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I'm on Ubuntu 20.04 and I'm having a couple of issues with gnome-software. When I attempt to run it I get

Command 'gnome-software' not found, but can be installed with:

sudo apt install gnome-software

When I run sudo apt install gnome-software I get the following output:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 gnome-software : Depends: gnome-software-common (= 3.36.1-0ubuntu0.20.04.0) but 3.38.1-1 is to be installed
                  Recommends: gnome-software-plugin-snap but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

I tried using the -f function in apt install and sudo aptitude install gnome-software but no avail.

This is in reply to an anonymous user who asked me: apt-cache policy gnome-software-common gives out

gnome-software-common:
  Installed: 3.38.1-1
  Candidate: 3.38.1-1
  Version table:
 *** 3.38.1-1 100
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.36.1-0ubuntu0.20.04.0 500
        500 http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main i386 Packages
     3.36.0-0ubuntu3 500
        500 http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main i386 Packages

and grep -r deb /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d gives out

/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS _Focal Fossa_ - Release amd64 (20210819)]/ focal main restricted
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal main restricted
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal main restricted
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-updates main restricted
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-updates main restricted
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal universe
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal universe
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-updates universe
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-updates universe
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal multiverse
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal multiverse
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-updates multiverse
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-updates multiverse
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu focal partner
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu focal partner
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security main restricted
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security main restricted
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security universe
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security universe
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security multiverse
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security multiverse
/etc/apt/sources.list:# (e.g. netinst, live or single CD). The matching "deb cdrom"
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ focal main
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb-src https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ focal main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/yannubuntu-ubuntu-boot-repair-focal.list.save:deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/yannubuntu/boot-repair/ubuntu focal main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/yannubuntu-ubuntu-boot-repair-focal.list.save:# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/yannubuntu/boot-repair/ubuntu focal main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/grapejuice.list:deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/grapejuice-archive-keyring.gpg] https://brinkervii.gitlab.io/grapejuice/repositories/debian/ universal main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/librewolf.list.save:deb [arch=amd64] http://deb.librewolf.net focal main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list:deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal stable
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/yannubuntu-ubuntu-boot-repair-focal.list:deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/yannubuntu/boot-repair/ubuntu focal main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/yannubuntu-ubuntu-boot-repair-focal.list:# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/yannubuntu/boot-repair/ubuntu focal main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/librewolf.list:deb [arch=amd64] http://deb.librewolf.net focal main

In response to the user @OrganicMarble

apt-cache policy gnome-software-common
gnome-software-common:
  Installed: 3.36.1-0ubuntu0.20.04.0
  Candidate: 3.36.1-0ubuntu0.20.04.0
  Version table:
 *** 3.36.1-0ubuntu0.20.04.0 500
        500 http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.36.0-0ubuntu3 500
        500 http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main i386 Packages

Any idea?

Thanks, kalli

kalliope
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  • Please [edit] your question and show us apt-cache policy gnome-software-common and grep -r deb /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d – nobody May 03 '22 at 16:33
  • sudo apt install --reinstall gnome-software-common=3.36.1-0ubuntu0.20.04.0 and try again. – nobody May 03 '22 at 16:42
  • Where did you get that version of gnome software from that is installed? It's not from any ppa you currently have installed on your system. If you added a ppa, updated, then removed the ppa, you could have many other orphan packages on your system just waiting to cause similar problems. – Organic Marble May 03 '22 at 17:10
  • @nobody I ran sudo apt install --reinstall gnome-software-common=3.36.1-0ubuntu0.20.04.0 and I get the same output. – kalliope May 03 '22 at 17:11
  • Assuming that this is the only problem on your system (unlikely) you could downgrade the package. You can do this with synaptic or aptitude, your choice. – Organic Marble May 03 '22 at 17:12
  • @OrganicMarble I think the gnome software version was the default one included with Ubuntu 20.04... I'm sorry, I'm really not an expert of ubuntu... – kalliope May 03 '22 at 17:13
  • No, it isn't. It was installed from somewhere else. The versions listed above the '500' in the apt-policy output are the defaults. – Organic Marble May 03 '22 at 17:13
  • @OrganicMarble I think I installed it with sudo apt-get install gnome-software then – kalliope May 03 '22 at 17:15
  • That also would not do it unless you added a ppa which you subsequently removed. That 3.38 is a odd version which does not seem to be in any Ubuntu version's official repos. Did you add a pop os ppa or something? https://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=gnome-software – Organic Marble May 03 '22 at 17:15
  • @OrganicMarble So, right now I followed what user nobody said and checking the new apt-cache policy I get the version listed with 500 – kalliope May 03 '22 at 17:20
  • @OrganicMarble and about the ppa, I'm pretty sure I've never added one. – kalliope May 03 '22 at 17:20
  • That strange package version got on there somehow and it wasn't from the official repos, but arguing about how you broke your system is nonproductive. After doing the steps suggested by nobody, what issue still remains? Please provide an updated output from apt-policy gnome-software-common – Organic Marble May 03 '22 at 17:22
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    @OrganicMarble I’ve updated the apt-cache on my post – kalliope May 03 '22 at 17:28
  • That looks better! What issue still remains? – Organic Marble May 03 '22 at 17:39
  • I can’t open Software Center :/ – kalliope May 03 '22 at 17:50
  • What happens if you run gnome-software in a terminal? – Organic Marble May 03 '22 at 17:53
  • sudo apt install apt-show-versions then run apt-show-versions | fgrep avail and add it to your question please. – nobody May 03 '22 at 17:56

0 Answers0