Update Manager, nothing is working

Asked by acidwarp

'E:Malformed line 1 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list (dist), E:The list of sources could not be read.'

My sources.list file got wiped when I followed some websites bad advice on updating to libreoffice. if anyone could help me with restoring it, it would be amazing. i was really looking forward to getting 10.10 in a couple of days.

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Ubuntu update-manager Edit question
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Nitesh Mistry
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Nitesh Mistry (mistrynitesh) said :
#1

This problem can be solved easily, but first you will need to let us know, which version are you using ie, whether 10.04 or the previous ones?

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Nitesh Mistry (mistrynitesh) said :
#2

It would also help if you could post the contents of the file:
/etc/apt/sources.list

Just copy the contents and paste them here.

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acidwarp (strowbridge) said :
#3

I am using 10.04. Sorry about that.

the contents of the file are as follows:

deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/gericom/libreoffice/
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid main universe restricted multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid main universe restricted multiverse #Added by software-properties
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-security universe main multiverse restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-security universe main multiverse restricted
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-proposed universe main multiverse restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-proposed universe main multiverse restricted
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-updates universe main multiverse restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-updates universe main multiverse restricted

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Best Nitesh Mistry (mistrynitesh) said :
#4

Okay, so now do this:

1. Press Alt+F2
2. In the dialogue box type "gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list"
3. Enter the password when asked. A new window will open showing the above contents.
4. In this newly opened window, add hash (ie. "#" without quotes) at the beginning of the first line which says "deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/gericom/libreoffice/"
5. Save and close the files

Now try updating again.

However, you will not be able to install libre-office right now. I guess libre-office right now will be same as OpenOffice that is already installed on your system. You will be able to install it whenever they get available in official repositories

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acidwarp (strowbridge) said :
#5

thank you so much for helping me with this. i learned two valuable lessons. don't trust all websites and the ubuntu community is awesome. i appreciate your help very much!

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Nitesh Mistry (mistrynitesh) said :
#6

You are always welcome.

I would strongly suggest against adding third party repositories unless extremely necessary and there is no chance of the software featuring in official repositories.

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Nigel Jones (nigel-j-jones) said :
#7

Thank you for your question, and the answer. I had the same issue and your advice worked for me in 10.10 too.

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Ampers (ampers) said :
#8

Tried to get the program from the Libre site. In the website it says:

Linux

As a general rule, you are recommended to install LibreOffice via the installation methods recommended by your particular Linux distribution (such as the Ubuntu Software Center, in the case of Ubuntu Linux).

I am using 10.10 and it is not in the Ubuntu Software Centre.

Tell me, what don't they know that you do know :-)

I can wait as there is no way I can download the deb64 from there, it has the program ready to download but there is no download button :-(