6

With the update to 19.04 my dell repository is not working as it is marked as not signed. This is the error I get:

Ign:11 http://dell.archive.canonical.com/updates xenial-dell Release.gpg

W: GPG error: http://dell.archive.canonical.com/updates xenial-dell Release: Detached signature file '/var/lib/apt/lists/partial/dell.archive.canonical.com_updates_dists_xenial-dell_Release.gpg' is in unsupported binary format
    E: The repository 'http://dell.archive.canonical.com/updates xenial-dell Release' is not signed.
    N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
    N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.

I've tried with the xenial-dell and bionic-dell. You can see all the repos here.

There are Release and Release.gpg files in both repositories: Release files dell canonical repository

I've searched on Ask Ubuntu and elsewhere but I have not been able to find a working solution.

8
  • 1
    There's no repository for 19.04 and probably it isn't needed. Why do you think it is?
    – user880592
    May 21, 2019 at 10:13
  • @GabrielaGarcia I don't know enough technical info for this. My intuition is for customizations related to Dell's hardware. The reason I buy these dells laptops is that they are certified for Ubuntu. May 21, 2019 at 13:53
  • You'll have to wait until they update the repos for newer releases but be aware it might not happen. It seems it stopped at 18.04 so it misses one release already. This repos are typically for drivers that aren't included natively in the kernel but once the drivers are added to newer kernel versions they become obsolete.
    – user880592
    May 21, 2019 at 14:01
  • @GabrielaGarcia Thanks. Are you implying that the problem with the authentication of the repository is due to it not being a 19.04 repo? Shouldn't it still authenticate even if it was not used? If the drivers are still needed, shouldn't apt be able to use the ones from olders repos if they are compatible? May 22, 2019 at 11:17
  • 1
    Yes, when we add a PPA the package manager APT expects to find a folder for our release and if it's not there it fails to authenticate. It won't do any other search. I think the drivers provided by the PPA were needed for the older releases, they're probably integrated in the new kernel now so the PPA is no longer necessary. If your model had Ubuntu preinstalled or is also sold with it, you have the right for Ubuntu support from Dell so you may check with the tech support.
    – user880592
    May 22, 2019 at 15:43

2 Answers 2

5

The error occurs because the Dell repository at the time of this writing has no content for Ubuntu 19.04. When we add a PPA the package manager APT expects to find a folder for our release and if it's not there it fails to authenticate. It won't do any other search.

According to Dell's customer service, support - including the PPA - is given for the preinstalled Ubuntu release, 16.04. This is a LTS release supported until April 2021. The computer is likely to work fine with newer releases because hardware support tends to improve with each new kernel version so drivers and other software provided by Dell's PPA may not be necessary or redundant in newer Ubuntu releases.

0

Having upgraded from the as-installed version (18.04) to the latest LTS (20.04), I saw the same error being reported - closer inspection suggested that the upgrade didn't disable all of the entries relating to the previous repositories in its' sources - finding & disabling (commenting out) the errant entries fixed it for me by running this command post-upgrade...

find /etc/apt -type f | xargs -I{} sudo sed -i '/bionic/!d;/^#/d;s,^,#,' "{}"

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .