N00b in serious need of help, several problems

[Drizzel]

Well I opened Synaptic, but didnt see 'upgradable packages' anywhere. I'm not sure what dependencies are so I'm a bit timid to do anything. I dont want to mess anything up, its all running so nice.

In Synaptic on the left menu where it says 'All' should I check all the boxes and do something? It just says mark for installation when I try to click the boxes. Man.. I have so much to learn. I wasted too much time with windows.. Should have made the switch years ago. Thanks for the links you provided, they were exactly what I was looking for.

[balaknair]

Sorry about the delay, at work here.

Yep those links helped me quite a lot when I switched to Ubuntu. That's the best feature in Ubuntu- it's got a great community.

In Synaptic, on the left hand pane, there ought to be an option which says upgradable packages along with All and Installed packages etc(I'm on a Windows box right now, so this is mostly from memory, the descriptions may vary slightly). If it isn't there, you can still find the packages by using the search tool(on the toolbar on top) if you know the name(or part of the name or description) of the package. Installed packages have the little box next to them turned green. Upgradable packages have a green check box with a tiny yellow star in the corner.
Checking the blank boxes(apps not installed on your computer) marks the packages for installation(a little curved arrow appears in the box).
As an example, use the search box to find Firefox, which is most likely installed. You'll see the green box there. If you right click on it, you'll get the list of options- properties, install, reinstall, uninstall etc.

So now you can try to find the individual packages and either reinstall or force version for each. Just don't delete or uninstall anything if you don't know what it does(especially lib files).

I'll check Synaptic when I get home and give it another shot.
All the best.

[Drizzel]

Well the thing is I dont know what its failing to update. When the box pops up during the update and starts downloading 42 updates it happens so fast I cant read what its trying to update. All I see is a progress bar for just a second. I click show details, but by the time it shows the details of what its trying to update the process is over and the box disappears. No error codes or anything. Frustrating really. If I knew what it was not updating I could just do it manually(which I shouldnt have to). I'm at a loss right now and I'm just not sure if this is for me. Seems the most simple of tasks are so much trouble to do.

[balaknair]

When you open update manager, doesn't it show a list of updates available?
Something like in the image attached.

Try using the Terminal(Applications>Accessories>Terminal), you'll get a list of available packages you can then copy the text and save it in a text file.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

When asked for your password, just type it in and hit enter(you won't see the little asterisks appearing when you type in the password- that's normal).

[Drizzel]

When you open update manager, doesn't it show a list of updates available?

It doesnt show a list. I open the update manager and click check and then it pops up saying downloading 42 updates. It never installs them. Here's a screen shot. But like I said before I've tried clicking details to see what it is trying to download, but theres just not enough time. It all happens so fast I could barely take the screenshot. Also I did those commands you posted, but it didnt update anything or list anything. Thanks for all your help. I dont know what to do about this.

[balaknair]

I'm afraid I'm out of ideas.
The only sure fix I can think of is reinstalling(I'm a bit trigger happy about reinstalls, used to break and reinstall Windows all the time in the past when I was in college, at least twice a year, and did the same for Ubuntu when I started out a year back, I'd play with system settings and stuff in both OSes till they broke and if I couldn't think of a way to fix it, just reinstall). Unless you've got a lot of data there or you've configured the settings quite a bit, it would seem like an easy option to me. I'm a bit lazy with things like that, preferring to start over rather than clean up the mess I make.

However in your case, I suggest you start a new thread, with a mention of the problem in the title- 'updates won't install'- or something like that. This will probably help you get assistance more than just something like 'I'm in trouble' 'help' or 'urgent'.
I'm really sorry not to be of more help here. I hope you're able to fix this problem soon. All the best.

PS: If I do find something that might help, I'll get in touch and send you a PM.

[Drizzel]

Thanks for all your help balaknair! I did a reinstall earlier today and still have the same issue. I'm thinking about finding an app to record all my activity so I can make a little vid to show exactly what is happening.

Take care