Unable to remove old kernel-devel...FC4 packages results in memory alloc (4 bytes) returned NULL.

[Gary W. Sherwin]

I am running Core 5 and have been having a problem trying to update the 
kernel-devel package.

  The first problem was a total overnight hang of Pup, that froze the 
whole machine.
Next, I tried yum which also failed with the memory alloc message
I also tried rpm -e of the kernel-devel packages, both as a group and 
individually; same thing
I have tried rebuilddb in rpm and repeated the above tests with the same 
results.

yum remove kernel-devel
Loading "installonlyn" plugin
Setting up Remove Process
Resolving Dependencies
--> Populating transaction set with selected packages. Please wait.
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.16-1.2108_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.14-1.1637_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.16-1.2107_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.12-1.1456_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.16-1.2096_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.16-1.2111_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.12-1.1447_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.15-1.1831_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.16-1.2069_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.14-1.1656_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.14-1.1644_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.14-1.1653_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.13-1.1526_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.15-1.1833_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.15-1.1830_FC4 set to be erased
---> Package kernel-devel.i686 0:2.6.13-1.1532_FC4 set to be erased
--> Running transaction check

Dependencies Resolved

=============================================================================
 Package                 Arch       Version          Repository        Size
=============================================================================
Removing:
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.16-1.2108_FC4  installed          13 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.14-1.1637_FC4  installed          12 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.16-1.2107_FC4  installed          13 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.12-1.1456_FC4  installed          12 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.11-1.1369_FC4  installed          12 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.16-1.2096_FC4  installed          13 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.16-1.2111_FC4  installed          13 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.12-1.1447_FC4  installed          12 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.15-1.1831_FC4  installed          13 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.16-1.2069_FC4  installed          13 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.14-1.1656_FC4  installed          12 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.14-1.1644_FC4  installed          12 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.14-1.1653_FC4  installed          12 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.13-1.1526_FC4  installed          12 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.15-1.1833_FC4  installed          13 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.15-1.1830_FC4  installed          13 M
 kernel-devel            i686       2.6.13-1.1532_FC4  installed          12 M

Transaction Summary
=============================================================================
Install      0 Package(s)
Update       0 Package(s)
Remove      17 Package(s)
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
Running Transaction Test
memory alloc (4 bytes) returned NULL.

Any sugestions?