Error message “failed to download repository information” when attempting to check for updates via update manager

Question

This comes up sometimes when I attempt to check for updates. I have been trying to upgrade from 12.04 to 12.10, but I have been unsuccessful, due to the fact that Update Manager is not giving me the option to upgrade.

Answer 1

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* 
sudo apt-get update 

alternately you can go into Software Center and select Software Sources, select Other Software and remove the conflicting ppa's.

The first option worked on a friends system when he couldn't update his system. Option 2 i recently did when I started constantly having issues with PlayDeb.net being unresponsive. Hope this was some what helpful