Cannot updgrade from 16.04 to 18.04 Error in update?

[richardlc]

At the end of each update the following phrases appear:

Reading package lists... Done

W: Problem unlinking the file lists.old - Clean (21: Is a directory)


Upgrades work after that, but after an exhaustive process of installing 18.04 LTS online I am informed that the installation fails.

I don't really want to install from the ISO that I now have on a thumb drive of 18.04 LTS, because I understand that I shall have to reformat the HDD and therefore reinstall all settings and files from Backup. I was able to upgrade from 16.04 LTS on my wife's machine without problems to 18.04 LTS.

This error has been there for at least a year with no apparent effect on upgrades at all. Today I did a successful "full-upgrade"
Can someone please explain it and correct it?

[CatKiller]

I've not ever seen the issue that you're having, but this error

W: Problem unlinking the file lists.old - Clean (21: Is a directory)

is saying that a file it's trying to clean up (lists.old) is unexpectedly a directory. Since it's an error that crops up as part of the upgrade process, I'd imagine that it's in /etc/apt. Deleting or renaming the lists.old directory should clear that error.

[cruzer001]

Yes
Sounds like you modified your sources list. Please post the output of:

ls /etc/apt

[richardlc]

Many thanks for the prompt replies. The statement appears at the end of the update not the upgrades which seem to work well without error.

 rlcooper@rlcooper-HP-250-G3-Notebook-PC:~$ ls /etc/apt
apt.conf.d     sources.list              sources.list.save  trusted.gpg~
auth.conf.d    sources.list.d            trustdb.gpg        trusted.gpg.d
preferences.d  sources.list.distUpgrade  trusted.gpg
rlcooper@rlcooper-HP-250-G3-Notebook-PC:~$

I hope that the listing helps.
What does W: signify?
Regards
richardlc

[CatKiller]

What does W: signify?

Warning.

As opposed to E: Error or I: Information.

[cruzer001]

Well, we both expected it to be there but its not. Like CatKiller said, its a warning and will not affect updates. Could go away with a reboot.

You can search your file system for it or just not concern yourself with it. It upgrades, so its good.

[richardlc]

Thank you very much. And for fixing the broken code brackets: I think I have now worked out from all the excellent Wiki contents how to put them in properly!

Meanwhile, although it will do upgrades all the time, it won't do a "release-upgrade" without the error or warning at the end of the process, so I shall search the system as you suggested for the errant directory. I can't remember how to do that at present, but will revise my terminal techniques to do so! I shall return with the results in due course!

[cruzer001]

Please post

cat /etc/apt/sources.list && ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list

Also clean the package system, see if it helps.

sudo apt autoremove && sudo apt clean

Verify the cache is clean, should show all zero's.

du -ch /var/cache/apt/archives/

If packages still remain in cache

sudo rm -r /var/cache/apt/archives/*

and reboot

[richardlc]

Many thanks again. Here is the response to your command on the terminal. I shall be interested to know what it means. I have also tried a search for lists.old in directories which I shall show you after your response to this suggestion.

rlcooper@rlcooper-HP-250-G3-Notebook-PC:~$ cat /etc/apt/sources.list && ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list
# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS _Trusty Tahr_ - Release amd64 (20140722.2)]/ trusty main restricted

# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial main restricted

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates main restricted

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial universe
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates universe
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates universe

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates multiverse

## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports main restricted universe multiverse

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security main restricted
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security universe
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu trusty partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu trusty partner

# deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian xenial contrib # disabled on upgrade to xenial
# deb-src http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian xenial contrib # disabled on upgrade to xenial
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/librecad-dev-ubuntu-librecad-stable-xenial.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/yannubuntu-ubuntu-boot-repair-xenial.list
rlcooper@rlcooper-HP-250-G3-Notebook-PC:~$

[cruzer001]

deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu trusty partner

That line needs to either be removed or commented (#) out.

sudo -H gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

And you need to disable all PPAs.
librecad
skype
yannubuntu

Should be able to do that with your sources gui.

software-properties-gtk

Then update and upgrade

That should allow you to move on to 18.04