Update failure. Need help! - dpkg was interrupted

[BrianG]

My update error log is below.  It provides a dpkg command to run but when I do so I get a message about needing superuser privileges.  How do I get past this.  I am the only user.

Edit:  Never mind.  I just realized that the "sudo" prefix is the answer.

===========================
Install Updates Error log
===========================
Install Updates could not successfully download and install available updates.
Go to https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/ and paste the log below into the Software - Support - Updates section for assistance.

============ Log ===========

E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.

[BrianG]

I'm back.  Running 'dpkg --configure -a' allowed me to attempt to reinstall the updates but the PC is hung with a black screen.  This is the same thing that happened last night that resulted in the 'dpkg was interrupted" error.  Last night, I left it and went to bed.  It was still a black screen this morning so I forced a power off reboot, ran 'dpkg --configure -a', then attempted to update.  In each case, the black screen is what I see when I wiggle the mouse to clear the screen saver.  I can see the mouse cursor on the screen, and the laptop fan is running, but it is unresponsive in every other way.  Suggestions please.

[stevef]

Try to eliminate one of the conditions so we can work out if it is an update problem.

Does the screen saver/lock operate 100% consistently, reliably and as expected if not doing updates ?
If you disable or extend the screen saver/lock so that it is much longer than the time taken to update does the update work ?

it is unresponsive in every other way.  Suggestions please

If it is unresponsive, pressing Ctrl Alt F2 together won't do anything, but worth a go if you haven't tried it.

[BrianG]

Does the screen saver/lock operate 100% consistently, reliably and as expected if not doing updates ?
If you disable or extend the screen saver/lock so that it is much longer than the time taken to update does the update work ?

If it is unresponsive, pressing Ctrl Alt F2 together won't do anything, but worth a go if you haven't tried it.

The screen saver has operated as expected 100% of the time.

Ctrl Alt F2 brought me to a login prompt.  All login attempts though.  I then did Ctrl Alt Del which rebooted the laptop. A subsequent update check reports that the system is up to date.  I consider the issue resolved.  Thank you so much for your help.