hello,

I have finaly got my laptop to run on ubuntu and i hit a huge problem. i cannot get anything to install via terminal by doing apt-get install (software). What ever i do it fails and i get this:

jessica@jessica-laptop:~$ sudo -i
[sudo] password for jessica:
root@jessica-laptop:~# apt-get install amsn
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Couldn't find package amsn
root@jessica-laptop:~#
root@jessica-laptop:~#

it dosnt just happen with amsn it happens with any software i have tryed, what could be causing this problem and how could i go about fixing it ?

The problem is most likely with your repository list. apt-get keeps a list of repositories where it can find deb packages to install on your system. These repositories could be on the Internet, on the Ubuntu install CD, or in local files on your hard drive. Look in /etc/apt/sources.list to find a list of places where apt-get is looking for the packages you are asking to install.

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Steve Stites

Thank you so much, i have fixed the problem and my computer is working as it should.

jailbait is right, that's the first place I'd look for a problem. just to offer a little more info, if there is a '#' at the beginning of a line that means it is commented out and that source is NOT being checked. also, before you can run sudo apt-get install you need to run sudo apt-get update to go out to each repository and download the list of packages available. that might be your problem right there...

Thanks, I am learning so much today and i think its all staying in my head which is good