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G37H avatar Ubuntu

Gnome's Software ignores apt's "kept-back" package status

sv flag
G37H

Problem description

The application Software (that is, Gnome Software 41.5) shows available updates, while sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade finds no updates, apart from some kept-back packages:

enter image description here

Output of terminal:

Hit:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy InRelease
Hit:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates InRelease                 
Hit:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports InRelease               
Hit:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security InRelease                
Hit:5 https://repo.protonvpn.com/debian stable InRelease  
Hit:6 https://apt.syncthing.net syncthing InRelease       
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
4 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages have been kept back:
  alsa-ucm-conf gnome-remote-desktop update-notifier update-notifier-common
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 4 not upgraded.

apt-cache policy alsa-ucm-conf
alsa-ucm-conf:
  Installed: 1.2.6.3-1ubuntu1.2
  Candidate: 1.2.6.3-1ubuntu1.2
  Version table:
 *** 1.2.6.3-1ubuntu1.2 500 (phased 70%)
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.2.6.3-1ubuntu1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/main i386 Packages

sudo snap refresh
All snaps up to date.

Solutions tried

  • I ran dpkg --configure -a (maybe some weird update failure problem?), without luck.
  • I changed the Updates download server from my local server to Main server (maybe updates are yet to be pushed to the former, while Software uses Main server?), without luck.

The installation (Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS) is fairly new (a week old) and has been updated without any freak occurrences yet.

Why does this happen? Do I have to expect issues after pressing Software's Update button, which seems to conflict apt's and therefore dpkg's assessment?

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apt
user535733 avatar
cn flag
user535733
Please [edit your question](https://askubuntu.com/posts/1450945/edit) to show the complete output of `apt cache policy alsa-ucm-conf` and of `sudo snap refresh`.
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G37H avatar
sv flag
G37H
Done. AFAIK, the apt-cache output seems alright
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G37H avatar
sv flag
G37H
Ok, I found the "OS Updates" label in _Software_ to be clickable to reveal packages which "OS Updates" is concerned with. It turns out that these packages match exactly those kept back during `apt upgrade`. I guess this implies that _Software_ does not care / correctly pay respect to packages who are to be kept back. Don't know if this is wanted or a bug.
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user535733 avatar
cn flag
user535733
Both apt and Update Manager and Ubuntu Software show updates, including phased (kept back) updates, since they all get their information from the same source. Your `apt cache policy` output clearly shows phasing "`(phased 70%)`."
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gb flag
red_trumpet
Are you able to install held back packages through GNOME Software? I am not, and so it is pretty annoying that they show up...
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Score:0
avatar Ubuntu
az flag
elect

I had a very similar problem, some packages the very same as you, although with some differences (for example alsa-ucm-conf was 80% phased for me) and I solved (reiterating) following this:

sudo apt list --upgradable to check which packages are eligible for update

and then sudo apt install alsa-ucm-conf and similar for any other package

+ 0
Score:0
G37H avatar Ubuntu
sv flag
G37H

As posted in the comment, after getting capable to correctly use the GUI of GNOME's Software, it turns out that its announced “OS Updates” are the same packages which are kept back by apt. As @user535733 correctly commented, my original question (are apt and Software in some fundamental disagreement) is technically solved.

Yet, two open points emerge/remain:

  • Why does Software ignore phasing? Is this wanted or a bug?
    • My best guess would be that people who use Software at all are wishing for a simple and risk-minimizing OS experience, which would be somewhat contradicted by throwing out phased package introductions.
  • Where do the other packages below "OS Updates" come from?
    snap refresh and flatpak update does not show any upgrades either.

I guess these points are overly tangential to the original question, so that I would close it and potentially repost these two points after some further examination.

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