To anyone who prefers to revert the packages to the previous version ( *1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1*) and wait until these issues are fixed, one may do the following:

1. Identify which packages were marked for installation together with *libxrender1:i386* and *libxrender1:amd64*. In my case these were: dpkg -l libx11-6 libx11-data libx11-dev libx11-doc libx11-xcb-dev libx11-xcb1 libxrender-dev libxrender1 ||/ Name Version Architecture +++-=======================-===================-============ ii libx11-6:amd64 2:1.5.0-1+deb7u2 amd64 ii libx11-6:i386 2:1.5.0-1+deb7u2 i386 iU libx11-data 2:1.5.0-1+deb7u2 all ii libx11-dev:amd64 2:1.5.0-1+deb7u2 amd64 ii libx11-dev:i386 2:1.5.0-1+deb7u2 i386 iU libx11-doc 2:1.5.0-1+deb7u2 all iU libx11-xcb-dev 2:1.5.0-1+deb7u2 amd64 ii libx11-xcb1:amd64 2:1.5.0-1+deb7u2 amd64 ii libx11-xcb1:i386 2:1.5.0-1+deb7u2 i386 iU libxrender-dev:amd64 1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1+b1 amd64 ii libxrender1:amd64 1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1+b1 amd64 iU libxrender1:i386 1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1+b1 i386 2. Downgrade packages to previous version (*1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1* and *2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1*). apt-get install \ libxrender1=1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1 \ libxrender1:i386=1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1 \ libxrender-dev=1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-xcb1=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-xcb1:i386=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-xcb-dev=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-doc=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-dev:i386=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-dev=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-data=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-6:i386=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-6=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 Eventually this will yield a similar error, e.g.: Preparing to replace libxrender1:i386 1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1+b1 (using .../libxrender1_1%3a0.9.7-1+deb7u1_i386.deb) ... Unpacking replacement libxrender1:i386 ... dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/libxrender1_1%3a0.9.7-1+deb7u1_i386.deb (--unpack): trying to overwrite shared '/usr/share/doc/libxrender1/changelog.Debian.gz', which is different from other instances of package libxrender1:i386 3. Prevent the installation of file *changelog.Debian.gz* by excluding it. sudo dpkg --path-exclude=/usr/share/doc/libxrender1/changelog.Debian.gz -i /var/cache/apt/archives/libxrender1_1%3a0.9.7-1+deb7u1_i386.deb 4. Repeat the downgrade command (point 2). apt-get install \ libxrender1=1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1 \ libxrender1:i386=1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1 \ libxrender-dev=1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-xcb1=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-xcb1:i386=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-xcb-dev=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-doc=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-dev:i386=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-dev=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-data=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-6:i386=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 \ libx11-6=2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 Best regards On Mon, 13 Apr 2015 12:34:32 +0100 Matthew Toseland < matt...@toselandcs.co.uk> wrote: > Package: libxrender1 > Version: 1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1+b1 > Severity: important > > Dear Maintainer, > > I attempted to upgrade a (wheezy) system on which both the i386 and amd64 > versions of libxrender1 were installed. It failed, apparently the same shared > file (the changelog) has different contents in *the same version of* the > package on the 2 archs. > > Please fix this, as dist-upgrade should not fail on a stable install. Really it should have been picked up automatically... > > # apt-get dist-upgrade > Reading package lists... Done > Building dependency tree > Reading state information... Done > Calculating upgrade... Done > The following packages will be upgraded: > libxrender1 libxrender1:i386 > 2 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. > Need to get 65.4 kB of archives. > After this operation, 31.7 kB disk space will be freed. > Do you want to continue [Y/n]? > Get:1 http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates/main libxrender1 i386 1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1+b1 [32.6 kB] > Get:2 http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates/main libxrender1 amd64 1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1+b1 [32.8 kB] > Fetched 65.4 kB in 0s (160 kB/s) > Reading changelogs... Done > (Reading database ... 213397 files and directories currently installed.) > Preparing to replace libxrender1:i386 1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1 (using .../libxrender1_1%3a0.9.7-1+deb7u1+b1_i386.deb) ... > De-configuring libxrender1:amd64 ... > Unpacking replacement libxrender1:i386 ... > Preparing to replace libxrender1:amd64 1:0.9.7-1+deb7u1 (using .../libxrender1_1%3a0.9.7-1+deb7u1+b1_amd64.deb) ... > Unpacking replacement libxrender1:amd64 ... > dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/libxrender1_1%3a0.9.7-1+deb7u1+b1_amd64.deb (--unpack): > trying to overwrite shared '/usr/share/doc/libxrender1/changelog.Debian.gz', which is different from other instances of package libxrender1:amd64 > Errors were encountered while processing: > /var/cache/apt/archives/libxrender1_1%3a0.9.7-1+deb7u1+b1_amd64.deb > E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) > > -- System Information: > Debian Release: 7.8 > APT prefers stable-updates > APT policy: (500, 'stable-updates'), (500, 'stable') > Architecture: amd64 (x86_64) > Foreign Architectures: i386 > > Kernel: Linux 3.2.0-4-amd64 (SMP w/4 CPU cores) > Locale: LANG=en_GB.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_GB.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8) > Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash > >