[SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

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DougB
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[SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by DougB »

I've been running UP5 Cinnamon/MATE with no problems for a number of weeks, but after a recent Update suddenly find the Synaptic and Update Managers totally screwed.
On opening Synaptic Manager I get the following message:
"E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/packages.linuxmint.com_dists_debian_import_i18n_Translation-en
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report."
and Synaptic Manager crashes.

On opening Update Manager I get this:
"W: GPG error: http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing Release: The following signatures were invalid: BADSIG 07DC563D1F41B907 Christian Marillat <marillat@debian.org>"
On closing that window, this appears:
"E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/packages.linuxmint.com_dists_debian_import_i18n_Translation-en
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report"

and at the bottom of the Update Manager panel is the message:
"Could not refresh the list of packages"

How do I get Synaptic and Update managers back to working?
Last edited by DougB on Wed Oct 17, 2012 5:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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xenopeek
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Re: Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by xenopeek »

You can remove the package lists, and then fetch them anew. To do so open a terminal and run the following two commands (one at a time):

Code: Select all

sudo rm -fv /var/lib/apt/lists/*
sudo apt-get update
That should solve the MergeList issue.
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DougB
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Re: [SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by DougB »

Many thanks; that did the trick :D
Massimiliano

Re: [SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by Massimiliano »

Thanks, I had the same issues and this worked perfectly! :-)
anassor

Re: [SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by anassor »

Me too! thank you :D
but i'd like to know what happened, why that error appeared...anyone can explain? i have no idea how mergelist works.
ImpliedConsent

Re: Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by ImpliedConsent »

xenopeek wrote:You can remove the package lists, and then fetch them anew. To do so open a terminal and run the following two commands (one at a time):

Code: Select all

sudo rm -fv /var/lib/apt/lists/*
sudo apt-get update
That should solve the MergeList issue.
Perfecto - I had a feeling I needed to remove the lists - this sealed it and now I'm golden as well. TY
tomdiana

Re: [SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by tomdiana »

Thank you! This also fixed this problem for me.
hman469

Re: [SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by hman469 »

Thank you, finding this fix made my day!
ber

Re: [SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by ber »

Thank you, this fixed my problem too.
Another question...this happens quite often on my system.

I would be able to resolve it somehow- essentially i can see that its related to my repository list not being correct- why does it change??
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xenopeek
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Re: [SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by xenopeek »

The new mintSources program in development for Linux Mint 15 (but AFAIK also coming to LMDE) will have a button to fix such issues. See heading "Latest development" here: http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=2337. I'm not sure why it happens, perhaps related to interrupted network connection?
ber wrote:essentially i can see that its related to my repository list not being correct
How so? Can you share your repository list. Do so with copying the output of the following command:

Code: Select all

inxi -r
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J@n
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Re: [SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by J@n »

Hi All,

Had the same problem and the tip from Xenopeek did the job for the better part. After I applied the "sudo rm ..." and the "sudo update..." I got this error:
W: GPG error: http://mintlinux.mirror.triple-it.nl nadia Release: The following signatures were invalid: BADSIG 3EE67F3D0FF405B2 Clement Lefebvre (Linux Mint Package Repository v1) <root@linuxmint.com>
I changed the download server (Update Manager > Software Sources > Download from) to another server and presto! Updates came flying in without a glitch.

HTH

Greetz,

J@n
AMD Phenom II X4 975 - 16 GB DDR3-1033 - 55 GB SSD - 1.5 TB HDD - 2 TB HDD - Mint 13

If it don't fit use a hammer
KeesA

Re: [SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by KeesA »

I had the same problem as you today J@n.
Thanks for help, I changed to the main server and no bad sign message came up.
Any thoughts why triple-it.nl gave the message?
sg1efc
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Re: Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by sg1efc »

xenopeek wrote:You can remove the package lists, and then fetch them anew. To do so open a terminal and run the following two commands (one at a time):

Code: Select all

sudo rm -fv /var/lib/apt/lists/*
sudo apt-get update
That should solve the MergeList issue.
Thank you very much Xenopeek, this also worked for me. :)
clemrutter

Re: [SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by clemrutter »

Thanks for the solution- it solved it for me. What happened? How many folk are sitting out there locked out? Technically can it it be automagically corrected? It seems like a bug that needs to be detected in future and dealt with before the user discovers it.
mohinga

Re: Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by mohinga »

xenopeek wrote:You can remove the package lists, and then fetch them anew. To do so open a terminal and run the following two commands (one at a time):

Code: Select all

sudo rm -fv /var/lib/apt/lists/*
sudo apt-get update
That should solve the MergeList issue.
thanks xenopeek that solved my problem. Only thing was it needed a reboot to take effect. I guess most linux users would know that, but I didn't. I plead old age... fortunately the idea to reboot eventually arose.
Ali Adnan

Re: [SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by Ali Adnan »

the problem returns again after few minutes ,
in terminal
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.removed/ubuntu/dists/ ... 6/Packages 404 Not Found [IP: 141.101.116.236 80]

E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

???
killer de bug

Re: [SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by killer de bug »

First, the old thread is not yours.
You should create a new post to describe your issue.

Second, if you use LMDE, you should not have repo from Ubuntu enabled.
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Pilosopong Tasyo
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Re: [SOLVED] Synaptic and Update Managers screwed in UP5

Post by Pilosopong Tasyo »

Ali Adnan: As suggested, please start a new thread in the appropriate section of the forum. Thread locked.
o Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime!
o If an issue has been fixed, please edit your first post and add the word [SOLVED].
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