hwinfo: /sbin exists in filesystem (owned by filesystem)
Errors occurred, no packages were upgraded.
This is a bit unusual, so am asking for help!!
4 Likes
You are not alone : I Just got the very same error… but I got no answer, sorry. Hope someone will have one 
1 Like
Just having the same error. I removed hwinfo using yay, but error persists when trying to reinstall.
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Indeed it is!
I didn’t have hwinfo installed. Trying to install it gives the same error:
$ sudo pacman -S hwinfo
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...
Package (3) New Version Net Change Download Size
community/libx86emu 3.3-1 0.17 MiB 0.05 MiB
community/perl-xml-writer 0.625-7 0.05 MiB
community/hwinfo 21.77-1 3.66 MiB 0.96 MiB
Total Download Size: 1.02 MiB
Total Installed Size: 3.87 MiB
:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n]
:: Retrieving packages...
libx86emu-3.3-1-x86_64 54.7 KiB 434 KiB/s 00:00 [########################################################################################] 100%
hwinfo-21.77-1-x86_64 986.0 KiB 4.17 MiB/s 00:00 [########################################################################################] 100%
perl-xml-writer-0.625-7-any is up to date
Total (3/3) 1040.6 KiB 4.06 MiB/s 00:00 [########################################################################################] 100%
(3/3) checking keys in keyring [########################################################################################] 100%
(3/3) checking package integrity [########################################################################################] 100%
(3/3) loading package files [########################################################################################] 100%
(3/3) checking for file conflicts [########################################################################################] 100%
error: failed to commit transaction (conflicting files)
hwinfo: /sbin exists in filesystem (owned by filesystem)
Errors occurred, no packages were upgraded.
2 Likes
This is an issue with packaging I suspect.
Extracting the latest package, you get the following files
tar -xvf hwinfo-21.77-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
.BUILDINFO
.MTREE
.PKGINFO
sbin/
usr/
usr/bin/
usr/bin/check_hd
usr/bin/convert_hd
usr/bin/getsysinfo
usr/bin/hwinfo
usr/bin/mk_isdnhwdb
usr/include/
usr/include/hd.h
usr/lib/
usr/lib/libhd.so
usr/lib/libhd.so.21
usr/lib/libhd.so.21.77
usr/lib/pkgconfig/
usr/lib/pkgconfig/hwinfo.pc
usr/share/
usr/share/hwinfo/
usr/share/hwinfo/ISDN.CDB.hwdb
usr/share/hwinfo/ISDN.CDB.txt
var/
var/lib/
var/lib/hardware/
var/lib/hardware/udi/
Notice, it is creating /sbin without placing any files there, which if I’m correct, is equivalent to this package owning this directory (which can not and should not happen)
Extracting the previous version, /sbin is not present.
tar -xvf hwinfo-21.76-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
.BUILDINFO
.MTREE
.PKGINFO
usr/
usr/bin/
usr/bin/check_hd
usr/bin/convert_hd
usr/bin/getsysinfo
usr/bin/hwinfo
usr/bin/mk_isdnhwdb
usr/include/
usr/include/hd.h
usr/lib/
usr/lib/libhd.so
usr/lib/libhd.so.21
usr/lib/libhd.so.21.76
usr/lib/pkgconfig/
usr/lib/pkgconfig/hwinfo.pc
usr/share/
usr/share/hwinfo/
usr/share/hwinfo/ISDN.CDB.hwdb
usr/share/hwinfo/ISDN.CDB.txt
Probably wait for next update from the packager.
3 Likes
FS#72440 - [hwinfo] 21.77-1 conflicts with “filesystem” package due to containing empty folder(s)
5 Likes
What a soydevery 
1 Like
Well, I did a “bad thing.”
As none of today’s updates would install (using yay) due to the hwinfo poblem, I went into pamac-aur-git and selected Updates. Within that section I unchecked hwinfo and then selected apply to update all the rest.
Yes I know that that’s not the “Arch way” (or even the “Endeavour way”), but it worked and took very little time for me (I need to use my updated computer and not waste too much time with problems if possible).
I’ll check again tomorrow (with yay) and if everything updates, fine. If not, it’s back to pamac-aur-git (or bauh).
I’m sure I’ll receive a lot of “flak” for this but that’s what I did and that’s what I’ll do in future should similar problems arise. It’s just easier for me.
Lawrence
3 Likes
Does pamac update both arch and AUR repos?
I assume you tried sudo pacman -Syu to update your main system?
Looks like a bug they are working on:
https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/72440?project=5&string=hwinfo
2 Likes
Pamac is kind of like a graphical pacman/yay hybrid, which can be configured to update Arch/AUR/git packages etc, essentially in a way similar to how yay operates. However, with the recent Pamac vs AUR issue (again mind you), I can’t in good conscious recommend using pamac for anything AUR related. Their inability to fix an issue, but instead blame the users is another low blow in a long string of low blows.
@BONK Yes, that’s what @flyingcakes said here, he just beat you to it 
- Problem updating - hwinfo (solved upstream) - #6 by flyingcakes
Edit: The problem at the moment is with hwinfo 21.77-1 so just wait for a new verion ie 21.77-2 to get released and the problem should resolve itself.
Tried all the same, and uninstalled it. Can’t reinstall it (of course)now, but all is working fine without it. Will deal with it when fixed.
1 Like
Just made a downgrade (in this case installation because I removed it earlier).
yay -Qs hwinfo
local/hwinfo 21.76-1
Hardware detection tool from openSUSE
Installation worked without problems.
Waiting for fixed update.
1 Like
Running downgrade will work for now as well - or you can just add it to the line in /etc/pacman.conf that starts #IgnorePkg =, and run a normal update. All the other updates will happen normally, and after a while (a day? a few hours? whatever you will see here if the problem was fixed… and then can remove it from the IgnorePkg line and it will be picked up on your next update.
Incidentally, using downgrade will give you the option to automatically add it to the IgnorePkg list. The first of these is functionally the same as the pamac ‘solution’ proposed earlier, and downgrade will install an earlier (working) version if needed.
Shouldn’t be long to be fixed! I think it’s nearly a year since the last upgrade glitch - which is pretty amazing for a rolling distro! (and not what you hear from outside the Arch universe).
3 Likes
Chose not to add it. I use pamac for updates. It’s just a one click exclusion for hwinfo to avoid the update until fix is available.
Same problem here. But sjnce I’m a spoiled and very very stupid girl I’ll just wait it out and try updates until it works. It’s not like my computer will explode or stop working without the latest update, innit?
4 Likes
Not very likely. If one really needs some info, there is still inxi as an alternative.
1 Like
Mmmmmm…Out of mere curiosity, I tried out all my options (pacman, pamac & bauh). Bauh is giving me the options to either cancel the upgrade OR to overwrite the existing files & proceed with the installation. Aware of that cat that was killed by its curiosity, it just itches me to find out what is going to happen if I do (proceed)… 
Cheers
as /sbin is owned by filesystem package originally best practise will be to downgrade hwinfo or wait for the fix of hwinfo.
[build@buildsystem ~]$ pacman -Qo /sbin
/sbin is owned by filesystem 2021.05.31-1
2 Likes
I don’t know what will happen, but there’s 4508 files in /sbin on this setup, and it might be inconvenient if it was replaced by an empty dir! I suppose you back up it up to try - but what if there’s another anomalous entry in the PKGBUILD? I’m not testing it! 
2 Likes