Patch 5557962 application gives error

Question

Hi ALL,
I am trying to apply an interim patch : 5557962 on Linux machine. My Oracle version is 10.2.0.1.0. When i call the opatch utility i get the following error:
$ /oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/OPatch/opatch apply
Invoking OPatch 10.2.0.1.0
Oracle interim Patch Installer version 10.2.0.1.0
Copyright (c) 2005, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved..
Oracle Home : /oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1
Central Inventory : /oracle/oraInventory
from : /oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/oraInst.loc
OPatch version : 10.2.0.1.0
OUI version : 10.2.0.1.0
OUI location : /oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/oui
Log file location : /oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch-2008_Oct_23_11-08-30-PKT_Thu.log
ApplySession applying interim patch '5557962' to OH '/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1'
Apply Session failed: ApplySession failed to prepare the system. ApplySession: Required component(s) [ oracle.sysman.console.db, 10.2.0.3.0 ] not present in the Oracle Home or a higher version found.
System intact, OPatch will not attempt to restore the system
OPatch failed with error code 73
What could be the reason for this issue? Is this interim patch applicable on release 10.2.0.1 or 10.2.0.3?
Thanks,
QQ

Answer 1

If you wish to apply patch 5557962 then you must upgrade your database to 10.2.0.3.0 and then apply the interim patch.
There is no reference link discussing this issue but the readme file for this patch indicates the required version is 10.2.0.3.0. Also the file that you download (p5557962_10203_GENERIC.zip) has the required version number.