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I have 16.04 on a dell 390 . 16.04 was installed 2 or 3 yrs ago and a number of updates were done over time. At some point i believe updates stopped. I have recently tried to fully update and i get a message:

'The package system is broken. If you are using third party depositories then 
disable them ...run 'apt-get install-f Transaction failed ...unmet 
dependencies;   evince:depends: libevdocument3-4(=3.18.2-ubuntu4.4 but 
3.18.2-1ubuntu4.4is installed. Depends libevview 3.3 (=3.18.2-1ubuntu4.4)but 
3.18.2-1ubuntu4.3is installed.

I have no idea what this means or what to do. I would like to:

  1. To complete all updates and thus fix the problem above

  2. Separately, to upgrade to 19.04 if possible

Can anyone please give a clear instruction of what I must do. Please do not assume any level of competence on computers......I am a ski instructor and 'masterful lover' but sadly, not a pooter expert. I am most grateful for help and advice. THANKS!

Saxtheowl
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bobby
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  • Please use formatting (and line breaks); it's hard to read as written. I looked up libeview (https://packages.ubuntu.com/search?suite=all&searchon=names&keywords=libevview) so yes you're behind on upgrades. Ubuntu 19.04 (2019-April release) is EOL (end-of-life as wasn't a LTS) so moving to it is worse than your 16.04 LTS (2016-April release). A full copy/paste of the sudo apt-get -f install is what I'd like to look at (but do a sudo apt-get update first & note any errors/warnings... that's a clue too) – guiverc May 09 '20 at 23:05
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    Does this answer your question? Can I skip over releases when upgrading? – karel May 09 '20 at 23:31

2 Answers2

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NOTE: do NOT go to 19.04. If you go you need to first go to 18.04 and then to 20.04. Maybe you can go straight there?

Check and Repair

sudo dpkg --configure -a

Looks for and install missing dependencies 

sudo apt-get -f install

Sometime the hard disk gets too full Running the update from the command line you will see somewhere "insufficient space"

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

(Running updates from muon you consistently get "Could not download packages" Your root partition is likely too full.) This has often happened during a copy when the target is incorrectly specified and the drive makes it up and fills it up. Look for the big files/folders that are not needed and delete them.

Sometimes the headers/sources get messed up. 

sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/* -vf
sudo apt-get update

No updates appear. Change your main repo and they will rebuild and may appear. The package lists may get broken. 

sudo apt-get clean
sudo mv /var/lib/apt/lists /tmp
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/apt/lists/partial
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get update
walttheboss
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Hi Walt Thanks for the advice re going to 20.04 - i will do that Is there a place I can get tuition on how to do that sudo dpkg --configure -a stuff? It really needs to be basic. I have tried to find youtube training but i can only find two types of ubuntu training. 1. How to turn ubuntu on - i can manage that now 2. All that sudo stuff and there NOTHING in between

Also - Im pretty sure its not the disk as I use this computer only for mail and there is nothing else on it. Many thanks for your patience with me

bobby
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  • Hello Bobby. No problem at all. I remember ten years ago when I started wanting to kill people for acting like it was so easy. It takes time. First of all find the terminal application in your computer. I am only familiar with Kubuntu but can still help. Find where you have the applications or prgrams. In there will be one called terminal. Usually a black and white icon. Open it. Here is where you type commands. – walttheboss May 11 '20 at 07:15
  • first type the sudo dpkg command in the gray in my answer. It will ask for your password. You will enter your password but nothing will appear. You may think your keyboard is broken. That is just a security feature. After your password hit enter and it will try to fix things. Progress through the commands. – walttheboss May 11 '20 at 07:15