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sqp_125
Asked: 2017-09-15 21:56:15 +0800 CST

Pregenerating ConTeXt MarkIV format. This may take some time... takes forever

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Hey there I tried to install latex using the follwing commands in ubuntu 16.04:

sudo apt-get install texlive-full texstudio

Then I finally came to the point with the following output:

Setting up thunderbird-locale-en (1:52.3.0+build1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1) ... 
Setting up thunderbird-locale-en-us (1:52.3.0+build1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1) ... 
Setting up context (2015.05.18.20150601-2) ... 
Running mtxrun --generate. This may take some time... done. 
Pregenerating ConTeXt MarkIV format. This may take some time...

And after waiting for 5 hours I closed the process. Unfortunately now my certain packages seem to be broken. e.g when I try to install a new package or try sudo apt-get dist-upgrade I get the following error: 

E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'sudo dpkg --configure
-a' to correct the problem.

And If I try 

sudo dpkg --configure -a

I came again to the endless waiting point....

Any Ideas what I can do?

Notes:

  • I also have installed Miktex before does that cause some troubles?

  • I unfortunately cannot remove any package cause I also get:

     sudo apt-get remove tex-common
 E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'sudo dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.
apt

3 Answers

  1. I have also faced the similar issue. What have I done is :

    1. Run sudo dpkg --configure -a
    2. Got the following response and it stuck for a long time.

      Setting up context (2018.04.04.20180416-1~18.04.york1)...
      Running mtxrun --generate. This may take some time...`

    3. I entered ctr-c

    4. Got the following response.

      Errors were encountered while processing:
      context
      context-modules
      texlive-full

    5. removed these packages using dpkg -r.

      sudo dpkg -r context-modules.
      sudo dpkg -r context.
      sudo dpkg -r texlive-full.

    6. Now again I run dpkg --configure -a
    7. This time it does not get stuck .
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  2. I am new to linux (only few days and I crashed it 4 times already :D)... I faced the same problem while installing texlive-full - apt-get install, purge and so on didn't worked and sudo dpkg --configure -a couldn't finish. I don't know which step helped the most, but after searching on the internet I found the solution how to 'repair' damages.

    1. open second terminal and type sudo killall dpkg
    2. I opened sudo nano /var/lib/dpkg/status and deleted the whole section for Package: context (2015.05.18.20150601-2) (you can easily search it by pressing ctrl+W) and saved it. That didn't solved problem yet (I also removed 'tex-common' since that was problematic for me, too).
    3. I tried to remove problematic package with dpkg: sudo dpkg -r context but dependency error occurred (texlive-full and context-modules depends on context) and processing triggered for 'tex-common'. So I try to remove tex-common but there were even more dependencies I didn't try to remove other packages.
    4. I tried to run sudo dpkg --configure -a and an error occured -> thats good because it stopped working and I could try apt-get.
    5. I typed sudo apt-get purge texlive* to remove everything from problematic package and it worked, than I also purged miktex.
    6. The last step was about repairing apt-get: sudo apt-get -f install

    I think I was just lucky but after this you can try installing tex again (find some not bugged package)

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  3. I have faced a similar issue with my texlive-*full and terminal got stuck for more than 12hrs. Finally I have decided to quit the upgrade. I have used following steps to resolve my problem through trial and error and a comprehensive search over Google.

    1. Open the dpkg status file situated at /var/lib/dpkg/status and delete all the block information which contains the status unpacked or not-installed or half-installed(Only choose those packages which are installed during Texlive, don't forget to remove context).
    2. Remove the dpkg lock using sudo fuser -vki /var/lib/dpkg/lock to kill the process.
    3. Use sudo dpkg -r <packagename> to remove installed package..
    4. Use sudo dpkg --configure -a to configure all packages.
    5. Most probably, now you can able to update or upgrade the apt.
    6. Remove all the files related to texlive by using sudo apt purge texlive-*.
    7. Use sudo apt autoremove to uninstall unwanted or leftover files.

    I have also reinstalled the tex-common and texlive-base and now my system is working fine. You might need to use steps 1 to 4 recursively until your problem has been resolved. I have also restarted my PC after step 4.

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