Whenever I install anything with Zipper I always have to do a kill -9 xxxx on package kit to stop it before I can install something with zypper.
As someone new to Suse but not Linux, what is this ~package kit? Why is it always. but always blocking installs? How can I prevent this happening please?
Thanks 
PackageKit is a cross distro/DE package manager and project - you can google it - we can’t tell if you need it or which DE you run.
PackageKit interfaces with libzypp, and zypper cannot use it at the same time as PackageKit. KDE or Gnome?
Search the forum for other threads - it’s now a well worn subject. You will see if you can safely remove it. 
It’s code for PITA
You can remove it (And if you use KDE you can take out Apper too)
If you’re OK with updating at self chosen moments, you can safely remove Packagekit and Apper, and do your software management through Yast. Many of us do. Removing it from the KDE services should do the job as well, but I’ve had some issues with that not being a sticky solution.
and you will lose any desktop notification about updates becoming available.
BTW has the forum search broken?
I usually quit zypper in that case , wait 1-2 minutes and let zypper run again without problems.
True. But what are the notifications worth if you have the KDE repos enabled and the notifications continuously reappear to notify you on KDE updates for the stock install. Updates available in the KDE repos? No notification at all. And this with the Apper version from the KDE repos.
Again, I’m a cli and Yast user, but I’d love to see this working, becoming a success, so I test and try to make it do what I expect it to do. I.e. report updates based on my repo and vendor change config, like zypper does. I see the repos configured in Apper, and yet their presence is ignored.
The OP didn’t even hint at KDE or Apper, is relatively new to openSUSE. and so all that is a solution for a different problem. My add-on comment was really addressed to the OP, to flesh out advice being given against an incomplete problem statement.
Your own situation with KDE doesn’t surprise me, you don’t have a choice in that case, and I suspect the devs only have time to test Apper/PackageKit against the standard distro’s repos.
I “hear” what you’re saying. AFAIK Apper triggers the actions performed by packagekit, that block zypper access. The OP being a new user should have been a reason to provide some background. And this thread is not the have an Apper/Packagekit debate.
Indeed. Gnome’s update applet also triggers it.
PackageKit should go away on completion, if not it could be waiting for other subtasks to finish. It’s not the quickest kid on the block and if you fire up YaST before that completion, you get the message about YaST asking PackageKit to quit. That can take 2 or 3 goes for success. You can of course “kill” it quickly via command line as the OP does. I haven’t had it refuse to quit on 12.2 so far, and it’s usually my own impatience causing blocking on rare occasions.
On 2013-02-03 21:46, metehyi wrote:
>> As someone new to Suse but not Linux, what is this ~package kit? Why is
>> it always. but always blocking installs? How can I prevent this
>> happening please?
> I usually quit zypper in that case , wait 1-2 minutes and let zypper
> run again without problems.
Yes.
Typically apper is just refreshing repos. This is something that has to
be done anyway, so that if you kill it then zypper has to do it. If you
wait it out, then zypper does not need to do the refresh.
That’s the theory, at least
And if you kill -9 it there is a chance that the database is left at an
inconsistent state and has to be rebuilt later.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)
On 02/03/2013 09:36 PM, consused wrote:
> BTW has the forum search broken?
imo the built in forum search function has never been better or faster
than using Google with their site specifier…
just add site:forums.opensuse.org to the search string, like
https://www.google.com/search?q=site:forums.opensuse.org+packagekit+block
–
dd
The soon coming RC1 promises improvement in the packagekit-blocking-zypper issue.
libzypp 12.6 got further improvements and bugfixes, while some more work in the package management area is coming for RC1 including an update to PackageKit and a solution to the PackageKit-blocking-zypper issues.
Source: https://news.opensuse.org/2013/01/17/the-opensuse-12-3-beta-is-out-time-for-pizza/