• Registered: 2010-03-31
  • Posts: 11

Topic: only debian security repository in sources.list

After I installed Crunchbang Statler, the only repositories that were in my sources.list file were the cdrom and security.debian.org

I tried adding the debian squeeze repository, but when i upgraded, a lot of things were broken, so I had to reinstall crunchbang.

So I would like to ask what the URL for crunchbang's repository is?

  • pvsage
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  • From: Section Six
  • Registered: 2009-10-18
  • Posts: 5,999

Re: only debian security repository in sources.list

Here's the default Statler sources.list:

## CrunchBang Linux 10.xx aka Statler
## Compatible with Debian Squeeze, but use at your own risk.
deb http://packages.crunchbanglinux.org/statler statler main
## Official Debian Repositories:
deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/ squeeze main contrib non-free
# deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/ squeeze main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main
# deb-src http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main
while ( ! ( succeed = try() ) );
  • Registered: 2010-03-31
  • Posts: 11

Re: only debian security repository in sources.list

Thanks. That was what I was looking for.

So if I do apt-get upgrade using these repositories, nothing will break? Because I see the squeeze repository is in the sources.list, and last time I used it to upgrade, it didn't turn out very well.

EDIT: I looked at apt's preferences file, and there it says statler has a higher priority than squeeze, so I think that as long as the statler repository is in the sources.list file, apt will take the packages from statler repository, and it won't break crunchbang. In my case, the statler repository was missing (I have no idea why), so it took the squeeze packages, and it broke my system.
Is that right?

Last edited by fearbear (2010-11-15 17:56:46)

  • Registered: 2008-11-24
  • Posts: 2,085

Re: only debian security repository in sources.list

Perhaps you can talk us through your update procedure? If you are coming to Debian from another distro, the update procedure may be a little different than you're used to.

I recommend running the 'cb-welcome' script (it should automatically appear on your first boot) since its first action is to safely bring your system up to date.

Personally, to keep my Statler system up-to-date I use:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

 

However, if there are major updates (especially anything xorg related), I will often do the upgrade from a tty terminal (outside of X) to avoid breakage. Not sure if this is strictly speaking necessary for #!, but it is a habit I picked up when I used to run Sidux.

  • Registered: 2010-03-31
  • Posts: 11

Re: only debian security repository in sources.list

These are the commands I use to update debian and ubuntu:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

I thought that since I didn't upgrade from the old crunchbang to statler, it isn't necessary to do a dist-upgrade.

I installed #! from a memory stick using unetbootin (no cd drive in my netbook), and the debian installer didn't find any wireless networks, so I skipped the network configuration during installation. Then I configured the network after installation, and i uncommented the security.debian.org lines in sources.list. (Those were the only ones in sources.list except for the cdrom, and they were commented out because during installation, there was no internet connection and they were unavailable.) After uncommenting them, I ran cb-welcome. It installed updates from security.debian.org, but didn't add the right repositories to my sources.list file.

Then I started seaching what the right repositories would be, and I added the debian squeeze repository. I couldn't find the url for the crunchbang repository, so I didn't add it. Then I executed the commands listed above, and this broke the system (nm-applet didn't work, grub screen was different, gdm was different, some black spaces in the system tray, and the installation even hung, so I had to kill it. That was of course because the crunchbang packages were being overridden by debian squeeze ones.

Now that I added the crunchbang repository as well, it is safe to update, right? With the apt preferences file, the crunchbang packages shouldn't be overridden, right? I'm still waiting for confirmation before updating, because I don't want to install it all over again wink

  • Registered: 2008-11-24
  • Posts: 2,085

Re: only debian security repository in sources.list

Hi Fearbear, you are generally on the right track, smile a couple of things:

1. If you're not connected to the Web when you install, the Debian installer assumes you will be using the Debian CDs (or DVDs) as your local repository (not the online repos), and creates your sources.list accordingly. This is not a #!-specific behavior. Sounds like you got this straightened out by copying the correct list from pvsage, but I thought you'd like to know WHY it happens.

2. I recommend using "dist-upgrade" instead of "upgrade" for any distro based on Debian Testing or Unstable. (Since Squeeze is still in Testing, this applies to the current state of #! Statler Alpha. By the time Statler gets a final release, Squeeze will be Stable and this advice may not apply any more.) The reason for this is that "dist-upgrade" upgrades all packages, including those which require adding a new (or removing an old) package (for example the Linux kernel). Regular "upgrade" will hold back any updates that require adding/removing packages. This is not something you want to do to a constantly-changing Testing system, because it means you have a mix of old and new packages that were never tested to work together! Therefore I recommend "dist-upgrade" so you get ALL the available bug fixes.

Is it always 100% safe to update? No... #! Statler is an Alpha release based on a Testing distro. It might make your computer go Crunch! Bang! That being said, many of us are very happy with it, and if there is a big problem with an update coming through, you can usually get a heads-up by hanging out on these forums, because you won't be the only one affected by it. smile

  • Registered: 2010-03-31
  • Posts: 11

Re: only debian security repository in sources.list

Thanks for all the help. I'll keep the dist-upgrade tip in mind, it's the first time I run an alpha version of a distro... I used the stable crunchbang a while back and I really liked it, but it couldn't handle the screen resolution for my netbook screen, so I switched to ubuntu netbook edition, planning to return to crunchbang when statler came out.

But now that UNE has the unity interface, it became too slow, and I decided to return to crunchbang.

I upgraded with the new sources.list, and everything went well, my system is up to date.