I propose the attached patch to base-installer's postinst to avoid this error. I've used an existing general error message, so no string changes are needed (after all, it is a fairly exceptional situation.
This patch has already been committed to TRUNK. Please review and upload. I think this patch should be considered for Sarge.
Index: base-installer/debian/postinst =================================================================== --- base-installer/debian/postinst (revision 24094) +++ base-installer/debian/postinst (working copy) @@ -98,6 +98,12 @@ if [ -s /cdrom/.disk/base_exclude ]; then EXCLUDES=`grep -v '^#' /cdrom/.disk/base_exclude | tr '\n' , | sed 's/,$//'` fi + + # Sanity check: an error reading /cdrom/.disk/base_components can cause + # ugly errors in debootstrap because $COMPONENTS will be empty. + if [ -z "$COMPONENTS" ]; then + exit_error base-installer/cannot_install + fi else mirror_error="" Index: base-installer/debian/changelog =================================================================== --- base-installer/debian/changelog (revision 24094) +++ base-installer/debian/changelog (working copy) @@ -1,3 +1,11 @@ +base-installer (1.14) UNRELEASED; urgency=low + + * Frans Pop + - Add sanity check in postinst for empty COMPONENTS to guard against + ugly and difficult to trace errors from debootstrap. Closes: #283510. + + -- Frans Pop <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Wed, 1 Dec 2004 14:53:07 +0100 + base-installer (1.13) unstable; urgency=low * Bdale Garbee
