> So is /lib32 a dangling symlink as the original message said?

yeah.

> Do you have /usr/lib32?

no

> Broken how? The error message at least should be different as you have moved
/lib32 out of the way?

Aha! it was different

******************************************************************************
*
* The base-files package cannot be installed because
* /libx32 is a dangling symbolic link.

and moving *that* out of the way allowed base-files to be installed!

On Sat, Jul 11, 2026 at 1:17 PM Mark Hindley <mark@???> wrote:
>
> On Sat, Jul 11, 2026 at 12:51:21PM -0600, Jeffrey Cliff wrote:
> > > Presumably amd64 comes from --print-architecutre?
> >
> > yes
> >
> > >Does dpkg know about /lib32? (run something like dpkg -S /lib32)
> >
> > $ dpkg -S /lib32
> > diversion by base-files from: /lib32
> > diversion by base-files to: /.lib32.usr-is-merged
>
> So is /lib32 a dangling symlink as the original message said?
>
> > tried :
> > 1) mv /lib32 /root/hope-this-doesnt-bork
> > 2) apt reinstall usrmerge
> > 3) apt install base-files
> >
> > same result(ie broken)
>
> Broken how? The error message at least should be different as you have moved
> /lib32 out of the way?
>
> Do you have /usr/lib32?
>
> If so, remove /the dangling /lib32, and symlink a new /lib32 -> /usr/lib32
>
> That might help.
>
> Are you on IRC? It might be quicker to resolve this on libera.chat #devuan-dev?
>
> Mark



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