Is it possible to have the option to "update from binaries" use only binaries and skip the sources when binaries are unavailable?

MarionCobretti

This is somewhat related to that post I made in "Ideas", with the mock-up of an "expanded" menu:

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/23756/utter-layman-question-but-how-difficult-time-consuming-would-it-be-to-expand-the-package-menus-with-an-option-to-select-and-update-based-on-selection

This actually got me thinking if there was a currently existing way to have the "update from binary" option to only update if binaries are available, and always skip the sources?

When you chose to "Update all from binaries" and there is no binary for a package, then its source is used for the update. Currently, with the main and optional, it's not a problem, as almost everything has a binary, but it got me thinking of the experimental menu, with its numerous mixed packages (and potential additional ones like the Extras, Extras Unstable, OpenBor6).

Most of the experimental packages seem to have a binary available by now, but there seem to be about 20 that are source only, and some take a lot of time, so if an option to update from binaries was potentially added in the future to the experimental menu (currently it only has "update all from source"), then a way to only use binaries would come in useful there - right now a mixed update would greatly increase the total update time if sources are used in addition to binaries.

I've searched if it was possible to do it at the moment, but I could not find a way to do so.

mitu

Such option doesn't exist right now, but you can use the auto-update just for the sections which always have binaries - i.e. excluding experimental. The experimental section recently started providing binaries, so that would work for most of them - my guess you have the extra repository enabled and those don't have binaries.
If you open a package from the menu, it will detect if there is a binary update available and you can choose to update or not. Sure, it's just a workaround, but how many experimental packages do you have installed ?