Unable to update OS or packages

SCC · January 4, 2026, 1:55am

Hi, new user of Zorin OS here. Having some issues running any updates (via apt-get or the inbuilt software updater). I am receiving multiple permissions and other errors. I have tried various fixes from around the web to no avail. Attached are screenshots of some of the errors as well as the output of the troubleshooting steps from this page - Fix Package Manager Issues - Zorin Help

Any help would be much appreciated!

swarfendor437 · January 4, 2026, 9:16am

Hi and welcome.

Let's rewind a little. Did you verify the checksum of the downloaded .iso before creating the media to install Zorin? Did you use a download manager to download the .iso as these have caused issues in the past.
Is ZorinOS the only OS on your computer? There should not be any references to Debian repositories which I spotted in one of your screenshots. Have you been trying to install anything that is not available in Zorin?
It looks like you have installed to a Surface Pro notebook. Can you be more specific as to which version and specifications? I used to work for an Integrated Resource at a school that had issues with Windows and Microsoft replaced them free of charge.

Forpli · January 4, 2026, 9:42am

The surface kernel repository is suitable for debian and ubuntu (here you can see the installation guide):

Unfortunately I don´t know what the problem is here.

Ponce-De-Leon · January 4, 2026, 11:22am

Looks like a Mixture of Permission Issues and GPG Verification Failes ...

First, I would suggest to go to Software & Updates and set there the Source to ''Main Server'' and then try it again. If that shouldn't help, you might need to download the gpg Package/s manually but first try what I wrote.

SCC · January 5, 2026, 4:48am

Thankyou for the reply. I downloaded the ISO direct from the website and have not downloaded anything other than the Surface kernel package (a side issue is that Zoom client won't see the camera, which may be related?). Zorin is the only OS installed.

SCC · January 5, 2026, 4:49am

Thank you for the reply. I will run these commands and report back.

SCC · January 5, 2026, 4:51am

Thank you for the reply. I have already tried setting main server as the source without luck. How can I manually add the gpg packages? I tried doing that the other day based on some googling without luck (apologies, I'm not very familiar with Linux)

Forpli · January 5, 2026, 4:56am

No, you don't need to run these commands when you followed an installation guide, e.g. this one here

You have already added this repository for the Linux Surface kernel. I just wanted to show that it's not a problem here that "debian" is mentioned in the name and not Ubuntu.

I'm not sure how I can help you to solve the problem.
Check if the gpg package is installed with

apt list -i | grep gpg

and post the output here.

Would you please also make a screenshot of Software & Updates > Authentication?

Ponce-De-Leon · January 5, 2026, 10:49am

The Error mentioned You need one of them. It took a Look and on Zorin 18 seems gpgv be preinstalled. And because of Your Error Message it seems to be missed.

I would suggest the Following for the Case that it is installed but not recognized to type in the Terminal:

sudo apt reinstall gpgv

That will reinstall the Package when it is already installed. When this shouldn't work because it isn't installed, You can install it with:

sudo apt install gpgv

After that reboot and then type in the Terminal sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

SCC · January 13, 2026, 6:57am

Thanks for the replies and sorry for the late response!

I have tried the above suggestions without success, screenshots below:

Reinstalling GPGV:

Results of apt list -i | grep gpg:

Screenshots of Software Updater and settings:

Ends with saying software is up to date despite it not working:

swarfendor437 · January 13, 2026, 8:37am

I am getting the feeling your Surface Pro doesn't like Zorin and vice-versa.
I would try a fresh install or try a Debian based distro in live mode such as Linux Mint (LMDE 7 "gigi"), or Q4OS 5.8 Plasma "aquarius".

Nourpon · January 13, 2026, 10:19am

Just a little question, did you try to disable Secure Boot ?
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/manage-surface-uefi-settings

Ponce-De-Leon · January 13, 2026, 11:23am

Maybe try it with manually download the Package and install it:

Look there for the File gpgv_2.4.4-2ubuntu17.4_amd64.deb

SCC · January 27, 2026, 6:13am

I tried that, unfortunately no success still (see attached). I'm thinking of turning off secure boot and reinstalling from scratch at this point if a solution can't be found (or trying Ubuntu). Interestingly, Flatpack installs from Zorin Package Manager seem to be working ok (installed AbiWord and Brave without issue)?

Not being a *nux user, if I do reinstall,which folders should I be looking at backing up for application data and configuration (equivalent of Local and Roaming App Data in Windows?).

Aravisian · January 27, 2026, 6:26am

The gpgv package is installed and this is shown true in your screenshots.

However, authentication is failing and the system, which cannot question or think - fallsback to a predefined text result that assumes the package must be missing (it is not missing).

What is your terminal output for:

ls -l /dev/null

and:

file /dev/null

SCC · January 30, 2026, 12:57am

Attached are the results of those commands.

Aravisian · January 30, 2026, 1:15am

Your output shows:
crw-rw----+ 1 root plugdev 1, 3 < here is your problem. It must be owned by root., not 'plugdev'

In terminal run each of these:

sudo setfacl -b /dev/null

sudo chown root:root /dev/null

sudo chmod 666 /dev/null

To assign ownership and permissions to root.
Check:

ls -l /dev/null

It should match exactly:

crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 1, 3 /dev/null

How that happened - I have no idea. If you recall doing any scripts or changes - that may have created a udev rule that can revert this after today, please let us know.

Once the above is done, test with the upgrade command in terminal.

SCC · February 11, 2026, 12:42am

Hi @Aravisian, thanks so much for the reply! This solution worked and I was able to run sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade successfully!

However, after reboot ownership returned to plugdev and not root and I had the same 'failed to fetch' errors running the command. Is there a way to work out what/why plugdev is taking ownership and fix it, or create a script which automatically sets ownership to root again on boot?

Aravisian · February 11, 2026, 12:47am

That is... very weird.

Can you post the terminal output of:

grep -R "plugdev" /etc/udev /lib/udev 2>/dev/null

SCC · February 11, 2026, 1:25am

Sure, output below:
grep -R "plugdev" /etc/udev /lib/udev 2>/dev/nullgrep -R "plugdev" /etc/udev /lib/udev 2>/dev/null

/etc/udev/rules.d/20-hw1.rules:TAG+="uaccess", GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:ENV{ID_USB_INTERFACES}==":060101:", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="PTP", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev", GOTO="libgphoto2_usb_end"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1908", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1315", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1908", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1320", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1908", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0102", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1908", ATTRS{idProduct}=="3335", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="04b0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0116", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="04b0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0108", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="04b0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0110", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="04b0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="012c", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="04b0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="010e", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="04b0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0104", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="04b0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0401", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07b4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0105", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07b4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0105", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07b4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0105", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07b4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0109", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07b4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0105", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07b4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0105", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07b4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0105", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07b4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0105", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07b4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0105", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07b4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0109", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07b4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0109", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07b4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0109", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="07b4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0109", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="25fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0130", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="25fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0178", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0a17", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0070", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0a17", ATTRS{idProduct}=="00a1", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0a17", ATTRS{idProduct}=="006e", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0a17", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0093", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0a17", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0091", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="25fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0164", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="25fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0132", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="25fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="017a", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="25fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0160", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="25fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0102", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="25fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0148", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="25fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="014a", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="25fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="017c", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="25fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="017e", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0a17", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0009", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0a17", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0007", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sd[a-z]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1403", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0001", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"
/lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6t64.rules:KERNEL=="sg[0-9]", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0168", ATTRS{idProduct}=="3011", ENV{ID_GPHOTO2}="1", ENV{GPHOTO2_DRIVER}="proprietary", MODE="0664", GROUP="plugdev"