Unable to decipher error "ELF binary type 3 not known"

[Bob Perry]

On Tue, 2005-06-21 at 16:13 +0200, Julien Gabel wrote:
> >> Cvsup'd system last weekend but was unable to complete portupgrade due
> >> to following error:
> >>	 ELF binary type "3" not known
> >>	 execution of expat-1.95.5_2 script failed, exit status 255
> >>	 ELF binary type "3" not known
> >>	 /compat/linux/sbin/ldconfig: 1: Syntax error: "(" unexpected
> >>	 *** Error code 2
> >>
> >> 	Stop in /usr/ports/textproc/linux-expat.
> >> 	*** Error code 1
> >>
> >> The error apears while system is upgrading linux-expat-1.95.5_2 to
> >> linux-expat-1.95.5_3.  The error continues:
> >> 	Stop in /usr/ports/textproc/linux-expat.
> >> 	** Command failed [exitcode 1]: /usr/bin/script
> >> 	-qa /tmp/portupgrade80885.59 make reinstall
> >> 	egrep: /var/db/pkg/linux-expat-1.95.5_2/+CONTENTS: No such file
> >> 	or directory
> >> 	--->  Restoring the old version
> >> 	** Fix the installation problem and try again.
> >>
> >> Tried to deinstall/reinstall linux-expat-1.95.5_3 but received same
> >> error.  When I ran portupgrade -arR again, I received a Stale dependency
> >> error recommending I manually run pkgdb -F to fix, or specify -O to
> >> force.  I run pkgdb -F and each package which had been skipped earlier
> >> in the upgrade due to the original error now appear in Stale dependency
> >> scripts asking if I want to replace linux-expat-1.95.5_2.  The "score"
> >> in the first stale dependency issue is only 31%.  Nothing confuses me
> >> more than dealing with stale dependencies so I tried reviewing mail
> >> archives and googling for an answer.
> >>
> >> Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can resolve this error?
> >>
> >> FreeBSD 5.4-RELEASE #0.
> 
> > Have you installed linux_base-8 ? kernel module (linux.ko) loaded ?
> 
> Forcing the reinstall of linux_base must solve this problem:
>  # portupgrade -f linux_base
> 
I ran portupgrade -f linux_base-8 successfully and then ran portupgrade
-arR.  The system reports stale dependencies and suggest I manually run
pkgdb -F to fix which I do.  The first line of output reads:
	Stale dependency: acroread-5.10_1,1 -> linux-expat-1.95.5_2 
	(textproc/linux-expat):
	linux-fontconfig-2.1_2 (score:31%) ? ([y]es/[n]o/[a]ll)

If I understand Michael Lucas' "Cleaning Up Ports", acroread has
recorded linux-expat-1.95.5_2 as a dependency but linux-fontconfig-2.1_2
is installed and it's asking if I want to have the entry in /var/db/pkg
point to linux-fontconfig-2.1_2 as the correct dependency.  And the
answer is, "Damned if I know."

At this stage I would appreciate it if someone could point me towards an
article or two which might shed some more light on how to make the
appropriate decisions here.

Thanks much for your responses.