Cannot Update Mint14 [Solved]

[InkKnife]

My software update utility is failing. I get the following errors:

ERROR###ERROR###ERROR###ERROR###ERROR###ERROR###ERROR
E:Encountered a section with no Package: header, E:Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_quantal_main_i18n_Translation-en, E:The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

What happened and more importantly, how to I fix this? I haven't been doing anything risky or exotic.

[viking777]

So try this, open a terminal and type (or copy):

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sudo mv /var/lib/apt/lists/archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_quantal_main_i18n_Translation-en /var/lib/apt/lists/archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_quantal_main_i18n_Translation-en.old

Then try and update again. If it makes things worse you can revert to the original situation with:

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sudo mv /var/lib/apt/lists/archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_quantal_main_i18n_Translation-en.old  /var/lib/apt/lists/archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_quantal_main_i18n_Translation-en

Reverting to the original situation won't make things work of course, it just means we have to think again.

[InkKnife]

No go on that. The first command id not make anything worse, I just get the same errors.

[viking777]

So reset things with the second command I gave and then run:

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sudo apt-get update

From a terminal and post the result here.

[InkKnife]

Found the solution over in Ubuntu's forums. I used this command and it fixed my problem:

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sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/* -vf && sudo apt-get update

Thank you very much for you willingness to help

[InkKnife]

Looks like this was caused by my turning off my modem but not turning off my WiFi base station. Apparently if Update Manager looks for updates while connected to a wifi base station that is not connected to the Internet bad things happen. It is a known bug.
http://osdir.com/ml/ubuntu-bugs/2012-12/msg01738.html