Dell mini: repository error on upgrade to 8.10

Go to System, Administration, Software Sources and open the "Updates" tab. At the bottom of the screen under "Release upgrade, click on the box that says "Long term support releases only" and select "Normal releases". Click on "Close" and start your Update Manager.

Keep in mind that 8.04 is an LTS release and will be supported until April 2011.
8.10 is an incremental release and will be supported until April 2010. The new version of Ubuntu 9.04 is due for release next month.

Thank you for the quick response. I tried that and I am still receiving the message "Could not download all repository indexes". It is not connecting to any indexes. Upgrading to 8.10 is less of a concern than not being able to connect to connect to a repository. Is there something that I have not done?

When you reboot do you get a bootup menu with lots of Ubuntu options? Choose the one that ends with "Recovery Mode" and try a few of those options, "Repair broken packages" might help?

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

When all available updates for your version have been downloaded and installed, the Update Manager will tell you that "Your system is up todate".

After changing to "Normal releases", when you restart the Update Manager there should be a notice at the top of the screen to advise you that a "New distribution upgrade" is available as well as an "Update" button.

Perhaps this is not a question of what you have not done but rather one of what you have done. What new repository did you activate?

When I reboot, Ubuntu just comes up, no options. Is there something i should do to manually enter recovery mode? The only repositories that I have currently activated are the Canonical (main) and the as well as Hardy security updates. Both say:
Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy/main/binary-lpia/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.40 80]
Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy-security/main/binary-lpia/Packages.gz 404 Not Found
Some index files failed to download, they have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

I really appreciate the help.

In Software Sources, the first tab "Ubuntu Software", the ones that should be ticked in a standard installation are "Canonical-supported Open Source software (main)" and "Community-maintained Open Source software (universe)".
"Download from: (your server)" - my ISP provides a mirror to download all Ubuntu updates - you will have to choose a server in the country where you live if your ISP does not provide a mirror service.

Under the "Updates" tab, tick "Important security updates (hardy-security)" and "Recommended updates (hardy-updates) and if you want to upgrade to the next version, choose "Normal Releases" at the bottom of the screen.

You should not need recovery mode.

If these measures still do not work, I will offer you instructions on using the command line to upgrade.

Another possibility is that the server is down temporarily.

I made those changes, and then pressed close. After refreshing,
the following came up:

Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy-security/main/binary-lpia/Packages.gz 404 Not Found
Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy-security/universe/binary-lpia/Packages.gz 404 Not Found
Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy/main/binary-lpia/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.46 80]
Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy/universe/binary-lpia/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.46 80]
Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy-updates/universe/binary-lpia/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.46 80]
Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy-updates/main/binary-lpia/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.46 80]
Some index files failed to download, they have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

I have been experiencing these problems for the last 5-6 hours. Is it possible that the server has been down all day?
Thanks you.

In a terminal (Applications, Accessories, Terminal) type the following and press "Enter" after each line:
(you will be asked for your password after the first command)

sudo dpkg --configure -a

sudo apt-get -f install
sudo apt-get --fix-missing install
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get autoremove

Yes, the server could be down. Try another server.

I tried this, and here is what I got:

joe@joe:~$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
[sudo] password for joe:
joe@joe:~$ sudo apt-get -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.
joe@joe:~$ sudo apt-get --fix-missing install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
joe@joe:~$ sudo apt-get clean
joe@joe:~$ sudo apt-get update
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com hardy-security Release.gpg
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com hardy-security/main Translation-en_US
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy Release.gpg
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com hardy-security/universe Translation-en_US
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com hardy-security Release
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/universe Translation-en_US
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy-updates Release.gpg
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy-updates/universe Translation-en_US
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy-updates/main Translation-en_US
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy Release
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy-updates Release
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com hardy-security/main Packages
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/main Packages
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/universe Packages
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com hardy-security/universe Packages
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy-updates/universe Packages
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy-updates/main Packages
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/main Packages
  404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.45 80]
Err http://security.ubuntu.com hardy-security/main Packages
  404 Not Found
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/universe Packages
  404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.45 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy-updates/universe Packages
  404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.45 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy-updates/main Packages
  404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.45 80]
Err http://security.ubuntu.com hardy-security/universe Packages
  404 Not Found
W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy-security/main/binary-lpia/Packages.gz 404 Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy/main/binary-lpia/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.45 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy/universe/binary-lpia/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.45 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy-security/universe/binary-lpia/Packages.gz 404 Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy-updates/universe/binary-lpia/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.45 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/hardy-updates/main/binary-lpia/Packages.gz 404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.88.45 80]

E: Some index files failed to download, they have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
joe@joe:~$ sudo apt-get upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
joe@joe:~$ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
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.
joe@joe:~$ sudo apt-get clean
joe@joe:~$ sudo apt-get autoremove
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

Any suggestions? How do I select another serve

Are you using a Dell Mini?

Yes.

That would have been handy to know at the start.

It looks like you have corrupted your sources.list file and you will have to restore it.

Into the terminal again:

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Cut and paste the entire list below into the sources.list and if there are any entries there place a # in front of them (that will deactivate them without deletion):

deb http://dell-mini.archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ hardy main universe multiverse restricted
deb-src http://dell-mini.archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ hardy main universe multiverse restricted

deb http://dell-mini.archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates main universe multiverse restricted
deb-src http://dell-mini.archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates main universe multiverse restricted

deb http://dell-mini.archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ hardy-security main universe multiverse restricted
deb-src http://dell-mini.archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ hardy-security main universe multiverse restricted

deb http://dell-mini.archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ hardy-netbook-base main universe multiverse restricted
deb-src http://dell-mini.archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ hardy-netbook-base main universe multiverse restricted

deb http://dell-mini.archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ hardy-dell-mini main universe multiverse restricted
deb-src http://dell-mini.archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ hardy-dell-mini main universe multiverse restricted

Then "Save" and exit.

In a terminal type: sudo apt-get update.

Back into Software Sources, under the Third-Party Software tab, tick "http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu hardy partner".

That should restore your machine. There is a special Dell Mini community forum in Launchpad and instructions for version upgrading is available there:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DellMini9

Thank you. I followed all of these steps except the last one. I cannot find "http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu hardy partner" under the thrid-party software tab. Is this something that I missed?

You can add it but if it is not there then leave it.

Is your machine able to get updates now without errors?

Thank you so much for your help. It has been quite the confusing day, and because of your help, everything seems to be back in working order. Also, thanks for the additional comments about Ubuntu on Dell; I had no idea that they system was different.

Joe

Hello. I had all the same issues as Joe did, and followed all the steps as well. I too was able to receive the latest update packages and everything worked out until I tried to upgrade to 8.10. I am getting the same problems all over again saying that the repositories can't be found. Do I need to manually change the http info from hardy to the intrepid address? I have been so frustrated with the lack of help I have gotten from Dell. They tell me to go to forums for support on this machine. Hindsight is 20/20, but I have other Dell products, so I was not concerned in the beginning.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance

Andrea