For some reason when applying the updates today that Pacman recommends, I get errors about dependencies.
For example Thunderbird returns:
could not satisfy dependencies:
Lots of other problems. Some electron.
I am still too new at this.
It’s possible the mirrors you are using haven’t fully synced yet:
Mirror Check Service
If this is the case, you could try e.g.:
sudo pacman-mirrors -c Germany
I’m using these now as I found the UK mirrors to be too unreliable.
You likely have outdated electron packages remaining as orphans. The old electron packages depend on the old icu version, preventing icu from being properly updated.
Check for orphaned packages ( pacman -Qtd ). Anything listed is not required by any other package on your system, but it is possible that you have come to use and rely on the package yourself. If you do not use the orphaned package, it should be safe to remove.
Once the orphaned electron packages have been removed, icu should be able to update normally, and thunderbird will too.
What is the proper way to remove them? One at a time? I’m not even sure where they are.
[steve@steve ~]$ pacman -Qtd
asar 3.2.18-2
attica5 5.116.0-1
autoconf-archive 1:2024.10.16-2
blueprint-compiler 0.14.0-3
box2d 3.0.0-1
cfitsio 1:4.5.0-1
cuneiform 1.1.0-22
dnssec-anchors 20190629-4
electron33 33.4.0-1
extra-cmake-modules 6.10.0-1
faudio 25.03-1
fcitx5 5.1.12-1
gendesk 1.0.10-1
gi-docgen 2024.1-2
gn 0.2207.ed1abc10-1
gnucash-docs 5.10-1
gobject-introspection 1.82.0-2
gperf 3.1-5
gtk-doc 1.34.0-3
gtuber r452.468bf02-1
haskell-base64 0.4.2.4-81
haskell-digits 0.3.1-30
haskell-pandoc-lua-engine 0.2.1.2-80
haskell-pandoc-server 0.1.0.5-98
haskell-string-conversions 0.4.0.1-180
haskell-x509-system 1.6.7-63
haskell-x509-validation 1.6.12-65
help2man 1.49.3-2
hslua-cli 1.4.1-65
i2c-tools 4.4-2
iniparser 4.2.5-1
js115 115.18.0-1
kdeclarative5 5.116.0-1
kirigami2 5.116.0-1
kpty5 5.116.0-1
lib32-libcanberra 1:0.30+r2+gc0620e4-3
lib32-libxss 1.2.4-2
lib32-sdl12-compat 1.2.68-2
libcgif 0.4.1-1
libdbi-drivers 0.9.0-10
libksane5 24.08.3-1
libngtcp2 1.10.0-1
libomxil-bellagio 0.9.3-5
libtracefs 1.8.1-1
libvisual 0.4.2-2
libxcrypt-compat 4.4.38-1
linux-lts-meta 5.4-1
linux-lts-virtualbox-host-modules-meta 5.4-1
linux613-rt-virtualbox-host-modules 7.1.6-3
linux66-rt-virtualbox-host-modules 7.1.6-6
linux66-virtualbox-host-modules 7.1.6-10
lld 19.1.7-1
lua52 5.2.4-7
marisa 0.2.6-16
mathjax2 2.7.9-2
mbedtls2 2.28.9-1
meson 1.7.0-1
moreutils 0.70-1
nvm 0.40.1-1
patchelf 0.18.0-3
patchutils 0.4.2-3
perl-crypt-random-tesha2 0.01-11
perl-date-manip 6.96-1
perl-finance-quote 1.5400-1
perl-inc-latest 0.500-13
perl-sub-identify 0.14-13
poppler-qt5 25.01.0-1
premake3 3.7-6
pybind11 2.13.6-2
python-annotated-types 0.7.0-2
python-argcomplete 3.4.0-2
python-distutils-extra 2.39-14
python-httplib2 0.22.0-8
python-hypothesis 6.124.7-1
python-manjaro-sdk 1:0.1.1-1
python-ordered-set 4.1.0-7
python-pydantic-core 2:2.27.2-1
python-pyrsistent 0.20.0-6
python-tomli 2.0.1-5
python-validate-pyproject 0.23-1
python-xmltodict 0.14.2-1
python-zipp 3.21.0-2
qt5-charts 5.15.16-3
qt5-doc 5.15.16-3
qt5-imageformats 5.15.16+kde+r2-3
syndication5 5.116.0-1
v86d 0.1.10-13
wayland-protocols 1.39-1
wpebackend-fdo 1.14.3-1
xsane 0.999-7
yarn 1.22.22-2
yelp-tools 42.1-2
[steve@steve ~]$
Mod edit: Fixed formatting. 
My mirror is in Canada at University of Waterloo
not important - makes no difference
except perhaps in download speed - from Germany to Canada is likely not the fastest
If these packages are orphans - they are not needed by anything.
Remove them all - then deal with any (unlikely) carnage.
How?
search - I’d rather pacman -Rns each single one separately
than look for an easy catch all ready made command line example
… which you will find if you where to look …
Sorry, but I tried the first one:
[steve@steve ~]$ pacman -Rns asar 3.2.18-2
error: you cannot perform this operation unless you are root.
[steve@steve ~]$ sudo pacman -Rns asar 3.2.18-2
[sudo] password for steve:
error: target not found: 3.2.18-2
d
… should have been sudo pacman -Rns
Also, just the package name without the space and numbers following, e.g.:
sudo pacman -Rns asar
… but check first with pacman -Qii <package>. ← No sudo needed for this.
that is only part of the command
sudo pacman -Rns yxz
would be the full command
(xyz is a placeholder for the actual name, of course)
[steve@steve ~]$ sudo pacman -Rns asar
checking dependencies...
Packages (1) asar-3.2.18-2
Total Removed Size: 0.33 MiB
:: Do you want to remove these packages? [Y/n] y
:: Processing package changes...
(1/1) removing asar [######################] 100%
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/1) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
[steve@steve ~]$
… mkay - go on with the next one in the list
…
[steve@steve ~]$ sudo pacman -Rns attica
checking dependencies...
error: failed to prepare transaction (could not satisfy dependencies)
:: removing attica breaks dependency 'attica' required by discover
:: removing attica breaks dependency 'attica' required by knewstuff
as logic would dictate:
remove these dependencies too
sudo pacman -Rns discover
sudo pacman -Rns knewstuff
These are the current blockers.
Remove them - so they can’t be blockers anymore …
or just do
sudo pacman -R ...
instead of
pacman -Rns ...
to avoid going down dependency chains
Discover isn’t a default application as far as I’m aware and nothing seems to depend on it. However:
Name : knewstuff
Version : 6.10.0-1
Description : Support for downloading application assets from the network
Architecture : x86_64
URL : https://community.kde.org/Frameworks
Licenses : LGPL-2.0-only LGPL-3.0-only
Groups : kf6
Provides : None
Depends On : attica gcc-libs glibc karchive kcmutils kconfig kcoreaddons ki18n kirigami
kpackage kwidgetsaddons qt6-base qt6-declarative syndication
Optional Deps : None
Required By : discover dolphin frameworkintegration grantleetheme k3b kate kdenlive
kdeplasma-addons knotes konsole konversation kwin libkdegames libksysguard pimcommon
plasma-desktop plasma-systemmonitor plasma-workspace sddm-kcm yakuake
Optional For : None
Conflicts With : None
Replaces : None
Installed Size : 3.54 MiB
Packager : Antonio Rojas <arojas@archlinux.org>
Build Date : Thu 09 Jan 2025 18:09:32 GMT
Install Date : Tue 04 Feb 2025 12:48:11 GMT
Install Reason : Installed as a dependency for another package
Install Script : No
Validated By : Signature
Backup Files : None
Extended Data : pkgtype=pkg
— see the “Required By” section. ← I was about to advise not removing that package!
Not clear, but here is what happened:
sudo pacman -Rns knewstuff
[sudo] password for steve:
checking dependencies...
:: pyside6 optionally requires qt6-websockets: QtWebSockets bindings
:: python-pyqt6 optionally requires qt6-websockets: QtWebSockets bindings
Packages (10) appstream-qt-1.0.4-1 kidletime-6.10.0-1 kirigami-addons-1.7.0-1
kitemmodels-6.10.0-1 ksvg-6.10.0-1 qcoro-0.11.0-1
qqc2-desktop-style-6.11.0-1 qt6-websockets-6.8.2-1
qt6-webview-6.8.2-1 discover-6.3.2-1
Total Removed Size: 17.24 MiB
:: Do you want to remove these packages? [Y/n] y
:: Processing package changes...
( 1/10) removing discover [######################] 100%
( 2/10) removing qt6-webview [######################] 100%
( 3/10) removing qqc2-desktop-style [######################] 100%
( 4/10) removing qcoro [######################] 100%
( 5/10) removing qt6-websockets [######################] 100%
( 6/10) removing kirigami-addons [######################] 100%
( 7/10) removing ksvg [######################] 100%
( 8/10) removing kitemmodels [######################] 100%
( 9/10) removing kidletime [######################] 100%
(10/10) removing appstream-qt [######################] 100%
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/3) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
(2/3) Updating icon theme caches...
(3/3) Updating the desktop file MIME type cache...
checking dependencies...
error: failed to prepare transaction (could not satisfy dependencies)
:: removing knewstuff breaks dependency 'knewstuff' required by kate
[steve@steve ~]$ sudo pacman -Rns kate
checking dependencies...
Packages (8) attica-6.10.0-1 editorconfig-core-c-0.12.9-1 knewstuff-6.10.0-1
kpackage-6.10.0-1 ktexteditor-6.10.0-1 kuserfeedback-6.10.0-1
syndication-6.10.0-1 kate-24.12.2-1
Total Removed Size: 59.18 MiB
:: Do you want to remove these packages? [Y/n] y
:: Processing package changes...
(1/8) removing kate [######################] 100%
(2/8) removing kuserfeedback [######################] 100%
(3/8) removing ktexteditor [######################] 100%
(4/8) removing editorconfig-core-c [######################] 100%
(5/8) removing knewstuff [######################] 100%
(6/8) removing syndication [######################] 100%
(7/8) removing kpackage [######################] 100%
(8/8) removing attica [######################] 100%
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/4) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
(2/4) Reloading system bus configuration...
(3/4) Updating icon theme caches...
(4/4) Updating the desktop file MIME type cache...
[steve@steve ~]$
… yes - and?
what about the rest of all the orphans?
It was:
pacman -Qtd
I believe?
What is still left of that initial list?
No! attica is not the same as your orphan attica5
I keep getting
1/1) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate..
The next one worked, so I will try more.
I’ll now revise my advice
to just use
pacman -R
(not: pacman -Rns - not recursively remove stuff)
It’s more tedious, but safer
esp. for folks who do not know what they are doing
That’s me! A few more have worked so I will try them all.