Ubuntu
synaptic package

synaptic package manager error

Asked by dogafin

i was trying to install AWN thru the terminal and somehow, it did not work for me, so ive tried going about it in synaptic package manager to see if i can install it that way and since ive ran into problems going about it thru the terminal, now my synaptics package manager would not load, instead an error window pops up and upon closing, exits the whole application.

this is the error that i am getting:

E: Type 'echo' is not known on line 62 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list
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 somebody help me? i dont know what to do from here in resolving my issue. ive searched about resetting the terminal and so far nothing worked.

Question information

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Ubuntu synaptic Edit question
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Solved by:
Andy Ruddock
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Revision history for this message
fab-furnari (fab-furnari) said : 		#1

Have you edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file?
Can you post it?

Revision history for this message
dogafin (dogafin) said : 		#2

i really dont know what i did, im a ubuntu noob and just installed it 2 days ago. when i try to locate the sources.list file thru search, it says no files found. is it missing? if it cannot be viewed this way, how do i go about manually locating it?

Revision history for this message
dogafin (dogafin) said : 		#3

well nevermind, i was searching for it wrong, overlooked the drop down menu to look into file system and 7 files were found. what should i do then? ive noticed i can open it with software sources window, check an item and a button is made active that says 'revert' - is that what i need to do?

Revision history for this message
Best Andy Ruddock (andy-ruddock) said : 		#4

You need to edit the file /etc/apt/sources.list
This is the file which the package manager uses to get the catalogues of packages from the repositories.
It looks as though you've tried to add other repositories from the command-line, probably using instructions from a web-site somewhere.
Your /etc/apt/sources.list should look something like this (for Ubuntu 8.04) :

-------- sources.list file starts below ----------
#
# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 8.04 _Hardy Heron_ - Release i386 (20080422.2)]/ hardy main restricted

#deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 8.04 _Hardy Heron_ - Release i386 (20080422.2)]/ hardy main restricted
# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.

deb http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy main restricted
deb-src http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy main restricted

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
deb http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates main restricted
deb-src http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates main restricted

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
## universe WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu security
## team.
deb http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy universe
deb-src http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy universe
deb http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates universe
deb-src http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates universe

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
deb http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy multiverse
deb-src http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy multiverse
deb http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates multiverse
deb-src http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates multiverse
## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'backports'
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
# deb http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
# deb-src http://no.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-backports main restricted universe multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository. This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is
## offered by Canonical and the respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu
## users.
# deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu hardy partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu hardy partner

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-security multiverse
-------- sources.list file ends above ----------

Note that these sources are for Norway, hence the http://no.archive urls.

Revision history for this message
dogafin (dogafin) said : 		#5

thank you thank you so much!

Revision history for this message
dogafin (dogafin) said : 		#6

Thanks Andy Ruddock, that solved my question.

Revision history for this message
Danny Mann (princeofheaven) said : 		#7

Here is mine: I was attempting to download a few games and some other enhancements in Updae Manager and I recieved this message:

Could not initialize the package information

A unresolvable problem occurred while initializing the package information.

Please report this bug against the 'update-manager' package and include the following error message:

'E:Problem parsing dependency Depends, E:Error occurred while processing libxalan110 (NewVersion1), E:Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/mirrors.cs.wmich.edu_ubuntu_dists_hardy_universe_binary-amd64_Packages, E:The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.'

I cannot use the update manager until I can resolve this issue. How can I resolve this??

Revision history for this message
millgillo (millgillo) said : 		#8

I have a similar problem with synaptic package manager and wonder how I can remove the error message and begin with a new installation of that service? This is the unremoveable error message:

E: Type 'intrepid' is not known on line 8 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list
E: The list of sources could not be read.
Go to the repository dialog to correct the problem.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

Also, where do I report the message? I'm still very new at Ubuntu 0.04

Any help is appreciated.

<email address hidden>

Revision history for this message
millgillo (millgillo) said : 		#9

sorry about the misplaced version of Ubuntu. It should have read 9.04. <email address hidden>

Revision history for this message
Andy Ruddock (andy-ruddock) said : 		#10

Can you post the contents of /etc/apt/sources.list ?

Revision history for this message
millgillo (millgillo) said : 		#11

Thanks for writing and this is what I found using sudo gedit....I will post this on the launchpad site, too.

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.

intrepid http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
intrepid-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
intrepid http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
intrepid-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
intrepid http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multiverse
intrepid-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multivers

# Gnome Do repositories
intrepid http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main
sudo aptitude update

--- On Fri, 9/18/09, Andy Ruddock <email address hidden> wrote:

From: Andy Ruddock <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #46178]: synaptic package manager error
To: <email address hidden>
Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 1:58 PM

Question #46178 on synaptic in ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic/+question/46178

Andy Ruddock posted a new comment:
Can you post the contents of /etc/apt/sources.list ?

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subscriber of the question.

Revision history for this message
millgillo (millgillo) said : 		#12

Here it is as of this time on my page using gedit....

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.

intrepid http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
intrepid-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
intrepid http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
intrepid-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
intrepid http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multiverse
intrepid-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multivers

# Gnome Do repositories
intrepid http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main
sudo aptitude updateMessage
Move from Inbox

Thanks for willing to <email address hidden>

Revision history for this message
millgillo (millgillo) said : 		#13

Here it is as of this time on my page using gedit....

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.

intrepid http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
intrepid-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
intrepid http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
intrepid-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
intrepid http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multiverse
intrepid-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multivers

# Gnome Do repositories
intrepid http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main
sudo aptitude updateMessage
Move from Inbox

Thanks for willing to <email address hidden>

Revision history for this message
marcobra (Marco Braida) (marcobra) said : 		#14

@milgillo

Please don't append a new question on a already answered or marked as solved question.
Please make new question from here: https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+addquestion
you will get better chance to get right answer on a fresh tagged "open" question.
Solved or answered questions are usually not read from answering people.

Thank you

Revision history for this message
Andy Ruddock (andy-ruddock) said : 		#15

Simply replace the first "intrepid" in each line with "deb".
Your sources.list should be :

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multivers

# Gnome Do repositories
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main

Revision history for this message
millgillo (millgillo) said : 		#16

Thanks for the effort to help.

I replaced the word intrepid with the letters deb and then saved it

I closed down the pc. Restarted it. Went to the synaptic package manager.

The error message is now:

E: Type 'deb.src' is not known on line 11 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list
E: The list of sources could not be read.
Go to the repository dialog to correct the problem.

Thanks for response.

Revision history for this message
Andy Ruddock (andy-ruddock) said : 		#17

You've obviously got "deb.src" rather than "deb-src".

Revision history for this message
millgillo (millgillo) said : 		#18

Yes, thank you. No excuse. I've corrected the matter but continue to get a similar error code when I access the synaptic program manager except now it does not recognize 'deb', but I will try again. Does saving the sources.list suffice for cleaning out the manager?

Revision history for this message
Andy Ruddock (andy-ruddock) said : 		#19

Make sure you do
  Edit -> Reload Package Information
other than that, as long as sources.list is in the correct format it'll be ok.

Revision history for this message
millgillo (millgillo) said : 		#20

I'm still doing something wrong.  The Synaptic package manager continues to show the error message and so also the  Update Manager shows the same error message:
Could not initialize the package information

An unresolvable problem occurred while initializing the package information.

Please report this bug against the 'update-manager' package and include the following error message:

'E:Type 'deb.' is not known on line 12 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list, E:The list of sources could not be read.'Thanks again for trying....

--- On Sun, 9/20/09, Andy Ruddock <email address hidden> wrote:

From: Andy Ruddock <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #46178]: synaptic package manager error
To: <email address hidden>
Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 1:36 AM

Question #46178 on synaptic in ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic/+question/46178

Andy Ruddock posted a new comment:
Make sure you do
  Edit -> Reload Package Information
other than that, as long as sources.list is in the correct format it'll be ok.

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You received this question notification because you are a direct
subscriber of the question.

Revision history for this message
Andy Ruddock (andy-ruddock) said : 		#21

Have you got an extraneous "." on line 12 of /etc/apt/sources.list ?

Revision history for this message
millgillo (millgillo) said : 		#22

Here is a copy  of the sources.list:
## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
deb. http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multivers

# Gnome Do repositories
http://ppa.lanchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main
sudo aptitude updateopI hope this helps.  Thanks for trying.

--- On Sun, 9/20/09, Andy Ruddock <email address hidden> wrote:

From: Andy Ruddock <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #46178]: synaptic package manager error
To: <email address hidden>
Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 1:26 PM

Question #46178 on synaptic in ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic/+question/46178

Andy Ruddock posted a new comment:
Have you got an extraneous "." on line 12 of /etc/apt/sources.list ?

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subscriber of the question.

Revision history for this message
Andy Ruddock (andy-ruddock) said : 		#23

See the extra "." for the multiverse entry.

Your sources.list should have :

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multiverse

# Gnome Do repositories
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main

Revision history for this message
millgillo (millgillo) said : 		#24

Thank you.  I tried to correct the missing dot or period and then went to synaptic and then got this message:E: Type 'http://ppa.lanchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu' is not known on line 16 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list
E: The list of sources could not be read.
Go to the repository dialog to correct the problem.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

--- On Sun, 9/20/09, Andy Ruddock <email address hidden> wrote:

From: Andy Ruddock <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #46178]: synaptic package manager error
To: <email address hidden>
Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 3:49 PM

Question #46178 on synaptic in ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic/+question/46178

Andy Ruddock posted a new comment:
See the extra "." for the multiverse entry.

Your sources.list should have :

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-security multiverse

# Gnome Do repositories
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main

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Revision history for this message
Andy Ruddock (andy-ruddock) said : 		#25

Compare what you have in your sources.list with what I posted.
Look at what the error message is telling you.

Revision history for this message
millgillo (millgillo) said : 		#26

Thanks, Andy Ruddock,Your patience with me did it and your attention to detail made all the difference.  The synaptic is up and running for the first time in several weeks as well as the update manager.Thank you for all your help.Best regardsGil Miller

--- On Mon, 9/21/09, Andy Ruddock <email address hidden> wrote:

From: Andy Ruddock <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #46178]: synaptic package manager error
To: <email address hidden>
Date: Monday, September 21, 2009, 3:08 AM

Question #46178 on synaptic in ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic/+question/46178

Andy Ruddock posted a new comment:
Compare what you have in your sources.list with what I posted.
Look at what the error message is telling you.

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subscriber of the question.