Ubuntu
indicator-applet package

update required (red triangle) never disappears

Asked by MikeR

Ubuntu 20.04 fully updated, manually checked for updates every morning.
Indicator Applet Complete version 12.10.1

As part of the Indicator applet there is a red triangle enclosing an exclamation sign (upper panel.)
Clicking the icon displays the message "...Update manually by selecting 'Show updates' ..."
Selecting "Show updates" displays a box with the text "The software on this computer is up to date"
However the red triangle icon remains.
Selecting any other option in the drop-down menu has a similar non-effect,
It clears after reboot, and after an indeterminate time reappears.

I don't need or want this icon. How can I get rid of it?

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Ubuntu indicator-applet Edit question
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MikeR
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Revision history for this message
Bernard Stafford (bernard010) said : 		#1

On your screen top center, click on the date and time.
This will show notifications, click Clear.
This will clear all previous notifications.

Revision history for this message
MikeR (mike-rechtman) said : 		#2

forgot to add: running GNOME

Date and time are over to the right, part of the Indicator applet complete.
Left-click on date or time (weekday, hour:minute day-MMM-Year) shows a dropdown month calendar
Right-click on date or time shows "about" in a box, when that is clicked show a box about the Indicator Applet Complete.

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

What is the output of:

sudo apt update
sudo apt -f install

Thanks

Revision history for this message
MikeR (mike-rechtman) said : 		#4

$ sudo apt update
[sudo] password for mike:
Hit:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:2 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports InRelease [108 kB]
Hit:4 http://ppa.launchpad.net/gerardpuig/ppa/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:5 http://ppa.launchpad.net/kelebek333/kablosuz/ubuntu focal InRelease
Get:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease [114 kB]
Hit:7 http://ppa.launchpad.net/mkusb/unstable/ubuntu focal InRelease
Get:8 https://esm.ubuntu.com/apps/ubuntu focal-apps-security InRelease [7,556 B]
Get:9 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease [114 kB]
Hit:10 http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/ppa/ubuntu focal InRelease
Get:11 https://esm.ubuntu.com/apps/ubuntu focal-apps-updates InRelease [7,459 B]
Get:12 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 Packages [2,420 kB]
Get:13 https://esm.ubuntu.com/infra/ubuntu focal-infra-security InRelease [7,453 B]
Get:14 https://esm.ubuntu.com/infra/ubuntu focal-infra-updates InRelease [7,452 B]
Get:15 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main i386 Packages [793 kB]
Get:16 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/universe amd64 Packages [1,036 kB]
Get:17 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/universe i386 Packages [717 kB]
Fetched 5,332 kB in 3s (2,039 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
All packages are up to date.

$ sudo apt -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#5

OK. Looks good. Has the icon gone?

Revision history for this message
MikeR (mike-rechtman) said : 		#6

06:30 in the morning here.
Icon is gone, I'll give it a couple of hours before marking this question solved.

What made the icon go away?
I have been doing "sudo apt update" every morning since Ub. version 14,xx
what does "sudo apt -f install" do that "sudo apt upgrade" doesn't do?

@actionparsnip: Thanks for your help

Revision history for this message
MikeR (mike-rechtman) said : 		#7

09:10 Icon reappeared (sometime during the last three hours.)
Tried sudo apt update and sudo apt -f install -- icon still there.

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said (last edit ): 		#8

What's now the end of the output of the command
sudo apt update
?

Revision history for this message
MikeR (mike-rechtman) said : 		#9

$ sudo apt update
Hit:1 http://ppa.launchpad.net/gerardpuig/ppa/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:2 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:3 http://ppa.launchpad.net/kelebek333/kablosuz/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:5 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports InRelease
Hit:6 http://ppa.launchpad.net/mkusb/unstable/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease
Hit:8 http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/ppa/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:9 https://esm.ubuntu.com/apps/ubuntu focal-apps-security InRelease
Hit:10 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease
Hit:11 https://esm.ubuntu.com/apps/ubuntu focal-apps-updates InRelease
Hit:12 https://esm.ubuntu.com/infra/ubuntu focal-infra-security InRelease
Hit:13 https://esm.ubuntu.com/infra/ubuntu focal-infra-updates InRelease
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
All packages are up to date.

Revision history for this message
MikeR (mike-rechtman) said : 		#10

10 minutes later: red triangle icon still showing

Revision history for this message
MikeR (mike-rechtman) said : 		#11

another 5 minutes: icon vanished YAY!!
Now to find what made it vanish...

Revision history for this message
MikeR (mike-rechtman) said : 		#12

it would seem that:
sudo apt update
followed by:
sudo apt -f install
takes a few minutes, then clears the red triangle icon.

I would be extremely grateful for an explanation of WHY and HOW this happens.
In the mean time, thanks to all who commented and helped!