Please read before calling this a duplicate!!!! I did a fresh install of Gentoo Linux on a new Core 2 Quad machine (awesome). I emerged kde, everything went ok. I tried to emerge kde-base/kdebase-kioslaves and ran into the known problem. But I was not able to unmerge kdesktop because it is not emerged at all. The most impressive list I get when I try to emerge kdesktop itself, see following output: pa5dv ~ # emerge -pv kdesktop These are the packages that would be merged, in order: Calculating dependencies... done! [ebuild N ] kde-base/libkonq-3.5.7 USE="arts -debug -kdeenablefinal -kdehiddenvisibility -xinerama" 0 kB [ebuild N ] kde-base/kdebase-data-3.5.7 USE="-debug -kdeenablefinal -xinerama" 0 kB [ebuild N ] kde-base/kdialog-3.5.5 USE="arts -debug -kdeenablefinal -kdehiddenvisibility -xinerama" 23,293 kB [ebuild N ] kde-base/kdesu-3.5.7 USE="arts -debug -kdeenablefinal -kdehiddenvisibility -xinerama" 9 kB [ebuild N ] kde-base/khotkeys-3.5.7 USE="arts -debug -kdeenablefinal -kdehiddenvisibility -xinerama" 0 kB [ebuild N ] kde-base/kcminit-3.5.6 USE="arts -debug -kdeenablefinal -kdehiddenvisibility -xinerama" 23,590 kB [ebuild N ] kde-base/kcheckpass-3.5.7 USE="arts pam -debug -kdeenablefinal -kdehiddenvisibility -xinerama" 0 kB [ebuild N ] kde-base/kdebase-kioslaves-3.5.7-r1 USE="arts hal samba -debug -kdeenablefinal -kdehiddenvisibility -ldap -openexr -xinerama" 0 kB [ebuild N ] kde-base/kicker-3.5.7 USE="arts -debug -kdeenablefinal -kdehiddenvisibility -xcomposite -xinerama" 21 kB [ebuild N ] kde-base/kfind-3.5.7 USE="arts -debug -kdeenablefinal -kdehiddenvisibility -xinerama" 0 kB [ebuild N ] kde-base/khelpcenter-3.5.7 USE="arts -debug -kdeenablefinal -kdehiddenvisibility -xinerama" 0 kB [ebuild N ] kde-base/kcontrol-3.5.7-r1 USE="arts opengl -debug -ieee1394 -kdeenablefinal -kdehiddenvisibility -logitech-mouse -xinerama" 0 kB [ebuild N ] kde-base/konqueror-3.5.7-r3 USE="arts java -branding -debug -kdeenablefinal -kdehiddenvisibility -xinerama" 0 kB [ebuild N ] kde-base/kdesktop-3.5.7 USE="arts -debug -kdeenablefinal -kdehiddenvisibility -xinerama -xscreensaver" 16 kB [blocks B ] =kde-base/kicker-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-3.5.7-r4) [blocks B ] =kde-base/kfind-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-3.5.7-r4) [blocks B ] =kde-base/kdesu-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-3.5.7-r4) [blocks B ] =kde-base/libkonq-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-3.5.7-r4) [blocks B ] =kde-base/kdebase-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-data-3.5.7, kde-base/libkonq-3.5.7, kde-base/khelpcenter-3.5.7, kde-base/kdesktop-3.5.7, kde-base/khotkeys-3.5.7, kde-base/kdesu-3.5.7, kde-base/kdialog-3.5.5, kde-base/kcminit-3.5.6, kde-base/kcontrol-3.5.7-r1, kde-base/kdebase-kioslaves-3.5.7-r1, kde-base/kcheckpass-3.5.7, kde-base/kfind-3.5.7, kde-base/konqueror-3.5.7-r3, kde-base/kicker-3.5.7) [blocks B ] =kde-base/kcminit-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-3.5.7-r4) [blocks B ] =kde-base/kdesktop-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-3.5.7-r4) [blocks B ] =kde-base/konqueror-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-3.5.7-r4) [blocks B ] =kde-base/kdebase-data-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-3.5.7-r4) [blocks B ] =kde-base/kcheckpass-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-3.5.7-r4) [blocks B ] =kde-base/kdebase-kioslaves-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-3.5.7-r4) [blocks B ] =kde-base/kdialog-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-3.5.7-r4) [blocks B ] =kde-base/kcontrol-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-3.5.7-r4) [blocks B ] =kde-base/khelpcenter-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-3.5.7-r4) [blocks B ] =kde-base/khotkeys-3.5* (is blocking kde-base/kdebase-3.5.7-r4) Total: 14 packages (14 new, 15 blocks), Size of downloads: 46,928 kB ==== None of the above packages is installed with exception of kde-base/kdebase, but that is version 3.5.7-r4 so it should no block any of the other 3.5.7's Please help! Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1.emerge -pv kde-base/kdesktop 2. 3. Actual Results: emerge is not possible Expected Results: clean emerge pa5dv ~ # emerge --info Portage 2.1.3.19 (default-linux/x86/2007.0, gcc-4.1.2, glibc-2.6.1-r0, 2.6.22-gentoo-r9 i686) ================================================================= System uname: 2.6.22-gentoo-r9 i686 Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz Timestamp of tree: Sun, 18 Nov 2007 07:00:01 +0000 distcc 2.18.3 i686-pc-linux-gnu (protocols 1 and 2) (default port 3632) [enabled] app-shells/bash: 3.2_p17 dev-java/java-config: 1.3.7, 2.0.33-r1 dev-lang/python: 2.4.4-r6 dev-python/pycrypto: 2.0.1-r6 sys-apps/baselayout: 1.12.9-r2 sys-apps/sandbox: 1.2.18.1-r2 sys-devel/autoconf: 2.13, 2.61-r1 sys-devel/automake: 1.7.9-r1, 1.8.5-r3, 1.9.6-r2, 1.10 sys-devel/binutils: 2.18-r1 sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.3.16 sys-devel/libtool: 1.5.24 virtual/os-headers: 2.6.22-r2 ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="x86" CBUILD="i686-pc-linux-gnu" CFLAGS="-O2 -march=i686 -pipe" CHOST="i686-pc-linux-gnu" CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/kde/3.5/env /usr/kde/3.5/share/config /usr/kde/3.5/shutdown /usr/share/X11/xkb /usr/share/config" CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/env.d /etc/env.d/java/ /etc/fonts/fonts.conf /etc/gconf /etc/revdep-rebuild /etc/splash /etc/terminfo /etc/texmf/web2c /etc/udev/rules.d" CXXFLAGS="-O2 -march=i686 -pipe" DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles" FEATURES="ccache distcc distlocks metadata-transfer sandbox sfperms strict unmerge-orphans userfetch" GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://distfiles.gentoo.org http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/gentoo" LINGUAS="uk nl" MAKEOPTS="-j5" PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages" PORTAGE_RSYNC_OPTS="--recursive --links --safe-links --perms --times --compress --force --whole-file --delete --delete-after --stats --timeout=180 --exclude=/distfiles --exclude=/local --exclude=/packages --filter=H_**/files/digest-*" PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp" PORTDIR="/usr/portage" SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage" USE="X a52 acl alsa arts artswrappersuid bash-completion berkdb bitmap-fonts cli cracklib crypt cups dbus dri ffmpeg flac fortran gdbm gpm gtk2 hal iconv java kde midi mmx mmxext mozilla mp2 mp3 mplayer mudflap ncurses nls nptl nptlonly nsplugin ogg opengl openmp oss pam pcre pda perl pppd python readline reflection samba scanner session spl sse sse2 ssl ssse3 tcl tcltk tcpd tetex theora threads threadsafe tk truetype-fonts type1-fonts unicode usb vorbis wxwindows x264 x86 xine xorg xpm xprint xvid zlib" ALSA_CARDS="ali5451 als4000 atiixp atiixp-modem bt87x ca0106 cmipci emu10k1 emu10k1x ens1370 ens1371 es1938 es1968 fm801 hda-intel intel8x0 intel8x0m maestro3 trident usb-audio via82xx via82xx-modem ymfpci" ALSA_PCM_PLUGINS="adpcm alaw asym copy dmix dshare dsnoop empty extplug file hooks iec958 ioplug ladspa lfloat linear meter mulaw multi null plug rate route share shm softvol" ELIBC="glibc" INPUT_DEVICES="keyboard mouse evdev" KERNEL="linux" LCD_DEVICES="bayrad cfontz cfontz633 glk hd44780 lb216 lcdm001 mtxorb ncurses text" LINGUAS="uk nl" USERLAND="GNU" VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia nv vga" Unset: CPPFLAGS, CTARGET, EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS, INSTALL_MASK, LANG, LC_ALL, LDFLAGS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS_FLAGS, PORTAGE_RSYNC_EXTRA_OPTS, PORTDIR_OVERLAY
Are you sure you are not trying to mix meta packages with the old style? http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/kde-split-ebuilds.xml
kde-base/kdebase already provides kdesktop (and kde-base/kdebase-kioslaves as well), so really no idea what you are trying to do here. You can't install the same thing twice.
Oops, my mistake. I could not automount usb memory stick. Last time it was because kioslaves was not there, so i tried installing it. Turns out I had to add myself to de plugdev group to let it work. Can there be a warning in the blocking message. Something like "Foo is being blocked because it is already in metapackage Blah" Just an idea. Peter.
Well, to portage KDE is not any more special that any other ebuild out there, it merely chokes on depgraph creation and produces a generic output. So I'm afraid it's really not viable.