Fail: Can not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock - Can't do anything

[parisiangirl72]

I've been getting this exact error message since I installed Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal 64-bit on 10/09.

EVERYTHING ON THIS EARTH I HAVE TRIED,& I CANNOT INSTALL ANYTHING ON THIS COMPUTER.THE ONLY REASON INSTALLED LINUX IS BECAUSE I COULDN'T BUY A RECOVERY DISC FOR MY VISTA.

IF THERE IS ANYONE OUT THERE THAT CAN SEND ME THE LINK TO THE BUG PAGE FOR THIS BUG (ITS A BUG,BELIEVE ME) I WOULD BE GRATEFUL.

Name something on the Internet,& I have attempted it to try & remove the lock.

I haven't installed any updates,so it can't be that,since its the first thing that pops up.

HERE IT IS.

MY UBUNTU 11.04 (OCT 9TH-64-BIT) fresh install sends me this message when I try to EXECUTE COMMANDS:

sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock
sudo rm /var/cache/apt/archives/lock

MESSAGE:rm: cannot remove `/var/lib/dpkg/lock': No such file or directory

MAIN ERROR:

E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (11: Resource temporarily unavailable)
E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), is another process using it?

NO MATTER WHAT I DO (ANYTHING,IT TELLS ME THAT SOMETHING IS LOCKING IT UP.NO "VITAL" PROGRAM CAN DO THIS,I KNOW FOR A FACT.I NEED TO KNOW HOW TO FIND OUT WHAT IT IS.

HERE IS WHAT HAPPENS ONE MINUTE AFTER I INSTALLED UBUNTU 11.04 Natty (REGULAR-NOT LTS VERSION) VIA ISO FILE DOWNLOADED DIRECTLY FROM UBUNTU.COM.

(I try to install VLC media player,after attempting to install Ubuntu Restricted Extras).

UPDATES NOT INSTALLED YET AT THIS POINT

(Also:Concurrent Programming Error In Aptdaemon)

AN UNHANDABLE ERROR OCCURRED

There seems to be a programming error in aptdaemon, the software that allows you to install/remove software and to perform other package management related tasks.

AS I SAID,I HAVE TRIED EVERY THING ON THIS EARTH TO FIX THIS,TO NO AVAIL.The only explanation is that this is a bug that needs to be fixed.I need the link to the Ubuntu release notes/bug page when it comes to this BUG.

Now,I have tried to check to see if there is a VITAL program holding the lock,but I'm a LINUX NEWBIE.Everything says that its DORMANT,so WHAT'S HOLDING THE LOCK?

(I've also tried to update the kernal version,but that has NEVER worked.)

(It also dosen't make me feel better that my current version will be outdated in less than a week.)

PLEASE,if there is someone out there that knows what they are talking about,help me.

Thank you.

[jayd512]

Hello there!

Usually, this occurs when Synaptic is open (even in the background).
So you'll need to close/quit the update notification that you may see on your desktop.
Then try to run:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

[parisiangirl72]

Update Notification?Where would that be,since I turned off automatic updates because of this.

Oh,I never had Synaptic open during any of this,so I can't figure it out.

[ptkobe]

Maybe #555499 - Residual lock file after running aptitude - Debian Bug report logs may help

the problem is similar and it was "apt-get update as invoked by /etc/cron.daily/apt" (your case may be other)

I think the idea is that you may use
$ sudo fuser /var/lib/dpkg/lock
to find what PID(s) are using the file
Then
$ ps uax | grep <PID>
will list the process name.

Regards
Luis

[parisiangirl72]

I'm not sure what happened,but I was finally able to install some software.Maybe the "lock" was a temporary thing,since I could never remove it.I have 11.10 now,& Synaptic isn't installed by default.It still happens,so whatever is holding the lock is a temporary thing,& it may or may have not been Synaptic.It still happens now with 11.10 & I don't have Synaptic installed.