1

I want to install libpcre3-dev:386 onto 64-bit Ubuntu 14.04.

I have libpcre3:i386 installed, as well as the :x64 -dev version. But if I run 'sudo apt-get install libpcre3-dev:i386', apt wants to remove "all" of my build tools:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
...
The following extra packages will be installed:
  libc6-dev:i386 libpcrecpp0:i386 linux-libc-dev:i386
Suggested packages:
  glibc-doc:i386 manpages-dev:i386
Recommended packages:
  gcc:i386 c-compiler:i386
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  build-essential camlp4 dkms dpkg-dev g++ g++-4.7 g++-4.7-multilib g++-4.9
  g++-4.9-multilib gcc gcc-4.7 gcc-4.7-multilib gcc-4.9 gcc-4.9-multilib
  gcc-multilib hardening-includes lcov libtool lintian ocaml
  ocaml-compiler-libs ocaml-interp ocaml-nox pepperflashplugin-nonfree
  sa-compile virtualbox-dkms
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libc6-dev:i386 libpcre3-dev:i386 libpcrecpp0:i386 linux-libc-dev:i386
0 upgraded, 4 newly installed, 26 to remove and 11 not upgraded.

Any idea what it's doing and/or how I can get it to install the 32-bit -dev library?


Disclaimer: I installed GCC 4.9 from a PPA (ppa:ubuntu-toolchain-r/test). After installing, I removed it as a repository; if I re-add it, then gcc-4.9 and its associated packages disappear from the list of things that will be removed:

The following packages will be REMOVED:
  build-essential camlp4 dkms dpkg-dev g++ g++-4.7 g++-4.7-multilib gcc
  gcc-4.7 gcc-4.7-multilib gcc-4.8 gcc-4.8-multilib gcc-multilib
  hardening-includes lcov lintian ocaml ocaml-compiler-libs ocaml-interp
  ocaml-nox pepperflashplugin-nonfree sa-compile virtualbox-dkms
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  gcc-5-base gcc-5-base:i386 libc6-dev:i386 libpcre3-dev:i386 libpcrecpp0:i386
  linux-libc-dev:i386

I see GCC 5 in that list. Is that causing the problem somehow? I'll leave it enabled for everything else here.


If I download the .deb for libpcre3-dev directly and try to install it with dpkg -i, it says:

dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of libpcre3-dev:i386:
 libpcre3-dev:i386 depends on libc6-dev.
 libpcre3-dev:i386 depends on libpcrecpp0 (= 1:8.31-2ubuntu2).

Earlier, I tried installing libc6-dev:i386 but it gave me the same list of packages that would be removed.

Also, now if I try to run apt-get again, it complains

You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 libpcre3-dev:i386 : Depends: libc6-dev:i386 but it is not going to be installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

and if I try to run apt-get -f install, it gives me the same list of packages to remove.

(Incidentally, I've obviated the need for actually installing this for now, by manually unpacking the .deb file in a different location. So now advice for getting apt back into a happy state is more important, though I would still like to know what was going wrong originally.)

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  • Possibly something from that ppa. On 14.04 here it would install cleanly, adding 7 packages - gcc-4.8-base:i386 libc6-dev:i386 libpcre3:i386 libpcre3-dev:i386 libpcrecpp0:i386 libstdc++6:i386 linux-libc-dev:i386, what's your current gcc-4.8-base package?
    – doug
    Jun 1, 2015 at 20:31
  • I am editing more info into the question, including PPA name. 'dpkg -s gcc-4.8-base' shows 'Architecture: amd64, Multi-Arch: same, Version: 4.8.2-19ubuntu1'. Is that what you want?
    – EvanED
    Jun 1, 2015 at 20:59
  • Well adding that ppa doesn't really hurt here, just adds a few - The following extra packages will be installed: gcc-5-base gcc-5-base:i386 libc6-dev:i386 libpcre3:i386 libpcrecpp0:i386 libstdc++6 libstdc++6:i386 linux-libc-dev:i386 The following packages will be upgraded: libstdc++6 Did you happen to use trusty -proposed before then disable? (it's not enabled now.
    – doug
    Jun 1, 2015 at 21:24

1 Answer 1

-1

See this StackOverflow post. It's trying to purge your package (and dependencies) and redownload it all back. Instead, try running sudo apt-get install --reinstall libc6-dev-i386

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  • I tried running that. It did seem to do something ("Preparing to unpack...", "Unpacking...", "Setting up...") but it didn't do anything to help the main problem.
    – EvanED
    Jun 1, 2015 at 20:02
  • What makes you think that the issues are related?
    – heemayl
    Jun 1, 2015 at 21:11

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