Thanks all for the advice. I am reporting back here for posterity, since I am sure it will happen again at some future date.

I followed the advice and


sudo apt-get clean all
sudo apt-get autoclean
sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/lock
sudo rm -R /var/lib/apt/lists/partial
sudo rm -fr ~/.Trash


but no joy. Again, got the same error message.

I have had trouble with ftp sources in the past failing more commonly than http sources so I did not want to change my sources list. Makes me wonder why there's no tor or vpn'd tor source list. But anyway...

So I went through the process again, repeating the steps above, because I am just a stickler for such details, but apparently not enough of a stickler. Instead of typing "sudo rm -R /var/lib/apt/lists/partial", I typed "sudo rm -R /var/lib/apt/lists" and hit enter. Strangely I saw the command execute in like slow-mo because I thought I had just issued a destruction message to my system. On other forums, the result of such a command killed the apt system. But i decided to try an update anyway. Lo and behold, it worked without hitch. Not sure about the source of the error, or why this happenstance worked.

Must learn more about apt?

Thanks for the advice.

Dear Vsidians,

Could y'all help a brotha out?

I had an update hang several days ago. As in, in the midst of the update, everything just froze, for like 25 min. I'm not sure why or what the problem was. However, I had to ctrl+x ctrl+c to quit the apt-get update. Since that time, I have not been able to update.

I have removed the content of /var/lib/apt/lists/partial several times on advice from the intertubes. But no joy. Other solutions from the web & ubuntu/mint/debian forums all suggest removing the contents of the partial folder, or using dpkg-dev. However, I would like to figure out the 'appropriate' and 'standard' way to manage this is, rather than downloading a developer package. I'm pretty sure the answer is simple, yet I admit I am obtuse.

CLI I/O follow....including the error, my sources list, and my apt-cache policy.


superwow@grmldeb ~ % sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade                                              v61%
[sudo] password for superwow:
Hit http://http.debian.net sid InRelease
Get:1 http://http.debian.net sid/main Sources/DiffIndex [7,876 B]
Get:2 http://http.debian.net sid/contrib Sources/DiffIndex [7,819 B]
Get:3 http://http.debian.net sid/non-free Sources/DiffIndex [7,819 B]                   
Get:4 http://http.debian.net sid/main amd64 Packages/DiffIndex [7,876 B]
Get:5 http://http.debian.net sid/contrib amd64 Packages/DiffIndex [7,819 B]
Get:6 http://http.debian.net sid/non-free amd64 Packages/DiffIndex [7,819 B]                 
Get:7 http://http.debian.net sid/contrib Translation-en/DiffIndex [7,819 B]                                       
Get:8 http://http.debian.net sid/main Translation-en/DiffIndex [7,876 B]                           
Get:9 http://http.debian.net sid/non-free Translation-en/DiffIndex [7,819 B]         
Get:10 http://http.debian.net sid/main 2015-03-29-2048.27.pdiff [8,486 B]
Get:11 http://http.debian.net sid/main 2015-03-30-0247.33.pdiff [3,477 B]       
Get:12 http://http.debian.net sid/main 2015-03-30-1447.17.pdiff [5,609 B]
Get:13 http://http.debian.net sid/main 2015-03-30-2049.01.pdiff [1,097 B]
Get:14 http://http.debian.net sid/main 2015-03-30-2049.01.pdiff [1,097 B]
Fetched 89.2 kB in 4s (20.8 kB/s)
W: Failed to fetch http://http.debian.net/debian/dists/sid/main/source/SourcesIndex  Hash Sum mismatch

E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

superwow@grmldeb ~ % ls /var/lib/apt/lists                                                                         v59%
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_contrib_binary-amd64_Packages
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_contrib_binary-amd64_Packages.IndexDiff
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_contrib_i18n_Translation-en
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_contrib_i18n_Translation-en.IndexDiff
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_contrib_source_Sources
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_contrib_source_Sources.IndexDiff
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_InRelease
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_main_binary-amd64_Packages
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_main_binary-amd64_Packages.IndexDiff
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_main_i18n_Translation-en
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_main_i18n_Translation-en.IndexDiff
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_main_source_Sources
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_main_source_Sources.ed.2015-03-29-0250.25.gz
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_main_source_Sources.ed.2015-03-29-0849.19.gz
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_main_source_Sources.ed.2015-03-29-2048.27.gz
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_main_source_Sources.ed.2015-03-30-0247.33.gz
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_main_source_Sources.ed.2015-03-30-1447.17.gz
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_main_source_Sources.ed.2015-03-30-2049.01.gz
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_main_source_Sources.IndexDiff
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_non-free_binary-amd64_Packages
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_non-free_binary-amd64_Packages.IndexDiff
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_non-free_i18n_Translation-en
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_non-free_i18n_Translation-en.IndexDiff
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_non-free_source_Sources
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_non-free_source_Sources.IndexDiff
lock
partial

superwow@grmldeb ~ % ls /var/lib/apt/lists/partial                                                                 v59%
http.debian.net_debian_dists_sid_main_source_Sources.diff_2015-03-30-2049.01.FAILED

superwow@grmldeb ~ % cat /etc/apt/sources.list                                                                     v55%
deb http://http.debian.net/debian sid main contrib non-free
deb-src http://http.debian.net/debian sid main contrib non-free

superwow@grmldeb ~ % apt-cache policy                                                                              v57%
Package files:
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     release a=now
500 http://http.debian.net/debian/ sid/non-free Translation-en
500 http://http.debian.net/debian/ sid/main Translation-en
500 http://http.debian.net/debian/ sid/contrib Translation-en
500 http://http.debian.net/debian/ sid/non-free amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=unstable,n=sid,l=Debian,c=non-free
     origin http.debian.net
500 http://http.debian.net/debian/ sid/contrib amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=unstable,n=sid,l=Debian,c=contrib
     origin http.debian.net
500 http://http.debian.net/debian/ sid/main amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=unstable,n=sid,l=Debian,c=main
     origin http.debian.net
Pinned packages:



Is anyone else having problems updating? If not, does anyone have advice on how to fix this upgrade issue (which I am guessing is not uncommon)?

Thanks in advance to all responders!

-VO-

I happen to like FF and Iceweasel, but, you're right, they do have some issues, especially recently. But since you ask, here's my 2 cents:

1. Chrome is pretty outstanding because it connects 100% to my Googleverse including Hangouts, which I LOVE, and gives me Netflix. BUT, I do not want Chrome to ever be installed default on a linux box. Google is ... questionable ... in that way that it is ... questionable. So, Chrome install should 100% be user choice.

2. Chromium is pretty outstanding too. Again, the Google glob applies. But it is a better default choice than Chrome.

3. Opera is great, but also a giant proprietary glob.

4. My vote and the background behind it. I love this whole linux experience. It has really caused me to become fascinated with computing. And each distro does it a little differently. I tend to like the bleeding edge distros with the least bloat. And once I get on the distro I masochistically try NOT to install anything I don't need and do it all the way the minimal distro does it. You may know of my recent troubles with VSIDO and my corrupted apt that snowballed. I then hopped on GRML for a while (it is a great resource for system recovery, and a bit like a candy shop) but eventually installed a minimal Debian with some GRML, #!, bbq, & VSIDO configs. I have intentionally not installed an extra gui based browser and have found my brain pleasantly exploded by the simplicity of terminal browsers like w3m and elinks. W3m works better in xterm and framebuffer terminals (has a right click menu in framebuffer terminals), though if you prefer a javascript enabled terminal browser, maybe elinks is better. So I say leave a distro related choice to either your personal needs, VastOne, or the Debian default of w3m. One caveat though (or two), add the Debian menu to the default VSIDO Fluxbox menu so that the app list is automatically generated. That way, a "Network > web browsing" item comes up and w3m is there, and will be opened by  the terminal (you can configure it to open in xterm, which allows a right click menu, unlike other fuller featured terminals like lxterminal or roxterm). Or, simply add xterm calling w3m or whatever terminal browser directly to the fluxbox menu. The menu item will inform unfamiliar new users.

Btw, GRML is another fluxbox distro, but they don't have a gui browser and each time w3m is called, it goes to a tutorial page on how to use it.

Beyond that, I am betting user who have wandered to VSIDO knows a bit about apt-get and can choose for themselves.

 - VO -

That's interesting, but not in any way surprising. It is behavior like this that drove me from several other linux distros. Behavior of users did not drive me away from MSW. It was the poor performance and execution that drove me from MSW; and their business model of making an OS with so many backdoors. That is what drove me from MSW to Mac almost 15 years ago. And what drove me from Mac was behavior like this in the Mac community, and a continual redesign of software that ruined my files and system.

So far, the Debian communities I have been a part of have been the most inclusive and had the most camaraderie, and been the most instructive to noobs like me.

Having said that, I find myself currently on a Windows phone. The interface I like. In fact, I like it better than any other phone right now. But aside from the interface, the same old crap and jankiness  I have come to expect from MSW is still there.

It is funny though that the guy was pushing OpenSuse. MS and Suse have a history of extensive collaboration (https://www.moreinterop.com/ & https://www.suse.com/partners/alliance-partners/microsoft/). And that OpenSuse runs many of the MS platforms. I believe you used to could look into the header file of your Hotmail account, or just the page encodings, and see OpenSuse in several places. That in itself is interesting. But OpenSuse is a nice choice. It is one of my favorite Linux distros, truly complete, well designed (good software and good appearance choices), and a pretty decent community. It was actually the first linux distro I got fully installed on my own. Not the first I tried, but the first to actually be complete and install without problems. I used it at home for several years as an alternate to my main Mac setup. And IT guys at my last job sang about how it excelled at energy consumption per computation on their servers, though I don't know the specifics of that. Prior to coming to VSIDO I considered spinning myself a minimal Openbox OpenSuse remix.

But I think I am comfortably a Debian guy for the moment though. Kudo's VastOne on putting together a great minimal distro. VSIDO seems like it would be easy to put together. However I admit I have been scratching my head for a couple of weeks trying to build up my current minimal Debian install from scratch. I had some problem (apt corruption or systemd issues, or possibly a humongous case of PEBCAK, or all three which borked my VSIDO). I cannot get VSIDO or other downstream distros to boot from USB after some strange corruption on my last VSIDO install. Lubuntu will boot from USB and GRML will deb bootstrap from that onto a clean drive, though no other distros, debian or otherwise, will boot from USB. It has been extremely fun and I have learnt a lot. Screen is quite fun and w3m and the other terminal browsers are really all you need. But getting a few things like wireless networking to work have been devils! Arrrgg! Getting everything to work as smoothly as VSIDO though is not easy, so, thanks for the front line but entirely minimal distro of VSIDO.

I am not sure what the dude's agenda on the smf free node site was, but clearly he has not tried VSIDO!

This is definitely a cross-post, since I dropped the same info over on the sytemd thread, but, I think it warrants its own post, since the topic has unique ramifications to VSIDO.

Debian has been forked, to Devuan (https://devuan.org/).

I learnt it all from jaromil, the developer of dyne, a tasty debian distro. A nice background on the dyne site: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20141127.212941.f55acc3a.en.html

I am interested in the ensuing discussion: what will VSIDO do?

Just in case y'all hadn't heard, Debian has been forked over the systemd issue. Just to give credit, I got the info from @jaromil.

QuoteJaromil retweeted
Slashdot @slashdot  ·  4h 4 hours ago

Debian Forked Over Systemd http://bit.ly/1FCmRWc

0 replies 42 retweets 12 favorites

And a nice background on the dyne site: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20141127.212941.f55acc3a.en.html

Follow the bitlink to https://devuan.org/

So, now, what will VSIDO do?

@hakerdefo thanks for the input. I will keep that in mind.

Just as an update to everybody, the graphics driver led me to the point of stopping x and reloading, and then to some issues which snowballed to the point of grub only booting to 'grub repair'. How did it get to this? No idea. However, in the process of reloading x, a massive amount of updates occurred, so, perhaps there was some conflict, etc. Not sure.

At this point I am back up and running, albeit with Lubuntu 3.11. No other live cd/iso will install for some reason (have tried VSIDO. BBQ-Cream, dyne-bolic, nano, none are even recognized as bootable devices even though I made them with the typical dd if of commands. So my problems are different than graphics drivers at this point and could be entirely of pebcak variety.

But thanks to all for the help. I may have these questions again soon....

So, at this point, I have a

Sorry for the delay, I have been distracted with regular life. But thanks for the advice.

Doing as @hakerdefo suggests and installing the mesa bits says they are already installed.

Quotelibgl1-mesa-dri is already the newest version.
libgl1-mesa-glx is already the newest version.

But then doing

inxi -Gxxx

gives

QuoteGraphics:  Card: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0166
           X.Org: 1.16.1.901 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1366x768@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: N/A GLX Version: N/A Direct Rendering: N/A

No drivers?!

So


libgl1-mesa-glx -v
libgl1-mesa-glx --version

yields

Quotezsh: command not found: libgl1-mesa-glx

and

locate libgl1-mesa-glx

Quote
/usr/share/bug/libgl1-mesa-glx
/usr/share/bug/libgl1-mesa-glx/control
/usr/share/bug/libgl1-mesa-glx/script
/usr/share/doc/libgl1-mesa-glx
/usr/share/doc/libgl1-mesa-glx/changelog.Debian.gz
/usr/share/doc/libgl1-mesa-glx/copyright
/usr/share/lintian/overrides/libgl1-mesa-glx
/var/cache/apt/archives/libgl1-mesa-glx_10.2.8-1_amd64.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libgl1-mesa-glx_10.3.1-1_amd64.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/libgl1-mesa-glx_10.3.2-1_amd64.deb
/var/lib/dpkg/info/libgl1-mesa-glx:amd64.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/libgl1-mesa-glx:amd64.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/libgl1-mesa-glx:amd64.postinst
/var/lib/dpkg/info/libgl1-mesa-glx:amd64.postrm
/var/lib/dpkg/info/libgl1-mesa-glx:amd64.shlibs

and just for good measure, my path looks like

PATH=$PATH:/sbin:/usr:/usr/sbin:/usr/src:/usr/lib:$HOME/bin:/proc:/etc:/var/lib

Is this a path issue? Shouldn't the last bit of the path find the installed mesa junk?

@VO - I have no NVIDIA on board here. Doing as you suggested,

sudo mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old
sudo apt-get purge nvidia*
sudo apt-get install --reinstall xserver-xorg-video-intel

now gives

inxi -Gxx

QuoteGraphics:  Card: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0166
           X.Org: 1.16.1.901 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1366x768@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: N/A GLX Version: N/A Direct Rendering: N/A

so, does this mean the ?reinstall unloaded the intel drivers?

@dizzie, here you go.

inxi -G

QuoteGraphics:  Card: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller
           X.Org: 1.16.1.901 driver: intel Resolution: 1366x768@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: N/A GLX Version: N/A

Wild guess here, I need GLX whatnots?

@dizzie, thanks for the help so far. But as of yet it hasn't worked, so I guess I need to read up more on graphics and the kernel.

My CPU: Intel Core i5-3317U CPU @ 2.6GHz
The computer itself is this: http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/hp-envy-4-1030us

Thanks @dizzie. Xbmc continues to think there is no graphics acceleration, despite the fact that the acceleration and drivers for the Intel graphics card are active within the 3.17 kernel, as confirmed by lspci. It seems that xbmc is ?searching? for a non-kernel driver for the graphics card, and that is possibly why xbmc is failing to start.

I *think* the 3.17 kernel is supposed to have all it needs to operate my graphics card and provide graphics acceleration, without having to install a non-kernel package, such as xf86-video-intel. Is this correct?

I am not sure if I have the facts or explanation correct though. If not, please correct me. As it is, xbmc will still not even start because it seems to think there are no graphics drivers.

@dizzie thanks for the information.

I did as you suggested and created xorg.conf by


sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf


and its contents are

Quote
Section "Device"
   Identifier  "Intel Graphics"
   Driver      "intel"
   Option      "AccelMethod"  "uxa"
EndSection

However, no joy. I still get the same error message when trying to run xbmc.

Any other pointers?

Folks,

Here I am thinking I have been running a properly configured (integrated) graphics driver, when, getting an itch to play around with xbmc again after many months of not having it, I get a message that "xbmc needs hardware accelerated OpenGL rendering. Please install an appropriate graphics driver". But wait, I thought I had proper graphics drivers in my 3.17 kernel. No?

For what it is worth, I am running this combo:

QuoteOS: VSIDO 3 savant-hakerdafo
Kernel: x86_64 Linux 3.17-1-amd64

& Monkeying at the terminal a bit gives me this:

lspci -k | grep -iA5 vga

Quote00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
   Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 1894
   Kernel driver in use: i915
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller (rev 04)
   Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 1894
   Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd

This looks like the kernel should be handling graphics acceleration, but why the message from xbmc?

-VO-
My Chrome is Version 38.0.2125.101 (64-bit).