Problem with Software Updater

[NightOwl0]

New to Linux, please explain things as if I don't know anything.

 

I installed Ubuntu 20.04 recently, and the first thing I did was launch the software updater. However, it started lingering while trying to "configure friendly recovery". I left it for about an hour, but eventually closed it because that didn't seem normal, and tried launching the updater again. This time, it lingered forever with "checking for updates..." displayed above the empty progress bar, and "waiting" displayed beneath the bar. I tried closing it again, and was met with the following message:

 

Not all updates can be installed

Run a partial upgrade, to install as many updates as possible.

This can be caused by:

*A previous upgrade which didn't complete

*Problems with some of the installed software

*Unofficial software packages not provided by Ubuntu

*Normal changes of a pre-release version of Ubuntu

 

There were three options at the bottom: settings..., partial upgrade, and continue. Clicking on partial upgrade closed the window and nothing else happened, so I opened the software updater again and tried closing it again to bring back the previous message, which worked. This time, I clicked on continue. Then got the message:

 

Software index is broken

It is impossible to install or remove any software. Please use package manager "Synaptic" or run "sudo apt-get install -f" in a terminal to fix this issue at first.

 

I don't know what Synaptic is, so I closed the window and ran the command in the terminal. It asked for my password, which I gave. I then got the following messages:

 

E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend. It is held by process 3044 (aptd)

N: Be aware that removing the lock file is not a solution and may break your system.

E: Unable to acquire the dpkg frontend lock (/var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend), is another process using it?

 

That's where I am now.

 

I am running Ubuntu 20.04 64 bit.

My hardware is as follows:

Cpu: AMD Phenom (tm) II X4 B95 Processor

Gpu: ATI Radeon HD 4200

Ram according to windows: 4 gigabytes installed,  3 gigabytes total

Motherboard: HP Compaq 6005 Pro SFF PC

BIOS version/date: Hewlett-Packard 786G6 v01.15, 02/08/2011

PSU wattage: 240 watts I think