Synaptic and update manager will not initialize

Asked by Travis Gonzales

tried to run update got this message:
E: Could not open file /var/lib/dpkg/status - open (2: No such file or directory)
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

tried
sudo apt-get update
reported
E: Could not open file /var/lib/dpkg/status - open (2: No such file or directory)
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

I also tried rebooting in recovery and selecting "fix broken Packages"

this is my first ever question let me know what I need to include
I have recently switched to ubuntu and am loving it so I am a bit of a babe in the woods

I also should include that this happened not long after running KlamAV which also seemed to have permission issues
thank you for the help and any advice on this issue as well as better question posting would be appreciated
travis

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Revision history for this message
Travis Gonzales (travisgonzales23) said :
#1

I just went and restored all quarantined files in KlamAV and it is running now.
is there a way to effectively scan my puter without causing this?

Revision history for this message
Ian Ace (iaculallad) said :
#2

From the Terminal, perform the following commands below:

sudo -i
rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock
rm /var/cache/apt/archives/lock
dpkg --configure -a

HTH.

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said :
#3

sudo cp -arf /var/lib/dpkg /var/lib/dpkg.backup
sudo cp /var/lib/dpkg/status-old /var/lib/dpkg/status
sudo cp /var/lib/dpkg/available-old /var/lib/dpkg/available
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/dpkg/updates/*; sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists
sudo mkdir /var/lib/apt/lists; sudo mkdir /var/lib/apt/lists/partial
sudo apt-get clean; sudo apt-get autoclean
sudo apt-get update
sudo dpkg --clear-avail; sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt-get install -f
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Revision history for this message
twoflatfish (twoflatfish) said :
#4

The suggestions for solving both the Update and Synaptic failures in 'natty' do not work.
sudo apt-get update brings a long string of downloads which fail as below. It appears to be a problem with the headers on the repository files.

Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted Translation-en_CA
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe Translation-en_CA
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe Translation-en
Fetched 13.7 MB in 41s (327 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Error!
W: GPG error: http://downloadue.info natty InRelease: The following signatures were invalid: NODATA 1 NODATA 2
E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/downloadue.info_repo_dists_natty_all_binary-i386_Packages
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

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

Can you give the output of:

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said :
#6

Can you give the output of:

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said :
#7

gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Thanks

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

Output of: gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 10.10 _Maverick Meerkat_ - Release i386 (20101007)]/ maverick main restricted
# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty restricted main multiverse universe #Added by software-properties

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-updates main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-updates restricted main multiverse universe #Added by software-properties

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-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://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-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://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-backports main restricted universe multiverse
# deb-src http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-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 natty partner
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu natty partner

## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by third-party
## developers who want to ship their latest software.
deb http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty main
deb-src http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty main

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-security main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-security restricted main multiverse universe #Added by software-properties
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-security universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-security multiverse
deb http://downloadue.info/repo natty all #Ultimate Edition Repository disabled on upgrade to natty
# deb-src http://downloadue.info/repo maverick all #Ultimate Edition Repository

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

Thanks actionparsnip

You are correct in focussing on the 'sources list'

I removed "Ultimate Edition Repository" from my 'Other sources' list and the problem appears to be solved

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said :
#10

Are you using Ultimate?

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

As I recall I think that I needed it when I was installing Google Earth in Ubuntu 10.10before upgrading to 'natty'

Revision history for this message
tahar_ali (tahar-ali) said :
#12

I have used Ubuntu 10.04 but i did not open update manager and synaptic package manager . Please help me.

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said :
#13

Google Earth is available in the partner repo as well as a deb on the google website...

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