Synaptic error on opening

Asked by Luis M.Jacinto

Ubuntu 16.04
After trying to chance the web sites in Repositories Software & Updates I did something
wrong and Synaptic opens but shows this error on opening clicking on Close and goes away.

E: Malformed entry 55 in list file /etc/apt/sources.list (Component)
E: The list of sources could not be read.
Go to the repository dialog to correct the problem.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

Can someone please help to correct this
Thank you

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Solved by:
Manfred Hampl
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Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said :
#1

What is the output of:

cat -n /etc/apt/sources.list| grep 5

Thanks

Revision history for this message
Luis M.Jacinto (ljacinto) said :
#2

Searching on the web fount this “sudo -H gedit /etc/apt/sources.list” to fix entry 55 I execute this and the command sudo apt-get update it took long time to complete.
Now I can get into Synaptic but Repositories Software & Updates are in a mess, just had a Software Update when running gave errors I stop to first fix Software & Updates.
Terminal output:

luis@luis-Ubuntu-16:~$ cat -n /etc/apt/sources.list| grep 5
     5 # deb http://mirror.wiru.co.za/ubuntu/ xenial main restricted
    15 ## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
    25 ## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
    35 ## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
    45 deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu xenial partner
    50 # deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security universe
    51 deb http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-archive/ xenial-security multiverse
    52 # deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security multiverse
    53 deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial main universe restricted multiverse
    54 deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial multiverse universe restricted main #Added by software-properties
    55 deb http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-archive/ xenial universe
luis@luis-Ubuntu-16:~$

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said :
#3

For diagnostic purposes please open a terminal window and execute the commands

uname -a
lsb_release -crid
sudo apt-get update

and then copy/paste all output into this question document that we can check the results.

Revision history for this message
Luis M.Jacinto (ljacinto) said :
#4

Have notification of new Software Update.

luis@luis-Ubuntu-16:~$ uname -a
Linux luis-Ubuntu-16 4.4.0-130-generic #156-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jun 14 08:51:45 UTC 2018 i686 i686 i686 GNU/Linux
luis@luis-Ubuntu-16:~$ lsb_release -crid
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 16.04.4 LTS
Release: 16.04
Codename: xenial
luis@luis-Ubuntu-16:~$ sudo apt-get update
[sudo] password for luis:
Hit:1 http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-archive xenial InRelease
Get:2 http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-archive xenial-updates InRelease [109 kB]
Hit:3 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates InRelease [109 kB]
Hit:5 http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-archive xenial-security InRelease
Hit:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Get:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main i386 Packages [757 kB]
Get:8 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/universe i386 Packages [619 kB]
Fetched 1,595 kB in 9s (174 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
luis@luis-Ubuntu-16:~$

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said :
#5

Looks OK. Is synaptic happy now?

Revision history for this message
Luis M.Jacinto (ljacinto) said :
#6

Synaptic is working but still problems.
Repositories Software & Updates Other Software some of entries are missing don’t know if
is going to cause problems.
Please advise
Thank your

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said :
#7

"Synaptic is working but still problems"
Please provide details about the problems that you see in synaptic.

Revision history for this message
Luis M.Jacinto (ljacinto) said :
#8

One problem is in Repositories Software & Updates Other Software there are only two entries

http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-archive/ xenial mutiverse
http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-archive/ xenial-updates multiverse

I am sure there was about 6 entries before.
The other problems are about my question 672550 that is for later.

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said :
#9

What is the full output of the commands

cat -n /etc/apt/sources.list
grep deb /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list

Revision history for this message
Luis M.Jacinto (ljacinto) said :
#10

luis@luis-Ubuntu-16:~$ cat -n /etc/apt/sources.list
     1 # deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 16.04 LTS _Xenial Xerus_ - Release i386 (20160420.1)]/ xenial main restricted
     2
     3 # See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
     4 # newer versions of the distribution.
     5 # deb http://mirror.wiru.co.za/ubuntu/ xenial main restricted
     6 # deb-src http://za.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial main restricted
     7
     8 ## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
     9 ## distribution.
    10 deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates main restricted
    11 # deb-src http://za.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial-updates main restricted
    12
    13 ## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
    14 ## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
    15 ## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
    16 ## universe WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu security
    17 ## team.
    18 # deb http://mirror.wiru.co.za/ubuntu/ xenial universe
    19 # deb-src http://za.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial universe
    20 deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates universe
    21 # deb-src http://za.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial-updates universe
    22
    23 ## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
    24 ## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
    25 ## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
    26 ## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
    27 ## security team.
    28 deb http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-archive/ xenial multiverse
    29 # deb-src http://za.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial multiverse
    30 deb http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-archive/ xenial-updates multiverse
    31 # deb-src http://za.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial-updates multiverse
    32
    33 ## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
    34 ## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
    35 ## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
    36 ## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
    37 ## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
    38 # deb-src http://za.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    39
    40 ## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
    41 ## 'partner' repository.
    42 ## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
    43 ## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
    44 deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu xenial partner
    45 deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu xenial partner
    46
    47 deb http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-archive/ xenial-security main restricted
    48 # deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security main restricted
    49 deb http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-archive/ xenial-security universe
    50 # deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security universe
    51 deb http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-archive/ xenial-security multiverse
    52 # deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security multiverse
    53 deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial main universe restricted multiverse
    54 deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial multiverse universe restricted main #Added by software-properties
    55 deb http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-archive/ xenial universe
    56 deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial-security main restricted universe multiverse
    57 deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports main restricted universe multiverse
luis@luis-Ubuntu-16:~$ grep deb /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/bit-team-ubuntu-testing-xenial.list:# deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/bit-team/testing/ubuntu xenial main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/bit-team-ubuntu-testing-xenial.list:# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/bit-team/testing/ubuntu xenial main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-earth.list:# deb http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/jonathonf-ubuntu-backports-xenial.list:# deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/jonathonf/backports/ubuntu xenial main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/jonathonf-ubuntu-backports-xenial.list:# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/jonathonf/backports/ubuntu xenial main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/librecad-dev-ubuntu-librecad-daily-xenial.list:# deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/librecad-dev/librecad-daily/ubuntu xenial main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/librecad-dev-ubuntu-librecad-daily-xenial.list:# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/librecad-dev/librecad-daily/ubuntu xenial main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/librecad-dev-ubuntu-librecad-stable-xenial.list:# deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/librecad-dev/librecad-stable/ubuntu xenial main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/librecad-dev-ubuntu-librecad-stable-xenial.list:# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/librecad-dev/librecad-stable/ubuntu xenial main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/libreoffice-ubuntu-libreoffice-5-4-xenial.list:# deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/libreoffice/libreoffice-5-4/ubuntu xenial main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/libreoffice-ubuntu-libreoffice-5-4-xenial.list:# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/libreoffice/libreoffice-5-4/ubuntu xenial main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/qbittorrent-team-ubuntu-qbittorrent-stable-xenial.list:# deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/qbittorrent-team/qbittorrent-stable/ubuntu xenial main
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/qbittorrent-team-ubuntu-qbittorrent-stable-xenial.list:# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/qbittorrent-team/qbittorrent-stable/ubuntu xenial main
luis@luis-Ubuntu-16:~$

Revision history for this message
Best Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said :
#11

There is a weird mixture of different repository servers in your package management configuration.

http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/
http://mirror.wiru.co.za/ubuntu/
http://ubuntu.saix.net/ubuntu-archive/
http://za.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/

You should make up your mind which repository server you want to use:
* archive.ubuntu.com (the central server, not recommended to avoid overload)
* za.archive.ubuntu.com (central country server for South Africa, could be a good choice if you are located there)
* mirror.wiru.co.za (local server in South Africa, seems a good choice if you are near, see https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+mirror/mirror.wiru.co.za-archive )
* ubuntu.saix.net (I cannot judge, because information is missing on https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archivemirrors but available on https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+cdmirrors )

You should rework your sources.list configuration file and select ONE repository server for all main references.
Note, that for xenial-security it is ok to use http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu
and for xenial partner it has to be http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu

Revision history for this message
Luis M.Jacinto (ljacinto) said :
#12

Thanks Manfred Hampl, that solved my question.