Dear list,
I need to download a bunch of udeb packages from bookworm i386 repository. Thus I
created a list with the package names, but obviously I did not do correctly.
On my amd64 system I edited the sources.list and added
deb [arch=i386] http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-
firmware
deb-src [arch=i386] http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main contrib non-free non-
free-firmware
Then did an "apt update" and afterwards I tried
xargs apt -d install --reinstall < /home/username/mypackagelist.txt
This told me, that none of the packages are found. Not a single one.
--- snip ----
LANG=C xargs apt-get -d --reinstall install < /home/myusername/mypackages.txt Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package anna
E: Unable to locate package archdetect
E: Unable to locate package bogl-bterm-udeb
E: Unable to locate package btrfs-modules
E: Unable to locate package busybox-udeb
E: Unable to locate package cdebconf-gtk-udeb
E: Unable to locate package cdebconf-newt-udeb
E: Unable to locate package cdebconf-text-udeb
E: Unable to locate package cdebconf-udeb
E: Unable to locate package cdrom-detect
E: Unable to locate package crypto-dm-modules
E: Unable to locate package crypto-modules
E: Unable to locate package di-utils
E: Unable to locate package efi-modules
E: Unable to locate package ext2-modules
E: Unable to locate package ext3-modules
E: Unable to locate package ext4-modules
E: Unable to locate package fat-modules
E: Unable to locate package fontconfig

A method but maybe not the best could be to run an i386 docker image
and download them. You can add a mount point and save them all.

$ docker run -it --platform=i386 i386/debian:bookworm
Unable to find image 'i386/debian:bookworm' locally
bookworm: Pulling from i386/debian
443394a7d911: Pull complete
Digest: sha256:a5a5ccfc1859fc82f37b78a4084d51f255596cdb73ffb512bcb97f28dfa3 e9d9
Status: Downloaded newer image for i386/debian:bookworm
root@b4b60d20dd98:/# apt update
Get:1 http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm InRelease [151 kB]
Get:2 http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates InRelease [55.4 kB]
Get:3 http://deb.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security
InRelease [48.0 kB]
Get:4 http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm/main i386 Packages [8684 kB]
Get:5 http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates/main i386 Packages [692
4 B]
Get:6 http://deb.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security/main
i386 Packages [290 kB]
Fetched 9236 kB in 2s (5704 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
All packages are up to date.
root@b4b60d20dd98:/# apt search busybox
Sorting... Done
Full Text Search... Done
busybox/oldstable 1:1.35.0-4+b7 i386
Tiny utilities for small and embedded systems

busybox-static/oldstable 1:1.35.0-4+b7 i386
Standalone rescue shell with tons of builtin utilities

busybox-syslogd/oldstable 1:1.35.0-4 all
Provides syslogd and klogd using busybox

udhcpc/oldstable 1:1.35.0-4+b7 i386
Provides the busybox DHCP client implementation

udhcpd/oldstable 1:1.35.0-4+b7 i386
Provides the busybox DHCP server implementation

root@b4b60d20dd98:/#

On Sun, Mar 1, 2026 at 8:48?AM Hans <hans.ullrich@mail.de> wrote:

Dear list,

I need to download a bunch of udeb packages from bookworm i386 repository

. Thus I created a list with the package names, but obviously I did not do correctly.

On my amd64 system I edited the sources.list and added

deb [arch=i386] http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main contrib non

-free non-free-firmware

deb-src [arch=i386] http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main contrib

non-free non-free-firmware

Then did an "apt update" and afterwards I tried

xargs apt -d install --reinstall < /home/username/mypackagelist.txt

This told me, that none of the packages are found. Not a single one.

--- snip ----

LANG=C xargs apt-get -d --reinstall install < /home/myusername/mypackag

es.txt

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package anna
E: Unable to locate package archdetect
E: Unable to locate package bogl-bterm-udeb
E: Unable to locate package btrfs-modules
E: Unable to locate package busybox-udeb
E: Unable to locate package cdebconf-gtk-udeb
E: Unable to locate package cdebconf-newt-udeb
E: Unable to locate package cdebconf-text-udeb
E: Unable to locate package cdebconf-udeb
E: Unable to locate package cdrom-detect
E: Unable to locate package crypto-dm-modules
E: Unable to locate package crypto-modules
E: Unable to locate package di-utils
E: Unable to locate package efi-modules
E: Unable to locate package ext2-modules
E: Unable to locate package ext3-modules
E: Unable to locate package ext4-modules
E: Unable to locate package fat-modules
E: Unable to locate package fontconfig-udeb
E: Unable to locate package hw-detect
E: Unable to locate package jfs-modules
E: Unable to locate package libatk1.0-udeb
E: Couldn't find any package by glob 'libatk1.0-udeb'
E: Couldn't find any package by regex 'libatk1.0-udeb'
E: Unable to locate package libcairo2-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libdebconfclient0-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libdebian-installer4-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libexpat1-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libfontenc1-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libfreetype6-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libfribidi0-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libglib2.0-udeb
E: Couldn't find any package by glob 'libglib2.0-udeb'
E: Couldn't find any package by regex 'libglib2.0-udeb'
E: Unable to locate package libpango1.0-udeb
E: Couldn't find any package by glob 'libpango1.0-udeb'
E: Couldn't find any package by regex 'libpango1.0-udeb'
E: Unable to locate package libsimdutf29
E: Unable to locate package libslang2-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libx11-6-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libxcursor1-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libxext6-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libxfixes3-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libxft2-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libxi6-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libxinerama1-udeb
E: Unable to locate package libxrender1-udeb
E: Unable to locate package localechooser
E: Unable to locate package md-modules
E: Unable to locate package multipath-modules
E: Unable to locate package multipath-udeb
E: Unable to locate package nbd-client-udeb
E: Unable to locate package nbd-modules
E: Unable to locate package ppp-modules
E: Unable to locate package preseed-common
E: Unable to locate package rescue-check
E: Unable to locate package rootskel
E: Unable to locate package scsi-modules
E: Unable to locate package udev-udeb
E: Unable to locate package xfs-modules
E: Unable to locate package xkb-data-udeb
E: Unable to locate package xserver-xorg-core-udeb

---- snap ---

I suppose, maybe not all packages might be in the repo any more, but all?

On the other hand, these packages should be available for example in back

ports.debian.org.

Is there a way, to download them using the list or must I search and find

every package by using ftp and download every package each manually?

Thanks for any help!

Best regards

Hans

--
- Andrew "lathama" Latham -

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sun 01 Mar 2026 at 14:08:44 (+0100), Hans wrote:

I need to download a bunch of udeb packages from bookworm i386 repository. Thus I
created a list with the package names, but obviously I did not do correctly.

On my amd64 system I edited the sources.list and added

deb [arch=i386] http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-
firmware

deb-src [arch=i386] http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main contrib non-free non-
free-firmware

Then did an "apt update" and afterwards I tried

xargs apt -d install --reinstall < /home/username/mypackagelist.txt

This told me, that none of the packages are found. Not a single one.

I suppose, maybe not all packages might be in the repo any more, but all?
On the other hand, these packages should be available for example in backports.debian.org.

Is there a way, to download them using the list or must I search and find every package by
using ftp and download every package each manually?

AFAIK the latter. You can't use the normal tools to install them
and wreck your system. You should probably start by reading:

https://d-i.debian.org/doc/internals/ch03.html

Cheers,
David.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Hi!

hans.ullrich@mail.de wrote:

-=-=-=-=-=-

Dear list,

I need to download a bunch of udeb packages from bookworm i386 repository. Thus I
created a list with the package names, but obviously I did not do correctly.

On my amd64 system I edited the sources.list and added

deb [arch=i386] http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-
firmware

deb-src [arch=i386] http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main contrib non-free non-
free-firmware

Then did an "apt update" and afterwards I tried

xargs apt -d install --reinstall < /home/username/mypackagelist.txt

That's simple - udebs are in a separate component of the archive that
you haven't added!

Try

deb [arch=i386] http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main main/debian-installer contrib non-free non-free- firmware

deb-src [arch=i386] http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main main/debian-installer contrib non-free non- free-firmware

and you'll see the udebs. *However*, as already mentioned elsewhere:
be *really* careful doing this. The udebs are kept in a separate
component to be used by the installer only, and are generally not
meant to be installed directly into a normal system. You could
seriously screw up your system...

--
Steve McIntyre, Cambridge, UK. steve@einval.com Can't keep my eyes from the circling sky,
Tongue-tied & twisted, Just an earth-bound misfit, I...

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)