how do i instal blocked updates

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Open a Terminal from the menu Applications->Accessories->Terminal
to have the terminal window always on top please right click on the terminal window top title and select "Always on Top"
then type or better copy from here and paste into terminal the rows below:
copy and paste only one row a time then press enter.

sudo dpkg --configure -a

(the system ask you a password: give your user password, you will not see nothing when you type it, then press enter)

sudo apt-get -f install
sudo apt-get --fix-missing install
sudo apt-get clean all
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get clean all
sudo apt-get autoremove

then please reboot your system, type

sudo reboot

Hope this helps

Some updates are reported as "held back" either because they are not always needed and is protecting the user from its own ignorance (A new kernel is completely unnecessary if all hardware is working and the system is responsive)
or their are dependancys that cannot be met yet and they are in the pipeline. If you run: sudo apt-get dist-upgrade it will pull them down too, or you can specifically reinstall the app and it will make it come down. Something like:
sudo apt-get --reinstall install <package name>
This can break your system however. When the update is ready to be installed it will come down with all your other upgrades.
You have been warned

I have been routinely installing blocked updates with sudo apt-get dist-upgrade, not because I was ignorant of the consequences, but because it's the only way to get a valid alert when a required update was ready. Once a blocked update has been received, the tray icon warns of updates being ready all the time.

I lived with this for a while, but a few days ago I decided to upgrade to KDE 4.3 using the backports repository. This is my decision, I know, and any consequences are my risk. However, since then, nearly all updates have been flagged as blocked. Seeking, guidance, I found this thread.

Having said all that, I have to say that it would be better if the reason for blocked updates was more visible to the ordinary user and if the alert was suppressed unless required updates were available. After all, the ordinary user can't do anything about a blocked update; not using KPackageKit anyway. This may in fact be a bug report, but I would like to understand more of the thinking behind the way this works before I submit a bug.

They are blocked for a reason. There is usually some dependancy that hasnt been satisfied or is not ultimately necessary (like kernel upgrades). This is why there is upgrade and dist-upgrade. User should not use dist-upgrade unless they need a new kernel to get newer hardware working, or if the speed is appaulingly slow.

I am sorry, but I think you misunderstood my question. I understand why they are blocked; you explained this in your previous post on 2009-07-30.

My comment/question was that the effect of these blocked updates is to leave the alert icon 'live' on the task bar. This means that the user has to repeatedly check the update status manually, (by clicking on the icon), to find out if there are any new unblocked updates. Ultimately he/she is likely to get fed up with this and not bother, potentially allowing critical updates to be missed. This is why I have been routinely applying them.

I was simply suggesting that maybe blocked updates on their own should not trigger the alert so that it only appears when an update that needs the user's attention is ready.

I also suggested that when the user opened KPackageKit to view the updates, an explanation of why blocked updates are there should be available, so they don't worry about them.

Alternatively, if they are not important to the average user, why show them at all? Perhaps an option to suppress them might be the answer, which is set by default.

I now understand. I would suggest this as a feature on the ubuntu site and it may get addressed. Either that or a bug. There also may be a setting in the update alerter to tell it to ignore held back updates.
Unfortunately I remove the functionality in my installs as I find any sort of indicators really annoying and have a cron'd job to run at 5am daily to install updates.