Software manager - dpkg problem

[4nt01n3]

if I try to install a software with the software manager, I always have a message :
"the package 'xxxxxxx' could not be installed. Another application is using APT : dpkg"
Then I click "OK" and try to install the software again and just after 1 or 2 seconds its status is "installed".
All the softwares I have installed with this error works.

[jahid]

may be you were trying to install more than one software at a time. unfortunately only one installation is available at a time. you need to wait until one is installed before you try on a new one.

[4nt01n3]

No, I have this message when I'm installing just 1 software.

[iraklisg]

Same problem here using LMDE2014
The error message occurs when I'm trying to install a single package
Any help please?

[pgarvey]

I had the same problem, after reading this post i tried the install a couple more times and it finally installed without an error.

[Monsta]

Another application is using APT

This is not much of a problem, it's just a notification that some other application is doing something with the package management system at the moment. It should eventually go away when that other app finishes its work. The possible culprit in this case is mintUpdate, which starts about 3 seconds after the desktop environment session has been loaded and checks if any updates are available.

[jahid]

Another application is using APT

This is not much of a problem, it's just a notification that some other application is doing something with the package management system at the moment. It should eventually go away when that other app finishes its work. The possible culprit in this case is mintUpdate, which starts about 3 seconds after the desktop environment session has been loaded and checks if any updates are available.

that's likely to be. i never had this kind of problem because i always uninstall this culprit in new installation of Mint. i prefer to do the updates manually because it gives me pretty much flexibility.

actually i never gave mintupdate a chance to show me what's it capable of, because it eats up my internet speed which is already very very slow.

[pgarvey]

I killed and uninstalled mintUpdate, but I'm still getting this error from the software manager...

[killer de bug]

Launch

Code: Select all

apt update

in a terminal and post the output here.

[pgarvey]

sorry..

Code: Select all

apt update
[sudo] password for pgarvey: 
Ign http://dl.google.com stable InRelease
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian InRelease                  
Ign http://extra.linuxmint.com debian InRelease                      
Get:1 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing InRelease [162 kB]         
Get:2 http://dl.google.com stable Release.gpg [198 B]                                               
Get:3 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian Release.gpg [198 B]                                                 
Ign http://extra.linuxmint.com debian Release.gpg                                                              
Get:4 http://dl.google.com stable Release [1,349 B]                           
Get:5 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian Release [16.8 kB]                                                   
Get:6 http://extra.linuxmint.com debian Release [2,275 B]                                                       
Ign http://extra.linuxmint.com debian/main amd64 Packages/DiffIndex                                                          
Ign http://extra.linuxmint.com debian/main i386 Packages/DiffIndex                 
Get:7 http://dl.google.com stable/main amd64 Packages [1,235 B]                 
Get:8 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/main amd64 Packages [26.1 kB]                                                     
Get:9 http://dl.google.com stable/main i386 Packages [1,239 B]                                                  
Get:10 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/upstream amd64 Packages [12.3 kB]                                                         
Get:11 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/import amd64 Packages [53.6 kB]                                                  
Get:12 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/main i386 Packages [26.1 kB]                                                              
Ign http://dl.google.com stable/main Translation-en_US                                                                                
Ign http://dl.google.com stable/main Translation-en                                                                                   
Get:13 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/upstream i386 Packages [12.3 kB]                                                       
Get:14 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/import i386 Packages [53.7 kB]                                   
Get:15 http://extra.linuxmint.com debian/main amd64 Packages [20 B]                                   
Get:16 http://extra.linuxmint.com debian/main i386 Packages [20 B]                                    
Ign http://extra.linuxmint.com debian/main Translation-en_US                                            
Get:17 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/updates InRelease [73.5 kB]
Ign http://extra.linuxmint.com debian/main Translation-en                        
Get:18 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing InRelease [25.9 kB]                   
Get:19 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/main amd64 Packages/DiffIndex [7,876 B]
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/import Translation-en_US                           
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/import Translation-en
Get:20 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/contrib amd64 Packages/DiffIndex [7,819 B]
Get:21 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/non-free amd64 Packages/DiffIndex [7,819 B]
Get:22 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/main i386 Packages/DiffIndex [7,876 B]
Get:23 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/contrib i386 Packages/DiffIndex [7,819 B]
Get:24 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/non-free i386 Packages/DiffIndex [7,819 B]
Get:25 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/contrib Translation-en/DiffIndex [7,267 B]
Get:26 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/main Translation-en/DiffIndex [7,876 B]
Get:27 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/non-free Translation-en/DiffIndex [7,819 B]
Get:28 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/updates/main amd64 Packages [14 B]
Get:29 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/updates/contrib amd64 Packages [14 B]
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/main Translation-en_US
Get:30 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/updates/non-free amd64 Packages [14 B]                        
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/main Translation-en                     
Get:31 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/updates/main i386 Packages [14 B]
Get:32 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/updates/contrib i386 Packages [14 B]
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/upstream Translation-en_US
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/upstream Translation-en                                       
Get:33 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/updates/non-free i386 Packages [14 B]
Get:34 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/updates/contrib Translation-en [14 B]
Get:35 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/updates/main Translation-en [14 B]
Get:36 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/updates/non-free Translation-en [14 B]
Get:37 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/main amd64 Packages [132 kB]
Get:38 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/non-free amd64 Packages [2,669 B]
Get:39 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/main i386 Packages [133 kB]
Get:40 http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/non-free i386 Packages [6,072 B]
Ign http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/main Translation-en_US                                                                        
Ign http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/main Translation-en                                                                           
Ign http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/non-free Translation-en_US                                                                    
Ign http://debian.linuxmint.com testing/non-free Translation-en                                                                       
Fetched 813 kB in 6s (118 kB/s)                                                                                                       
Reading package lists... Done

[killer de bug]

Edit you post and use code block please!

Post the output of

Code: Select all

apt dist-upgrade

[pgarvey]

Code: Select all

apt dist-upgrade
[sudo] password for pgarvey: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  audacity-data libflac++6 libid3tag0 libportsmf0 libsbsms10 libsoxr0 libvamp-hostsdk3
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

[killer de bug]

ok you can use apt autoremove if you want.

You don't have any problem anymore... Apt lock is not here anymore. Or is it only with synaptic?

[pgarvey]

okay, that seems to have fixed it, now, what did i just do?

[killer de bug]

Nothing. I was looking for a message error. But there is none...
That's as simple as that: I can't see your problem

[pgarvey]

okey dokey, well thanks for the help anyway!

[killer de bug]

Can you confirm me that mintupdate is still installed in your system? It's important even if you can live without it. But it would be better if could read UP note before upgrading to UP9 is some months.

The software manager is working fine?

[OldNewbie]

MintUpdate seems to be the culprit for me as well, under LMDE 2014. It's default configuration is to check for updates every 15 MINUTES, which seems a little hair-trigger to me. This means that you're likely to run into locking issues with it pretty often.

EDIT: CORRECTION: Once per day didn't seem to help. It seems pretty random, and frustrating. You can usually click past it and retry the install - and get it on the second or third try.