Get rid of version grml.02

I frequently get asked about the error:

dpkg-query: warning: parsing file '/var/lib/dpkg/status' near line 5038 package 'linux-image-2.6.33-grml':
 error in Version string 'grml.02': version number does not start with digit
dpkg-query: warning: parsing file '/var/lib/dpkg/status' near line 21699 package 'linux-headers-2.6.33-grml':
 error in Version string 'grml.02': version number does not start with digit
dpkg-query: warning: parsing file '/var/lib/dpkg/status' near line 61359 package 'linux-doc-2.6.33-grml':
 error in Version string 'grml.02': version number does not start with digit

So this article is to answer all questions in a time.

I don’t know why, but that grml kernel has a version number of grml.02 (other kernel versions are also affected). This version string doesn’t meet the criteria for version numbers because it doesn’t start with a digit. So dpkg is correctly warning. This warning is not critical, you might ignore it without any consequences, or you can install a newer one. Kernel with corrected version numbers can be found in grml-testing , so add the following to your /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grml.list :

deb     http://deb.grml.org/ grml-testing main

and you’ll find for example the new 2.6.38 kernel. Just for those lazy guys:

aptitude install linux-image-2.6.38-grml linux-headers-2.6.38-grml

So, have fun with your new kernel :-P