Linux – Cannot get CentOS 5 to update – Yum Errors

I'm used to Yum on CentOS 5 being a total pig and breaking every other week, but until now I've always been able to fix the problem by simply running:

yum clean all

And then updating normally.

Not working today. I did a lot of googling, and another common piece of advice was to disable fastmirror, tried that too, still to no avail. Here is the error I'm getting:

# yum update
addons                                                                               |  951 B     00:00     
addons/primary                                                                       |  204 B     00:00     
base                                                                                 | 2.1 kB     00:00     
base/primary_db                                                                      | 2.2 MB     00:00     
extras                                                                               | 2.1 kB     00:00     
extras/primary_db                                                                    | 244 kB     00:00     
spacewalk-client-tools                                                               | 1.9 kB     00:00     
spacewalk-client-tools/primary_db                                                    |  15 kB     00:00     
updates                                                                              | 1.9 kB     00:00     
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.as29550.net/mirror.centos.org/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirrors.melbourne.co.uk/sites/ftp.centos.org/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.ellogroup.com/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.netrino.co.uk/mirror.centos.org/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirrors.coreix.net/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.krystal.co.uk/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirrors.ukfast.co.uk/sites/ftp.centos.org/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://anorien.csc.warwick.ac.uk/mirrors/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.ox.ac.uk/sites/mirror.centos.org/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.bytemark.co.uk/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://ftp.nluug.nl/ftp/pub/os/Linux/distr/CentOS/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.denit.net/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.oxilion.nl/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://ftp.tudelft.nl/centos.org/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.widexs.nl/ftp/pub/os/Linux/distr/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.nl.leaseweb.net/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirrors.supportex.net/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://centos.mirror.evertje.net/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://nl.mirror.eurid.eu/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.as29550.net/mirror.centos.org/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirrors.melbourne.co.uk/sites/ftp.centos.org/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.ellogroup.com/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.netrino.co.uk/mirror.centos.org/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirrors.coreix.net/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.krystal.co.uk/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirrors.ukfast.co.uk/sites/ftp.centos.org/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://anorien.csc.warwick.ac.uk/mirrors/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.ox.ac.uk/sites/mirror.centos.org/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.bytemark.co.uk/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://ftp.nluug.nl/ftp/pub/os/Linux/distr/CentOS/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.denit.net/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.oxilion.nl/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://ftp.tudelft.nl/centos.org/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.widexs.nl/ftp/pub/os/Linux/distr/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirror.nl.leaseweb.net/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://mirrors.supportex.net/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://centos.mirror.evertje.net/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
updates/primary_db                                                                   | 603 kB     00:00     
http://nl.mirror.eurid.eu/centos/5.6/updates/x86_64/repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2: [Errno -1] Metadata file does not match checksum
Trying other mirror.
Error: failure: repodata/primary.sqlite.bz2 from updates: [Errno 256] No more mirrors to try.
#

Is it possible that every yum mirror being tried has a dead sqlite package? Is there a way to tell yum to ignore sqlite and just update the rest? I tried –skip-broken, but it still errored out with the identical error.

CentOS is so broken these days 🙁

Bart.