Ubuntu
apt package

trouble installing new programs - package problem

Asked by travis

Whenever I try to install anything new, like Java or Itunes, I receive this error message:

E: Encountered a section with no package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/ppa.launchpad.net_ubuntu-wine?ppa_ppa_ubuntu_dists_natty_main_binary-i386_Packages
E:The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

I have tried a few fixes from similar problems, but I always encounter the same problem again in the end.

Anything you can suggest would be great.

Thanks so much,
Louise

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Revision history for this message
michael (yellupcm-gmail) said : 		#1

Java is in Ubuntu Software Center.
If you Google "Itunes Linux", there are a good many answers.

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#2

Try https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+faq/1591

If the error comes back you might have an error in one of your apt configuration files (maybe with a nonprintable character).

In that case open a terminal (ctrl-alt-t) and enter the following command

grep wine /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*

Then select all output (edit - select all) copy it (edut copy) and paste all output into a new message of this question thread.

Revision history for this message
travis (weeztrav) said : 		#3

Thanks so much for your help. I tried what you said, and here is my output...

travis@travis-Aspire-5735:~$ grep wine /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*
/etc/apt/sources.list:# deb http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt edgy main # disabled on upgrade to natty
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-wine-ppa-natty.list:deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-wine/ppa/ubuntu natty main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-wine-ppa-natty.list:deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-wine/ppa/ubuntu natty main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-wine-ppa-natty.list.save:deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-wine/ppa/ubuntu natty main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-wine-ppa-natty.list.save:deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-wine/ppa/ubuntu natty main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-wine_ppa-ppa-natty.list:deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-wine?ppa/ppa/ubuntu natty main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-wine_ppa-ppa-natty.list:deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-wine?ppa/ppa/ubuntu natty main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-wine_ppa-ppa-natty.list.save:deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-wine?ppa/ppa/ubuntu natty main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-wine_ppa-ppa-natty.list.save:deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-wine?ppa/ppa/ubuntu natty main
travis@travis-Aspire-5735:~$

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#4

As expected, there are wrong characters (question marks) in the ppa addresses.

my recommendation for correcting that is to delete all the files that point to the ubuntu-wine ppa, and to re-create them with the correct command.

open a terminal and issue the following commands:

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-wine*natty.list
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-wine*natty.list.save
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update

When asked for your password please enter it but note, that you will not see any feedback (no echo, not even '*' placeholders) for the password.

After that you should be able to use the package management programs again to install whatever program you want.

Revision history for this message
travis (weeztrav) said : 		#5

Ok...thank you again by the way.
I followed your advice and put those commands in...
Here is my output

travis@travis-Aspire-5735:~$ sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-wine*natty.list
[sudo] password for travis:
travis@travis-Aspire-5735:~$ sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-wine*natty.list.save
travis@travis-Aspire-5735:~$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
Executing: gpg --ignore-time-conflict --no-options --no-default-keyring --secret-keyring /etc/apt/secring.gpg --trustdb-name /etc/apt/trustdb.gpg --keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg --primary-keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80/ --recv 883E8688397576B6C509DF495A9A06AEF9CB8DB0
gpg: requesting key F9CB8DB0 from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com
gpg: key F9CB8DB0: "Launchpad PPA for Ubuntu Wine Team" not changed
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg: unchanged: 1
travis@travis-Aspire-5735:~$ sudo apt-get update
Ign http://.archive.canonical.com lucid InRelease
Err http://.archive.canonical.com lucid Release.gpg
  Something wicked happened resolving '.archive.canonical.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Ign http://.archive.canonical.com lucid Release
Ign http://.archive.canonical.com lucid/partner TranslationIndex
Err http://.archive.canonical.com lucid/partner i386 Packages
  Something wicked happened resolving '.archive.canonical.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://.archive.canonical.com lucid/partner Translation-en_US
  Something wicked happened resolving '.archive.canonical.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://.archive.canonical.com lucid/partner Translation-en
  Something wicked happened resolving '.archive.canonical.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty InRelease
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty InRelease
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty InRelease
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release.gpg
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates InRelease
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security InRelease
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com natty Release.gpg
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty Release.gpg
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com natty Release
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Sources
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates Release.gpg [198 B]
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security Release.gpg
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty Release
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates Release [31.4 kB]
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security Release
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/main Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/main i386 Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted i386 Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe i386 Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse i386 Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe TranslationIndex
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main Sources [101 kB]
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main Sources
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main i386 Packages
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main TranslationIndex
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main i386 Packages
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main TranslationIndex
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted Sources [14 B]
Get:5 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe Sources [23.2 kB]
Get:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse Sources [1,895 B]
Get:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main i386 Packages [306 kB]
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main Translation-en
Get:8 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted i386 Packages [14 B]
Get:9 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe i386 Packages [85.6 kB]
Get:10 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse i386 Packages [4,257 B]
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe TranslationIndex
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/main Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/main i386 Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted i386 Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe i386 Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse i386 Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/main Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/main Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe Translation-en_US
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe Translation-en
Fetched 554 kB in 13s (42.2 kB/s)
W: Failed to fetch http://.archive.canonical.com/dists/lucid/Release.gpg Something wicked happened resolving '.archive.canonical.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)

W: Failed to fetch http://.archive.canonical.com/dists/lucid/partner/binary-i386/Packages Something wicked happened resolving '.archive.canonical.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)

W: Failed to fetch http://.archive.canonical.com/dists/lucid/partner/i18n/Translation-en_US Something wicked happened resolving '.archive.canonical.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)

W: Failed to fetch http://.archive.canonical.com/dists/lucid/partner/i18n/Translation-en Something wicked happened resolving '.archive.canonical.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)

E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
travis@travis-Aspire-5735:~$

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#6

Now you seem to have another error in your sources.list

open update-manager
click on settings
and browse through your software sources.

there must somewhere be an entry starting with http://.archive.canonical.com
That has to be changed to http://archive.canonical.com

Can you help with this problem?

Provide an answer of your own, or ask travis for more information if necessary.

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