hi there, hope this is okay to post. I also hope this isn’t too complicated a fix. essentially I am having trouble updating through Pop!_Shop and I am getting the following error:

Failed to update “Operating System Updates” This may have been caused by sideloaded or manually compiled software, a third-party software source, or a package manager error. Manually refreshing updates may resolve the issue. Details: E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run ‘dpkg --configure -a’ to correct the problem.

the good news is, I think I know exactly what manually compiled software this is in reference to. this issue first cropped up a few days ago after I manually installed the Mullvad Browser using the following commands outlined on their installation page

the commands listed on the link, which I followed exactly are: _Download the Mullvad signing key sudo curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/mullvad-keyring.asc https://repository.mullvad.net/deb/mullvad-keyring.asc_

Add the Mullvad repository server to apt echo “deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/mullvad-keyring.asc arch=$( dpkg --print-architecture )] https://repository.mullvad.net/deb/stable $(lsb_release -cs) main” | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mullvad.list

Install the package sudo apt update sudo apt install mullvad-browser

I have since manually uninstalled the browser, but the problem remains, any help is greatly appreciated. apologies for my perpetual beginner status.

edit: I should add that when I run ‘sudo dpkg --configure -a’ as the prompt suggests, the next line of the terminal appears immediately and the Pop!_Shop notification remains unchanged.

  • @sp6English
    4•4 days ago

    There were lots of other peope having this issue, including myself, who have never installed Mullvad. I think it’s related to something in the Ubuntu repos. What fixed it for me was to run:

    sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

    Some people were also reporting a broken install due to missing packagekit, so maybe ensure packagekit is installed with:

    sudo apt install packagekit

    Then reboot, and you should be able to update stuff normally now.

    • ElcaineVoltaOP
      3•4 days ago

      thank you! this appears to have solved the issue immediately. upon restarting and reloading Pop!_Shop the updates had already cleared, I’ve even reinstalled the mullvad browser and no issues, thank you so much!

      would you mind taking a quick moment to explain why that solved the issue? just trying to level up a little bit, thank you again for taking the time to respond at all, I really appreciate it!

      • @sp6English
        2•4 days ago

        I’m not even sure to be honest, was just following the solution that others had posted.

        Pop’s site says that the --configure -a command configures any unpacked but not yet configured packages. And someone on Pop’s github theorized it was related to Microsoft adding their own apt source for VSCode. So it was probably some issue with Microsoft’s new apt source being unpacked but unconfigured, and that caused something in apt/dpkg to freak out. That’s my best guess at least.