Cant Emerge

Troubleshooting - Can't emerge package X

As a Gentoo user, chance are you will run into some problems along the way then it comes to emerging packages. Because Gentoo is so highly customizable, it is impossible for the developers to account for every possible software configuration and USE flag environment. Resolving issues falls on you, the Gentoo user. Before reading on, you may want to check out the section on Using portage.

If a package fails to emerge, try the following.

1.) Try to emerge the package again.

If it fails a second time, it means the error is reproducible, and something has gone wrong.

2.) Run revdep-rebuild.

If you have followed this guide, you will have installed the app-portage/portage-utils package, which contains the revdep-rebuild command. This should be your second step when dealing with a package that fails to emerge.

$ sudo revdep-rebuild

This will scan your system dependencies and rebuild any packages that are needed to repair any broken dependencies. Often it is something as simple as a symbolic link to a library. Once the command has completed, try emerging your package again.

3.) Try a different version of the package.

You can use your /etc/portage/package.keywords file to force certain versions of a package. To do this, you can specify the package version in your package.keywords file using the syntax

=pkg-type/pkgname-version (only install this version)
<pkg-type/pkgname-version (only install packages older than this version)
>pkg-type/pkgname-version (only install packages newer than this version)

You can also specify installation of a certain version on-the-fly using the syntax

$ sudo emerge -av =pkg-type/pkgname-version

4.) Try different USE flags. If the package you are trying to emerge is being pulled in by another package, review your USE flags and make sure it's something you really need. Often this will solve issues regarding cyclical dependencies. As mentioned many times before, you can set your global USE flags in your /etc/make.conf and per-package USE flags in your /etc/portage/package.use.

5.) Try using a beta version of portage.

Simply add

sys-apps/portage **

to your /etc/portage/package.keywords file and then run

$ sudo emerge -av portage

Unsupported versions of portage may pull in other masked packages, so you'll have to note these packages and add them to your package.keywords in similar fashion. Once a newer version of portage is installed, you'll want to run

$ sudo emerge --sync

and try emerging your package again.

6.) Wait for a new version of the package.

Sometimes the best thing to do is just wait. Check the forums, and file a bug report if you think it's necessary. The developers will get to it eventually.