problems with updating

**jlsalavea** · August 21st, 2012

complete beginner here, hubby installed linux mint (helena i believe) on his asus eee pc and then decided he didnt have time to learn how to use it...so i get to do it. yay. anyway, i had problems installing google chrome, which led me to find out that i have problems with everything on here...but i will start with updates. i cannot update, i keep getting errors.
this is what i just got when i tried to check for updates.

Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.189 80]
Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.189 80]
Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/di...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.184 80]
Some index files failed to download, they have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

any help would be greatly appreciated, though this seems like it will be one of those huge endeavors for anyone who decides to help. thanks again!

**Bashing-om** · August 21st, 2012

jlsalavea;
Hi ! welcome to the forum. /We are all here to help/
This can't be too serious of a problem... sooooo..
see if this command (from the command line) fixes your source list.

Code:

sudo apt-get update

if not, advise us of the errors you get ....and
post these results

Code:

lsb_release -a

to see what release you are running
and

Code:

cat /etc/apt/sources.list > sources.list.txt

to see what you source list is. The latter command will output the text file sources.list.txt in the your current working directory////cut and paste it between code tags (# at top of post screen)....

we await your reply <==BDQ

**Perfect Storm** · August 21st, 2012

Moved to Other OS/Distro Talk.

**Bucky Ball** · August 21st, 2012

Welcome.

Open Software Sources or update manager. If the latter, click the settings button in bottom left corner. In the list of repositories or 'Other Software' tab you will see the offending repos. Untick them. Karmic is old and are probably redundant for you.

That should fix the problem. Then, try these two commands in a terminal (Applications>Accessories>Terminal):

Code:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

The second command will upgrade apps and dependencies, NOT the release. Good luck.

**jlsalavea** · August 21st, 2012

thanks for the replies!

bashing, i typed in what you said, and got this. wasnt sure what was relevant, and what was not, so i copied it all. (this is just for the first command)

thanks for the replies guys!

bashing, i typed in what you said and this is what popped up. not sure what was relevant, and what you didnt need, so i just copied all of it.
Get:1 http://packages.linuxmint.com helena Release.gpg [198B]
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/upstream Translation-en_US
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/import Translation-en_US
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/backport Translation-en_US
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/romeo Translation-en_US
Get:2 http://packages.linuxmint.com helena Release [12.1kB]
Hit http://archive.canonical.com karmic Release.gpg
Ign http://archive.canonical.com karmic/partner Translation-en_US
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security Release.gpg
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/restricted Translation-en_US
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/universe Translation-en_US
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Translation-en_US
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic Release.gpg
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/main Packages
Hit http://deb.opera.com stable Release.gpg
Ign http://deb.opera.com stable/non-free Translation-en_US
Hit http://deb.opera.com stable Release.gpg
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic Release.gpg
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates Release.gpg
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/restricted Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/universe Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/multiverse Translation-en_US
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/upstream Packages
Hit http://archive.canonical.com karmic Release
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security Release
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic Release
Ign http://deb.opera.com stable/non-free Translation-en_US
Hit http://deb.opera.com stable Release
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/import Packages
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/backport Packages
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/romeo Packages
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/main Sources
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic Release
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/upstream Sources
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/import Sources
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/backport Sources
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/romeo Sources
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/main Packages
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/upstream Packages
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/import Packages
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/backport Packages
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/romeo Packages
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/main Sources
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Packages
Hit http://archive.canonical.com karmic/partner Packages
Hit http://packages.medibuntu.org karmic Release.gpg
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/upstream Sources
Hit http://deb.opera.com stable Release
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates Release
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/restricted Packages
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/universe Packages
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Packages
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/import Sources
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/backport Sources
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/romeo Sources
Get:3 http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/main Packages [4,771B]
Get:4 http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/upstream Packages [7,545B]
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Packages
Ign http://deb.opera.com stable/non-free Packages
Get:5 http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/import Packages [5,771B]
Get:6 http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/backport Packages [20B]
Get:7 http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/romeo Packages [1,332B]
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Packages
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/restricted Packages
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/universe Packages
Ign http://packages.medibuntu.org karmic/free Translation-en_US
Get:8 http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/main Sources [4,520B]
Get:9 http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/upstream Sources [3,007B]
Get:10 http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/import Sources [994B]
Get:11 http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/backport Sources [20B]
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/restricted Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/universe Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/multiverse Packages
Ign http://deb.opera.com stable/non-free Packages
Get:12 http://packages.linuxmint.com helena/romeo Sources [888B]
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Packages
Err http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Packages
404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]
Err http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/restricted Packages
404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Packages
Ign http://deb.opera.com stable/non-free Packages
Err http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/universe Packages
404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]
Err http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Packages
404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]
Ign http://packages.medibuntu.org karmic/non-free Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/restricted Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/universe Packages
Ign http://deb.opera.com stable/non-free Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/multiverse Packages
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages
404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Packages
404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]
Hit http://deb.opera.com stable/non-free Packages
Hit http://packages.medibuntu.org karmic Release
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Packages
404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Packages
404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Packages
404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/restricted Packages
404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/universe Packages
404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/multiverse Packages
404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]
Hit http://deb.opera.com stable/non-free Packages
Hit http://packages.medibuntu.org karmic/free Packages
Hit http://packages.medibuntu.org karmic/non-free Packages
Fetched 41.2kB in 2s (16.4kB/s)
W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/di...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/di...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/di...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/di...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

E: Some index files failed to download, they have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

second command, got this:
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: LinuxMint
Description: Linux Mint 8 Helena - Main Edition
Release: 8
Codename: helena

i entered the third command and then saw that you had said it would output a text file in my current working directory...i have no idea how to get to that.

Bucky, i looked in my update manager and i could not find a settings option anywhere, so i didnt do anything; i didnt want to start unticking boxes and make the problem worse.

**Bucky Ball** · August 21st, 2012

Update Manager>Settings button is in the bottom left hand corner of that GUI, or should be. Do you have a 'Software Sources' entry under System>Administration, if that still exists (I use Xubuntu)?

If so, just untick the offending repo. You can do it in a terminal by:

Code:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Could be an idea to make a copy before playing with this:

Code:

sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.bak

To move it back if you screw up:

Code:

sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list.bak /etc/apt/sources.list

Then hash out the repo or remove it, for instance:

Code:

# deb http://giss.tv/~vale/ubuntu32/hardy ./

Rather than:

Code:

deb http://giss.tv/~vale/ubuntu32/hardy ./

**jlsalavea** · August 22nd, 2012

i dont know what the offending repo is, or how to find out. total noob here.

**Bucky Ball** · August 22nd, 2012

Code:

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/di...86/Packages.gz  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/di...86/Packages.gz  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/di...86/Packages.gz  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/di...86/Packages.gz  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...86/Packages.gz  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.92.188 80]

After the http:// there is the address of the repo. The one being reported will be clearly identifiable in your sources.list. Add a '#' then a space before the ones you want to disable.

**jlsalavea** · August 23rd, 2012

alright, after googling how to work nano, i hashed out the repo's, and was able to update. but when i try sudo apt-get upgrade, i get this:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

i also tried to install some things with the software manager, and under the list of installed apps were the things i was trying to download...but the only option i have is to install it again, i choose that, no errors pop up, but i canno find the programs. then i try sudo apt-get install (program name) and i get the error

E: could not find package (program name)

thanks for all the help so far, I was really close to just giving this damn thing away, but you guys have changed my mind.

**Bucky Ball** · August 23rd, 2012

No probs. Please provide the names of some of the apps you're attempting to install. If you are going for gimp, for example, try these:

Code:

locate gimp
whereis gimp
find gimp

The upgrade message is normal; you don't have any packages or dependencies to upgrade. Always do 'sudo apt-get update' prior to issuing the upgrade command.

So you're saying the programs you are managing to install through Software Centre are installing but not appearing in your Applications menu? You can also try issuing just the name of something you know is installed (if you are asked to reinstall, it's installed already, don't bother reinstalling):

Code:

audacity

... if you happen to have just installed audacity. Running stuff from the terminal will also give you some idea of what's happened if the program crashes as you'll see the error thrown there (or some clues about it).