Red X in Synaptic tray icon, Error in checkAPT.py

cloasters

Moderator
This probably doesn't belong in "Crashed" but I'm not sure where to post it.

I'm being plagued again (it fixed itself for a while) with the Red "X" on the shield in the tray. Clicking "Information" in the menu reveals the message that ends the same after weeks. Only the date, time and number of recommended software updates changes
"03.29@1750++Error in checkAPT.py, could not refresh the list of updates"

I see 20 recommended software updates, help, I'm falling behind. Please, I dunno how to address this problem.
 
George, open a terminal, and see if this works:

Code:
sudo apt-get update

Let me know what it tells you in the terminal. If it upchucks and/or complains:

Code:
ls -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d

And report to me likewise.
 
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Eep. Hoo boy, I'm asked to enter my password.. but typing at the prompt enters nothing. Ugh.
It must be too late in the day, I'll get back to it tomorrow. Thank you, ThunderRd!
 
The first command I gave you will request a password, as sudo always does. Then it should sync your package database with the repo servers.

If one of the servers isn't connecting, is down, or is problematic in some way, the command might fail, but there will be output that will tell us why. That is most likely what happened when you had the problem before, but somebody kicked the server and the problem went away automagically.

The second command tells me which regional servers you are attempting to connect to, so we can ping them individually and check if they are up.

99% of the time sync problems like this will go away on their own, as the server operators fix the problems. The other 1% of the time we can change the server you are trying to connect to to another one.
 
For some unknown but scary reason I cannot enter my password after sudo asks for it. The flashing prompt accepts no input from me.
So I can't enter the "ls -a" etc command. Or anything.
 
You do not need sudo for the 'ls' command. You would only need to sudo for apt-get.

What happens when you type
Code:
su
?
 
"su" and "Enter" asked for my password. I typed it in (without the typing (being visible) and "Entered"
The response was: the shortened version of my name (in red) and my-name (in blue) and the "#" sign.

Before doing this was: my-name@shortened name ~ $ (all in green). Except for the "~ $" which was blue.
 
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OK George, that is what exactly what is supposed to happen. 'su <enter> + password <enter>' opens a root terminal prompt [the # thingy]. DO NOT do this unless one of us specifically asks you to do it. NEVER do it on your own, because it gives you all the power of the Linux universe, and you can destroy the entire Northern Hemisphere if you type a command wrong. You should always have a '$' sign in the prompt when you are working, unless directed otherwise. This is your user prompt.

Now, close that terminal completely.

Open another one, and carefully type [copy/paste better]:

Code:
sudo fdisk -l

Can you enter your password now? Be careful, everything is case sensitive.

If you can, you should get that hard disk output that you had a few days ago when we solved your other problem. I don't need the output, it's just a test that sudo is working correctly.
 
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Thank you very much ThunderRd!
Copied and pasted as given, it then accepted my password. I'm ID'd as my-name shortened name in green, then "~$" in blue.

Then: "Warning: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on 'dev/sda' ! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted."
followed by normal HDD information.
Then my-name shortened name in green and ~$ in blue.
 
OK, that's good. sudo works and accepts your password normally. I think you entered your password wrong the first time. What happened this time is the normal output.

OK, back to business. Run:
Code:
sudo apt-get update
and get back to me.
 
Thank you very much for your help, ThunderRd!

Your command line plus my password and "Enter" gave me:
A whole bunch of lines, mostly starting with "Hit," but a few "Ign" too.
From Google, archive ubuntu.com, and packages linuxmint.com
At the end:

W: Failed to fetch http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/dists/stable/Release
Unable to find expected entry 'main/binary-i836/Packages' in Release file (Wrong sources.list entry or malformed file)

E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
my-name@shortened name ~$
 
Ok...I think it's time to share with George one of the cherished truths of Linux.

It's a two parter and so as usual we must find our balance within this truth by standing in the middle and keeping both aspects of Linux's nature before us. which ever situation we find ourselves in!

The first face of this truth is that simplest things, like changing your font
(in the bad 'ol days)
Can swallow whole days of your time and turn your friends against you! LOL

We find refuge from this darkness in the smilingly opposite but equally true fact that sometimes when faced with what appears to be the end of all...

One of our seniors will hand us a bit of code, just a few lines really...And all this world is made new again! ":O}

Stay in the middle George free of hope and fear.

We all must take the bad with the good...but with so little bad theses days,
I fear we may be in danger of forgetting an ancient truth.
At times,
mostly long ago times,
Even Mint can make a mistake.
That's why we need seniors to hold our hands while we try and blame poor Mint for our mistakes":O}
 
Dan~, do you mean to say that I can be wrong about... anything? Pshaw, good sir. Tut. Err, do the Tut?
Steve Martin, what a genius!

"So little bad these days?" I agree that's true with Mint 17.3. That fact makes tiny problems seem huge-- if I let them be, you're absolutely right.
Oh dear, I fear I've been abusing ThunderRd's patience. Must it always be something with me? Please, you needn't answer that!
 
Sorry, I've been afk all day with some business.

George, everything with 'Hit' or 'Ign' is normal. But that Chrome server isn't syncing properly with your box, and that is what I expected to see, or nearly so. It might not be a problem on your end. Since some time has passed, try the same command again
Code:
sudo apt-get update
and see if it completes successfully this time. Someone may have fixed a tilting server in the last day.

Do that first.

If it fails again, the same way, let's try this:

Code:
sudo apt-get clean

followed by

sudo apt-get update

And see if the sync completes successfully. I'll be around until about 1300-1400 EDT, so try to do this in the morning if you can. There are other steps in the process depending on what output you get.

Also, please run:
Code:
ls -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d

and post the output.
 
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Thank you ThunderRd!
Aw carap, I didn't precisely follow your instructions again. Sorry!

sudo apt-get update grabbed a lot of files, with a few "Ign ""s."" It ignored the first stable InRealease offering from Google.

I wish it would Ignore AMD64 packages, pretty sure I don't need 'em.

Ended with:
Fetched 3,520 kB in 8s (420kB/s)
F: Failed to fetch http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/dists/stable/Release Unable
to find expected entry 'main/binary-i386/Packages' in Release file (Wrong sources.list entry or malformed file)

E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

Then I entered the ls -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d command which returned:
. .. getdeb.list google-chrome.list official-package-repositories.list

I apologize! I don't want to run the: sudo apt-get clean command followed by the sudo apt-get update command before you are kind enough to set me straight on my goofs.
Thank you very much ThunderRd!
 
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Well, you've got the same output you did before, so you didn't do anything wrong. You simply ran the same command again, and got the same result.

Please run:
Code:
sudo apt-get clean

and then:
Code:
sudo apt-get update

The 'ls' command output is fine, we will get back to that later. Run the above, exactly as I have given it to you, first.
 
Ugh. sudo apt-get clean and "Enter." Then it asks for my password. Entered my password, hit "Enter" then re-entered sudo apt-get clean, hit "Enter." Machine doesn't respond to "sudo apt-get clean,"
The prompt printed my password en-claire, then did it again plus: "command not found." Entered it, got "command not found." Then repeated "sudo apt-get clean" the prompt doesn't care. And entered "apt-get clean" again. The prompt still doesn't give a hoot.

So wth, entered "sudo apt-get update," hit "Enter."

Got a whole bunch of stuff seems to be same as the last time I entered sudo apt-get update.
Especially the ending lines.

Color me confused. Heck, it's Friday night here, it's OK if you take some time off!

Thank you very much good sir!
 
George, just because the machine did not spit out any output doesn't mean it didn't work.

When you entered 'sudo apt-get clean' it asks for your password, which you entered. Then you saw the prompt return. That is because it did its job already. That's what it's supposed to do. There's no reason to do it again and again.

After that, you ran 'apt-get update', as I told you to, and you got the same output, with that Chrome server failing to sync.

So, here is what we are going to do:
Code:
gedit /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list

Enter the command above carefully, better to copy/paste. A text editor window will appear, with some lines. Please copy and post those lines here for me to see. It might be a single line only.

Are you using Chrome, or Firefox as your browser?
 
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