Hey,
I've got the same problem - the mintupdate inability to connect to the internet and/or the repositories. As mentioned I can sometime populate the update list and sometime not but I cannot actually get the updates.
Below are details of a successful connection but no luck with the updates:
++ Launching mintUpdate in root mode
++ Starting refresh
++ Auto-refresh timer is going to sleep for 15 minutes, 0 hours and 0 days
++ Connection found - checking for updates
-- Failed to download new safety rules: [Errno socket error] [Errno 110] Connection timed out None
++ Found 105 recommended software updates
++ Refresh finished
++ Install requested by user
++ Will install mintsystem
++ Will install mintmenu
++ Will install mintupdate
++ Will install mint-translations
++ Will install mintinstall-data
++ Will install mintwelcome
++ Will install firefox-3.5
++ Will install xulrunner-1.9.1-gnome-support
++ Will install firefox
++ Will install firefox-gnome-support
++ Will install xulrunner-1.9.1
++ Will install firefox-3.5-branding
++ Will install firefox-3.5-gnome-support
++ Will install libgtk2.0-bin
++ Will install udev
++ Will install totem
++ Will install gtk2-engines
++ Will install libcups2
++ Will install tzdata
++ Will install libcupsdriver1
++ Will install python2.6-minimal
++ Will install libapparmor1
++ Will install gstreamer0.10-alsa
++ Will install evolution-documentation-en
++ Will install libevdocument1
++ Will install libevview1
++ Will install sysv-rc
++ Will install totem-common
++ Will install libjline-java
++ Will install libpython2.6
++ Will install libavahi-core6
++ Will install gtk2-engines-pixbuf
++ Will install python-avahi
++ Will install python-problem-report
++ Will install totem-plugins
++ Will install cups-client
++ Will install libindicate3
++ Will install libavahi-common-data
++ Will install libsmbclient
++ Will install libudev0
++ Will install libbrasero-media0
++ Will install libgd2-xpm
++ Will install python-minimal
++ Will install software-properties-gtk
++ Will install libavahi-gobject0
++ Will install libavahi-client3
++ Will install libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-0
++ Will install gstreamer0.10-x
++ Will install avahi-autoipd
++ Will install libavahi-common3
++ Will install libwbclient0
++ Will install libclutter-gtk-0.10-0
++ Will install libnautilus-extension1
++ Will install samba-common
++ Will install binutils
++ Will install libgtk2.0-common
++ Will install kerneloops-daemon
++ Will install cups
++ Will install poppler-utils
++ Will install nautilus
++ Will install gstreamer0.10-plugins-base-apps
++ Will install libavahi-glib1
++ Will install gnome-desktop-data
++ Will install brasero
++ Will install libgudev-1.0-0
++ Will install libcupsimage2
++ Will install gnome-settings-daemon
++ Will install python2.6
++ Will install libgail18
++ Will install nvidia-common
++ Will install libvorbis0a
++ Will install rhythmbox
++ Will install samba
++ Will install libgtk2.0-0
++ Will install libvorbisenc2
++ Will install initscripts
++ Will install gstreamer0.10-plugins-base
++ Will install libgnome-desktop-2-11
++ Will install gnome-about
++ Will install gdm
++ Will install system-tools-backends
++ Will install sysvinit-utils
++ Will install nautilus-data
++ Will install python
++ Will install libhtml-parser-perl
++ Will install libenchant1c2a
++ Will install python-software-properties
++ Will install gtk2-engines-murrine
++ Will install libcupscgi1
++ Will install libapparmor-perl
++ Will install libvorbisfile3
++ Will install libpoppler5
++ Will install update-manager-core
++ Will install avahi-daemon
++ Will install libindicate-gtk1
++ Will install libgail-common
++ Will install libpoppler-glib4
++ Will install libcupsmime1
++ Will install evince
++ Will install adduser
++ Will install samba-common-bin
++ Will install smbclient
++ Will install cups-common
++ Will install cups-bsd
++ Will install libcupsppdc1
++ Ready to launch synaptic
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id '_Read Markings...'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id '_Save Markings'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id 'Save Markings _As...'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id '_Quit'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id '_Undo'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id '_Redo'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id '_Search...'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id '_Reload Package Information'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id '_Add CD-ROM...'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id '_Mark All Upgrades...'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id 'A_pply Marked Changes'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id 'U_nmark'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id 'Mark for _Installation'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id 'Mark for R_einstallation'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id 'Mark for _Upgrade'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id 'Mark for _Removal'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id 'Mark for Co_mplete Removal'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id '_Properties'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id '_Filters'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id '_Contents'
(synaptic:2447): libglade-WARNING **: could not look up stock id '_About'
++ Return code:0
++ Install finished
++ Starting refresh
++ The mintUpdate window is open, skipping auto-refresh
++ Auto-refresh timer is going to sleep for 15 minutes, 0 hours and 0 days
-- No connection found (tried to read
http://www.google.com and to ping google.com)
++ Starting refresh
++ Connection found - checking for updates
And the Error message I get is:
W: Failed to fetch
http://packages.linuxmint.com/dists/helena/Release.gpg Could not connect to packages.linuxmint.com:80 (1.0.0.0), connection timed out
W: Failed to fetch
http://packages.linuxmint.com/dists/hel ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to packages.linuxmint.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://packages.linuxmint.com/dists/hel ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to packages.linuxmint.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://packages.linuxmint.com/dists/hel ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to packages.linuxmint.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/ ... elease.gpg Could not connect to archive.ubuntu.com:80 (1.0.0.0), connection timed out
W: Failed to fetch
http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/ ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to archive.ubuntu.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/ ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to archive.ubuntu.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/ ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to archive.ubuntu.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/ ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to archive.ubuntu.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/ ... elease.gpg Unable to connect to archive.ubuntu.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/ ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to archive.ubuntu.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/ ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to archive.ubuntu.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/ ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to archive.ubuntu.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/ ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to archive.ubuntu.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists ... elease.gpg Could not connect to security.ubuntu.com:80 (1.0.0.0), connection timed out
W: Failed to fetch
http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/dis ... elease.gpg Could not connect to archive.canonical.com:80 (1.0.0.0), connection timed out
W: Failed to fetch
http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/dis ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to archive.canonical.com http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://packages.medibuntu.org/dists/karmic/Release.gpg Could not connect to packages.medibuntu.org:80 (1.0.0.0), connection timed out
W: Failed to fetch
http://packages.medibuntu.org/dists/kar ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to packages.medibuntu.org http:
W: Failed to fetch
http://packages.medibuntu.org/dists/kar ... -en_AU.bz2 Unable to connect to packages.medibuntu.org http:
W: Some index files failed to download, they have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
I have played around with server settings etc. and they seem to have little effect on the randomness of the connection.
I haven't used Linux in a long time but have recently reverted to it for its stability.
Another curious and maybe related issue is the inability of the Hardware Drivers software to activate the drives it finds. When I choose to activate the ATI/AMD Graphics card the downloading window comes up but never downloads and then the message I get is:
Failed to fetch
http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/m ... 5_i386.deb Unable to connect to archive.ubuntu.com http:
Ive tried bypassing through the terminal and no effect.
Any help appreciated.