in this case, i would make sure nothing is running that would touch apt or
synaptic and then just do an ls -lFas /var/cache/apt/archives/lock

I have had lock files stick around after a dead process etc. you should be
able to cat the file and see what pid its related to. if that pid is gone
you can safely delete the fille.


On Tue, Aug 24, 2021 at 2:12 PM Michael via PLUG-discuss <
plug-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org> wrote:

> OOPS. I hit return after typin rm -rf it deleted everything in /home. So I
> restored my system and now this happens:
> bmike1@bmike1-desktop:~$ sudo apt install gparted
> [sudo] password for bmike1:
> Reading package lists... Done
> Building dependency tree
> Reading state information... Done
> The following additional packages will be installed:
>   gparted-common
> Suggested packages:
>   gpart reiser4progs udftools
> E: Could not get lock /var/cache/apt/archives/lock. It is held by process
> 84872 (synaptic)
> N: Be aware that removing the lock file is not a solution and may break
> your system.
> E: Unable to lock directory /var/cache/apt/archives/
> bmike1@bmike1-desktop:~$
>
>
> it happened before and as a solution killed the roces. It happened again
> so I must find a solution. WIll someone share their wisdom?
>
> --
> :-)~MIKE~(-:
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-- 
A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from
rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.

Stephen