I have a Debian Etch (4.0) system, currently still running kernel 2.4.27-2-386. I'd like to upgrade it to Lenny, but I'm running into what seems to be a circular dependency between the kernel and libc6.
A straightforward upgrade (update sources.list, apt-get update, apt-get dist-upgrade) fails when it tries to upgrade libc6:
WARNING: POSIX threads library NPTL requires kernel version
2.6.8 or later. If you use a kernel 2.4, please upgrade it
before installing glibc.
The installation of a 2.6 kernel _could_ ask you to install a new libc
first, this is NOT a bug, and should *NOT* be reported. In that case,
please add etch sources to your /etc/apt/sources.list and run:
apt-get install -t etch linux-image-2.6
Then reboot into this new kernel, and proceed with your upgrade
However, adding Etch back into sources.list ("deb-src http://archive.debian.org/debian etch main contrib non-free"), apt-get update, and then running "apt-get install -t etch linux-image-2.6" prompts me to choose a more specific package. So I choose one: "sudo apt-get install -t etch linux-image-2.6.18-6-486"
But this throws an error about unmet dependencies that I can't get around:
The following packages have unmet dependencies.
binutils: Depends: libc6 (>= 2.7-1) but 2.3.6.ds1-13etch5 is to be installed
libc6-dev: Depends: libc6 (= 2.7-18lenny6) but 2.3.6.ds1-13etch5 is to be installed
linux-image-2.6.18-6-486: Depends: initramfs-tools (>= 0.55) but it is not going to be installed or
yaird (>= 0.0.12-8) but it is not going to be installed or
linux-initramfs-tool
locales: Depends: glibc-2.7-1
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).
Running "apt-get -f install" takes me back to the first error, telling me to install a 2.6 kernel.
I've tried apt-get clean, autoclean, rebooting, etc. Any suggestions on getting around it?
I don't have console access, the ability to boot from other media, etc.; it's a headless machine that I have SSH access to only.
