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**lmilano** · Jul 09, 2009, 08:29 PM

Re: Cannot get lock on Package Kit

Package Kit is horribly broken in Jaunty, hopefully it will be ok next release. In the meantime, please use Synaptic.

Can you reboot, and try this in a Konsole and let us know the output?

Code:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install synaptic

**SCBrazil** · Jul 09, 2009, 09:10 PM

Re: Cannot get lock on Package Kit

Hi Imilano,
Thanks for your help.
I decided to give it one more try and re-installed yet again.
This time I went straight to KPackageKit and got Synaptic. It has just finished installing and is currently updating my system with the 116 updates.
The last time I got this 'lock on' package problem the suggestions you posted did not work from a terminal.
For obvious reasons I will not be able to test them this time round.

I take it I would be ill-advised to use KPackageKit from now on, is that correct? Does Synaptic do the same job therefore?

Thanks
Ian

**lmilano** · Jul 10, 2009, 03:57 AM

Re: Cannot get lock on Package Kit

Yes, Synaptic does the same, it's been around for ages and is rock solid (it doesn't look like a native kubuntu, or KDE, application, but that's about the only problem). If you have a lock with software management again in the future, you don't need to reinstall. If you get the right help you can get going pretty quickly.

**The Liquidator** · Jul 10, 2009, 06:24 AM

Re: Cannot get lock on Package Kit

I agree:

Excluding the Konsole (the failsafe!) there are 3 main ways ways to install in kubuntu - in order of preference

1. Synaptic - works the best by some margin but it ain't pretty! However that's mainly because its GUI was not designed to blend in with KDE.

2. Adept - Not as reliable as synaptic but better than kpackagekit. Looks better than synaptic as it was designed for KDE. However, a few months ago it's developer gave up on the project which was a shame because it seemed to be heading in the right direction.

3. Kpackagekit - I steer clear of this at the moment as it frankly doesn't really work for me at this point. Maybe it will be better in 9.10.

**SCBrazil** · Jul 10, 2009, 07:01 PM

Re: Cannot get lock on Package Kit

Okay,
I said I wouldn't but I gave it one more try even after the one I said I wouldn't do.
It seems to be working well and all my little tweaks are in place using Synaptic but I feel a little insecure and will not go through the whole process of install and tweak again.
I really like this OS and want it to work but I cannot keep re-installing every time something goes wrong and then taking a day or so getting it the way I want it.
So my question is this - is there a way I can back-up my system as it is now? So that if I have to re-install I can re-install the way it is now? i.e. with Firefox, Synaptic, RealPlayer, GParted, Flash etc etc already in place and running.
Thanks

**lmilano** · Jul 10, 2009, 07:31 PM

Re: Cannot get lock on Package Kit

I think your best is copying the whole root partition to some other empty partition. Is /home in the same partition or in a separate one? That could make things more difficult. Overall, this is a pretty advanced task. I am not sure it's worth the trouble. Over the last 5 years i've been just upgrading kubuntu all the time, except when I bought a new machine with 64 bit CPU, and I decided to switch architecture ...

**SCBrazil** · Jul 10, 2009, 07:46 PM

Re: 'Cannot get lock' on Package Kit

Thanks for your answer Imilano.

I know very little about Linux (or Windows for that matter). I was a lifelong Gates contributor until about a month ago when the HDD on my laptop died and I looked for a way of running it without one. It was thus I stumbled across the Slax Distro and spent a month playing around with it, running direct from my USB stick. I thought it was great as everytime I messed up, I just booted fresh from the frugal copy.
I thought it was so great in fact, that I decided to 'go Linux' on my desktop PC.
Slax can be used 'frugally' - as in the 190mb basic package - but also allows you to make a 'build' - in which you choose 'modules' to add to your basic boot package. 'Modules' here (in my case) meaning Firefox, GParted, Flash etc. In other words, you can configure the out-of-the-box install with programs of your choice. Obviously, Slax is not meant to be installed onto your HDD though and runs direct from the USB stick.
I suppose it is something like that I am asking about here with Kubuntu. Can I incorporate the extra programs I am running now (Real Player, Firefox, Flash 10, Synaptic) into the install CD?
Is this possible with Kubuntu?

P.S. I hope this makes sense to you.

**lmilano** · Jul 10, 2009, 09:08 PM

Re: Cannot get lock on Package Kit

No, I am not aware of a way to do exactly that. One alternative would be to start with a minimal install:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...tion/MinimalCD

And then install some metapackages:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MetaPackages

A tutorial here:
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/minimal

However, the minimal installation takes a LOT of clicks. I believe it is easier to just use the live CD, install, and then go from there. In a modern desktop, Kubuntu installation takes 20 minutes or so, it really is blazingly fast.

What I would strongly recommend is to have /home in a separate partition, so if you screw up you only overwrite the partition where the system files go (the "root" partition). You can google a bit on how to do that.

My setup: a 25Gb partition for the system ( / ) and the rest of the disk for /home. A second disk to backup /home. Every night I make an incremental backup (automatically, scheduled at 2am).

No complains :-)

**SCBrazil** · Jul 11, 2009, 10:54 AM

Re: Cannot get lock on Package Kit

True, the actual installation of Kubuntu is very fast but the downloads to get it the way I like it afterwards do take a long time. That is why I wondered if there is a way to incorporate them in the install CD as I tried to describe with the Slax Distro.

With Windows I used to put all the install apps in a separate partition in case I had to format. I suppose this is the next best thing.
Let's say I just installed Firefox on Kubuntu using Synaptic. Is there a file or folder I can access that I could set aside in a different partition so that I would not have to download again if I had to format? If so, where would it be and do the others go there also?

Thanks for your time.

**dibl** · Jul 11, 2009, 11:21 AM

Re: Cannot get lock on Package Kit

Couple of things I can suggest:

1. The Alternate Install version of the installation CD has more packages on it, because it does not run a Live Desktop for you. So, you can use a Live CD to test your hardware, but use an Alternate Install CD to do the installation, and end up with more packages installed and less to download.

2. Apt-On-CD appears to be a way to capture all your installed packages for archival/recovery purposes, after you have fully configured your system. I haven't felt the need, but it gets good reviews:

http://aptoncd.sourceforge.net/

**SCBrazil** · Jul 11, 2009, 11:57 AM

Re: Cannot get lock on Package Kit

Sorry guys,
I just tried to play an audio file, Amarok opened and asked me to download updates but at 61% my Internet connection crashed. Once again, I can no longer use Synaptic, KPackageKit etc. In short, I can neither add nor remove things from my PC.
This is terrible disappointing and frustrating.
The error message is the same as the one I posted at the beginning of this thread

"Cannot get the exclusive lock on the packaging backend.
Please close any other legacy packaging tools that may be open."

**SCBrazil** · Jul 11, 2009, 12:00 PM

Re: Cannot get lock on Package Kit

Originally posted by SCBrazil

Sorry guys,
I just tried to play an audio file, Amarok opened and asked me to download updates but at 61% my Internet connection crashed. Once again, I can no longer use Synaptic, KPackageKit etc. In short, I can neither add nor remove things from my PC.
This is terrible disappointing and frustrating.
The error message is the same as the one I posted at the beginning of this thread

"Cannot get the exclusive lock on the packaging backend.
Please close any other legacy packaging tools that may be open."

Again, as far as I am aware, there are no other legacy packaging tools open.

I am not going to re-install this time, if I cannot solve this problem by configuring from within this version then I am going to give up.
Could anybody please tell me how I can solve this?

Thanks

**lmilano** · Jul 11, 2009, 12:04 PM

Re: Cannot get lock on Package Kit

Originally posted by SCBrazil

With Windows I used to put all the install apps in a separate partition in case I had to format. I suppose this is the next best thing.
Let's say I just installed Firefox on Kubuntu using Synaptic. Is there a file or folder I can access that I could set aside in a different partition so that I would not have to download again if I had to format? If so, where would it be and do the others go there also?

Well, windows has a different paradigm where shared libraries (dlls) go in the systems folder and most programs are mostly self-contained (statically linked for the most thing), so programs go in their own folder.

Linux has a much better (IMHO) way of handling this issue, by making software installation modular (little components are shared by different programs). The upside is that, as far as you use your distribution to install stuff, everything is small, and programs take a lot less space (both in memory and disk). The downside, is that you can't do what you said, because there is no simple folder where to put things. There is also the issue of dependencies. You save your programs today, and want to use them , say, six months later, and some of the reusable components (libraries) are out of date and things crash.

Quite frankly, I think once you get used to work the Linux way you'll find that you won't find this question natural (in Linux' approach).

What you can do, though, is list the programs you have, clean the list and keep what you want. Later on, if you had to reinstall Kubuntu (again, I do that only on new machines), you can install things from the list.

Code:

sudo dpkg --get-selections |grep -v lib |grep -v deinstall > installed-files.txt

Then you can get from there the packages you want. Actually, if you like, say, pckages p1, p2, p3, then you can create another file called install.txt, and inside, you write:

Code:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install p1 p2 p3

Then, on the command line you do:

Code:

sh install.txt

And there you go. Apt-get will install those packages and all their dependencies. How pretty is that?

**lmilano** · Jul 11, 2009, 12:06 PM

Re: Cannot get lock on Package Kit

Originally posted by SCBrazil

Sorry guys,
I just tried to play an audio file, Amarok opened and asked me to download updates but at 61% my Internet connection crashed. Once again, I can no longer use Synaptic, KPackageKit etc. In short, I can neither add nor remove things from my PC.
This is terrible disappointing and frustrating.
The error message is the same as the one I posted at the beginning of this thread

"Cannot get the exclusive lock on the packaging backend.
Please close any other legacy packaging tools that may be open."

Again, as far as I am aware, there are no other legacy packaging tools open.

I am not going to re-install this time, if I cannot solve this problem by configuring from within this version then I am going to give up.
Could anybody please tell me how I can solve this?

Thanks

I tried before

Ok, can you please open a Konsole, and type "sudo apt-get update" and post the results?

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