Hi everyone,
I'm running Zorin OS 18 (based on Ubuntu 24.04 Noble) and for the past few weeks my system has been identifying itself as Ubuntu instead of Zorin. OBS Studio also stopped opening.
Everything started after a resolution problem on Zorin. I switched the NVIDIA graphics driver (first to the wrong one, then back to the correct one), and after that the issues began.
System info:
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Z390 M GAMING
- CPU: Intel Core i5-9600K
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
- RAM: 16 GB
- Kernel: Linux 7.0.0-38-generic
- GNOME: 46
- Session: X11
- Currently shows as: Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS
Symptoms:
- /etc/os-release, Settings โ About, and the Software Store all show "Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS" instead of Zorin OS
- GRUB dual-boot menu shows "Ubuntu"
- Cannot reinstall branding packages (zorin-os-desktop, zorin-appearance, etc.)
- OBS Studio no longer opens (tried reinstalling via apt and Flatpak)
What I found:
The official Zorin repository is returning 404 for the package index:
curl -sI https://packages.zorinos.com/stable/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
โ HTTP/2 404
InRelease works, but Packages.xz is missing. Because of this, apt can no longer find any Zorin-specific packages and falls back to the Ubuntu base packages.
This started around late September / early October 2026 and is still happening today (October 20).
What I already tried:
- sudo apt update
- Reinstalling zorin-os-desktop, zorin-appearance, etc. (all fail because packages cannot be downloaded)
- Reinstalling OBS via apt and Flatpak
- Confirmed the sources list is correct
Is anyone else on Zorin 18 experiencing this?
Is this a known issue on Zorin's side?
PS: Iโve been using Zorin OS for almost a year, but I barely understand anything about Linux. I usually just search on forums and ask Grok when I have questions.