Dnf check-upgrade error: "Downloading successful, but checksum doesn't match. Calculated... "

Fedora 41

$ uname -a
Linux mandolin 6.12.8-200.fc41.x86_64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Jan 2 19:26:03 UTC 2025 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Just tried “sudo dnf check-upgrade” and got the error:

"Downloading successful, but checksum doesn't match.  Calculated... "

$ sudo dnf check-upgrade
Updating and loading repositories:
 Fedora 41 - x86_64 - Updates                               100% |  67.2 KiB/s |  31.8 KiB |  00m00s
 Signal Messaging Devel Project (Fedora_41)                 100% |   2.3 KiB/s |   1.7 KiB |  00m01s
 Fedora 41 openh264 (From Cisco) - x86_64                   100% |   3.6 KiB/s | 989.0   B |  00m00s
 Brave Browser                                              100% |  15.5 KiB/s |   2.0 KiB |  00m00s
 ProtonVPN Fedora Stable repository                         100% |   4.8 KiB/s |   3.7 KiB |  00m01s
 Fedora 41 - x86_64                                         100% | 182.4 KiB/s |  32.7 KiB |  00m00s
 Fedora 41 - x86_64 - Updates                               100% |   1.3 MiB/s |   4.6 MiB |  00m03s
>>> Downloading successful, but checksum doesn't match. Calculated: e96bd9b4c272be2d9c7d4a656b7ae322
>>> Downloading successful, but checksum doesn't match. Calculated: e96bd9b4c272be2d9c7d4a656b7ae322
>>> Status code: 404 for http://download-ib01.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/updates/41/Everythi
>>> Status code: 404 for http://download-ib01.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/updates/41/Everythi
>>> Status code: 404 for https://download-ib01.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/updates/41/Everyth
>>> Status code: 404 for https://download-ib01.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/updates/41/Everyth
 Signal Messaging Devel Project (Fedora_41)                 100% |  12.4 KiB/s |  15.1 KiB |  00m01s
 Brave Browser                                              100% | 195.5 KiB/s |  48.9 KiB |  00m00s
Repositories loaded.
ImageMagick.x86_64                               1:7.1.1.43-1.fc41          updates
ImageMagick-libs.x86_64                          1:7.1.1.43-1.fc41

(output truncated)…

I searched for that error message and saw a whole bunch of hits from Fedora 40, most being from late 2024.
This is the first time I’ve ever seen this error. I have not upgraded my system in about a month. I’m wondering if something is out of sync.

Any suggestions? Should I do a “dnf clean” first? And, if so, what cache types?

I know this might seem like a simplistic question, but this is my primary system and I’m trying not to lock it up.

Thanks in advance,

$ dnf --version
dnf5 version 5.2.8.1
dnf5 plugin API version 2.0
libdnf5 version 5.2.8.1
libdnf5 plugin API version 2.0

Loaded dnf5 plugins:
  name: builddep
  version: 1.0.0
  API version: 2.0

  name: changelog
  version: 1.0.0
  API version: 2.0

  name: config-manager
  version: 0.1.0
  API version: 2.0

  name: copr
  version: 0.1.0
  API version: 2.0

  name: needs_restarting
  version: 1.0.0
  API version: 2.0

  name: repoclosure
  version: 1.0.0
  API version: 2.0

  name: reposync
  version: 1.0.0
  API version: 2.0

Try first

sudo dnf clean all

Then if that does not work, look in to which DNF version you have

dnf --version

If you don’t have dnf5 try

sudo dnf install dnf5

1 Like

Whenever dnf downloads repo metadata it is checksumed to verify the accuracy. If it fails the checksum then dnf downloads it again and repeats the checksum. There are many mirrors and it is possible that the data is corrupted during download so the mirror used is also switched.

This is an information message and does not mean the check-update failed, but usually indicates a temporary issue with the server or the internet in general.

Usually if you repeat the command after waiting for some time (sometimes immediate and sometimes several hours) it will complete properly.

2 Likes

Possibly, the mirrors are in the middle of being updated. I usually see this issue in the morning my time, whereas later in the day there are no problems.

1 Like

This will never be needed. On f40 you use dnf4 and f41 it is already installed or you have bigger problems.

1 Like

In the post just above yours the OP showed he was already using dnf5

1 Like

Yep, my bad.

Thank you all very much.

I just did a "sudo dnf check-upgrade again this morning (Tuesday) and now it is fine… no errors.
I lost internet service for most of the day yesterday (Spectrum) so I couldn’t try your suggestions until now.

Apologies again for the simplistic question, but I get a little nervous when I have issues with my primary system. Usually I try something on my old laptop first for that very reason. But this time I got no errors on the laptop.

Many thanks again.

1 Like