Synaptic wants to uninstall FAHClient, etc. [SOLVED]

[frazelle09]

i'm running FAH on PCLinuxOS and d/l it from the web and just used the CL to install the .rpm(s). The unit seems to be working just fine and is reported in the LocalFolding Web Control just fine. However when i go to update Synaptic (like, once a week or so) i noticed that it complained about their being broken packages and woundn't proceed any further until i had fixed them. After updating i found that Synaptic had removed the FAH programs. So, i d/l and installed the FAH programs again and again tried Synaptic. It again reported broken packages and after fixing them and trying to update i noticed that Synaptic reported that it would be removing the three FAH packages. So, i tried to uncheck each one of the FAH packages listed in red (To Be Removed) and every time i unchecked on, it would immediately become checked again.

So, first of all, am i in the correct forum for this question? And if, so, does anyone have any idea how to get Synaptic to ignore these packages? It's not a BIG hassle, i see that i was able to continue folding the same WU and with the same configuration so that's a relief.

Any help would be appreciated. Have a great morning!

[jonault]

Over in this thread they mention using apt-mark to prevent packages from being automatically removed.

[bruce]

The FAH installer needs some updates. It currently has some obsolete dependencies. If that's what they're concerned about, you'll have to wait until somebody gets time to build an improved package or keep uninstalling/reinstalling.

If that's NOT what they're worried about, contact the folks at PCLinuxOSsynaptic. Report their problem and give a testimony for FAH.

My hunch it's the former.

[ipkh]

Synaptic is just a gui over the apt/dpkg system. It's really just a packaging problem that is being actively worked on on github.
For the time being it is best to mark it to prevent its removal while an update is prepared.

[frazelle09]

Boy, you guys are Fast! Thanks all for responding. It looks like i d/l the 7.4.1 version, but it seems to work just fine. However, as the last poster noted, i Cannot "'pin" the packages nor, like i mentioned in the first post, can i unmark them for removal. As soon as i hit the X, the program puts it back again - lol.

As to the other suggestion about talking to the devs who are responsible for PCLinuxOS, i talked to the main guy and sadly he went off on a rant about using CPUs and the ozone layer and the electric bill. Actually that's why i've had to resort to posting this in this forum - sigh. So, that's that. i really like this OS so i'm just going to have to suck it up.

Anyway, Synaptic is pretty much a script, as i understand it and there must be some file that i could modify - or perhaps move the FAH files to another folder... ?? Like the first poster mentioned, i may just have to be resigned to reinstalling each time - this last time i just left the d/l files in a subdirectory - just in case. Maybe i can make a batch file!!! Challenge, challenge! Open term, su+password, run command. Bingo. Installed again.

Have a great afternoon, guys and again, thanks for your swift replies. We're still folding!

[ipkh]

Synaptic is a gtk frontend for the apt commands. dpkg is the backend for apt.
So synaptic is much more than z script.
The problem with the fah .deb packages is that they have obsolete dependencies and only Ubuntu 16.04 and 18.04 can support them unless you override the system.
Synaptic just makes the process of tracking down dependency programs much quicker. The packages just leave dpkg in a incomplete state and make for a bunch of errors everytime you update the system.

[frazelle09]

O.k., ipkh. i appreciate your comment. So, i'll go ahead and try to make up some sort of bash script to reinstall - maybe i could do one that would first d/l the newest version and then install.

So, please have a safe week and thanks again for helping. Oh, btw, the packages are *.rpm, not *.deb, but i suppose it doesn't make any diff.

[ipkh]

Oops, I'm used to dealing with debian based systems.