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I need to repair a network related package (Samba) that is preventing my system from booting. (mint 17).

I have a bootable USB stick with the same OS. How would I fix the broken package on my hard disk through the USB operating system?

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  • Give me a few minutes, and I'll have an answer for you.... This takes awhile as I have to create a chroot
    – eyoung100
    Dec 10, 2014 at 16:50

2 Answers 2

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Download the package(s) that you need and use dkpg with the --instdir option:

dpkg --instdir=/path/to/mounted/HDD --install yourpackage.deb

you might want to use --purge (also with the appropriate --instdir!!) first if dpkg doesn't want to overwrite a half installed package.

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Fix

The easiest way to do this is to create a chroot, and then perform the repair operations inside the chroot. You do this by:

  1. Verify the network works outside the chroot. Issue a sudo ifconfig.
  2. Create a mountpoint for your installation that needs fixing. Issue a sudo mkdir -pv /mnt/mymint
  3. Now mount your installation. Issue sudo mount -v -t ext4 /dev/sdX where X is the letter for your root partition. You may need to change the -t option depending on your filesystem.
  4. Verify your swap partition. Issue sudo swapon /dev/sdY where Y is your swap partition.
  5. Issue the following commands to sync up the LiveDisk with your install:
    mount -t proc proc /mnt/mymint/proc
    mount --rbind /sys /mnt/mymint/sys
    mount --rbind /dev /mnt/mymint/dev
  6. Enter Your Change Root. Issue:
    chroot /mnt/mymint /bin/bash
    source /etc/profile
    export PS1="(chroot) $PS1"
  7. Now we don't have to use any extra options with any Targets as in Anthon's Answer. We can use apt-get(Do this for all Broken packages):
    sudo apt-get remove --purge brokenpackagename && sudo apt-get-install packagename
  8. Reboot. Issue:
    exit
    umount -l /mnt/mymint/dev{/shm,/pts,}
    umount /mnt/mymint{/boot,/sys,/proc,}
    reboot

Reasoning

My personal opinion is that using a changeroot is the safest approach because, in this way nothing from the LiveCD/USB interferes with your system. I'll admit this approach probably scares off some newer users, but I can assure you that this work as it is the method that the Gentoo Distribution uses for new installs. If interested, see Chapter 6 of the Gentoo Install Handbook.

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