how to remove update repo that always fails

Question

A week or so ago I tried to add a new package repo that supposedly had a package I wanted. Unfortunately, the information about it was out of date, and I found that it fails to connect to it each time. I'd like to just remove the new repo, but I'm not sure how to do that.

For context, when I update, I get this:

W:Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/geod/ppa-geod/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/source/Sources  404  Not Found [IP: 135.214.42.30 8080]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/geod/ppa-geod/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/binary-amd64/Packages  404  Not Found [IP: 135.214.42.30 8080]
, W:Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/geod/ppa-geod/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found [IP: 135.214.42.30 8080]
, E:Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

mikewhatever · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-22T08:20:56.893

20

Open a terminal window (ctrl-alt-t) and run

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge

sudo ppa-purge ppa:geod/ppa-geod

That should do the trick, and remove the repository along with installed packages.

Yet another way is sudo add-apt-reposiry -r ppa:geod/ppa-geod. That will just remove the repositry.

Alternatively, you can run software-properties-gtk, in the window that opens, select the Other Software Tab, find the corresponding lines and delete them.

edited May 22 '20 at 08:20

answered Nov 06 '12 at 22:30

mikewhatever

32,638

2

I should have tried the "alternatively" first. The first fails with a chicken/egg problem. It refuses to remove a repo it can't connect to. Why the heck isn't that dialog available directly from the update-manager gui? Wouldn't that make sense? – David M. Karr Nov 07 '12 at 18:11
One up for alternative method! – Barmaley Mar 03 '18 at 20:06

score 15 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 01 '15 at 12:57

15

If you know the repo error just use sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/REPO-DIST.list

If you want to check what you've added and then remove from there you always can check with:

ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

Then with the command mentioned above.

answered Apr 01 '15 at 12:57

amrx

1,360

after using sudo ppa-purge <repositoryName> failed for solving the problem, that answer solved it. – CrazyTux Aug 07 '21 at 18:41

Viks · Answer 3 · 2018-06-20T08:00:37.207

5

Here is the easy way:

Open the Terminal
sudo software-properties-gtk
Window will open
go to "Other Software" tab
select item from the list that you want to remove
Click on Remove and you are done. Cheers !!!

edited Jun 20 '18 at 08:00

answered Jun 15 '18 at 11:19

Viks

151

Note: in more recent distros you might need to use sudo software-properties-qt instead. – Desty Dec 11 '23 at 15:50

how to remove update repo that always fails

3 Answers3