Public bug reported:
Binary package hint: synaptic
Ubuntu 10.10 x86_64; synaptic 0.63.1ubuntu14.
It seems that Synaptic holds a lock on /var/lib/dpkg the entire time
it's open, even if you've just got it up to browse the package list.
This interferes with attempts to use other package manager front-ends
such as apt-get and the Ubuntu Software Center app.
Attempting to use Ubuntu Software Center while Synaptic is also open appears to
work fine... but when you actually start an installation, the progress bar
sticks at 0% and shows this status message:
Waiting for synaptic to exit
Diabolically, this message is only visible if you actually click over to
the 'In Progress (1)' section in the sidebar -- it's easy to assume it's
simply working away and taking a while to install a big package, since
everything looks normal. According to what's visible in the sidebar it
claims to be in progress, and there's a spinner indicating it's working
away.
Attempting to use apt-get on the command line while Synaptic is open gives this
error (cf bug #74134):
$ sudo apt-get install banshee-community-extensions
[sudo] password for brion:
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?
Note that the Ubuntu Software Center doesn't lock the dpkg/apt administration
dirs when it's not actively working with packages, which is one of the reasons
I usually use it instead of Synaptic... but not every package comes up in
searches in Software Center, so I still need to fire it up sometimes.
If Synaptic still needs to be shipped and installed by default, it would
be very nice if it would avoid locking things while it's not actively
working with them!
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10
Package: synaptic 0.63.1ubuntu14
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.35-24.42-generic 2.6.35.8
Uname: Linux 2.6.35-24-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sun Jan 23 09:49:44 2011
ExecutablePath: /usr/sbin/synaptic
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Release amd64 (20101007)
ProcEnviron:
PATH=(custom, no user)
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: synaptic
** Affects: synaptic (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
** Tags: amd64 apport-bug maverick
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/706646
Title:
Synaptic prevents apt-get, Software Center from working while Synaptic
is open
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