Has this bug been fixed or not and if it is has been fixed is the
update available with Update Manager?

I had the same problem recently whilst doing an update with the Update
Manager of 12.04 LTS and had to resort to the work around to fix it.

In fact, "sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/*" did not remove the
.../lists/partial directory but I left it and did the "sudo apt-get
update" successfully.

Hope someone can find a permanent solution to this.

Kayode




On 10/10/12, Brian Murray <email address hidden> wrote:
> Attached you'll find dummy-proxy referred to in the test case and from
> Colin Watson in bug 24061.
>
> ** Description changed:
>
>   Binary package hint: adept-updater
>
>   Pertinent data printed when attempting to run Updater as follows:
>
>   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:Encountered a section with no Package: header, E:Problem with
>   MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/us.archive.ubuntu
>   .com_ubuntu_dists_intrepid_universe_binary-amd64_Packages, E:The package
>   lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.'
>
>   WORKAROUND:
>   Remove problematic files from /var/lib/apt/lists/ and rerun apt-get
> update.
>
>   In the event that one is connected to a network with a proxy server that
>   returns html pages (like a web page requesting you to login) and not
>   package list files.   Those html files will get downloaded to
>   /var/lib/apt/lists/ and prevent someone from using a package manager
>   until the problem html pages are removed.
>
>   TEST CASE:
> - 1) Ensure /etc/apt/sources.list points to archive.ubuntu.com
> - 2) Setup proxy server to block access to archive.ubuntu.com and return
> something like http://people.canonical.com/~brian/tmp/not-packages.html
> - 3) Execute 'sudo apt-get update' in a terminal
> - 4) Observe the following:
> - 'E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
> -  E: Problem with MergeList
> /var/lib/apt/lists/archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_natty_main_binary-amd64_Packages
> -  E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.'
> - 5) Try 'apt-cache policy apt' and be sad that it doesn't work
> - 6) run 'sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/*Packages' to clear the error.
> + 1) download the dummy-proxy attachment from this bug report
> + 2) run dummy-proxy (python dummy-proxy) on a precise system (this
> simulates a proxy that is not allowing access to archive.ubuntu.com and
> gives you   garbage html instead)
> + 3) Execute 'http://localhost:8080 sudo apt-get update' in a terminal
> + 4) Observe the following error messages in your terminal:
> + W: GPG error: http://archive.ubuntu.com precise InRelease: File
> /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_precise_InRelease
> doesn't  start with a clearsigned message
> + W: Failed to fetch
> http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/multiverse/i18n/Index  No
> Hash entry in Release file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/
> archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_precise_multiverse_i18n_Index
> + W: Failed to fetch
> gzip:/var/lib/apt/lists/partial/archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_precise_multiverse_source_Sources
> Encountered a section with no    Package: header
> + 5) Stop dummy-proxy
> + 6) Execute 'sudo apt-get update' in a terminal
> + 7) Observe the following error message:
> + Reading package lists... Done
> + W: GPG error: http://archive.ubuntu.com precise Release: The following
> signatures were invalid: BADSIG 40976EAF437D05B5 Ubuntu Archive Automatic
>   Signing Key <email address hidden>
> + 8) Remove the problematic files in /var/lib/apt/lists (sudo rm
> /var/lib/apt/lists/*)
>
> - With the proposed package installed repeat steps 1 to 3.
> - 4) Observe the following:
> - ''Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com oneiric InRelease [189 B]
> - Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com oneiric InRelease
> - E: GPG error: http://archive.ubuntu.com oneiric InRelease: The following
> signatures were invalid: NODATA 1 NODATA 2'
> - 5) Try 'apt-cache policy apt' and be happy that it works
> + Install apt from -proposed
> + 1) run dummy-proxy (python dummy-proxy) on a precise system (this
> simulates a proxy that is not allowing access to archive.ubuntu.com and
> gives you   garbarge html instead)
> + 2) Execute 'http://localhost:8080 sudo apt-get update' in a terminal
> + 3) Observe the following error messages in your terminal:
> + W: A error occurred during the signature verification. The repository is
> not updated and the previous index files will be used. GPG error: http://
> archive.ubuntu.com precise Release: The following signatures were invalid:
> NODATA 1 NODATA 2
> + W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/Release
> + W: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old
> ones used instead.
> + 4) Stop dummy-proxy
> + 5) Execute 'sudo apt-get update' in a terminal
> + 6) Observe the update succeed
>
> ** Attachment added: "dummy-proxy"
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+bug/346386/+attachment/3393829/+files/dummy-proxy
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (1041914).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/346386
>
> Title:
>   [MASTER] Update fails with invalid package files with "Encountered a
>   section with no Package: header"
>
> Status in “apt” package in Ubuntu:
>   Fix Released
> Status in “apt” source package in Natty:
>   Fix Released
> Status in “apt” source package in Precise:
>   Fix Committed
> Status in “apt” package in Debian:
>   Fix Released
>
> Bug description:
>   Binary package hint: adept-updater
>
>   Pertinent data printed when attempting to run Updater as follows:
>
>   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:Encountered a section with no Package: header, E:Problem with
>   MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/us.archive.ubuntu
>   .com_ubuntu_dists_intrepid_universe_binary-amd64_Packages, E:The
>   package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.'
>
>   WORKAROUND:
>   Remove problematic files from /var/lib/apt/lists/ and rerun apt-get
> update.
>
>   In the event that one is connected to a network with a proxy server
>   that returns html pages (like a web page requesting you to login) and
>   not package list files.   Those html files will get downloaded to
>   /var/lib/apt/lists/ and prevent someone from using a package manager
>   until the problem html pages are removed.
>
>   TEST CASE:
>   1) download the dummy-proxy attachment from this bug report
>   2) run dummy-proxy (python dummy-proxy) on a precise system (this
> simulates a proxy that is not allowing access to archive.ubuntu.com and
> gives you   garbage html instead)
>   3) Execute 'http://localhost:8080 sudo apt-get update' in a terminal
>   4) Observe the following error messages in your terminal:
>   W: GPG error: http://archive.ubuntu.com precise InRelease: File
> /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_precise_InRelease
> doesn't  start with a clearsigned message
>   W: Failed to fetch
> http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/multiverse/i18n/Index  No
> Hash entry in Release file /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/
> archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_precise_multiverse_i18n_Index
>   W: Failed to fetch
> gzip:/var/lib/apt/lists/partial/archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_precise_multiverse_source_Sources
> Encountered a section with no    Package: header
>   5) Stop dummy-proxy
>   6) Execute 'sudo apt-get update' in a terminal
>   7) Observe the following error message:
>   Reading package lists... Done
>   W: GPG error: http://archive.ubuntu.com precise Release: The following
> signatures were invalid: BADSIG 40976EAF437D05B5 Ubuntu Archive Automatic
>   Signing Key <email address hidden>
>   8) Remove the problematic files in /var/lib/apt/lists (sudo rm
> /var/lib/apt/lists/*)
>
>   Install apt from -proposed
>   1) run dummy-proxy (python dummy-proxy) on a precise system (this
> simulates a proxy that is not allowing access to archive.ubuntu.com and
> gives you   garbarge html instead)
>   2) Execute 'http://localhost:8080 sudo apt-get update' in a terminal
>   3) Observe the following error messages in your terminal:
>   W: A error occurred during the signature verification. The repository is
> not updated and the previous index files will be used. GPG error: http://
> archive.ubuntu.com precise Release: The following signatures were invalid:
> NODATA 1 NODATA 2
>   W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/Release
>   W: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old
> ones used instead.
>   4) Stop dummy-proxy
>   5) Execute 'sudo apt-get update' in a terminal
>   6) Observe the update succeed
>
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>