[Resolved] Pacman failing to synchronize all databases

br3adjam · 2026-04-07 20:34:36

My system has suddenly (as of a week or a bit more ago) stopped letting me upgrade the system, I do not know what I could have possibly done to cause this and spits out the following message when pacman -Syu is run:

:: Synchronizing package databases...
error: failed to synchronize all databases (unable to lock database)

Output of pacman -Syu --debug:

debug: pacman v7.1.0 - libalpm v16.0.1
debug: config: new section 'options'
debug: config: HoldPkg: pacman
debug: config: HoldPkg: glibc
debug: config: Architecture: auto
debug: config: arch: x86_64
debug: config: sandboxuser: alpm
debug: config: SigLevel: Required
debug: config: SigLevel: DatabaseOptional
debug: config: LocalFileSigLevel: Optional
debug: config: new section 'core'
debug: config file /etc/pacman.conf, line 78: including /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
debug: config: new section 'extra'
debug: config file /etc/pacman.conf, line 84: including /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
debug: config: new section 'multilib'
debug: config file /etc/pacman.conf, line 93: including /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
debug: config: finished parsing /etc/pacman.conf
debug: setup_libalpm called
debug: option 'logfile' = /var/log/pacman.log
debug: option 'gpgdir' = /etc/pacman.d/gnupg/
debug: option 'hookdir' = /etc/pacman.d/hooks/
debug: option 'cachedir' = /var/cache/pacman/pkg/
debug: registering sync database 'core'
debug: database path for tree core set to /var/lib/pacman/sync/core.db
debug: "/var/lib/pacman/sync/core.db.sig" is not readable: No such file or directory
debug: sig path /var/lib/pacman/sync/core.db.sig could not be opened
debug: got error 43 at _alpm_gpgme_checksig (../lib/libalpm/signing.c: 565) : missing PGP signature
debug: missing optional signature
debug: setting usage of 15 for core repository
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://mirror.osbeck.com/archlinux/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://us.arch.niranjan.co/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://arch.mirror.constant.com/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://cdnmirror.com/archlinux/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://mirror.cyberbits.eu/archlinux/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://ftp.rnl.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/pub/archlinux/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://mirror.theo546.fr/archlinux/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://mirror.ufscar.br/archlinux/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://ftp.sh.cvut.cz/arch/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://mirror.cyberbits.asia/archlinux/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://mirror.moson.org/arch/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://al.arch.niranjan.co/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://at.arch.niranjan.co/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://de.arch.niranjan.co/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://in.arch.niranjan.co/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://nl.arch.niranjan.co/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://nz.arch.niranjan.co/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://tr.arch.niranjan.co/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://mirrors.neusoft.edu.cn/archlinux/core/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://archlinux.uk.mirror.allworldit.com/archlinux/core/os/x86_64
debug: registering sync database 'extra'
debug: database path for tree extra set to /var/lib/pacman/sync/extra.db
debug: "/var/lib/pacman/sync/extra.db.sig" is not readable: No such file or directory
debug: sig path /var/lib/pacman/sync/extra.db.sig could not be opened
debug: got error 43 at _alpm_gpgme_checksig (../lib/libalpm/signing.c: 565) : missing PGP signature
debug: missing optional signature
debug: setting usage of 15 for extra repository
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://mirror.osbeck.com/archlinux/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://us.arch.niranjan.co/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://arch.mirror.constant.com/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://cdnmirror.com/archlinux/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://mirror.cyberbits.eu/archlinux/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://ftp.rnl.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/pub/archlinux/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://mirror.theo546.fr/archlinux/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://mirror.ufscar.br/archlinux/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://ftp.sh.cvut.cz/arch/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://mirror.cyberbits.asia/archlinux/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://mirror.moson.org/arch/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://al.arch.niranjan.co/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://at.arch.niranjan.co/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://de.arch.niranjan.co/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://in.arch.niranjan.co/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://nl.arch.niranjan.co/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://nz.arch.niranjan.co/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://tr.arch.niranjan.co/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://mirrors.neusoft.edu.cn/archlinux/extra/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://archlinux.uk.mirror.allworldit.com/archlinux/extra/os/x86_64
debug: registering sync database 'multilib'
debug: database path for tree multilib set to /var/lib/pacman/sync/multilib.db
debug: "/var/lib/pacman/sync/multilib.db.sig" is not readable: No such file or directory
debug: sig path /var/lib/pacman/sync/multilib.db.sig could not be opened
debug: got error 43 at _alpm_gpgme_checksig (../lib/libalpm/signing.c: 565) : missing PGP signature
debug: missing optional signature
debug: setting usage of 15 for multilib repository
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://mirror.osbeck.com/archlinux/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://us.arch.niranjan.co/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://arch.mirror.constant.com/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://cdnmirror.com/archlinux/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://mirror.cyberbits.eu/archlinux/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://ftp.rnl.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/pub/archlinux/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://mirror.theo546.fr/archlinux/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://mirror.ufscar.br/archlinux/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://ftp.sh.cvut.cz/arch/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://mirror.cyberbits.asia/archlinux/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://mirror.moson.org/arch/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://al.arch.niranjan.co/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://at.arch.niranjan.co/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://de.arch.niranjan.co/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://in.arch.niranjan.co/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://nl.arch.niranjan.co/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://nz.arch.niranjan.co/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://tr.arch.niranjan.co/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://mirrors.neusoft.edu.cn/archlinux/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://archlinux.uk.mirror.allworldit.com/archlinux/multilib/os/x86_64
debug: option 'sandboxuser' = alpm
:: Synchronizing package databases...
debug: got error 10 at alpm_db_update (../lib/libalpm/be_sync.c: 164) : unable to lock database
debug: failed to sync dbs: unable to lock database
error: failed to synchronize all databases (unable to lock database)
debug: unregistering database 'local'
debug: unregistering database 'core'
debug: unregistering database 'extra'
debug: unregistering database 'multilib'

System is connected to the internet and installing as well as upgrading individual packages seem to work- any help would be appreciated!

Last edited by br3adjam (2026-04-08 02:20:24)

seth · 2026-04-07 20:36:11

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman … )%22_error

br3adjam · 2026-04-08 02:20:05

The issue is resolved now for some unknown reason after restarting my laptop 3 times but the problem was that the lock didn't exist in the first place
When I was faced with the problem, I had tried what the wiki suggested but removing the lock file only said it didn't exist in the first place- I still don't know what could have caused the problem and what I can do to resolve if it does happen again
Thanks for the help though!

seth · 2026-04-08 06:49:58

Any chance you're running some daemon that frequently runs pacman (while you meant to run checkupdates from pacman-contrib)?

Arch Linux

#1 2026-04-07 20:34:36

[Resolved] Pacman failing to synchronize all databases

#2 2026-04-07 20:36:11

Re: [Resolved] Pacman failing to synchronize all databases

#3 2026-04-08 02:20:05

Re: [Resolved] Pacman failing to synchronize all databases

#4 2026-04-08 06:49:58

Re: [Resolved] Pacman failing to synchronize all databases

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