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synaptic corrupted

Asked by mikeys

E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

See above error message which i get when I try to open synaptic. It occurred because synaptic froze while reinstalling hpoj. My local LPT1 printer refuses to print, so I tried to reinstall hplip and hpoj, but now synaptic is broken. Pls help ASAP.

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mikeys (mike-cislo) said : 		#1

Do not know how to reinstall synaptic in terminal - new to linux.

Also, do not understand why I do not ever have read/write access to anything other than my home dir. Do not know how to switch to root so I have for example read/write in usr/lib where I was trying unsuccessfully to install Adobe Reader 7.0, which is not included as package with 7.04.

Not familiar with basic commands in terminal - pls provide detailed instructions.

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Alan Pope 🍺🐧🐱 🦄 (popey) said : 		#2

It's not synaptic that needs re-installing. You just need to run the command that it suggests, but as root, like this:-

sudo dpkg --configure -a

Sudo is a way of temporarily elevating your access to run a command. See http://wiki.ubuntu.com/RootSudo

I would recommend you do not change the permissions on folders such as /usr as this could lead to having an insecure system and also lead to possible damage or non-booting of the machine.

The following page details how to install Acrobat, and provides a link to the Medibuntu repository:-

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AcrobatHowTo

You need to follow the instructions labelled "Adding the repositories" here https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu

Then you should find acrobat installable from synaptic.

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mikeys (mike-cislo) said : 		#3

Yes, I did the dpkg command and it worked OK, synaptic now opens and functions.

HOWEVER, I am trying now to install my local LPT printer via HPLIP and every time the install freezes when I hit the box FINISHED, CPU goes up and cannot do anything else. Just uninstalled hpoj via synaptic. Should I uninstall COMPLETELY hplip and then do what??

My two printers (local and network) worked until very recently OK. Why is this happening?

Thanks for the article. I wanted read/write in usr/lib because the instructions on how to install Acrobat 7.0 from Adobe site want installation there and that fails every time since I do not have read/write access.

Pls advise ASAP.

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mikeys (mike-cislo) said : 		#4

Is there an article somewhere that gives new users examples of BASIC COMMANDS for terminal?

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Best mikeys (mike-cislo) said : 		#5

Got rid of HPLIP and installed printers via NEW PRINTER - all is OK now. Pls fix HPLIP - package is no good - ask HP to help you fix it.

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Alan Pope 🍺🐧🐱 🦄 (popey) said : 		#6

You haven't actually told us what's wrong with HPLIP as far as I can see.

You can test installing it using this command:-

sudo apt-get install hplip

And if you get any errors you could paste them here so we can see them.
Thanks.