Can't update or install software

[kqlnut]

I suggest you try diving just a little bit deeper into Linux territory and change that mirror (if alternative mirrors can be found, e. g. in /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist). It's really not that complicated, the instructions I wrote above are already pretty much step by step. Do a little search engine searching if you don't understand something and things will quickly become much clearer. Maybe consider doing one of the many freely available Linux beginner's tutorials if you are completely new to it. The file I mentioned (/etc/pacman.conf) is just a file (like everything on Linux), you can open and edit it with e. g.

Code:

sudo nano /etc/pacman.conf

Then insert a new mirror directly below all the mentioned section headings (everywhere the same mirror where only "$repo" in the URL is replaced with the respective heading like "core", "community" etc.). Mirrors should be found in /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist. For more detailed instructions and examples refer to the linked Arch Wiki article. The Arch Wiki is a great place to look up stuff anyway.
Learning by doing is the best approach.

[bcnaz]

I encountered the same problem,  this is how I handled it :

Using the 'onboard Software Store'  I installed Gnome Package Updater.

I ran that, it showed I think 27 updates, > I went ahead and installed those.  and did a restart.

When I re-opened the software store,  it no longer showed any available updates.

And the basic functions,  calls in and out, 2 way sms text, wifi, and cellular data were working.

That "Worked" for me.

Thanks, I get the following message: "Unable to install "GNOME Package UPdater" as download failed: download library error"

  ***
 You downloaded the most recent release of the arm64 Arch with Phosh  ?

and your phone has an internet connection via wifi or Ethernet ?

[P3TER]

I encountered the same problem,  this is how I handled it :

Using the 'onboard Software Store'  I installed Gnome Package Updater.

I ran that, it showed I think 27 updates, > I went ahead and installed those.  and did a restart.

When I re-opened the software store,  it no longer showed any available updates.

And the basic functions,  calls in and out, 2 way sms text, wifi, and cellular data were working.

That "Worked" for me.

Thanks, I get the following message: "Unable to install "GNOME Package UPdater" as download failed: download library error"

  ***
 You downloaded the most recent release of the arm64 Arch with Phosh  ?

and your phone has an internet connection via wifi or Ethernet ?

Yes, it's the most recent release, I also tried the July release and had the same problem. It's connected to wifi and Firefox is working normally. 

I have a theory on what happened. So, during the initial boot it says swap failed, and it couldn't read the who-am-i register. I think this is a security thing Arch does to recognise the phone before allowing it to download software. Problem is, I bricked the original OS, so if there was any swapping of info that needed to be done when I loaded the next OS, it didn't happen. So it looks for the who-am-i register, doesn't find it, and because it's missing, it prevents downloading software. So I think what needs to happen is I have to figure out a way to repair the who-am-i register.

---

I suggest you try diving just a little bit deeper into Linux territory and change that mirror (if alternative mirrors can be found, e. g. in /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist). It's really not that complicated, the instructions I wrote above are already pretty much step by step. Do a little search engine searching if you don't understand something and things will quickly become much clearer. Maybe consider doing one of the many freely available Linux beginner's tutorials if you are completely new to it. The file I mentioned (/etc/pacman.conf) is just a file (like everything on Linux), you can open and edit it with e. g.

Code:

sudo nano /etc/pacman.conf

Then insert a new mirror directly below all the mentioned section headings (everywhere the same mirror where only "$repo" in the URL is replaced with the respective heading like "core", "community" etc.). Mirrors should be found in /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist. For more detailed instructions and examples refer to the linked Arch Wiki article. The Arch Wiki is a great place to look up stuff anyway.
Learning by doing is the best approach.

I have a theory on what happened. So, during the initial boot it says swap failed, and it couldn't read the who-am-i register. I think this is a security thing Arch does to recognise the phone before allowing it to download software. Problem is, I bricked the original OS, so if there was any swapping of info that needed to be done when I loaded the next OS, it didn't happen. So it looks for the who-am-i register, doesn't find it, and because it's missing, it prevents downloading software. So I think what needs to happen is I have to figure out a way to repair the who-am-i register. What do you think, is that possible?

[bcnaz]

I encountered the same problem,  this is how I handled it :

Using the 'onboard Software Store'  I installed Gnome Package Updater.

I ran that, it showed I think 27 updates, > I went ahead and installed those.  and did a restart.

When I re-opened the software store,  it no longer showed any available updates.

And the basic functions,  calls in and out, 2 way sms text, wifi, and cellular data were working.

That "Worked" for me.

Thanks, I get the following message: "Unable to install "GNOME Package UPdater" as download failed: download library error"

  ***
 You downloaded the most recent release of the arm64 Arch with Phosh  ?

and your phone has an internet connection via wifi or Ethernet ?

Yes, it's the most recent release, I also tried the July release and had the same problem. It's connected to wifi and Firefox is working normally. 

I have a theory on what happened. So, during the initial boot it says swap failed, and it couldn't read the who-am-i register. I think this is a security thing Arch does to recognise the phone before allowing it to download software. Problem is, I bricked the original OS, so if there was any swapping of info that needed to be done when I loaded the next OS, it didn't happen. So it looks for the who-am-i register, doesn't find it, and because it's missing, it prevents downloading software. So I think what needs to happen is I have to figure out a way to repair the who-am-i register.

Did you format or zero wipe the drive before your new installation ?
Though a new install should wipe out any previous data.?

When I install a new O.S. to an sd card,  usually just a 'format' of the sd card will do.
But I found if Manjaro is on the sd card, I must zero wipe it before I can put a new O.S. on the card.

[P3TER]

I encountered the same problem,  this is how I handled it :

Using the 'onboard Software Store'  I installed Gnome Package Updater.

I ran that, it showed I think 27 updates, > I went ahead and installed those.  and did a restart.

When I re-opened the software store,  it no longer showed any available updates.

And the basic functions,  calls in and out, 2 way sms text, wifi, and cellular data were working.

That "Worked" for me.

Thanks, I get the following message: "Unable to install "GNOME Package UPdater" as download failed: download library error"

  ***
 You downloaded the most recent release of the arm64 Arch with Phosh  ?

and your phone has an internet connection via wifi or Ethernet ?

Yes, it's the most recent release, I also tried the July release and had the same problem. It's connected to wifi and Firefox is working normally. 

I have a theory on what happened. So, during the initial boot it says swap failed, and it couldn't read the who-am-i register. I think this is a security thing Arch does to recognise the phone before allowing it to download software. Problem is, I bricked the original OS, so if there was any swapping of info that needed to be done when I loaded the next OS, it didn't happen. So it looks for the who-am-i register, doesn't find it, and because it's missing, it prevents downloading software. So I think what needs to happen is I have to figure out a way to repair the who-am-i register.

Did you format or zero wipe the drive before your new installation ?
Though a new install should wipe out any previous data.?

When I install a new O.S. to an sd card,  usually just a 'format' of the sd card will do.
But I found if Manjaro is on the sd card, I must zero wipe it before I can put a new O.S. on the card.

Interesting, yes I had Manjaro on it before I installed Arch. So you think I should zero wipe my eMMC and then reinstall Arch?

[bcnaz]

That would be my suggestion.
I discovered the problem with trying to write over Manjaro recently myself, perhaps someone else has had the same experience..? ?

Except for the Manjaro problem, Balena Etcher has worked perfectly, for me.
.. with the zero wipe Manjaro can be written over.

The arm Arch/ Phosh OS is interesting, quite lean, and the basics are working pretty well.
Though I did have to run the 'updates' before calls worked properly, * but good after the updates.

[kqlnut]

I have a theory on what happened. So, during the initial boot it says swap failed, and it couldn't read the who-am-i register. I think this is a security thing Arch does to recognise the phone before allowing it to download software. Problem is, I bricked the original OS, so if there was any swapping of info that needed to be done when I loaded the next OS, it didn't happen. So it looks for the who-am-i register, doesn't find it, and because it's missing, it prevents downloading software. So I think what needs to happen is I have to figure out a way to repair the who-am-i register. What do you think, is that possible?

No, I'm sorry, this is not how it works. Just making up things that could somehow explain something is not any basis to solve this or any problem. A swap partition is a bit like RAM on a hard drive and has nothing to do with security or software updates. You don't 'brick' your OS with a missing internet connection or something failing in your boot process and neither does pacman stop working if you didn't wipe your SD card with zeros before flashing an image. A very specific problem like pacman not resolving mirrors is nothing that would be the cause by a faulty flashing process.

Pacman and almost every other command is verbose, you get informed about what's happening. Use this information to solve problems. Pacman informed you that it wasn't able to resolve the mirrors. So the next logical step would be to find out if other mirrors can be resolved. If so, it was a problem with the mirror, so most likely nothing on your side. If not, then pacman might have a problem on your side and you can investigate further from there.

Instead of making wild guesses and basing assumptions upon that, which will not help problem solving at all, try looking up everything you don't understand, at least superficially. It will be a lot in the beginning and might seem daunting, but you will get the hang of how things work and that will get you much farther.

[P3TER]

That would be my suggestion.
I discovered the problem with trying to write over Manjaro recently myself,  perhaps someone else has had the same experience..? ?

Except for the Manjaro problem, Balena Etcher has worked perfectly, for me.
.. with the zero wipe Manjaro can be written over.

The arm Arch/ Phosh OS is interesting, quite lean, and the basics are working pretty well.
Though I did have to run the 'updates'  before calls worked properly,  * but good after the updates.

Since it's working for you I think we can safely say it's a problem with my phone, not a problem with the mirror, that's good to know. And for me the problem seems unique to Arch, I used Jumpdrive to load Mobian and it worked fine, software updates and all. There's a thing you can do with Jumpdrive where it does some kind of restore on the phone, but it uses a process I'm not familiar with. It wants me to "connect to 172.16.42.1 over telnet" but I have no idea how to do that.

[bcnaz]

Something is different : I was able to install the Gnome Package Updater. and you could not.

Although I do not understand what you mean by "some kind of restore"
If it is a "New Installation" ... . there is nothing to restore ?

[P3TER]

Something is different :  I was able to install the Gnome Package Updater.  and you could not.

Although I do not understand what you mean by "some kind of restore"
If it is a "New Installation" ...  .  there is nothing to restore ?

I'm not sure, I saw something somewhere about that but I can't find it now. Like, Jumpdrive has a feature which lets your computer modify eMMC, and it has a restore function via telnet, whatever that is. I'm not sure if it's 2 different ways of doing the same thing or if it's 2 totally different operations. I got the impression that it was for if you brick your phone. We have the same phone running the same software, they should perform the same but they don't. Therefore I assume there's something about my phone besides the OS that's broken or corrupted, and it relates to the who-am-i register, which I'm thinking must be some bit of base level code outside of the OS.