Ubuntu

Error: Section with no Package header

Asked by Margaret Mackintosh

I got a Error Message that reads:

E: Encountered a section with no Packaged header
E: Problem with Mergelist/var/lib/apt/lists/
extras.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_precise_main_i18n_Translation-en
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report

This usually means that your installed packages have unmet dependencies.

Said to Run Package Manager from the right-click menu or apt-get in a terminal to see what is wrong.

I do not know how to 'apt-get' in a terminal but did try the Package Manager. Could not open it. Looked in FAQ and seen the problem and answer at the top of the lists. Using a terminal like the answer said I put in ' sudo rm -rf /var/lists and pressed enter. Got '[sudo] password for margaret'... When I tried to put in the password I couldn't, the cursor froze in place.. So could not do as the person suggested. Now what can I do?

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Solved
For:
Ubuntu Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Solved by:
Manfred Hampl
Solved:
Last query:
Last reply:

This question was originally filed as bug #1256333.

Revision history for this message
Daniel Letzeisen (dtl131) said : 		#1

This is not a bug, but rather a corrupted list file that needs to be removed.

Revision history for this message
Daniel Letzeisen (dtl131) said : 		#2

Try these two commands to see if you can resolve it quickly:

sudo rm -r /var/lib/apt/lists/*
sudo apt-get update

When you are prompted for a password, type it in and press [Enter]. The cursor will not be shown when you are entering the password for security reasons (so if someone is watching over your shoulder, they won't know how many characters your password is).

If that fails, there is a more comprehensive set of instructions here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PackageManagerTroubleshootingProcedure

Revision history for this message
Margaret Mackintosh (mackintosh-margaret) said : 		#3

Hi,

I just tried what Daniel suggested. When I typed in "sudo rm-r /var/lib/apt/lists/* it came up with "rm-r command not found"... Then I typed in "sudo apt-get update", this got a whole sting of info, but at the end it came up with the same thing as before:
E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/us.archive,ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_precise_main_i18n_Translation-en
E: _cache->open()failed, please report.

Any other suggestions on how to fix this?

Revision history for this message
Margaret Mackintosh (mackintosh-margaret) said : 		#4

I cannot run Package Manager cause of this problem or Update Manager.

Revision history for this message
Daniel Letzeisen (dtl131) said : 		#5

There is a space between "rm" and "-r"
Copy/paste the command to avoid typos.

Revision history for this message
Margaret Mackintosh (mackintosh-margaret) said : 		#6

Went to link that Daniel (dtl131) gave and followed instructions. Was told to copy & paste results here. See below:

margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ ubuntu-support-status
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/ubuntu-support-status", line 108, in <module>
    cache = apt.Cache()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/apt/cache.py", line 102, in __init__
    self.open(progress)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/apt/cache.py", line 145, in open
    self._cache = apt_pkg.Cache(progress)
SystemError: E:Encountered a section with no Package: header, E:Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/us.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_precise_main_i18n_Translation-en, E:The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo grep -R proxy /etc/apt/*
[sudo] password for margaret:
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ grep proxy /etc/environment
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ echo $http_proxy

margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ echo $ftp_proxy

margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ grep proxy /etc/bash.bashrc
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ grep proxy ~/.bashrc
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ cat /etc/apt/apt.conf
cat: /etc/apt/apt.conf: No such file or directory
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo fuser -vvv /var/lib/dpkg/lock
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=12.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=precise
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS"
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ uname -a
Linux margaret-Z62FM 3.2.0-56-generic-pae #86-Ubuntu SMP Wed Oct 23 17:51:27 UTC 2013 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/lock
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo cp -arf /var/lib/dpkg /var/lib/dpkg.backup
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo mv /var/lib/dpkg/status /var/lib/dpkg/status-badmargaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo cp /var/lib/dpkg/status-old /var/lib/dpkg/status ii sudo cp /var/backips/apt.extended_states.0/var/lib/dpkg/status
cp: target `/var/backips/apt.extended_states.0/var/lib/dpkg/status' is not a directory
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo mv /var/lib/dpkg/available /var/lib/dpkg/available-bad
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo cp /var/lib/dpkg/available-old /var/lib/dpkg/available
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo rm -rf /var/lib/dpkg/updates/*
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo rm /var/cache/apt/*.bin
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo mkdir /var/lib/apt/lists
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo mkdir /var/lib/apt/lists/partial
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get clean
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get autoclean
Reading package lists... Error!
E: Could not open file /var/lib/dpkg/status - open (2: No such file or directory)
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get --purge autoremove
Reading package lists... Error!
E: Could not open file /var/lib/dpkg/status - open (2: No such file or directory)
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get --purge autoremove
Reading package lists... Error!
E: Could not open file /var/lib/dpkg/status - open (2: No such file or directory)
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get --fix-missing update -o APT::Cache-Limit=100000000
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise Release.gpg [198 B]
Get:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates Release.gpg [198 B]
Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports Release.gpg [198 B]
Get:4 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise Release [49.6 kB]
Get:5 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates Release [49.6 kB]
Get:6 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports Release [49.6 kB]
Get:7 http://extras.ubuntu.com precise Release.gpg [72 B]
Get:8 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/main Sources [934 kB]
Get:9 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security Release.gpg [198 B]
Get:10 http://extras.ubuntu.com precise Release [11.9 kB]
Get:11 http://archive.canonical.com precise Release.gpg [198 B]
Get:12 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security Release [49.6 kB]
Get:13 http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main Sources [8130 B]
Get:14 http://archive.canonical.com precise Release [7078 B]
Get:15 http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main i386 Packages [10.8 kB]
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main TranslationIndex
Get:16 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/main Sources [93.6 kB]
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main Translation-en
Get:17 http://archive.canonical.com precise/partner i386 Packages [8935 B]
Ign http://archive.canonical.com precise/partner TranslationIndex
Get:18 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted Sources [5470 B]
Get:19 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe Sources [5019 kB]
Get:20 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/restricted Sources [2494 B]
Get:21 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/universe Sources [29.9 kB]
Ign http://archive.canonical.com precise/partner Translation-en
Get:22 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/multiverse Sources [1797 B]
Get:23 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/main i386 Packages [360 kB]
Get:24 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/restricted i386 Packages [4620 B]
Get:25 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/universe i386 Packages [88.9 kB]
Get:26 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/multiverse i386 Packages [2635 B]
Get:27 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/main TranslationIndex [74 B]
Get:28 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/multiverse TranslationIndex [72 B]
Get:29 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/restricted TranslationIndex [72 B]
Get:30 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/universe TranslationIndex [73 B]
Get:31 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/main Translation-en [161 kB]
Get:32 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/multiverse Translation-en [1299 B]
Get:33 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/restricted Translation-en [1253 B]
Get:34 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/universe Translation-en [54.4 kB]
Get:35 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse Sources [155 kB]
Get:36 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/main i386 Packages [1274 kB]
Get:37 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted i386 Packages [8431 B]
Get:38 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe i386 Packages [4796 kB]
Get:39 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse i386 Packages [121 kB]
Get:40 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/main TranslationIndex [3706 B]
Get:41 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse TranslationIndex [2676 B]
Get:42 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted TranslationIndex [2596 B]
Get:43 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe TranslationIndex [2922 B]
Get:44 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main Sources [426 kB]
Get:45 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted Sources [7006 B]
Get:46 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe Sources [100 kB]
Get:47 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse Sources [8356 B]
Get:48 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main i386 Packages [730 kB]
Get:49 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted i386 Packages [11.4 kB]
Get:50 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe i386 Packages [227 kB]
Get:51 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse i386 Packages [14.2 kB]
Get:52 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main TranslationIndex [3564 B]
Get:53 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse TranslationIndex [2605 B]
Get:54 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted TranslationIndex [2461 B]
Get:55 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe TranslationIndex [2850 B]
Get:56 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/main Sources [4225 B]
Get:57 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/restricted Sources [14 B]
Get:58 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/universe Sources [36.4 kB]
Get:59 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/multiverse Sources [5311 B]
Get:60 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/main i386 Packages [4809 B]
Get:61 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/restricted i386 Packages [14 B]
Get:62 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/universe i386 Packages [37.7 kB]
Get:63 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/multiverse i386 Packages [5178 B]
Get:64 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/main TranslationIndex [72 B]
Get:65 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/multiverse TranslationIndex [72 B]
Get:66 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/restricted TranslationIndex [70 B]
Get:67 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/universe TranslationIndex [73 B]
Get:68 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/main Translation-en [726 kB]
Get:69 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse Translation-en [93.4 kB]
Get:70 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted Translation-en [2395 B]
Get:71 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe Translation-en [3341 kB]
Get:72 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main Translation-en [319 kB]
Get:73 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse Translation-en [8136 B]
Get:74 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted Translation-en [2637 B]
Get:75 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe Translation-en [130 kB]
Get:76 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/main Translation-en [4235 B]
Get:77 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/multiverse Translation-en [4610 B]
Get:78 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/restricted Translation-en [14 B]
Get:79 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/universe Translation-en [27.6 kB]
Fetched 19.7 MB in 1min 16s (257 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Error!
E: Could not open file /var/lib/dpkg/status - open (2: No such file or directory)
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
dpkg: error: failed to open package info file `/var/lib/dpkg/status' for reading: No such file or directory
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo dpkg --clear-avail
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Error!
E: Could not open file /var/lib/dpkg/status - open (2: No such file or directory)
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get --fix-missing install
Reading package lists... Error!
E: Could not open file /var/lib/dpkg/status - open (2: No such file or directory)
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get update -o APT::Cache-Limit=100000000 && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise Release.gpg
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates Release.gpg
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports Release.gpg
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise Release
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates Release
Hit http://archive.canonical.com precise Release.gpg
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security Release.gpg
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com precise Release.gpg
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports Release
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/main Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/main i386 Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security Release
Hit http://archive.canonical.com precise Release
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted i386 Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe i386 Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse i386 Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/main TranslationIndex
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse TranslationIndex
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted TranslationIndex
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe TranslationIndex
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted Sources
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com precise Release
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/main Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main i386 Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted i386 Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe i386 Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse i386 Packages
Hit http://archive.canonical.com precise/partner i386 Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/restricted Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/universe Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/multiverse Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/main i386 Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/restricted i386 Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/universe i386 Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/multiverse i386 Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/main TranslationIndex
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/multiverse TranslationIndex
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/restricted TranslationIndex
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main TranslationIndex
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse TranslationIndex
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted TranslationIndex
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe TranslationIndex
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/main Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/restricted Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/universe Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/multiverse Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/main i386 Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/universe TranslationIndex
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/restricted i386 Packages
Ign http://archive.canonical.com precise/partner TranslationIndex
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main i386 Packages
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main TranslationIndex
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/universe i386 Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/multiverse i386 Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/main TranslationIndex
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/multiverse TranslationIndex
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/restricted TranslationIndex
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/main Translation-en
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/multiverse Translation-en
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/universe TranslationIndex
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/main Translation-en
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse Translation-en
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted Translation-en
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe Translation-en
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main Translation-en
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse Translation-en
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted Translation-en
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe Translation-en
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/restricted Translation-en
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/main Translation-en
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/universe Translation-en
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/multiverse Translation-en
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/restricted Translation-en
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/universe Translation-en
Ign http://archive.canonical.com precise/partner Translation-en
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main Translation-en
Reading package lists... Error!
E: Could not open file /var/lib/dpkg/status - open (2: No such file or directory)
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ find /etc/apt -name '*.list' -exec bash -c 'echo -e "\n$1\n"; cat -n "$1"' _ '{}' \;

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/precise-partner.list

     1 deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner #Added by software-center

/etc/apt/sources.list

     1 # deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 12.04 LTS _Precise Pangolin_ - Release i386 (20120423)]/ precise main restricted
     2
     3 # See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
     4 # newer versions of the distribution.
     5 deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted
     6 deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted
     7
     8 ## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
     9 ## distribution.
    10 deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates main restricted
    11 deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates main restricted
    12
    13 ## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
    14 ## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
    15 ## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
    16 deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise universe
    17 deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise universe
    18 deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates universe
    19 deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates universe
    20
    21 ## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
    22 ## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
    23 ## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
    24 ## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
    25 ## security team.
    26 deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise multiverse
    27 deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise multiverse
    28 deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates multiverse
    29 deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates multiverse
    30
    31 ## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
    32 ## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
    33 ## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
    34 ## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
    35 ## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
    36 deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    37 deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    38
    39 deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security main restricted
    40 deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security main restricted
    41 deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security universe
    42 deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security universe
    43 deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security multiverse
    44 deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security multiverse
    45
    46 ## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
    47 ## 'partner' repository.
    48 ## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
    49 ## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
    50 # deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner
    51 # deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner
    52
    53 ## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by third-party
    54 ## developers who want to ship their latest software.
    55 deb http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise main
    56 deb-src http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise main
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$

Hope this helps to resolve the problem I still have. Cannot open Update Manager or Package Manager. This all occured after I updated last time ( a couple days ago or so. Most recent).

Margaret

Revision history for this message
Margaret Mackintosh (mackintosh-margaret) said : 		#7

Just tried again Daniels commands at the beginning in the hopes it would do something. Results are:

margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo rm -r /var/lib/apt/lists/*
[sudo] password for margaret:
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo apt-get update
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise Release.gpg [198 B]
Get:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates Release.gpg [198 B]
Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports Release.gpg [198 B]
Get:4 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise Release [49.6 kB]
Get:5 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security Release.gpg [198 B]
Get:6 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security Release [49.6 kB]
Get:7 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates Release [49.6 kB]
Get:8 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports Release [49.6 kB]
Get:9 http://extras.ubuntu.com precise Release.gpg [72 B]
Get:10 http://archive.canonical.com precise Release.gpg [198 B]
Get:11 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/main Sources [934 kB]
Get:12 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/main Sources [93.6 kB]
Get:13 http://extras.ubuntu.com precise Release [11.9 kB]
Get:14 http://archive.canonical.com precise Release [7,078 B]
Get:15 http://archive.canonical.com precise/partner i386 Packages [8,935 B]
Get:16 http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main Sources [8,130 B]
Get:17 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/restricted Sources [2,494 B]
Get:18 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/universe Sources [29.9 kB]
Get:19 http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main i386 Packages [10.8 kB]
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main TranslationIndex
Get:20 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/multiverse Sources [1,797 B]
Get:21 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security/main i386 Packages [360 kB]
Ign http://archive.canonical.com precise/partner TranslationIndex
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Reading package lists... Error!
E: Could not open file /var/lib/dpkg/status - open (2: No such file or directory)
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$

What do I do now?

Revision history for this message
Margaret Mackintosh (mackintosh-margaret) said : 		#8

This is still open and needing to be solved.

Revision history for this message
Margaret Mackintosh (mackintosh-margaret) said : 		#9

Would downloading a new version of Ubuntu solve this problem?

Margaret

Revision history for this message
Best Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#10

It seems that there was a typo error in one of the commands, which has lead to the situation, that an important file of tha package management system is now missing.

To repair that please issue the following terminal command:

sudo cp /var/lib/dpkg/status-bad /var/lib/dpkg/status

Then try again with

sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt-get upgrade

and copy/paste all output into this question document as done before

Revision history for this message
Margaret Mackintosh (mackintosh-margaret) said : 		#11

Hi Manfred,

Did as you suggested and this is the result:

margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo cp /var/lib/dpkg/status-bad /var/lib/dpkg/status[sudo] password for margaret:
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$ sudo apt-get upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
margaret@margaret-Z62FM:~$

I don't know what I should put at the prompt. Still have error symbol at top of screen.

Margaret

Revision history for this message
Margaret Mackintosh (mackintosh-margaret) said : 		#12

Hi Manfred,

I just checked to see if I could use both the Package Manager and Update Manager. I CAN. Whoopie! The error symbol is also gone so this must of fixed the problem. Thank you very, very much. I also want to thank everyone who has tried to help me with this problem. At the moment the problem is solved, error symbol gone.

Margaret

Revision history for this message
Margaret Mackintosh (mackintosh-margaret) said : 		#13

Thanks Manfred Hampl, that solved my question.