: Highest score (default)

This is not a simple problem, and I faced a similar one just a minute ago. I solved it by running (a variation on):

16 dpkg --force-all --configure -a

dpkg --purge --force-depends libnettle6 (cf. this post)

apt --fix-broken install

apt-get -f install

Share Improve this answer Follow answered May 21, 2019 at 6:59

https://superuser.com/questions/1386209/how-to-solve-this-dependencies-apt-fix-broken-install 1/2
3/15/23, 8:55 PM debian - How to solve this Dependencies apt --fix-broken install - Super User
Clément
276 2 10

The solution above solved only part of the problem in my case, i had to purge all the faulty packages. My issue was like so:

5 root@MrApollos:/var/cache/apt/archives/partial# apt upgrade

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:
kali-desktop-base : Depends: kali-themes-common (= 2021.2.3) but 2021.2.1 is installed
kali-themes : Depends: kali-themes-common (= 2021.2.3) but 2021.2.1 is installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt --fix-broken install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

in my case, i had to run

dpkg --force-all --configure -a

dpkg --purge --force-depends kali-desktop-base to remove the first faulty package

dpkg --purge --force-depends kali-themes to remove the second faulty package dpkg --purge --force-depends kali-themes-common to
remove the third faulty package

then apt-get -f install

and finally apt update & apt-upgrade

Share Improve this answer Follow answered May 20, 2021 at 10:07
Timothy Walshak
71 1 3

Restart, close other (automatic) updates that are running in background, then try this:

0 sudo apt-get install -f

Share Improve this answer Follow answered May 12, 2022 at 9:11
Benjamin Ronneling
101 1

How is this better than other answers? – Toto May 12, 2022 at 9:48

I had tried the above solutions but they did not work as I missed that automatic updates were running in the background. In this solution, this has
been stated clearly. – Benjamin Ronneling May 13, 2022 at 10:58

https://superuser.com/questions/1386209/how-to-solve-this-dependencies-apt-fix-broken-install 2/2