Package Control - Remove package problem

[wolfie]

I keep finding that ST3 (win x64 portable dev 3141) package control gets into a state where I can no longer delete packages via the command palette and have to resort to editing
PortableApps\Sublime Text\Data\Packages\User\Package Control.sublime-settings
and manually deleting the unwanted package from
PortableApps\Sublime Text\Data\Installed Packages

Reverting to a fresh installation of ST3, allows add/remove package to work normally again, but eventually the remove (and sometimes install) package commands stop working.

Has anyone else seen this, and if so is there a fix other than reverting ST3 to fresh install?

[kingkeith]

are there any errors in the ST console (View -> Show Console) when Package Control doesn’t delete a package via the command palette?
does enabling the debug log show more information about why it doesn’t work? https://packagecontrol.io/docs/troubleshooting#Enabling_the_Debug_Log

[wolfie]

Yes! The last few lines say

reloading plugin Origami.origami
reloading plugin Package Control.1_reloader
reloading plugin Package Control.2_bootstrap
reloading plugin Package Control.Package Control
reloading plugin Paste as Column.PasteColumn
reloading plugin SideBarEnhancements.SideBar
reloading plugin SideBarEnhancements.SideBarAPI
reloading plugin SideBarEnhancements.SideBarDefaultDisable
reloading plugin SideBarEnhancements.Stats
reloading plugin SyncedSidebarBg.SyncedSidebarBg
reloading plugin TabsExtra.support
reloading plugin TabsExtra.tab_menu
reloading plugin TabsExtra.tab_sort_helper
reloading plugin TabsExtra.tabs_extra
reloading plugin Toggle the View Read-Only.toggle_readonly
reloading plugin Trimmer.Trimmer
reloading plugin Whitespace.Whitespace
reloading plugin WordCount.WordCount
reloading plugin ShowAtArbitrary.show_at_arbitrary
reloading plugin SublimeAStyleFormatter.AStyleFormat
reloading plugin SyntaxFold.SyntaxFold
plugins loaded
Package Control: Skipping automatic upgrade, last run at 2017-07-26 14:12:43, next run at 2017-07-26 15:12:43 or after
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “package_control.package_installer in K:\PortableApps\Sublime Text\Data\Installed Packages\Package Control.sublime-package”, line 154, in on_done
File “package_control.package_disabler in K:\PortableApps\Sublime Text\Data\Installed Packages\Package Control.sublime-package”, line 76, in disable_packages
ImportError: No module named ‘package_control’

[wolfie]

It looks like the following directory is getting zapped
*PortableApps\Sublime Text\Data\Packages\package_setting_context*

does that provide any clues?

[wolfie]

Following the ‘Purging and Reinstalling’ section on the Package Control Troubleshooting section repairs Package Control without having to revert ST3 completely - so better, but still doesn’t explain why this is happening so often.

[addons_zz]

Due the line ImportError: No module named 'package_control', I think is was because Package Control was in the Sublime Text ignored_packages list.

[braver]

I had something similar last weekend where package_control0 somehow got in the disabled packages list (I certainly didn’t put it there) and adding/removing stopped working. Did a full clean re-install, but copied back settings and some more, and he problem returned the next day. After doing a new clean install and being careful with reinstalling packages and recreating settings, and it hasn’t returned (knock on wood).