Why is do-release-upgrade failing (18.04 to 19.10)

Question

After running apt update, apt upgrade and apt autoremove I tried running do-release-upgrade. It failed with the message:

Could not calculate the upgrade
An unresolvable problem occurred while calculating the upgrade.
This was likely caused by:

Unofficial software packages not provided by Ubuntu

Please use the tool 'ppa-purge' from the ppa-purge 
package to remove software from a Launchpad PPA and 
try the upgrade again.
If none of this applies, then please report this bug using the 
command 'ubuntu-bug ubuntu-release-upgrader-core' in a terminal. If 
you want to investigate this yourself the log files in 
'/var/log/dist-upgrade' will contain details about the upgrade. 
Specifically, look at 'main.log' and 'apt.log'.

I tried running ppa-purge and get a syntax summary.

I looked at the two log files and they didn't tell me what ppa is causing the problem.

apt.log is over 4000 lines. Here are the last few:


Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 2
Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 2
Investigating (0) lightdm-settings:amd64 < 1.1.4-0ubuntu1 @ii mK Ib >
Broken lightdm-settings:amd64 Depends on python3-xapp:amd64 < 1.0.1-1 | 1.6.0-1 @ii ugR >
  Considering python3-xapp:amd64 1 as a solution to lightdm-settings:amd64 1
  Removing lightdm-settings:amd64 rather than change python3-xapp:amd64
  MarkDelete lightdm-settings:amd64 < 1.1.4-0ubuntu1 @ii mK Ib > FU=0
Investigating (0) ubuntu-desktop:amd64 < 1.417.4 -> 1.440.1 @ii pumU NPb Ib >
Broken ubuntu-desktop:amd64 Depends on ubuntu-desktop-minimal:amd64 < none | 1.440.1 @un uH >
  Considering ubuntu-desktop-minimal:amd64 1 as a solution to ubuntu-desktop:amd64 0
  Ignore MarkKeep of ubuntu-desktop:amd64 < 1.417.4 -> 1.440.1 @ii pumU NPb Ib > as its mode (Install) is protected
  Re-Instated ubuntu-desktop-minimal:amd64
  Re-Instated ubuntu-desktop:amd64
Done
  MarkInstall ubuntu-mate-desktop:amd64 < 1.225 -> 1.257 @ii ugU NPb IPb > FU=1
  ignore old unsatisfied important dependency on ffmpegthumbnailer:amd64
  new important dependency: gnome-mpv:amd64
  Installing gnome-mpv as Recommends of ubuntu-mate-desktop
    MarkInstall gnome-mpv:amd64 < none -> 0.16-1ubuntu1 @un uN Ib > FU=0
    Installing libmpv1 as Depends of gnome-mpv
      MarkInstall libmpv1:amd64 < none -> 0.29.1-1ubuntu1 @un uN IPb > FU=0
      Installing youtube-dl as Recommends of libmpv1
        MarkInstall youtube-dl:amd64 < none -> 2019.09.28-1 @un uN IPb > FU=0
        Installing mpv as Recommends of youtube-dl
          MarkInstall mpv:amd64 < none -> 0.29.1-1ubuntu1 @un uN > FU=0
        Installing python3-pyxattr as Recommends of youtube-dl
          MarkInstall python3-pyxattr:amd64 < none -> 0.6.1-1 @un uN > FU=0
  previously satisfied important dependency on gufw:amd64
  Installing gufw as Recommends of ubuntu-mate-desktop
    MarkInstall gufw:amd64 < 18.04.0-0ubuntu1 -> 19.04.0-0ubuntu1 @ii ugU Ib > FU=0
    Installing ufw as Depends of gufw
      MarkInstall ufw:amd64 < 0.36-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 -> 0.36-1ubuntu3 @ii ugU > FU=0
  previously satisfied important dependency on lightdm-settings:amd64
  Installing lightdm-settings as Recommends of ubuntu-mate-desktop
      MarkKeep lightdm-settings:amd64 < 1.1.4-0ubuntu1 @ii gR > FU=0
  previously satisfied important dependency on redshift-gtk:amd64
  Installing redshift-gtk as Recommends of ubuntu-mate-desktop
    MarkInstall redshift-gtk:amd64 < 1.11-1ubuntu1 -> 1.12-2 @ii ugU > FU=0
  previously satisfied important dependency on rhythmbox-plugin-alternative-toolbar:amd64
  Installing rhythmbox-plugin-alternative-toolbar as Recommends of ubuntu-mate-desktop
    MarkInstall rhythmbox-plugin-alternative-toolbar:amd64 < 0.18.0-1 -> 0.18.4-1 @ii ugU > FU=0
Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 1
Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 1
Investigating (0) lightdm-settings:amd64 < 1.1.4-0ubuntu1 @ii mK Ib >
Broken lightdm-settings:amd64 Depends on python3-xapp:amd64 < 1.0.1-1 | 1.6.0-1 @ii ugR >
  Considering python3-xapp:amd64 1 as a solution to lightdm-settings:amd64 3
  Added python3-xapp:amd64 to the remove list
  Fixing lightdm-settings:amd64 via keep of python3-xapp:amd64
  MarkKeep python3-xapp:amd64 < 1.0.1-1 | 1.6.0-1 @ii ugR > FU=0
Done
Log time: 2020-04-29 19:49:21.097217

The site software won't let me post main.log due to too many links in the file.

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 30 '20 at 19:48

Upgrading between versions do-release-upgrade of Ubuntu must follow these rules:

Upgrading should be done only to supported versions (not to versions that have passed end of life).
upgrading can be done to the next release, for example from 19.10 to 20.04
upgrading can be done from one LTS release to the next LTS release, when the first point version is released (late July or early August), for example from 18.04.x LTS to 20.04.1 LTS.

In your case upgrading should be done stepwise 18.04 --> 18.10 --> 19.04 --> 19.10 but 18.10 and 19.04 have passed end of life, so it does not work.

But if you wait until late July or early August you will be able to upgrade to 20.04.1 LTS.

See this link (and scroll down to 'If you want a smooth ride') for more details:

Ubuntu Development version / How to participate

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 30 '20 at 19:21

A friend made a suggestion that solved the problem. In the graphic "Software and Updates" app, under "Other", uncheck every ppa and run again. This worked ffor me. I do see that I'm going to have to change "bionic" to "eoan" in the config files in /etc/apt before I re-enable my ppa files.

Why is do-release-upgrade failing (18.04 to 19.10)

2 Answers2