Yum - rpm package dependency problems - inconsistent rpm versions

[Dan]

Hi

We are running handful of Fedora Core 3 workstations. We have just setup 
for yum updates for each machine. 3 of the machines wouldn't update due 
to dependency errors. Here's one of the error readouts:

 From machine 1:
--> Running transaction check
--> Processing Dependency: php= 4.3.9-3 for package: php-ldap
--> Processing Dependency: php= 4.3.9-3 for package: php-pear
--> Processing Dependency: php= 4.3.9-3 for package: php-mysql
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
Error: Missing Dependency: php is needed by package php-ldap
Error: Missing Dependency: php is needed by package php-pear
Error: Missing Dependency: php is needed by package php-mysql

Running rpm -qa | grep php revealed inconsistent package versions:

php-mysql-4.3.11-2.5
php-pear-4.3.9-3
php-4.3.9-3
php-pear-4.3.11-2.5
php-ldap-4.3.11-2.5
php-mysql-4.3.9-3

We easily resolved this by uninstalling php (and all dependents) and the 
reinstalling. Fine. However, we won't be able to do this on the other 
machines as some of the packages involved are system related such as 
xorg and hal.

These machines are all the same, they have the default files setup in 
/etc/yum.repos.d/ other than fedora-updates.repo which points to our 
local cache repos of the updates. None of the machines had been updated 
before.

So my questions are:

1. I noticed from the list that others have been experiencing similar 
problems, does anyone know how some machines can get into this state and 
not others?
2. Can anyone recommend a safe way to resolve the dependency problem 
involving system packages? (Yum errors listed below)

 From machine 2:
Error: Missing Dependency: php = 4.3.9-3 is needed by package php-ncurses
Error: Missing Dependency: xorg-x11 = 6.8.1-12 is needed by package 
xorg-x11-Xvfb
Error: Missing Dependency: postgresql = 7.4.6 is needed by package 
postgresql-contrib
Error: Missing Dependency: cyrus-imapd = 2.2.6-2.FC3.6 is needed by 
package cyrus-imapd-devel
Error: Missing Dependency: samba = 0:3.0.8 is needed by package samba-swat
Error: Missing Dependency: php = 4.3.9-3 is needed by package php-mysql
Error: Missing Dependency: php = 4.3.9-3 is needed by package php-mbstring
Error: Missing Dependency: ImageMagick-c++ = 6.0.7.1 is needed by 
package ImageMagick-c++-devel
Error: Missing Dependency: cyrus-imapd = 2.2.6-2.FC3.6 is needed by 
package cyrus-imapd-nntp
Error: Missing Dependency: php = 4.3.9-3 is needed by package php-snmp
Error: Missing Dependency: kdeartwork = 3.3.0 is needed by package 
kdeartwork-icons
Error: Missing Dependency: kdeedu = 3.3.0-1 is needed by package 
kdeedu-devel
Error: Missing Dependency: php = 4.3.9-3 is needed by package php-xmlrpc
Error: Missing Dependency: php = 4.3.9-3 is needed by package php-devel
Error: Missing Dependency: php = 4.3.9-3 is needed by package php-odbc
Error: Missing Dependency: libgcj = 3.4.2 is needed by package libgcj-devel
Error: Missing Dependency: postgresql = 7.4.6 is needed by package 
postgresql-test
Error: Missing Dependency: php = 4.3.9-3 is needed by package php-gd
Error: Missing Dependency: bind = 20:9.2.4-2 is needed by package bind-devel
Error: Missing Dependency: gnumeric = 1:1.2.13-6 is needed by package 
gnumeric-devel
Error: Missing Dependency: cyrus-imapd = 2.2.6-2.FC3.6 is needed by 
package cyrus-imapd-murder
Error: Missing Dependency: php = 4.3.9-3 is needed by package php-ldap
Error: Missing Dependency: php = 4.3.9-3 is needed by package php-pear
Error: Missing Dependency: bind = 20:9.2.4-2 is needed by package 
bind-chroot
Error: Missing Dependency: postgresql = 7.4.6 is needed by package 
postgresql-server
Error: Missing Dependency: php = 4.3.9-3 is needed by package php-pgsql
Error: Missing Dependency: postgresql = 7.4.6 is needed by package 
postgresql-pl
Error: Missing Dependency: openssh = 3.9p1-7 is needed by package 
openssh-server
Error: Missing Dependency: php = 4.3.9-3 is needed by package php-imap
Error: Missing Dependency: koffice = 4:1.3.3-1 is needed by package 
koffice-i18n
Error: Missing Dependency: openoffice.org = 1.1.2-10 is needed by 
package openoffice.org-i18n
Error: Missing Dependency: ImageMagick-devel = 6.0.7.1 is needed by 
package ImageMagick-c++-devel
Error: Missing Dependency: php = 4.3.9-3 is needed by package php-domxml
Error: Missing Dependency: openssh = 3.9p1-7 is needed by package 
openssh-clients
Error: Missing Dependency: kdegraphics = 7:3.3.0-3 is needed by package 
kdegraphics-devel
Error: Missing Dependency: tkinter = 2.3.4-11 is needed by package 
python-tools
Error: Missing Dependency: xemacs = 21.4.15 is needed by package xemacs-info
Error: Missing Dependency: hal = 0.4.0-10 is needed by package hal-devel