SOLVED - All of a sudden, 179 updates required

[frenchian]

I'm on Kubuntu 11.04. As of yesterday, it was all up-to-date.

Today, KPackageKit is telling me I need 179 updates. They seem to cover everything apart from the kernel - Dolphin, KDE desktop bits, multiple libs, Gwenview, etc, etc.

Is this real, or is my system playing games with me?

Suppose I accept what KPackageKit is telling me, and go ahead with the updates, what's the worst that could happen?

Thanks

[vinnywright]

Re: All of a sudden, 179 updates required

did you add a repo to your source list ?

I'm not geting it ...........was upto date yesterday and still today.

Reading package lists... Done
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
vinny@Vinnys-HP-G62:~$

how old was your install?


VINNY

[frenchian]

Re: All of a sudden, 179 updates required

did you add a repo to your source list ?

I'm not geting it ...........was upto date yesterday and still today.

Reading package lists... Done
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
vinny@Vinnys-HP-G62:~$

how old was your install?


VINNY

A couple of days ago, the daily update/upgrade caused the system to fall over - it was dead - so I restored a clonezilla image and re-updated. No problems. Now, after a trouble-free day or two, all these updates.

No new repos or application installs. All I've done that may be relevant is export a KPackageKit "installed package listing", in anticipation of an upgrade from 11.04 to 11.10.

Thanks

[SteveRiley]

Re: All of a sudden, 179 updates required

Today, KPackageKit is telling me I need 179 updates. They seem to cover everything apart from the kernel - Dolphin, KDE desktop bits, multiple libs, Gwenview, etc, etc.

Sounds like you've added the Kubuntu Backports repository, which last night was upgraded to KDE 4.7.1. I noticed this today during my daily apt-get update and apt-get dist-upgrade routine.

[frenchian]

Re: All of a sudden, 179 updates required

steveriley, you're right - it IS there. I unticked it and re-ran KPK - no updates.

Can't remember why I added it in the first place, but I think I'll leave it unticked.

Thanks for the help - much appreciated.

[SteveRiley]

Re: All of a sudden, 179 updates required

Can't remember why I added it in the first place, but I think I'll leave it unticked.

Backports are pretty safe, can't remember the code from that repository being the source of problems...is there some reason you'd prefer not to let the upgrades install?

[vinnywright]

Re: All of a sudden, 179 updates required

Today, KPackageKit is telling me I need 179 updates. They seem to cover everything apart from the kernel - Dolphin, KDE desktop bits, multiple libs, Gwenview, etc, etc.

Sounds like you've added the Kubuntu Backports repository, which last night was upgraded to KDE 4.7.1. I noticed this today during my daily apt-get update and apt-get dist-upgrade routine.

sweet ..........I'v been waiting for this ........upgrading it now ............

VINNY

[vinnywright]

Re: SOLVED - All of a sudden, 179 updates required

done looks good so far ..........

VINNY

[rfakhrai]

Re: All of a sudden, 179 updates required

steveriley, you're right - it IS there. I unticked it and re-ran KPK - no updates.

Can't remember why I added it in the first place, but I think I'll leave it unticked.

Thanks for the help - much appreciated.

If you're running 4.7.0 (which I assume you are), I'd recommend you let KPK do the 179 updates to get you up to 4.7.1. This update has fixed a lot of bugs in 4.7.0 and it appears to be safe as far as I can tell now.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: SOLVED - All of a sudden, 179 updates required

I know I shouldn't do this, but...

what's the worst that could happen?

Well, if someone at CERN is downloading those files at the same time, your update could cause one of their boxes to time out and go offline, resulting in a power spike that could trigger an overpower pulse in the LHC, setting off a fusion reaction among virtual stranglets, or else trigger the formation of a persistent magnetic monopole, either of which could escape containment and destroy the entire universe.

NEVER ask a question like that...

[vinnywright]

Re: SOLVED - All of a sudden, 179 updates required

I know I shouldn't do this, but...

what's the worst that could happen?

Well, if someone at CERN is downloading those files at the same time, your update could cause one of their boxes to time out and go offline, resulting in a power spike that could trigger an overpower pulse in the LHC, setting off a fusion reaction among virtual stranglets, or else trigger the formation of a persistent magnetic monopole, either of which could escape containment and destroy the entire universe.

NEVER ask a question like that...

VINNY

[frenchian]

Re: All of a sudden, 179 updates required

Can't remember why I added it in the first place, but I think I'll leave it unticked.

Backports are pretty safe, can't remember the code from that repository being the source of problems...is there some reason you'd prefer not to let the upgrades install?

Sorry for the very late reply, SteveRiley, I didn't get a notification of your response.

Two reasons for unticking backports. First is I was just about to upgrade to 11.10, so didn't see any point in making big changes. Second is, I prefer to keep my installation as stable as possible (due to lack of technical knowledge) and I was under the impression that backports was slightly "advanced", and thus (perhaps) less stable.

Thanks

[SteveRiley]

Re: SOLVED - All of a sudden, 179 updates required

Here's what /etc/apt/sources.list has to say about the backports repository:

## 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.

This sounds like a reasonable tradeoff between pure stability and living on the bleeding edge. I'm not aware of any reports of systems getting borked by packages from backports -- although I'll admit I haven't extensively researched this, either.

[frenchian]

Re: SOLVED - All of a sudden, 179 updates required

Here's what /etc/apt/sources.list has to say about the backports repository:

## 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.

This sounds like a reasonable tradeoff between pure stability and living on the bleeding edge. I'm not aware of any reports of systems getting borked by packages from backports -- although I'll admit I haven't extensively researched this, either.

I guess you're right. I'll switch backports back on. Even if it all goes pear-shaped, I know that my back-up works.

Cheers