Still can't update or install software

[dmhm]

On booting, the system attempts to update but can't.

The Error Message I get follows:

"This is a major failure of your software management system. Please check for broken packages with synaptic,

check the file permissions and correctness of the file '

/etc/apt/sources.list"

The contents of /etc/apt/sources.list is:

deb http://mirror.tuxis.nl/packages/ debian main upstream import romeo
deb http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest testing main contrib non-free
deb http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/security testing/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/multimedia testing main non-free


and reload the software information with: '

sudo apt-get update

' and 'sudo apt-get install -f'.


But on opening Synaptic I get:

"E: Encountered a section with no Package: header

E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/debian.linuxmint.com_latest_multimedia_dists_testing_main_i18n_Translation-en

E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

E: _cache->open() failed, please report."


But doesn't tell me who I should report this event to.

Next, I download a file from a website and try to install it manually, but this is what i got:

"Package Installer

Software Index is Broken

This is a major failure of your software management system. Please check for broken packages with synaptic, check the file permissions and correctness of the file '/etc/apt/sources.list' and reload the software information with: 'sudo apt-get update' and 'sudo apt-get install -f'."

So I did that, but received the same message I got when I opened synaptic.

So what's the solution? Any suggestions? Reinstall LMDE? Or, what do I need to reconfigure?

TIA

[xenopeek]

Seems you have the same problem as this member: viewtopic.php?f=198&t=114923#p638950. Suggest you try my solution there.

[dmhm]

Seems you have the same problem as this member: viewtopic.php?f=198&t=114923#p638950. Suggest you try my solution there.

Thank you Vincent. I had to do it twice but that did the trick. I am currently installing the 716 updates that accumulated during the time this problem has persisted. (And I posted about it on at least 3 occasions, since it started).

Other than post to this forum, what do you suggest I study to get up to speed?

In other words: What should I read and assimilate in order to know what to do, next time something comes up?

Thanks again.

[xenopeek]

That's a tough question to answer; I learned the most and the fastest since joining here last year and trying to solve other people's problems That said, as you are running LMDE, I think the Debian Administrator's Handbook is an excellent resource to understand more about packages, repositories and so on. You can read it online, download as ebook, or purchase as a printed book: http://debian-handbook.info/. You can pick and choose the chapters that seem interesting to you, though I read it all as it was so well written Some parts do not apply to LMDE and only to Debian, but most parts you can use.