apt can't recover from corrupted cache files

Bug #629967 reported by Rocko
8
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
apt (Ubuntu)
Invalid
Undecided
Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: apt

If files in /var/apt/cache/archives get corrupted, apt-get install just reports that there was an error. It's possible to recover by manually deleting the offending files and starting again, but it would be far more user-friendly if apt-get recognised and corrected this condition automatically.

I originally saw the error when trying to run update-manager, which just reported it couldn't read some configuration and suggested there might be dependency errors and then closed down, which was even more user-unfriendly.

See attached error log for an example output from apt-get.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10
Package: apt 0.8.0ubuntu3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.35-19.28-generic 2.6.35.3
Uname: Linux 2.6.35-19-generic i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Sat Sep 4 10:54:59 2010
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Alpha i386 (20100602.2)
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_AU.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: apt

Revision history for this message
Rocko (rockorequin) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Torsten Spindler (tspindler) wrote :

Have you tried to run
$ sudo apt-get clean
before manually removing any files? Usually this removes any offending cached files and they will get downloaded again.

Changed in apt (Ubuntu):
status: New → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Rocko (rockorequin) wrote :

Thanks, next time it happens I'll try that. My point is that it is not at all obvious to the average user, and apt should be able to detect the condition easily enough and either offer to clean up or do it automatically. It's even worse if you're using update-manager, of course.

Revision history for this message
Torsten Spindler (tspindler) wrote :

Correct, with update-manager you cannot solve the problem. I actually wouldn't know how to do an apt-get clean from the GUI, might be worth while to add.

Revision history for this message
Victor Vargas (kamus) wrote :

Since this issue is solved I will close this report for now, but please feel free to fill a new report for include a improvement for apt or update-manager, Thanks in advance.

Changed in apt (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Invalid
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