Re: eselect profile list fails

John Blinka <[email protected]> Thu, 4 Jun 2026 07:46:01 -0400
Newsgroups gmane.linux.gentoo.user
Message-ID <CAC_tCmpofCyZyyuL2S83qOhV3ahMfV-x2z-Yq8rvd0RNPHBwpA@mail.gmail.com>
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On Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 6:37=E2=80=AFPM Michael <[email protected]> w=
rote:

> On Wednesday, 3 June 2026 22:10:50 British Summer Time D. Ben Knoble
> wrote:
> > On Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 4:10=E2=80=AFPM John Blinka <[email protected]=
om>
> wrote:
> > > On Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 3:55=E2=80=AFPM D. Ben Knoble <ben.knoble@gmai=
l.com>
> wrote:
> > > > On Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 11:20=E2=80=AFAM John Blinka
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > > > On Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 10:23=E2=80=AFAM Javier Martinez
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > > > > El 3/6/26 a las 16:16, John Blinka escribi=C3=B3:
> > > > > > > On Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 9:45=E2=80=AFAM Javier Martinez
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > > > > >> El 3/6/26 a las 15:40, John Blinka escribi=C3=B3:
> > > > > > >>> Hello, everyone,
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> Could use some help.
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> eselect profile list gives this error on all my boxes:
> > > > > > >>> !!! Error: Failed to get a list of valid profiles
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> All boxes have identical setup, all are amd64.
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> ls -l make.profile gives
> > > > > > >>> make.profile ->
> > > > > > >>> ../../var/db/repos/gentoo/profiles/default/linux/amd64/23.
> > > > > > >>> 0/desktop,
> > > > > > >>> whose contents are:
> > > > > > >>> eapi  gnome/  parent  plasma/  systemd/
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> I run openrc and xfce4 with a smattering of rarely used
> > > > > > >>> gnome/kde/
> > > > > > >>> apps. For the most part I run a stable system, with
> > > > > > >>> occasional use of
> > > > > > >>> ~amd64. I keep up-to-date with portage. My systems have
> > > > > > >>> been very
> > > > > > >>> stable, although I am wrestling with the recent python
> > > > > > >>> upgrade, with
> > > > > > >>> sound support on one box, and the recent spate of kernel
> > > > > > >>> upgrades. The problems with eselect profile list have
> > > > > > >>> existed for months and predate my current issues. This
> > > > > > >>> problem has just now arisen to the top of my TODO list.
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> The error message doesn't give me any guidance. The usual
> > > > > > >>> Googling
> > > > > > >>> doesn't uncover much except recommendations to update
> > > > > > >>> portage, which I do very regularly.
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> Thanks for any ideas on where to start looking!
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> John Blinka
> > > > >
> > > > > Ah ha!
> > > > > --> grep EACCESS output
> > > > > 20075 faccessat2(AT_FDCWD,
> > > > > "/var/db/repos/gentoo/profiles/profiles.desc", R_OK, AT_EACCESS)
> > > > > =3D 0
> > > > > 20075 faccessat2(AT_FDCWD,
> > > > > "/var/db/repos/portage-crossdev/profiles/profiles.desc", R_OK,
> > > > > AT_EACCESS) =3D -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
> > > > > 20075 faccessat2(AT_FDCWD,
> > > > > "/var/db/repos/guru/profiles/profiles.desc", R_OK, AT_EACCESS) =
=3D
> > > > > -1
> > > > > ENOENT (No such file or directory)
> > > > > 20075 faccessat2(AT_FDCWD,
> > > > > "/var/db/repos/local/profiles/profiles.desc", R_OK, AT_EACCESS)
> > > > > =3D -1
> > > > > ENOENT (No such file or directory)
> > > > > 20075 faccessat2(AT_FDCWD,
> > > > > "/var/db/repos/science/profiles/profiles.desc", R_OK,
> > > > > AT_EACCESS) =3D -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
> > > > >
> > > > > All of my additional repos are missing a required profiles.desc.
> > > > > I'll
> > > > > have to reread how to add a repo.  Perhaps something has changed
> > > > > in
> > > > > the past year or so.
> > > > >
> > > > > You are always quite helpful. Thanks!
> > > > >
> > > > > John
> > > >
> > > > Does sync'ing not bring the right file? (Does it not exist or does
> > > > it
> > > > not have the right ownership + permissions?)
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > D. Ben Knoble
> > >
> > > I have had those overlays for years and have never had the
> > > profiles.desc file in any but the main gentoo repo. Sync'ing, which
> > > I
> > > do frequently and regularly, does not bring those files in at all.
> > > Checking the guru overlay at
> > > https://github.com/gentoo-mirror/guru/tree/master/profiles indicates
> > > that profiles.desc is just not a part of the overlay at all.
> > > Similarly for the science overlay at github. I presume the
> > > remaining overlays similarly lack that file.
> > >
> > > John
> >
> > Doh, right.
> >
> > I wonder _why_ Portage is looking for profiles there=E2=80=A6
>
> Could it be related to this news item from last year?
>
>
> https://www.gentoo.org/support/news-items/2025-10-07-cache-enabled-mirror=
s-removal.html
>
> I had to remove and then add again a couple of overlays here, before
> they worked fine again.


That idea sounded very promising, but =E2=80=A6 No.

I use gentoo, science and guru, which are officially supported according to
me reading of that news item. My local and crossdev overlays are both local=
.

I used eselect repository commands per the news item to remove then enable
all repos except gentoo. Did not fix the eselect profile list problem. Sigh=
=E2=80=A6

John

>
>

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<div><br></div><div><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><d=
iv dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr">On Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 6:37=E2=80=AFPM =
Michael &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">confabulate@kintzio=
s.com</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"ma=
rgin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:=
1ex">On Wednesday, 3 June 2026 22:10:50 British Summer Time D. Ben Knoble <=
br>
wrote:<br>
&gt; On Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 4:10=E2=80=AFPM John Blinka &lt;<a href=3D"mail=
to:[email protected]" target=3D"_blank">[email protected]</a>&gt; <=
br>
wrote:<br>
&gt; &gt; On Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 3:55=E2=80=AFPM D. Ben Knoble &lt;<a href=
=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_blank">[email protected]</a>=
&gt; <br>
wrote:<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; On Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 11:20=E2=80=AFAM John Blinka <br>
&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_blank">john.blinka@=
gmail.com</a>&gt; wrote:<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; On Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 10:23=E2=80=AFAM Javier Martinez=
 <br>
&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_blank">tazok.id0@gmai=
l.com</a>&gt; wrote:<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; El 3/6/26 a las 16:16, John Blinka escribi=C3=B3:<=
br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; On Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 9:45=E2=80=AFAM Javier=
 Martinez <br>
&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_blank">tazok.id0@gmai=
l.com</a>&gt; wrote:<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt; El 3/6/26 a las 15:40, John Blinka escrib=
i=C3=B3:<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; Hello, everyone,<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; Could use some help.<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; eselect profile list gives this error=
 on all my boxes:<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; !!! Error: Failed to get a list of va=
lid profiles<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; All boxes have identical setup, all a=
re amd64.<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; ls -l make.profile gives<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; make.profile -&gt;<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; ../../var/db/repos/gentoo/profiles/de=
fault/linux/amd64/23.<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; 0/desktop,<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; whose contents are:<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; eapi=C2=A0 gnome/=C2=A0 parent=C2=A0 =
plasma/=C2=A0 systemd/<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; I run openrc and xfce4 with a smatter=
ing of rarely used<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; gnome/kde/<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; apps. For the most part I run a stabl=
e system, with<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; occasional use of<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; ~amd64. I keep up-to-date with portag=
e. My systems have<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; been very<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; stable, although I am wrestling with =
the recent python<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; upgrade, with<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; sound support on one box, and the rec=
ent spate of kernel<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; upgrades. The problems with eselect p=
rofile list have<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; existed for months and predate my cur=
rent issues. This<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; problem has just now arisen to the to=
p of my TODO list.<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; The error message doesn&#39;t give me=
 any guidance. The usual<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; Googling<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; doesn&#39;t uncover much except recom=
mendations to update<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; portage, which I do very regularly.<b=
r>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; Thanks for any ideas on where to star=
t looking!<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &gt;&gt;&gt; John Blinka<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; Ah ha!<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; --&gt; grep EACCESS output<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; 20075 faccessat2(AT_FDCWD,<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &quot;/var/db/repos/gentoo/profiles/profiles.desc&quot;=
, R_OK, AT_EACCESS)<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; =3D 0<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; 20075 faccessat2(AT_FDCWD,<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &quot;/var/db/repos/portage-crossdev/profiles/profiles.=
desc&quot;, R_OK,<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; AT_EACCESS) =3D -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)<b=
r>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; 20075 faccessat2(AT_FDCWD,<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &quot;/var/db/repos/guru/profiles/profiles.desc&quot;, =
R_OK, AT_EACCESS) =3D<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; -1<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; ENOENT (No such file or directory)<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; 20075 faccessat2(AT_FDCWD,<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &quot;/var/db/repos/local/profiles/profiles.desc&quot;,=
 R_OK, AT_EACCESS)<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; =3D -1<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; ENOENT (No such file or directory)<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; 20075 faccessat2(AT_FDCWD,<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; &quot;/var/db/repos/science/profiles/profiles.desc&quot=
;, R_OK,<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; AT_EACCESS) =3D -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)<b=
r>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; All of my additional repos are missing a required profi=
les.desc.<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; I&#39;ll<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; have to reread how to add a repo.=C2=A0 Perhaps somethi=
ng has changed<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; in<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; the past year or so.<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; You are always quite helpful. Thanks!<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; &gt; John<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; Does sync&#39;ing not bring the right file? (Does it not exi=
st or does<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; it<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; not have the right ownership + permissions?)<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; --<br>
&gt; &gt; &gt; D. Ben Knoble<br>
&gt; &gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; I have had those overlays for years and have never had the<br>
&gt; &gt; profiles.desc file in any but the main gentoo repo. Sync&#39;ing,=
 which<br>
&gt; &gt; I<br>
&gt; &gt; do frequently and regularly, does not bring those files in at all=
.<br>
&gt; &gt; Checking the guru overlay at<br>
&gt; &gt; <a href=3D"https://github.com/gentoo-mirror/guru/tree/master/prof=
iles" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">https://github.com/gentoo-mirror=
/guru/tree/master/profiles</a> indicates<br>
&gt; &gt; that profiles.desc is just not a part of the overlay at all.<br>
&gt; &gt; Similarly for the science overlay at github. I presume the<br>
&gt; &gt; remaining overlays similarly lack that file.<br>
&gt; &gt; <br>
&gt; &gt; John<br>
&gt; <br>
&gt; Doh, right.<br>
&gt; <br>
&gt; I wonder _why_ Portage is looking for profiles there=E2=80=A6<br>
<br>
Could it be related to this news item from last year?<br>
<br>
<a href=3D"https://www.gentoo.org/support/news-items/2025-10-07-cache-enabl=
ed-mirrors-removal.html" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">https://www.g=
entoo.org/support/news-items/2025-10-07-cache-enabled-mirrors-removal.html<=
/a><br>
<br>
I had to remove and then add again a couple of overlays here, before <br>
they worked fine again.</blockquote><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div dir=3D=
"auto">That idea sounded very promising, but =E2=80=A6 No.</div><div dir=3D=
"auto"><br></div><div dir=3D"auto">I use gentoo, science and guru, which ar=
e officially supported according to me reading of that news item. My local =
and crossdev overlays are both local.</div><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div=
 dir=3D"auto">I used eselect repository commands per the news item to remov=
e then enable all repos except gentoo. Did not fix the eselect profile list=
 problem. Sigh=E2=80=A6</div><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div dir=3D"auto">=
John</div><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8=
ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex" dir=3D"auto"><b=
r>
</blockquote></div></div>

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