Cannot open Software Boutique due to Apt Error

Support & Help Requests
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#1

As per title.

Tried to open the software boutique. Nothing opened, then some several second later an error was reported.

So, tried to open it from a terminal. Got the following output/error:

[i18n] Using en_GB
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/ubuntu-mate-welcome", line 2846, in <module>
    app = WelcomeApp()
  File "/usr/bin/ubuntu-mate-welcome", line 1178, in __init__
    self._build_app()
  File "/usr/bin/ubuntu-mate-welcome", line 1290, in _build_app
    mv = AppView(trans_slides)
  File "/usr/bin/ubuntu-mate-welcome", line 733, in __init__
    self._apt_cache = apt.Cache()
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apt/cache.py", line 113, in __init__
    self.open(progress)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apt/cache.py", line 164, in open
    self._cache = apt_pkg.Cache(progress)
SystemError: E:Encountered a section with no Package: header, E:Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/gb.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial_main_binary-amd64_Packages, E:The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
[Network Test] Successfully pinged 'http://archive.ubuntu.com/'

Next, tried run apt-get update: got the following error:

Reading package lists... Error!
E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/dl.google.com_linux_chrome_deb_dists_stable_main_binary-amd64_Packages

Anybody any ideas?
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

#2

Erm…slightly more serious now

Tried to run:

sudo apt-get install -f

Got this error:

E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/dl.google.com_linux_chrome_deb_dists_stable_main_binary-amd64_Packages
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

Tried to open synaptic. Got the similar error and it was forced to close.

Reading package lists... Error!
E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/dl.google.com_linux_chrome_deb_dists_stable_main_binary-amd64_Packages
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

Looking at the error, it seems to be something wrong with Google Chrome. So, tried:

sudo apt-get remove google-chrome-stable

Also:

sudo apt-get purge google-chrome-stable

Same error:

So, now completely stuck for updating and installing software

Help

#3

In a terminal try the following:

sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get autoclean
sudo apt-get update

And try again. If that doesn’t work, try:

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

And try again…

If that doesn’t work, well… I don’t know :wink:

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#4

Okay, seemed to have fixed it I think:

Opened, with caja as an administrator:

/var/lib/apt/lists

Deleted the following files:

dl.google.com_linux_chrome_deb_dists_stable_main_binary-amd64_Packages
dl.google.com_linux_chrome_deb_dists_stable_main_binary-amd64_Packages.diff_Index
dl.google.com_linux_chrome_deb_dists_stable_Release.gpg

Then went back to terminal and ran:

sudo-apt-get update

It completed successfully and also repopulated the 3 files, listed above, in the /var/lib/apt/lists folder.

Have also tried to open software boutique again and it opened immediately

No idea what i have done or how it has fixed it. But it seems to have.

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#5

Tried the first 4 of those, got the same error. But seemed to have fixed it. See immediately previous post

#6

Great to hear. :slight_smile: To be more informative in future, I’ll be sure to add a check so a warning is displayed if Welcome/Boutique cannot be started because of an Apt problem.

2 Likes