So installed ParrotOS 4.7 x64 as my primary OS on a Lenovo X250 laptop. It’s been installed on it before so expected no real issues. Since I downloaded this image of 4.7 several weeks/months ago I knew it would need updating.

After installation, the automatic update feature announced 2500+ updates available so I told it to update. It finished about 2 seconds later so I checked using the command line. Still around 2500+ updates so attempted to upgrade the files and found an error about libc6-dev breaks libgcc-9-dev < 9.3.0.5 but 9.2.1-14 was to be installed. Apparently there is a similar issue on some releases of Kali.

First of all, I didn’t realize that Parrot should be updated using parrot-upgrade rather than the typical apt update/apt upgrade/apt full-upgrade used on many Debian and Ubuntu flavors. I found this out while searching for ways to fix the broken upgrade. Looks like parrot-upgrade simply does a lot of the work for you and helps keep the system aligned with ParrotOS.

Anyhow, found a reference that instructed to edit the file /var/lib/dpkg/status, search for the Package: libgcc-9-dev and delete all lines in that particular block. Also remember that you’ll need to use sudo as several descriptions I’ve seen assume you are logged in as root or are running a root shell.

If you’re not really sure how to do the above:

sudo nano /var/lib/dpkg/status

Use ^W to search for libgcc-9-dev and use ^W multiple times as needed until you reach the Package: libgcc-9-dev entry

Use ^K to delete all lines from Package: libgcc-9-dev until you reach the next Package: entry.

Use ^O to write the file back out (don’t change the name, just hit <ENTER> to accept the default name).

Now run sudo parrot-upgrade again; it should refresh the packages and install properly. If running a different distro, try running sudo apt update and then sudo apt upgrade or sudo apt full-upgrade.