WARNING: key <KEYID> contains preferences for unavailable

[David Shaw]

On Fri, Feb 25, 2005 at 10:51:36AM +0100, Sascha Kiefer wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> some keys - spezially the ones created with PGP - throw the above
> warning when they are imported.  I know that i shutdown the message
> using --batch and --quiet but lets say i want to use this key for
> encrypting or signing will it work or will i be asked again?

That warning message means pretty much what it says.  PGP creates keys
with preferences that advertise the use of algorithms that GnuPG
doesn't support.  GnuPG is warning you that if you use that public key
without fixing the preferences, someone may try and follow those
incorrect preferences and send you something you can't decrypt.

Since you mention PGP, it's probably a case of missing IDEA.

Note this only happens when importing a secret key along with a public
key (or importing a secret key for which you already have a public key
or vice versa).

You should answer 'yes' to the question and allow GnuPG to fix your
preferences.

David