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Linux Mint really needs to solve updating issues.

Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 10:03 pm
by Lnx_User1
Perhaps this is just the nature of the beast (and if so well somebody, someday should look at fixing it) but for a newcomer to Linux I have found the process of updating the OS and software included to be nightmarish to say the least. No other operating system I have ever used has ever had the issues of updating either the OS or software within it as much as the versions of Linux I have tried. I'd have to say that my normal attempts at updating the OS and such (normal as in not doing anything considered very advanced) has been the cause of about 13-14 system crashes and god knows how many hours of debugging and searching for answers on the web. In Windows or OSX you simple accept the download and install of updates and away it goes till complete. The only time there are issues is when either their server is temporarily down or your internet connection goes down. Even so I never encountered complete system crash merely by trying to update as I have with Linux Mint.

The second there is a "failed to fetch" notice tells me something is very wrong and yet it doesn't take much searching on the we to see that this is a common issue. You are notified of updates, you choose to download and install and some do and some don't and you never really know why unless you are prepared to scour through numerous webpages detailing various possibly solutions. Why would you be notified of an available update if it is unavailable? It is either available or it's not there should be no "well it kinda...sorta...maybe is...if your lucky." These errors pop up whether using Update Manager, Synaptic or the Terminal. Sometimes downloads work better in the Terminal and yet why? What's the point of any GUI downloader/updater program if they are not reliable? How hard is it to build a stable way to keep your Linux OS up to date? Why are items obviously being installed if they end up breaking the OS because it didn't get a dependent package?

Currently on my 2nd install of Linux Mint 13 KDE after trying 6 installs of Cinnamon and 1 of XFCE. I am most probably going to have to reinstall KDE a third time as my system having failed to download and install the 4.9 KDE desktop update completely and correctly has screwed up my OS so now any attempt to download anything will, after a few minutes, completely lock up my system forcing a hard reboot to restore. I can't even download the packages I need to correct whatever mess the attempt of KDE update created. I won't even mention the trouble I had trying to get Additional Drivers to download at all, that's a whole other painful story.

For an OS heralded as stable I have to say I find it to be very temperamental at best. I wouldn't expect anyone to choose Linux over any other OS if by doing so they can't even properly update the OS and software in it without going through all kinds of hell. Windows doesn't have these updating issues nor does OSX. KDE for me is perhaps my favorite desktop environment, if I could only get it working with the latest stable updates. Seriously the whole process of updating in Linux needs to be stabilized and functioning as close to perfect as possible. Afterall it is via updating that the OS hopefully becomes more stable in all areas and respects.

Re: Linux Mint really needs to solve updating issues.

Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 10:25 pm
by westcoastsunset
I only enable level 1 and 2 updates. Level 3 are thought to be OK, but no one tests them. If you just get level 1 and 2 you will not be updating all that much

Re: Linux Mint really needs to solve updating issues.

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 8:33 am
by nunol
I do level 1 to 5 updates and don't have problems either. It must be something related to your installation or hardware.

Re: Linux Mint really needs to solve updating issues.

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 11:08 am
by Lnx_User1
I did read somewhere that it's less than ideal to have a dual boot set up on one drive. Maybe that is it. I considered that it may be an issue with my wifi dongle but it works with installed drivers and downloads off the internet have no issue as well as streaming video. Perhaps large amount of data over a long period, I dunno. Doesn't seem right that my system should lock up over downloading. For example, I've had consistent freezes when downloading packages which has lead to having to reboot, which has lead me to my OS being even more broken, to the recovery console a few times, to broken packages, to the point now I have been able to get all but 1 of the broken packages installed and that 1 broken package I cannot download as it freezes up my system every time.

I've had errors downloading updates, about 65-70% of the time at least a few packages fail.

*Edit:

Had an issue with downloading libqt4-dbg, wouldn't download via Update Manager, Synaptic or Terminal and was preventing me from downloading anything else. Just failed to fetch. It was a broken package I was trying to fix. Finally I just deleted the broken package from my system entirely. Now my system has normalized and that particular package is not even listed as a needed file to install. So, I'm thinking the OS should have prompted "Try deleting the broken file" which woudl have saved me a lot of time and headache. Just switched ot ndiswrapper driver for wifi and hopefully things improve though again I'd be interested in knowing how lack of connectivity would lock up OS. Too it seems repository servers get overloaded or go down to which there shoudl be a notice of unavailability.

Re: Linux Mint really needs to solve updating issues.

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 4:43 pm
by fraxinus_63
Lnx_User1 wrote:Had an issue with downloading libqt4-dbg, wouldn't download via Update Manager, Synaptic or Terminal and was preventing me from downloading anything else. Just failed to fetch. It was a broken package I was trying to fix. Finally I just deleted the broken package from my system entirely. Now my system has normalized and that particular package is not even listed as a needed file to install. So, I'm thinking the OS should have prompted "Try deleting the broken file" which woudl have saved me a lot of time and headache.
I sympathise with your experience here. When I first tried Mint (10), I installed the KDE version - soon I found myself in a position where a broken KDE package fell into terminal conflict with an app I had installed (kPhotoAlbum) which made it impossible for me to do a clean update. More research suggested that this was actually a known problem 'upstream' in the parent distro, Kubuntu. I gave up, and installed the Gnome version instead.

Ever since then, however, I have not had a sniff of a problem installing levels 1-3 updates in Linux Mint. I use Mint all day, everyday, and I am now moving onto Mint 13 MATE. If you persist having problems with 'fail to fetch' messages when updating, I hope you will get help from this forum about the specific packages involved.

Re: Linux Mint really needs to solve updating issues.

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 5:07 pm
by lexon
I have had no problems with updating. I get all the updates.
I run a seven year old desktop with 3.2g, CPU and 2GB RAM. Standard video.
I started using Mint a couple months after Mint 6 came out. Then 7, then 9 and now running Mint 13, 32 bit, Gnome. I refuse to use the stupid women's names. Using Wome's names is only Male Ego stuff.
I am still much a lazy former Window's user and don't do much else except add a couple applications.
My only thing with the update is I no longer get any notification that updates are waiting and I never messed with the update manager. I have to intentionally look for updates.
Older Mint versions I would get update notifications.
I just figure The Powers That Be like to mess with our heads life Facebook does.

L