Preparing to replace mysql-server 5.0.51a-24 (using .../mysql-server_5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1_all.deb) ...
 Unpacking replacement mysql-server ...
 (Reading database ... 120744 files and directories currently installed.)
 Removing mysql-server-5.0 ...
 Stopping MySQL database server: mysqld.
 Removing mysql-client-5.0 ...
 Processing triggers for man-db ...
 Selecting previously deselected package mysql-client-5.1.
 (Reading database ... 118764 files and directories currently installed.)
 Unpacking mysql-client-5.1 (from .../mysql-client-5.1_5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1_i386.deb) ...
 Selecting previously deselected package mysql-server-5.1.
 Unpacking mysql-server-5.1 (from .../mysql-server-5.1_5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1_i386.deb) ...
 Processing triggers for man-db ...
 Processing triggers for menu ...
 Setting up mysql-client-5.1 (5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1) ...
 Setting up mysql-server-5.1 (5.1.34-0.dotdeb.1) ...
 Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/mysql ...
 Stopping MySQL database server: mysqld.
 Starting MySQL database server: mysqld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . failed!

 invoke-rc.d: initscript mysql, action "start" failed.
 dpkg: error processing mysql-server-5.1 (--configure):
 subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
 dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of mysql-server:
 mysql-server depends on mysql-server-5.1; however:
 Package mysql-server-5.1 is not configured yet.
 dpkg: error processing mysql-server (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
 Processing triggers for menu ...
 Errors were encountered while processing:
 mysql-server-5.1
 mysql-server

Aaargh! My good MySQL install has been blown away, and the update has failed to install properly!

The error messages were less than helpful, and as far as I could see, I had all the prerequisite packages installed. What to do?

After a bit of googling, I came across someone with the same problem at this forum thread.

They suggested that MySQL 5.1 cannot have ‘skip-bdb’ in the my.cnf configuration file. As my Debian machine is a low memory box, I had ‘skip-bdb’ set for MySQL 5.0 in order to save some memory. After commenting ‘skip-bdb’ out of the my.cnf file (placing # in front of it), I tried an ‘apt-get -f install’, and the installation completed successfully.

Here’s an excellent, short and to-the-point guide on getting FastCGI configured for Lighttpd:

http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/lighttpd-php-fastcgi-configuration.html

Of course, this is assuming PHP, MySQL (if required) and Lighttpd are already installed:

  apt-get install php5-cli php5-cgi lighttpd mysql-server

I also needed to reconfigure MySQL for a low memory machine (112MB). I did that by doing the following:

Replace /etc/mysql/my.cnf with the my-small.cnf found at /usr/share/doc/mysql-server-5.0/examples/

  cp /usr/share/doc/mysql-server-5.0/examples/my-small.cnf /etc/mysql/my.cnf

Edit your new my.cnf and do the following:

Uncomment skip-bdb
Add a new line beneath it for skip-innodb

Finally, restart your mysql server:

  sh/etc/init.d/mysql restart

For a few years now, I’ve been running Debian GNU/Linux on my Linksys NSLU2 (commonly known as a ‘slug’). I use it to run various services on my home network, but primarily it’s used as an FTP interface to my ‘Toppy’, otherwise known as a Topfield TF5800 Freeview/DVB-T Hard Disk Recorder (PVR), and to populate its MyStuff EPG TAP with daily TV listings from the Radio Times.

The NSLU2 is a great little device. Its small (really small), low power, silent, relatively inexpensive and just works. Ive modified it to run at 266MHz, from the stock 133MHz. Note: This isnt overclocking it. The ARM CPU in use is designed to run at 266MHz, but its limited in the NSLU2 to run at 133MHz. A simple modification allows it to run at its full speed.

When I heard that lenny had been released, I thought I’d go ahead and update my slug, as I like to stay current. The great thing about Debian, is that it’s so easy to maintain. I logged in, and did the usual ‘apt-get update‘ followed by an ‘apt-get dist-upgrade‘, expecting a huge amount of updates to appear. What I actually saw was only a handful of packages offering themselves for the taking, and there was no sight of a full distribution upgrade.

I took a quick look at my /etc/apt/sources.list file, and the problem was apparent:

deb http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ etch main
deb-src http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ etch main

deb http://security.debian.org/ etch/updates main
deb-src http://security.debian.org/ etch/updates main

deb http://www.backports.org/debian etch-backports main contrib non-free

My sources were set specifically to ‘etch’. So I proceeded to edit /etc/apt/sources.list and replace all instances of ‘etch’ with ‘lenny’.

Another ‘apt-get update‘, followed by an ‘apt-get install apt dpkg‘ to upgrade apt and dpkg, and I was ready for lenny.

One note though: After running the ‘apt-get update‘ above, I got the following message:

Reading package lists... Done
 W: There are no public key available for the following key IDs:
 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems

Well, I just ran ‘apt-get update‘, so that wasnt going to help! What I actually needed to do was the following:

gpg --keyserver wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net --recv-keys XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

apt-key add /root/.gnupg/pubring.gpg

apt-get update

Replacing the XXX’s with the key ID from the previous message.

Finally, I was ready for the upgrade:

apt-get dist-upgrade

A loooong while later, and my slug was nicely up to date. I would also note that you’ll need a large amount of free disk space before you start this. I needed over 200MB, which is hard to find when my entire disk (including swap) is only 1GB!

Now that the slug is done, I think I’ll have a go at installing lenny on my HP Thin Client that I recently bought off eBay.