I keep getting the same software update that doesn't install
 

I'm running Xubuntu 15.04 and I keep (for two or three days now) getting this 1.2 MB software update that doesn't install. It starts like it's going to install but then nothing. (see screenshot)

And I haven't gotten any other software updates and I'm wondering if this one that doesn't install is blocking the other updates.

One last thought. I just Xed out of the update and when I did, the blue line shoots across as if it's installing. And that always happens (as if the update installs in that split-second) but then I get the same update again.

Thanks.

Hi Gregg,
You will get more useful information by install the package from the command line. Use aptitude (if it's installed) or apt-get with the command:
or
I assume you have successfully completed the update phase; this wasn't clear from your post. It that isn't the case then do one of the two following commands in a terminal
Take screen shot of any useful feedback (e.g. error messages) from these commands.
jdk

Hi LZM, It's serendipity that you responded. I'll send you a PM when I get done here and tell you why.

Okay, interestingly enough this problem is now occurinig on both my home and work comoputers. (They're both Xubuntu 15.04) Okay I ran the

sudo apt-get update

And got

Then I ran

sudo apt-get upgrade

And got

So, what do we make of this? Thanks.

Ok Gregg, just to be sure I understand your output pasted in the code windows... are you saying that the apt-get update command hangs at the point when appears on the screen? Then you have to manually abort the update command by hitting ctl-c so that the update never finished? Is the same true for the upgrade command when the output
appears?

I am concerned about the kernels (linux-image in Debian-speak). What is the output of this command
The output suggests that it wants you delete some kernels (along with their headers packages) but I want to see what kernel version is actually being used.
jdk

Hey LZM, Good morning! Yeah, they both hung at those two spots. (I had to do ctl-c to get out and the update didn't finish on either.) (And I gave them a good long time to kick in in case there was a time delay.)

Here's the uname -a results:

Thanks.

OK, so now that has upset ubuntu and the system needs some TLC. The following set of commands has worked for me in the past (on Debian but it should work the same on Ubuntu). Give them a try and see it that sorts out your problem. All the
commands are run with sudo.
Let's see what that does.
Cheers,
jdk

Hey LZM, Here's the results:
And the sudo apt-get update command hung at:

[Connecting to security.ubuntu.com (2001:67c:1562::15)]

Thanks!

OK, it's looking a bit better. Can you now run the suggested command
and then repeat the list of commands again. If the update command hangs again do not try the upgrade command. BTW how long do you wait before aborting the update command? If the update command still hangs, then you might try commenting out the secruity.ubuntu.com repository in your /etc/apt/sources.list file and see if it still hangs. This is just a temporary measure but it might determine where the problem is.
Let me know if all this is clear
jdk

Thanks LZM.

Okay, I did nothing regarding this last post of yours because there's a new development. Today there was a 97MB software update. So I went to install it. Same exact thing. The bar starts moving to the right but then stops in the exact same spot and there are no "details." (Just like in the original post's screenshot.) But--the difference--today I minimized that 97MB software update window and did some other things for maybe an hour. (And regarding your question about how long do I wait before aborting the update command? I would say only two or three minutes. When I'm convinced it's stuck (and esp. since it has never done this before) I abort it.) Well, when I brought the minimized software update window back it showed this window. (see screenshot) "The computer needs to restart to FINISH installing the update..."

Could it be that despite the bar graph being stuck for several minutes it eventually kicked in? And this was a bigger update but the bar graph was also stuck on a 1MB update. (And is there any way of ascertaining whether the update has indeed installed?)

Anyway, I did nothing about your latest post because I want to see how you respond to this one. What I'm going to do is restart the computer.

BTW If I eventually do need to do something additional regarding your last post I did not understand this sentence:

If the update command still hangs, then you might try commenting out the secruity.ubuntu.com repository in your /etc/apt/sources.

Thanks!

Ok Gregg. Let us know what happens when you restart the the machine. That may well solve your problem.

Regarding "commenting out" an entry in your /etc/apt/sources.list file it goes like this:
1. The sources.list file contains a series of lines that look like this:
"Commenting out" the first entry looks like this:
The first line will now be ignored by the system.
You would do this by opening up /etc/apt/sources.list in an editor, for example entering this command in your terminal:
I used gedit in the example but you can use whatever text editor you wish.

Hope that's clear.
jdk

Thanks, LZM, for the explanation of the commenting out, but I don't think I need to go there (at least not yet).

After the restart (as mentioned in the previous post) the computer seems normal. I'll just wait till the next software update and see what happens. In the meantime I'll ask, have you ever heard of something like that (the download--seemingly--hanging but then actually downloading (if given enough time)?

And I was wondering if the "details" not showing up and the bar graph not proceeding might just be a bug on the window and meanwhile the update is actually installing.

Last question: How can I know (esp. in this weird situation) if the updates are being installed? (I assume they are, because if they weren't wouldn't the updates keep popping up again and again asking me to install them?) Thanks.

If you really want to see what's going on during the update and upgrade phase and would strongly advise using a terminal. Using a gui updater is fine as long as there are no problems but if there are... then you really need to stick to the terminal and use apt-get or aptitude (if you have installed it).
For apt-get these two commands do the job:
For aptitude use
There are two issues to bear in mind when updating:
1. Some packages are very big and so take a while to download. For example a linux-image (kernel) can be 175M in size so obviously that's going to take a while to download and more or less time depending on the speed of your connection. If you use the terminal method of updating you can view the progress as it goes along.
2. Sometimes a given given repository (one of the lines in your sources.list file) is down or is slower than others. This can also cause some of the delays.

The moral of all this is if you really want to know what's going on then DO NOT use a gui for your updates; use the terminal.
Use the terminal. In the upgrade phase you will see a series of lines appearing like this one:
when that line appears in the terminal you know that the given package has been installed.

Hope this helps.
jdk

As a follow-up to the preceding post (#12), here is the terminal output at the end of the execution of the sudo aptitude safe-upgrade command. The lines beginning with "Setting up" indicate that the package named in that line (e.g. tzdata-java in the first line) has been installed. That's how you know that a package has been installed.
jdk

$ df

Make sure you have enough space for the update. The downloaded .deb files get archived in /var/cache/apt/archives/ and don't get removed depending on how you do your updates. These can add up to gigabytes of used space over time. And ultimately fill a disk.

Your DNS, Firewall, Routing, and other things can also get in the way at times. And the servers that your trying to access might have changed or become offline. All of these things can cause wait periods that might be infinite.

LZM,

I'm thinking something more systematic may be up. I was reading about "aptitude" and it sounded like a good thing to have, so I went to the terminal to get it. Here's what I came up with (and I've let it sit this way for 15 minutes):

And it seems to me the updates were hanging in a similar spot.

I like the idea of getting the updates in the terminal. Next time I get an update I'll X it out and do the:

sudo apt-get install
sudo apt-get upgrade

Thanks!