Q4OS Forum

James1

Member

Registered: 2026-05-18

Posts: 11

Updates

New to Linux so I'm trying to learn. Having trouble with updates. The update manager not showing updates and after checking different articles I came across auto update. I followed the instructions and waited a few days and then did the sudo update, upgrade and full upgrade to find out there were like 34 updates. Any ideas on why auto update or update manager are not showing updates? Confused since being a newbie to this. When I installed Q40s I installed the full featured desktop

These are the steps I followed

sudo apt install unattended-upgrades then sudo dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades then sudo dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades

sudo nano /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgrades

APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "1";
APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "1";

sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/apt-daily.timer

[timer] oncalender *-*-* 09,11:00
RandomizedDelaySec=12h
Persistent=true

sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/apt-daily-upgrade.timer

[Timer]
OnCalendar=*-*-* 9:00
OnCalendar=*-*-* 11:00
RandomizedDelaySec=60m
Persistent=true

As I mentioned I am a total newbie so I hope I did this correctly.

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,212

Website

Re: Updates

Welcome to the forum

The update manager not showing updates ...

Why do you think so ?

James1

Member

Registered: 2026-05-18

Posts: 11

Re: Updates

Why do you think so ? I don't know that is why I am asking. Updates worked after I installed Q40s but for some reason stopped working and  that's when I started 
searching for answers and came across auto update. Being a newbie to all this right now I'm lost.

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,212

Website

Re: Updates

We need to understand how you discovered that updates aren’t working. Update manager may be somewhat delayed showing the update icon. Did you see update icon for some time or never ? Please describe the symptoms you observed in detail.

bin

Member

From: U.K.

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 1,577

Re: Updates

A couple of points with unattended upgrades.
As you have it set now, once a day it will run apt-daily.timer followed by apt-daily-upgrade.timer
That sequence is determined by the service configuration.
apt-daily.timer will run at SOME POINT in the next 12 hours
apt-daily-upgrade.timer will then run at SOME POINT in the following 60 minutes.

There is a good chance that you have never had the machine running long enough to meet those conditions.

Please be aware that you should not be editing the original files when modifying timers. They can easily be overwritten by updates.
Instead use e.g.

sudo systemctl edit --full apt-daily.timer

This creates a separate file that will not be updated by anything and which will be read in preference to the original.

My suggestion is to use something like this
apt-daily.timer

[Unit]
Description=Daily apt download activities
DefaultDependencies=yes

[Timer]
#OnCalendar=*-*-* 6,18:00
#RandomizedDelaySec=12h
Persistent=true
OnBootSec=5min
OnUnitActiveSec=1d

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

apt-daily-upgrade.timer

[Unit]
Description=Daily apt upgrade and clean activities
After=apt-daily.timer

[Timer]
#OnCalendar=*-*-* 6:00
#RandomizedDelaySec=10m
OnBootSec=15min
Persistent=true

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

This will run apt-daily 5 minutes after boot and update 15 minutes after boot.

Used in conjunction with a small change to sudo nano /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgrades

APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "always";
APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "always";

It will then work every time you reboot during the day - which may or may not be of use.

If you do sudo usermod -aG adm <your-user-name> you will the be able to access the unattended-upgrades log file to see what is happening.

Be aware that UA will NOT RUN on a laptop on battery power.

James1

Member

Registered: 2026-05-18

Posts: 11

Re: Updates

We need to understand how you discovered that updates aren’t working. Update manager may be somewhat delayed showing the update icon. Did you see update icon for some time or never ? Please describe the symptoms you observed in detail.

Yes the update icon worked fine and I noticed after a few days I hadn't seen any updates is when I did the sudo apt update, upgrade  and saw there were updates.For some reason it just stopped showing the update icon when there were updates.

Also Thank You member from the UK for the advice with pics. I'm going to try this and I will let you know if it worked.

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,212

Website

Re: Updates

Yes the update icon worked fine and I noticed after a few days I hadn't seen any updates is when I did the sudo apt update, upgrade  and saw there were updates.For some reason it just stopped showing the update icon when there were updates.

We would guess the update manager worked; it’s unlikely it suddenly stopped working. Maybe the updates you triggered with "apt update" were simply very recent.

You can verify this by running:
$ sudo apt update
- Check the command output to see whether any upgrades are actually pending.
- Reboot, log in, and wait a few minutes - the update icon in the system tray should appear.
If not, report back here and we can assist to resolve the issue.

James1

Member

Registered: 2026-05-18

Posts: 11

Re: Updates

OK,  I did what you said to do running sudo and there were 3 updates. I rebooted and waited and the system icon appeared and after I installed then got a message saying to reboot to finish so I pressed OK and got a message saying (The application unknown update manager exu crashed and caused the signal 11 SIGSEGV. An application mostly receives the SIGSEGV due to a bug in the application. The application was asked to save the document. It also stated I might want to file a bug report)  I have never done that being new to all this. I'm a old man, senior citizen so please be patient with me not understanding this. Also, is this something I am going to have to do every time just to get the update icon in the system tray?

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,212

Website

Re: Updates

Thanks for the report.

I rebooted and waited and the system icon appeared ...

Well, the update manager is running on the background, that's correct.

The application unknown update manager exu crashed and caused the signal 11 SIGSEGV

You don't need to fill bug report we already did.

.. is this something I am going to have to do every time just to get the update icon in the system tray?

No. We only need some more info for further investigation, see bellow.

Please run in terminal:
$ apt-config dump | grep Periodic
and post back the result.

James1

Member

Registered: 2026-05-18

Posts: 11

Re: Updates

Here are the results of $ apt-config dump | grep Periodic

APT::Periodic "";
APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "always";
APT::Periodic::Download-Upgradeable-Packages "1";
APT::Periodic::AutocleanInterval "0";
APT::Periodic::MaxAge "30";
APT::Periodic::MinAge "2";
APT::Periodic::MaxSize "500";
APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "always";

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,212

Website

Re: Updates

APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "always";

Well, that explains something. You have automatic updates enabled, so the Q4OS Update Manager cannot show pending upgrades because they are installed automatically. You need to set "APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "0";" to allow update manager display the icon.

APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "always";

As far as we know "always" keyword is not standard keyword, it should be "1" instead. However it's a minor remark.

bin

Member

From: U.K.

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 1,577

Re: Updates

Bit of an aside here but....WRT the use of "always" - this is not a well documented option but it does exist and does work - https://www.baeldung.com/linux/automati … figuration - I have been using it for many years.
APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "always";
APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "always";
coupled with running the 2 timers at specified post boot timing is much better suited to laptops especially and reduces the possibility of updates being missed.
Using 1 means that you 'could' miss updates unless the machine is on line for a sufficient period.
But, of course either way with an LT you still need to be on mains charger.

James1

Member

Registered: 2026-05-18

Posts: 11

Re: Updates

OK, I changed it

APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "1";
APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "0";

I hope this is correct

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,212

Website

Re: Updates

Yes, that is correct. Package lists will be updated on the system level by 24 hours interval, at some point. As Apt updated the update manager will show the icon in another 24 hours timeout or a few minutes after user desktop session login. You can watch pending upgrades in terminal:
$ sudo apt full-upgrade
and confirm, or not if you only want to check.

James1

Member

Registered: 2026-05-18

Posts: 11

Re: Updates

Thank You. I will keep an eye on this the next couple of days and will report back. OK, that didn't take long. The update icon appeared in the system tray and when I hit to update I got this message.

Package system is busy, not ready to install now. Setup cannot continue. The lock is caused, very probably, by ongoing background system updates. If this is the case, you have to wait a moment for package system to finish these operations. Please make sure you are not installing another application and repeat setup few minutes later.

I waited a bit and I still get the message.

Last edited by James1 (2026-05-29 16:40)

James1

Member

Registered: 2026-05-18

Posts: 11

Re: Updates

New Day, update icon in system tray but when I click on it I am still getting the

Package system is busy, not ready to install now. Setup cannot continue. The lock is caused, very probably, by ongoing background system updates. If this is the case, you have to wait a moment for package system to finish these operations. Please make sure you are not installing another application and repeat setup few minutes later.

Not able to install updates.

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,212

Website

Re: Updates

Please run in terminal:
$ check-apt-busy
and post the output.

James1

Member

Registered: 2026-05-18

Posts: 11

Re: Updates

$ check-apt-busy

Cannot open lock file!
Unable to lock: /var/cache/apt/archives/lock
[CHKPKSYS] >> Package system status: Busy !

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,212

Website

Re: Updates

Well, it seems your Apt package system is corrupted in some way, so we need some more info. Run in terminal and post back the output of all commands:
$ ls -l /var/cache/apt/archives/lock
$ sudo lsof /var/cache/apt/archives/lock
$ check-apt-busy

James1

Member

Registered: 2026-05-18

Posts: 11

Re: Updates

$ ls -l /var/cache/apt/archives/lock 

-rw-r----- 1 root root 0 May 31 10:20 /var/cache/apt/archives/lock

$ sudo lsof /var/cache/apt/archives/lock

lsof: WARNING: can't stat() fuse.portal file system /run/user/1000/doc
      Output information may be incomplete.

check-apt-busy,  nothing  comes up on this

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,212

Website

Re: Updates

check-apt-busy,  nothing  comes up on this

So the apt lock is now freed. You can click the icon in systray in order to run update process.

James1

Member

Registered: 2026-05-18

Posts: 11

Re: Updates

OK, Thank You. I will give it a try and report back

OK it worked. Thank You so much for all the help. I really like the Q40s OS. I cant get over how fast it is with apps opening almost instantly. Window 10 wasn't even close to this speed when I bought this laptop new.

Last edited by James1 (2026-06-01 18:00)