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up vote 2 down vote favorite

When i update apt-get the universe repo takes ages to download, I usually max out at around 130kbps which can easily download ~4mb in under a minute yet it skips between going an bytes per second and under 30kpbs (and i'm not running anything that leaches my bandwidth when i update). Updating on lucid was fine and took under 10 seconds why does it now take about 10 minutes...

will@UbuntuBox:~$ sudo apt-get update
Hit http://archive.canonical.com maverick Release.gpg                          
Ign http://archive.canonical.com/ maverick/partner Translation-en              
Get:1 http://ppa.launchpad.net maverick Release.gpg [316B]                     
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates/ubuntu/ maverick/main Translation-en
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates/ubuntu/ maverick/main Translation-en_US
Get:2 http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick Release.gpg [198B]                 
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/main Translation-en          
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com maverick-security Release.gpg                   
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-security/main Translation-en   
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com maverick Release.gpg                              
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/main Translation-en              
Ign http://archive.canonical.com/ maverick/partner Translation-en_US           
Hit http://archive.canonical.com maverick Release                              
Get:3 http://ppa.launchpad.net maverick Release [57.3kB]                       
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/main Translation-en_US           
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com maverick Release                                  
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/main Translation-en_US       
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/multiverse Translation-en    
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/multiverse Translation-en_US 
Hit http://archive.canonical.com maverick/partner i386 Packages                
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com maverick/main i386 Packages                       
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/restricted Translation-en_US
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/universe Translation-en
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/universe Translation-en_US
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-updates Release.gpg              
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-updates/main Translation-en
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-updates/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-updates/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-updates/multiverse Translation-en_US
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-updates/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-updates/restricted Translation-en_US
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-updates/universe Translation-en
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-security/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-security/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-security/multiverse Translation-en_US
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-updates/universe Translation-en_US
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-proposed Release.gpg
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-proposed/main Translation-en
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-proposed/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-proposed/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-proposed/multiverse Translation-en_US
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-proposed/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-security/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-security/restricted Translation-en_US
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-security/universe Translation-en
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-security/universe Translation-en_US
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com maverick-security Release
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-proposed/restricted Translation-en_US
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-proposed/universe Translation-en
Ign http://im.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-proposed/universe Translation-en_US
Get:4 http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick Release [57.3kB]
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com maverick-security/main Sources                  
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com maverick-security/restricted Sources            
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com maverick-security/universe Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com maverick-security/main i386 Packages            
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com maverick-security/restricted i386 Packages      
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com maverick-security/multiverse i386 Packages      
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com maverick-security/universe i386 Packages
Get:5 http://ppa.launchpad.net maverick/main Sources [3,051B]                  
Get:6 http://ppa.launchpad.net maverick/main i386 Packages [6,396B]            
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-updates Release                      
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-proposed Release                     
Get:7 http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick/main Sources [829kB]               
Get:8 http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick/restricted Sources [4,361B]        
Get:9 http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick/universe Sources [4,186kB]         
Get:10 http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick/main i386 Packages [1,491kB]      
Get:11 http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick/restricted i386 Packages [6,000B] 
Get:12 http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick/multiverse i386 Packages [183kB]  
Get:13 http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick/universe i386 Packages [5,786kB]  
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-updates/main Sources                 
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-updates/restricted Sources           
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-updates/universe Sources             
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-updates/main i386 Packages           
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-updates/restricted i386 Packages     
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-updates/multiverse i386 Packages     
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-updates/universe i386 Packages       
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-proposed/restricted i386 Packages    
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-proposed/main i386 Packages          
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-proposed/universe i386 Packages      
Hit http://im.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-proposed/multiverse i386 Packages    
Fetched 12.6MB in 7min 54s (26.6kB/s)                                          
Reading package lists... Done

If anyone can help i would be massively appreciative of that Will

share|improve this question
1  
Your kB/s is extremely low, personally I do not see that, I get full speed transfers (400kB/s = my broadband limit). Can you check other downloads or streaming and provide information about your connection configuration? – Phil Hannent Oct 4 '10 at 10:13
I get about 130kbps max and on lucid the packages downloaded at about that speed, in 10 or so seconds. – rocker9455 Oct 4 '10 at 16:12
2  
You may want to try a different mirror, rather than the the 'im' one. There is a special tool to help select the fastest mirror for you: techhamlet.com/2010/04/ubuntu-select-faster-server – fluteflute Oct 10 '10 at 7:41

2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

I believe the reason for this is slightly more than what Extender has already said. If you look in the output from your terminal you get several entries along the lines of:

Hit http://country.archive.ubuntu.com maverick/universe Sources

During the development period, every package update in the 'universe' section (there are also 'restricted', 'multiverse' and 'main' sections) requires a change to this file. However after release these file is no longer updated, and instead you will see updates coming from:

Hit http://country.archive.ubuntu.com maverick-updates/universe Sources

Because only a reasonably small percentage of packages are updated after release this file is significantly smaller than the file issued at released and used during the development period.

Now Ubuntu (Maverick) 10.10 has been released then updates should be far faster.

share|improve this answer
Yes i noticed after upgrading i could update faster. Thanks for the comprehensive answer! – rocker9455 Oct 11 '10 at 6:55
up vote 3 down vote

This happens because of Packages.gz in each folder are huge and frequently changed now. After release, it will be same as Lucid. Also, try finding fastest server for you (in mirror selection dialog).

share|improve this answer
Ok thanks for answering, good to know – rocker9455 Oct 4 '10 at 16:12

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