Trouble updating? Solution provided here.

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momist
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Location: Lancashire, Northwest England

Re: Trouble updating? Solution provided here.

Post by momist »

DB1 wrote:I'm a newbie Linux user - what is the "Software Sources" package used above. I don't have it installed, unless it's under an obscure name (a bugbear of mine - the packages you download don't have a name which matches to what you have to type to find it). Can someone tell me what name I should look for it under (on my system) or what package I should download?

Thanks
DB1
Hi, it can be confusing.
In your menu system under (just a minute while I look :) ) Administration there is a sheild shaped icon called "Update Manager". There may well be an identical sheild in your panel, possibly with a green tick to show all is up to date. If you run that, Update Manager appears and in the top menu under "Edit" is "Software Sources". This is where your system looks to get any updates from. The issue here is that the major (default setting) source can sometimes be overloaded. You should set the source by opening the "Download from" drop down box and choosing a nearby mirror instead of the default. Once you've done that, hit the "refresh" button on the main window.
momist : a follower of the Greek god Momer.
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xenopeek
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Re: Trouble updating? Solution provided here.

Post by xenopeek »

Software Sources is installed by default. It's found in several locations in the menu, depending on which version of Linux Mint you are using. For all though, the same applies; be lazy and don't search yourself :wink: Your menu has a search box so use that instead. For Xfce you need a few steps to be able to search your menu. Detailed for all current versions below.

On Linux Mint 14.1 Cinnamon or MATE:
- Menu > Preferences > Software Sources
- Or just type "software sources" in the menu's search box

On Linux Mint 14 Xfce:
- Menu > Settings > Software Sources
- Or click "Run Program" on the top of the menu, press the down arrow key to expand its window, and type "software sources"

On Linux Mint 14 KDE:
- Menu > Applications > Settings > Software Sources
- Or just type "software sources" in the menu's search box

For all menu's that have a search box, that already has the keyboard focus so you don't need to click it first. Just open your menu and start typing to search.
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momist
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Re: Trouble updating? Solution provided here.

Post by momist »

Interesting thread. I have had problems since Christmas, and noticed my other systems (Lubuntu and Peppermint) have not.

Having chosen a closer mirror, I now have faster resolution of the update manager without the "missing repositories". However, re-reading the first instructions I noticed the "Select Best Server" option and tried it, a few times now. It always hangs about half way through the progress bar. When I cancel out, the sources list is resting on the United Kingdom line, but not the mirror listed there. I'm a UK user.

I've manually selected the Netherlands server/mirror because historically I've had much more success with their servers over the years. Maybe they're just not as busy as the UK ones. Maybe the UK mirror has problems?
momist : a follower of the Greek god Momer.
bushy

Re: Trouble updating? Solution provided here.

Post by bushy »

Newbie needs help:
MINT14 Nadia KDE
The following is the error I get when trying to update:
E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_quantal_multiverse_i18n_Translation-en
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

In my Update applet, clicking "EDIT" to choose "Software Source" doesn't bring up anything, it is as if I never clicked the menu.

Any suggestions?
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xenopeek
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Re: Trouble updating? Solution provided here.

Post by xenopeek »

MergeList is a different problem. You can remove the package lists, and then fetch them anew. To do so open a terminal and run the following two commands (one at a time):

Code: Select all

sudo rm -fv /var/lib/apt/lists/*
apt update
That should solve the MergeList issue.
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bushy

Re: Trouble updating? Solution provided here.

Post by bushy »

Thanks, this appears to have solved my problem. The update manager reports 202 updates!
Apparently there are too many as the screen never populated with any text, however, choosing "Install Update" did start the process. Package Files started downloading.
bushy

Re: Trouble updating? Solution provided here.

Post by bushy »

Maybe I spoke to soon. I found a number of messages at the bottom of the update manager screen. Then doing a refresh I had these errors listed:
Failed to fetch http://packages.linuxmint.com/dists/nad ... tion-en_US Unable to connect to packages.linuxmint.com:http:
Failed to fetch http://packages.linuxmint.com/dists/nad ... slation-en Unable to connect to packages.linuxmint.com:http:
Failed to fetch http://packages.linuxmint.com/dists/nad ... tion-en_US Unable to connect to packages.linuxmint.com:http:
Failed to fetch http://packages.linuxmint.com/dists/nad ... slation-en Unable to connect to packages.linuxmint.com:http:
Failed to fetch http://packages.linuxmint.com/dists/nad ... tion-en_US Unable to connect to packages.linuxmint.com:http:
Failed to fetch http://packages.linuxmint.com/dists/nad ... slation-en Unable to connect to packages.linuxmint.com:http:
Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

Then doing another Refresh the screen reported the System is Up to Date.
I don't understand how it can be up to date when it failed on so many packages.


UPDATE###base-files###6.5ubuntu12###6.5ubuntu11###65016###base-files###This package contains the basic filesystem hierarchy of a Debian system, and several important miscellaneous files, such as /etc/debian_version, /etc/host.conf, /etc/issue, /etc/motd, /etc/profile, /etc/nsswitch.conf, and others, and the text of several common licenses in use on Debian systems.
UPDATE###linux-headers-generic###3.5.0.21.27###3.5.0.17.19###2608###linux-meta###This package will always depend on the latest generic kernel headers available.
UPDATE###linux-image-generic###3.5.0.21.27###3.5.0.17.19###2628###linux-meta###This package will always depend on the latest generic kernel image available.
UPDATE###python-dbus-dev###1.1.1-1ubuntu0.1###1.1.1-1###5500###dbus-python###D-Bus is a message bus, used for sending messages between applications. Conceptually, it fits somewhere in between raw sockets and CORBA in terms of complexity.

This package provides development files required to compile main-loop integration modules for python-dbus, such as dbus.mainloop.qt provided by PyQt. It is Python-version-independent: you must also depend on either python-dbus or python3-dbus, if required.
UPDATE###xserver-xorg-core###2:1.13.0-0ubuntu6.1###2:1.13.0-0ubuntu6###1551184###xorg-server###The Xorg X server is an X server for several architectures and operating systems, which is derived from the XFree86 4.x series of X servers.

The Xorg server supports most modern graphics hardware from most vendors, and supersedes all XFree86 X servers.

More information about X.Org can be found at: <URL:http://www.X.org>

This package is built from the X.org xserver module.
UPDATE###python-dbus###1.1.1-1ubuntu0.1###1.1.1-1###101120###dbus-python###D-Bus is a message bus, used for sending messages between applications. Conceptually, it fits somewhere in between raw sockets and CORBA in terms of complexity.

This package provides a Python interface to D-Bus.

See the dbus description for more information about D-Bus in general.
UPDATE###mountall###2.42ubuntu0.3###2.42###65322###mountall###mountall mounts filesystems when the underlying block devices are ready, or when network interfaces come up, checking the filesystems first.
UPDATE###python3-dbus###1.1.1-1ubuntu0.1###1.1.1-1###100360###dbus-python###D-Bus is a message bus, used for sending messages between applications. Conceptually, it fits somewhere in between raw sockets and CORBA in terms of complexity.

This package provides a Python 3 interface to D-Bus.

See the dbus description for more information about D-Bus in general.
UPDATE###linux-generic###3.5.0.21.27###3.5.0.17.19###1716###linux-meta###This package will always depend on the latest complete generic Linux kernel and headers.
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xenopeek
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Re: Trouble updating? Solution provided here.

Post by xenopeek »

You can ignore the translation packages not being found; those aren't present in some of the Linux Mint repositories.
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briandc

Re: Trouble updating? Solution provided here.

Post by briandc »

Hi all,
I'm getting the same problem, and even with the commands suggested here I still get this:

Code: Select all

ERROR###ERROR###ERROR###ERROR###ERROR###ERROR###ERROR
E:Encountered a section with no Package: header, E:Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/packages.linuxmint.com_dists_nadia_import_i18n_Translation-en, E:The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
Looks like it might be something to do with the Italian version? (I use an Italian keyboard.)

Any help appreciated! (I can't even use Synaptic.)


brian
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