Error: Unable to install Pi-hole dependency package.

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1

Expected Behaviour:

Pi-hole should install cleanly on my Raspberry Pi 5, either via

curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash

or alternatively via Docker (docker.io).

System setup:

  • Raspberry Pi 5 (8 GB RAM)
  • OS: Raspberry Pi OS Lite 64-bit (Bookworm, freshly flashed)
  • Boot medium: USB stick (SanDisk), no SD card used
  • Official SSD board installed, but no SSD connected
  • Goal: Run Pi-hole as a local DNS filter

Actual Behaviour:

When installing via the official script, I get:

[✗] Installing Pi-hole dependency package  
Error: Unable to install Pi-hole dependency package.

I then tried to install Pi-hole via Docker, but installing Docker fails with a segmentation fault from libc-bin:

Setting up libc-bin (2.36-9+rpt2+deb12u9) ...
Segmentation fault
dpkg: error processing package libc-bin (--configure):
 installed libc-bin package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 139

Even after reflashing the OS, the issue persists immediately once package installation is attempted.

Debug Token:

No debug token available, since pihole -d can't be run – Pi-hole doesn't install due to broken dpkg / libc-bin.

Question:

Could this be caused by booting from USB stick (instead of SD card)? Or maybe by having the SSD board installed without an SSD?
Any help or similar experience would be greatly appreciated.

2

This error is not Pi-hole related.

Installing docker is an OS task and apparently there were some broken libraries.

Can you install docker after you re-flashed the OS?

If you can install docker, your OS is fixed and we can continue the debug to try to understand what is wrong with Pi-hole installation.
If you can't, it means there is something broken in your OS or filesystem.

3

I'm trying to install Docker on a freshly flashed Raspberry Pi OS Lite 64-bit (Bookworm) to run Pi-hole in a container. However, the installation consistently fails with system-level errors.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo apt install docker.io -y

I consistently encounter:

Setting up libc-bin (2.36-9+rpt2+deb12u9) ...
Segmentation fault
Segmentation fault
dpkg: error processing package libc-bin (--configure):
 installed libc-bin package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 139
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Also during initramfs updates:

update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-...
Segmentation fault
'/boot/initrd.img-...' -> '/boot/firmware/initramfs8'

These errors occur even immediately after flashing a fresh OS image.

4

You need to fix your OS before trying to install Pi-hole.

Maybe. I don't use SSD or USB stick with Raspberry Pi.

You should to ask for help in Raspberry Pi forums. They will help you to find and fix your issue.

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