 although it looks like i m replying to myself i just haven t gotten matthias reply yet although i can see it on the website and i did subscribe but probably to the digest anyway matthias wrote once upon a time steve wrote i did apt get update and it seemed to have gotten the new packages hmmm it seems check closer as this may be where the problem is coming from but doing things like apt get install synaptic didn t work neither did other known packages like apt get install lame i just get root canarsie var cache apt apt get install lame reading package lists done building dependency tree done e couldn t find package lame could you double check what apt get update does and eventually post the output if there are any errors or messages you don t understand ok i did it again and here s what i got root canarsie tmp apt get update ign URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER release hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER os pkglist hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER os release hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER updates pkglist hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER updates release get NUMBER URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER freshrpms pkglist NUMBER NUMBERkb hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER freshrpms release hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER os srclist hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER updates srclist get NUMBER URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER freshrpms srclist NUMBER NUMBERkb fetched NUMBER NUMBERkb in NUMBERs NUMBER NUMBERkb s reading package lists done root canarsie tmp apt get install lame reading package lists done building dependency tree done e couldn t find package lame root canarsie var cache apt ls ltr total NUMBER drwxr xr x NUMBER root root NUMBER sep NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER gensrclist drwxr xr x NUMBER root root NUMBER sep NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER genpkglist drwxr xr x NUMBER root root NUMBER sep NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER archives rw r r NUMBER root root NUMBER oct NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER srcpkgcache bin rw r r NUMBER root root NUMBER oct NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER pkgcache bin root canarsie var cache apt date fri oct NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER edt NUMBER so it looks like it worked and the files are updated very strange maybe something went wrong updating apt from my old version as used with rhNUMBER NUMBER and this one lemme try totally uninstalling and reinstalling it root canarsie rpm e apt synaptic warning etc apt sources list saved as etc apt sources list rpmsave root canarsie ls l etc apt total NUMBER rw r r NUMBER root root NUMBER oct NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER sources list rpmsave root canarsie rpm ivh tmp apt NUMBER NUMBER NUMBERcncNUMBER frNUMBER iNUMBER rpm warning tmp apt NUMBER NUMBER NUMBERcncNUMBER frNUMBER iNUMBER rpm vNUMBER dsa signature nokey key id eNUMBERdNUMBERb preparing NUMBER NUMBER apt NUMBER root canarsie apt get update ign URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER release hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER os pkglist hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER os release hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER updates pkglist hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER updates release hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER freshrpms pkglist hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER freshrpms release hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER os srclist hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER updates srclist hit URL redhat NUMBER NUMBER en iNUMBER freshrpms srclist reading package lists done root canarsie apt get install synaptic reading package lists done building dependency tree done e couldn t find package synaptic root canarsie still no go i m stumped stevek matthias steve kann chief engineer NUMBER NUMBERth ave NUMBER ny NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER URL collaborate interact learn the box said requires windows NUMBER nt or better so i installed linux _______________________________________________ rpm list mailing list rpm list freshrpms net URL 