Ubuntu

"Permissions Denied" Message When I Try to Do Anything

Asked by Riley Greenhalgh

I am new to Ubuntu and am completely unfamiliar with it. I recently got a computer from a family member with the Ubuntu OS on it, and I've been trying to install and uninstall programs, however I continuously get a "Permissions Denied" message. Now I'm aware of "sudo" and "root" although I'm not all that understanding of it, however I'd like to be able to do things without having to go into Terminal every single time I want to do something. Maybe I missed something, maybe I didnt read up enough, but for someone who isn't the most tech-y kind of guy, I figured I was better off coming here and finding someone who can help me.

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michael (yellupcm-gmail) said : 		#1

Riley
Please post answer from terminal command below.

lsb_release -a

What programs are you having trouble with? Are you using Ubuntu Software Center? Software Center will not use the terminal.

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Riley Greenhalgh (rileyhulk) said : 		#2

This is what the command gave me:

No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 10.10
Release: 10.10
Codename: maverick

I did try using Software Center, although the response I got when trying to install a program didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I can post it here if you want. Otherwise I've been trying to uninstall Second Life and update my Google Chrome browser mainly to no avail.

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arochester (arochester) said : 		#3

Ubuntu 101.10 reached the end of its life April 10, 2012

You need a new install.

If you decide to stay with Ubuntu choose an LTS (Long Term Support) version because they last longer than a normal release. 16.04 LTS is just out. 14.04 LTS was the one before that.

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Riley Greenhalgh (rileyhulk) said : 		#4

Alright so I found out how to install a new version of Ubuntu onto my computer with the Update Manager, however from what I can see on my end, update manager is not giving me an option to update it.

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Riley Greenhalgh (rileyhulk) said : 		#5

When I clicked "check" to find new updates, I got an error telling me to check my internet connection even though my connection is fine, and gave me the following details:

W:There is no public key available for the following key IDs:
1397BC53640DB551, W:Failed to fetch http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/dists/stable/Release Unable to find expected entry main/binary-i386/Packages in Meta-index file (malformed Release file?)
, W:Failed to fetch http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/main/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found
, W:Failed to fetch http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found
, W:Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-security/main/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.152 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-security/restricted/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.152 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-security/universe/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.152 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-security/multiverse/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.152 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-security/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.152 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-security/restricted/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.152 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-security/universe/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.152 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-security/multiverse/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.152 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/main/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/restricted/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/universe/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/multiverse/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/restricted/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/universe/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/multiverse/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-updates/main/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-updates/restricted/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-updates/universe/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-updates/multiverse/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-updates/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-updates/restricted/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-updates/universe/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-updates/multiverse/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-backports/main/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-backports/restricted/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-backports/universe/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-backports/multiverse/source/Sources.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-backports/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-backports/restricted/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-backports/universe/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-backports/multiverse/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-proposed/restricted/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-proposed/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-proposed/multiverse/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick-proposed/universe/binary-i386/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.161 80]
, E:Some index files failed to download, they have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#6

These error messages are caused by the fact that Ubuntu 10.10 is no more supported. The repositories for that release have already been removed.

You write that you got that computer only recently. I assume that you do not have much private data yet. I recommend that you download the installer kit for the current Ubuntu release 16.04 and install that current version over your old and outdated operating system.

1. create backup copies of your private files that you want to keep to another medium, e.g. an USB stick
2. Download the installation kit for Ubuntu 16.04 from http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop and burn a DVD with it or create a bootable USB stick as described on that page below "Easy ways to switch to Ubuntu".
3. Boot your computer with the install medium and install the new Ubuntu release.

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