Linux Mint Forums

I Can update ok but keep getting a message that multi-arch was not found, when trying to install it I get,

dpkg: error: unknown option --add-architecture

Type dpkg --help for help about installing and un-installing packages [*];
Use `dselect' or `aptitude' for user-friendly package management;
Type dpkg -Dhelp for a list of dpkg debug flag values;
Type dpkg --force-help for a list of forcing options;
Type dpkg-deb --help for help about manipulating *.deb files;

Options marked [*] produce a lot of output - pipe it through `less' or `more' !

How else can I add multi-arch ? (Please keep it simple)

It would help if you share the command you are running, and if you share what Linux Mint edition and version you are on. If you are using Linux Mint 14 RC (so the test release, and not the final release), you need to follow these steps to add multiarch support: http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=2211

I am using Linux mint 13 64 bit version cinnamon.

the command I type in is sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

which then results in the message posted in my first post.

Thanks

Perhaps you should clarify why you are trying to do this, because on Linux Mint 13 64-bit multi arch is already enabled. It was only an issue for the Linux Mint 14 64-bit release candidate, and fixed in the final release.

Also, you should study "man dpkg" because the "--add-architecture" option is not available on Linux Mint 13's dpkg (it is available on Linux Mint 14's dpkg).

I'd suggest you start by checking which architectures are enabled on your system. Here is my output from Linux Mint 13 64-bit: Should you need to add the i386 architecture because for some reason it has been removed from your dpkg configuration, I believe on Linux Mint 13 you would do that with:

Thanks for the response but am still struggling with this as the message is the same,

sudo dpkg --foreign-architecture i386
[sudo] password for d
dpkg: error: need an action option

Type dpkg --help for help about installing and un-installing packages [*];
Use `dselect' or `aptitude' for user-friendly package management;
Type dpkg -Dhelp for a list of dpkg debug flag values;
Type dpkg --force-help for a list of forcing options;
Type dpkg-deb --help for help about manipulating *.deb files;

Options marked [*] produce a lot of output - pipe it through `less' or `more' !

Right, my mistake. The --foreign-architecture is only for one time use, for example to install one package from another architecture.

Linux Mint 13 has the file /etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg.d/multiarch, which has the following contents by default: Check your file. And can you confirm the output you get from the two command I shared earlier?

Hi,
Using those commands I get the same response as yourself,

--print-architecture gives the response amd64
--print-foreign-architectures gives the response i386

Okay, then can you share what error or problem you have exactly that made you want to enable multiarch?

Well it's not causing me any problems that I am aware of it's simply that when I update the final line comes up about multi-arch missing plus children.
As a Newbie I was just concerned that the failue of a package to either update or be missing could be causing some problems that I was unaware of.

It does seem to have cleared now as the update automatically closes.

Thanks