Updating mystery ?

[GregM]

When I set up a Kubuntu computer for my wife I just cloned my hard drive.
It's the same make/model of computer as the one I use.

Today when I tried to do an update it said...

Reading package lists... Done
E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend - open (11: Resource temporarily unavailable)
E: Unable to acquire the dpkg frontend lock (/var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend), is another process using it?
greg@greg-OptiPlex-990:~$

What's up with that?

[Snowhog]

If you did the attempt from the CLI, it just means that Discover was performing the check 'in the background'. That's the "another process using it?".

[claydoh]

Apt and dpkg use what are called 'lock' files to prevent more than one update/install/uninstall process from running at the same time. For example, I have Discover is running in the background installing something, I forgot this, and then try to run apt full-upgrade or something at the same time, or the system is looking for security updates in the background when I try to install something.

What probably happened here is that there was a lock file present when you cloned the drive, and it did not get released on the new system. Or it just didn't not get released for some other reason, which can happen once in a great while.

it is easy to fix, and the error gives you the file you need to remove.
Often a reboot fixes this, but not always, so this is easier:

sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend
And try again.


This type of error can happen every so often, and for random reasons, and is one of the rare bugs, if you will, in Debian's apt and dpkg tools.

[GregM]

Thank you
I'll give it a try

[GregM]

As usual the code worked and it took off and is updating.
Thanks again