i cant intall updates

What does this mean? PLease help. "E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report."

Hello,

Simply open a terminal and type :

sudo dpkg --configure -a

Enter your password when asked. That's all.

- Rafik.

If you make sure ALL package apps are closed (like synaptic) and you still get the issue then please execute (in terminal (gnome) or konsole (KDE))

sudo fuser -vki /var/lib/dpkg/lock;sudo dpkg --configure -a

That should fix you right up.

Peace

Don't worry it just happens sometimes. Mine suffered like that last week but it was back running smoothly quite fast. To open a terminal console go up to the top taskbar (panel) and click on

Applications - Accessories - Terminal

Into the terminal/command window/console type (or copy&paste with the mouse)

sudo dpkg --configure -a

ActionParsnip's answer probably works too but Rafik was wise trying to do exactly what the error message advised. The error message was simply saying that your updates or installing of a program got interrupted at a really bad moment and your machine just needs a little prodding to fix that. You'll probably find that the machine is completely fine to use apart from not letting you install stuff until you've fixed the problem ;)

I hope this helps!
Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Tom,
What will i do if this message pop up?

E: The package linux-image-2.6.24-23-generic needs to be reinstalled, but I can't find an archive for it.
E: Internal error opening cache (1). Please report.

thanks,
MM

From: Tom <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 9:03:08 PM
Subject: Re: [Question #68000]: i cant intall updates

Your question #68000 on Ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/68000

Tom proposed the following answer:
Don't worry it just happens sometimes. Mine suffered like that last
week but it was back running smoothly quite fast. To open a terminal
console go up to the top taskbar (panel) and click on

Applications - Accessories - Terminal

Into the terminal/command window/console type (or copy&paste with the
mouse)

sudo dpkg --configure -a

ActionParsnip's answer probably works too but Rafik was wise trying to
do exactly what the error message advised. The error message was simply
saying that your updates or installing of a program got interrupted at a
really bad moment and your machine just needs a little prodding to fix
that. You'll probably find that the machine is completely fine to use
apart from not letting you install stuff until you've fixed the problem
;)

I hope this helps!
Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

--
If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
know that it is solved:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/68000/+confirm?answer_id=3

If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
following page to enter your feedback:
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Hmmm, i got something similar when i ran out of free drive-space. Please check to see if you have at least a couple Mb free. Try emptying the bin and if you use Evolution or Thunderbird then empty the bins in there, you could probably try the option to "compact folders" in there too. If you still don't have enough free-space then in a terminal console enter

sudo apt-get clean
sudo lshw -sanitize
sudo apt-get autoremove

and if you can open Synaptic Package Manager look in

Settings - Preferences

for the tab that lets you clear the downloaded apps cache. Then try

sudo dpkg --configure -a

again. Instead of using the command-line entry there i decided to reboot and used "recovery mode" from the boot-menu to try to clear some more space and also to "fix broken packages" from there. Either should be fine but i think there are slight differences in what they do so if one way doesn't work try the other.

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

I fail to see how lshw (hardare listing) can free space

According to man lshw (http://linux.die.net/man/1/lshw)

-sanitize
    Remove potentially sensible information from output (IP addresses, serial numbers, etc.).

So the command is useless in this situation.

Good to see another helpful answer attempting to resolve the issue at hand.

Just maintaining focus of answers by keeping answers relevant to stave user frustration. Its not intended as malicious.

ActionParsnip
Perhaps you could try helping fix the problem? Clearly you seem to know all the answers

I dont know ALL the answers. What I do know is when a suggestion is relevant.

I have suggested reviewing the installed packages using

dpkg -l | less

which will show a whole swathe of rubbish..for example

If an nvidia graphics card is used then no other video driver is needed. However if you execute

dpkg -l | grep xserver-xorg-video-

you will see you have video drivers fro SiS, Trident, Intel, ATi, Voodoo and all other stuff you will NEVER use and are taking up space. Ubuntu trys to accommodate all user but it is HUGELY bloated with the default driver sets as its mainly aimed at newbs to Linux. These take up a lot of space and can be safetly removed (Just dont remove necessary drivers)

Other fluff includes the installation of 4 (count them FOUR) package managers: aptitude, apt-get, synaptic and gdebi. Again all thats really needed is apt-get and maybe synaptic if you like a gui app. Again this takes up more unnecessary space as the functionality is duplicated.

Old kernels can also be uninstalled and will free about 100Mb a kernel.

*WARNING*
Remember to keep the kernel you are currently running or your system will not boot.

Like I said above, look through the installed apps and remove the fluff. There is a LOT in a default Ubuntu install if you havent already done this.