ia32-libs-multiarch but it is not installable

[Fernando Miguel]

 ia32-libs : Depends: ia32-libs-multiarch but it is not installable
 vim-addon-manager : Depends: ruby
 vim-gtk : Depends: libruby1.8 (>= 1.8.7.352) but it is not going to be installed
           Depends: tcl8.5 (>= 8.5.0) but it is not going to be installed

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.10
Package: ia32-libs 20090808ubuntu36
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.4.0-5.11-generic 3.4.0
Uname: Linux 3.4.0-5-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.2.3-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
Date: Fri Jun 22 00:00:29 2012
Dependencies:

InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.10 "Quantal Quetzal" - Alpha amd64 (20120606.2)
SourcePackage: ia32-libs
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

Sorry, but this is not a bug in ia32-libs. There is some reason why the dependencies of ia32-libs-multiarch are not installable on your system, but this most likely has to do with held packages on your local system - the ia32-libs package is installable in the quantal archive. Turning this into a question so you can get better support for your issue.

[Fernando Miguel (fernandomiguel)]

i upgraded another laptop today, running quantal with all upgrades done till yesterday, and again 32 bits packages were removed.
skype was removed from my system. all remaining multiarch packages were left to autoremove.

but in this case i was able to re-install skype just fine.
i doubt my home laptop were in any diff place!
will look into it tonight

[Fernando Miguel (fernandomiguel)]

after a round of:
$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
i get this

You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 ia32-libs : Depends: ia32-libs-multiarch but it is not installable
E: Unmet dependencies. Try using -f.
fernando@Bostro:~$ sudo apt-get install -f
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  esound-common lib32asound2 lib32gcc1 lib32stdc++6 libao-common libc6-i386 libx264-120 mysql-common odbcinst odbcinst1debian2
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  ia32-libs skype
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 2 to remove and 185 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 35,6 MB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]?
dpkg-query: error: file triggers record mentions illegal package name `libglib2.0-0' (for interest in file `/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gio/modules'): ambiguous package name 'libglib2.0-0' with more than one installed instance
dpkg: error: file triggers record mentions illegal package name `libglib2.0-0' (for interest in file `/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gio/modules'): ambiguous package name 'libglib2.0-0' with more than one installed instance
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2)

my system is a fairly clean install of Quantal from last week.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Stu (stu-axon)]

Stuck on this one too - here's the output I get trying to install ia32-libs-multiarch:i386

stu@beezlebub:~$ sudo apt-get install ia32-libs-multiarch:i386
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies.
 ia32-libs-multiarch:i386 : Depends: libnspr4:i386 but it is not going to be installed
                            Depends: libnss3:i386 but it is not going to be installed
                            Depends: librsvg2-common:i386 but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

[Scott Ritchie (scottritchie)]

Archive skew might be to blame here -- a newer version of libnspr4 is built, and gets published on amd64 before i386 (or vice-versa); since the exact same version is required for multiarch installs, apt refuses to install the out-of-sync version.

Try waiting a day or two and just doing it again and see if it changes.

This also might explain why it passes Steve's installability-in-archive test but isn't installable on user systems.

[DFOXpro (dfoxpro)]

Please developers pay attention this issue: The X64 LTS (12.04 and 12.04.1) CANT run X32 apps, because ia32-libs cant get installed (with any repo), it also affect Linux mint x64 please fix this BIG PROBLEM!

[Kalle Pokki (kalle-pokki)]

We had a 64-bit system running 10.04.3 LTS server edition, using ELDK 4.0 as a 32-bit binary. It worked fine with the ia32-libs package. This morning I upgraded it to 12.04.1 LTS, using do-release-upgrade, and the upgrade automatically removed the ELDK package (packaged by me from binary).

I installed the package again manually, but I'm now unable to install 32-bit support libraries as many others are:

$ sudo apt-get install ia32-libs
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 ia32-libs : Depends: ia32-libs-multiarch
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

$ sudo apt-get install ia32-libs-multiarch
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 ia32-libs-multiarch:i386 : Depends: libgphoto2-2:i386 but it is not going to be installed
                            Depends: libsane:i386 but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

Are there any workarounds to this? Can I fetch the libraries from some other repository? It seems there are bug reports of similar issues with ia32-libs for almost a year now, but all seem to be somehow ignored. Isn't this clearly a regression?

What is required to fix this? Is anyone working on the issue? Can I help?

[Kalle Pokki (kalle-pokki)]

Maybe apt cannot resolve foreign architecture dependencies correctly? I followed the dependency chains manually and installed the dependencies 'backwards' and got the program working. I'm still left with very odd compiler include path differences between 10.04.3 LTS and 12.04.1 LTS, but that may be unrelated.

This is the dependency chain I followed:

# unmet dependency, not installing
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs
 ia32-libs : Depends: ia32-libs-multiarch

# unmet dependency, not installing
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs-multiarch
 ia32-libs-multiarch:i386 : Depends: libgphoto2-2:i386 but it is not going to be installed
                            Depends: libsane:i386 but it is not going to be installed

# unmet dependency, not installing
sudo apt-get install libsane:i386
 libsane:i386 : Depends: libgphoto2-2:i386 (>= 2.4.10.1) but it is not going to be installed

# unmet dependency
sudo apt-get install libgphoto2-2:i386
 libgphoto2-2:i386 : Depends: libgd2-xpm:i386 (>= 2.0.36~rc1~dfsg) but it is not going to be installed

# successfully installs, but removes libgd2-noxmp, brings some packages
sudo apt-get install libgd2-xpm:i386
  gcc-4.6-base:i386 libc6:i386 libexpat1:i386 libfontconfig1:i386 libfreetype6:i386 libgcc1:i386
  libgd2-xpm libgd2-xpm:i386 libjpeg-turbo8:i386 libjpeg8:i386 libpng12-0:i386 libx11-6:i386
  libxau6:i386 libxcb1:i386 libxdmcp6:i386 libxpm4:i386 zlib1g:i386

dpkg: libgd2-noxpm: dependency problems, but removing anyway as you requested:
 libgvc5 depends on libgd2-noxpm (>= 2.0.36~rc1~dfsg) | libgd2-xpm (>= 2.0.36~rc1~dfsg); however:
  Package libgd2-noxpm is to be removed.
  Package libgd2-xpm is not installed.
 gnuplot-x11 depends on libgd2-noxpm (>= 2.0.36~rc1~dfsg) | libgd2-xpm (>= 2.0.36~rc1~dfsg); however:
  Package libgd2-noxpm is to be removed.
  Package libgd2-xpm is not installed.
 gnuplot-nox depends on libgd2-noxpm (>= 2.0.36~rc1~dfsg) | libgd2-xpm (>= 2.0.36~rc1~dfsg); however:
  Package libgd2-noxpm is to be removed.
  Package libgd2-xpm is not installed.

# successfully installs
sudo apt-get install libgphoto2-2:i386

# successfully installs, brigs a couple of other packages too
sudo apt-get install libsane:i386
  acl libavahi-client3:i386 libavahi-common-data:i386 libavahi-common3:i386 libdbus-1-3:i386
  libieee1284-3:i386 libsane:i386 libsane-common libtiff4:i386 libv4l-0:i386 libv4lconvert0:i386

# successfully installs, brigs tons of other packages
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs-multiarch
  bluez bluez-alsa:i386 consolekit esound-common gconf-service gconf-service-backend gconf2
  gconf2-common glib-networking glib-networking:i386 glib-networking-common glib-networking-services
  gstreamer0.10-plugins-base:i386 gstreamer0.10-plugins-good:i386 gstreamer0.10-x:i386 gtk2-engines:i386
  gtk2-engines-murrine:i386 gtk2-engines-oxygen:i386 gtk2-engines-pixbuf:i386 gvfs gvfs:i386 gvfs-common
  gvfs-daemons gvfs-libs gvfs-libs:i386 ia32-libs-multiarch:i386 ibus-gtk:i386 libaa1:i386 libacl1:i386
  libaio1:i386 libao-common libao4:i386 libasn1-8-heimdal:i386 libasound2:i386 libasound2-plugins:i386
  libasyncns0:i386 libatasmart4 libatk1.0-0:i386 libattr1:i386 libaudio2:i386 libaudiofile1:i386
  lib...

[Eugen Paraschiv (hanriseldon)]

This is still a problem on the released Ubuntu 12.10:
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 ia32-libs : Depends: ia32-libs-multiarch but it is not installable
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

Unfortunately JDK7 requires ia32-libs - any update on this?
Thanks.
Eugen.

[Subin Hutton (djlynux)]

Multiple users are having the same issue. I guess, it's some soft of bug. Need more investigation from the developers I guess.

[sciasbat (fabio-forno)]

I can just confirm that I have the same bug after upgrading to 12.10

[Leslie Viljoen (leslieviljoen)]

Aw, seems there's no way to install Skype on Quantal. Glad I did a thorough review with the live CD before upgrading!

[Digulla-hepe (digulla-hepe)]

When I try to install the missing page, I get this:

> apt-get install ia32-libs-multiarch
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package ia32-libs-multiarch is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source

E: Package 'ia32-libs-multiarch' has no installation candidate

So it seems that there is simply no such package. In which source should it be?

[Digulla-hepe (digulla-hepe)]

Package search says it's in universe: http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=ia32-libs-multiarch&searchon=names&suite=quantal&section=all

In my /etc/apt/sources.list, I have this line:

deb http://ch.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ quantal universe

*puzzled*

[Digulla-hepe (digulla-hepe)]

Note: When I run this

> apt-get upgrade

I get more errors:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 ia32-libs : Depends: ia32-libs-multiarch but it is not installable
 libc6-dev : Depends: libc6 (= 2.15-0ubuntu20) but 2.15-0ubuntu10.3 is installed
 libpoppler28 : Depends: libfontconfig1 (>= 2.9.0) but 2.8.0-3ubuntu9.1 is installed
 nspluginwrapper : Depends: nspluginviewer (= 1.4.4-0ubuntu4) but it is not installable
 texlive-base : Depends: texlive-doc-base (>= 2012.20120516) but 2009-2 is installed
                Depends: texlive-common (>= 2012.20120516) but 2009-15 is installed
                Depends: tex-common (>= 3) but 2.10 is installed
 texlive-binaries : Depends: libfontconfig1 (>= 2.9.0) but 2.8.0-3ubuntu9.1 is installed
                    Depends: texlive-common (>= 2011) but 2009-15 is installed
                    Depends: tex-common (>= 3) but 2.10 is installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try using -f.

So this is probably a bug in apt.

[Digulla-hepe (digulla-hepe)]

Might be related: I had ia32-crossover-pro installed (Crossover is a commercial version of wine).

[Digulla-hepe (digulla-hepe)]

I solved the issue eventually by manually purging libc6:i386 and every dependency. If you need to do the same, here is a helper:

echo $(dpkg --purge libc6:i386 |& grep "depends on"|grep :i386|cut -d" " -f2)

This will purge something and print everything that prevents the purge to complete. You can then cut&paste the output between "libc6:i386" and "|" until the command doesn't print anything anymore.

Eventually, I got everything cleaned up but had this error:

Internal Error, No file name for libc6

See comment #7 of this issue for a solution: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/dpkg/+bug/983543/comments/7

[JimBurton (jim-sdf-eu)]

I need to install a 32-bit program on fresh 64-bit quantal install. None of the suggestions for a manual fix work for me, and here's what I have in apt.

$ sudo apt-get install ia32-libs
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 ia32-libs : Depends: ia32-libs-multiarch but it is not installable
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

[Alexander Karlstad (alexander.karlstad)]

I seem to be having trouble installing both ia32-libs and all the different wine versions (wine meta package, wine1.4, wine1.4:i386, wine1.5, wine1.5:i386). Dependency errors all the way and nothing seems to help :-(

[Ilya Shaisultanov (diversario)]

Ubuntu 12.04 Desktop x64.

While trying to install Crossover:

➜ Downloads sudo dpkg -i ia32-crossover_11.3.1-1_amd64.deb
Selecting previously unselected package ia32-crossover.
(Reading database ... 328849 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking ia32-crossover (from ia32-crossover_11.3.1-1_amd64.deb) ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of ia32-crossover:
 ia32-crossover depends on libc6-i386; however:
  Package libc6-i386 is not installed.
 ia32-crossover depends on ia32-libs | ia32-apt-get; however:
  Package ia32-libs is not installed.
  Package ia32-apt-get is not installed.
 ia32-crossover depends on lib32gcc1; however:
  Package lib32gcc1 is not installed.
 ia32-crossover depends on lib32nss-mdns; however:
  Package lib32nss-mdns is not installed.
 ia32-crossover depends on lib32z1; however:
  Package lib32z1 is not installed.
 ia32-crossover depends on lib32asound2; however:
  Package lib32asound2 is not installed.
dpkg: error processing ia32-crossover (--install):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Processing triggers for doc-base ...
Processing 1 added doc-base file...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 ia32-crossover

➜ Downloads sudo apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... failed.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 ia32-crossover : Depends: libc6-i386 but it is not installed
                  Depends: ia32-libs but it is not installed or
                           ia32-apt-get but it is not installable
                  Depends: lib32gcc1 but it is not installed
                  Depends: lib32nss-mdns but it is not installed
                  Depends: lib32z1 but it is not installed
                  Depends: lib32asound2 but it is not installed
E: Error, pkgProblemResolver::Resolve generated breaks, this may be caused by held packages.
E: Unable to correct dependencies

[Raoul (trash-mails-at)]

I have the same problem with installing 'ia32-libs'! I need it for SPSS - very important! Pleas fix it!

[Jay (jaytula)]

I also had this problem and was able to fix it. I imagine the solution for each person will be different.

Find reverse dependencies:
$ apt-cache rdepends ia32-libs

For each of those dependencies, try one by one purging them:
For example:
$ sudo apt-get purge google-talkplugin

Of course, do due diligence and make sure purging that package is okay. Some of the packages may not even be installed.

Then try re-installing...
$ sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

[jlupox (jlupox)]

very similar error:

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 ia32-libs : Depends: ia32-libs-multiarch but it is not installable
 libc6-dev : Depends: libc6 (= 2.15-0ubuntu20) but 2.15-0ubuntu10.3 is installed
 libc6-i386 : Depends: libc6 (= 2.15-0ubuntu20) but 2.15-0ubuntu10.3 is installed
 libpoppler28 : Depends: libfontconfig1 (>= 2.9.0) but 2.8.0-3ubuntu9.1 is installed
 nspluginwrapper : Depends: nspluginviewer (= 1.4.4-0ubuntu4) but it is not installable
 skype : Depends: skype-bin but it is not installable
 texlive-base : Depends: texlive-doc-base (>= 2012.20120516) but 2009-2 is installed
                Depends: texlive-common (>= 2012.20120516) but 2009-15 is installed
                Depends: tex-common (>= 3) but 2.10 is installed
 texlive-binaries : Depends: libfontconfig1 (>= 2.9.0) but 2.8.0-3ubuntu9.1 is installed
                    Depends: texlive-common (>= 2011) but 2009-15 is installed
                    Depends: tex-common (>= 3) but 2.10 is installed
 wine1.4 : Depends: wine1.4-i386 (= 1.4-0ubuntu4.1) but it is not installable
E: Unmet dependencies. Try using -f

[Mark Bennison (mark-bennison)]

I had the same issue when I was trying to install Crossover. I resolved this by changing the download server to main server within Software Sources (it was set to UK), I then ran synaptic and installed all the upgradeable packages (of which there were many but my system claimed it was up to date before I changed). Finally I ran sudo apt-get -f install which then picked up ia32-libs-multiarch and the other dependencies.

So I guess that the change in download server caused the reload of the package lists helped resolve this issue.

[Doridian (mriq91)]

I have had this bug too.
I fixed it with the following commands:
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt-get update
Then I could install ia32-libs just fine!

[Nemon Intelligence (ivan-sole)]

Thanks Doridian it works to me too.

Now I'm already working with Skype.

Thanks a lot.

Bye,

Ivan Solé
<a href='http://www.nemon2ib.com'>Software a Medida</a>

[Iain (aabn)]

Doridian's fix worked for me too - I was struggling with teamviewer 7 on Ubuntu 12.10 64-bit. Thanks!

[Clement Lefebvre (clementlefebvre)]

Note to Canonical devs.

dpkg previously read "foreign-architecture i386" in /etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg.d/multiarch.

This key is no longer recognized by dpkg and I guess was consequently removed from Ubuntu.

dpkg now reads /var/lib/dpkg/arch

You can create /var/lib/dpkg/arch and place the two architectures in it:

amd64
i386

Verify the setup with dpkg --print-architecture and dpkg --print-foreign-architectures.

Please let us know if you plan to add this file to the dpkg package in an update to Quantal.

We'll set this by hand in Linux Mint to avoid any potential conflicts with a future update.

PS: I'm assuming this was overlooked or forgotten here. If multiarch was disabled in Quantal by design, please accept my apologies for the assumption.

[Jeremy Bícha (jbicha)]

Clem, your issue sounds different than most of the comments on this bug. Are you sure your issue isn't related to your decision to stick with Precise's Ubiquity for your new Quantal-based release?

[Ubuntu Warrior (davidmacdonald)]

desktop:~$ sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
gives me this error message: dpkg: error: unknown option --add-architecture
What am I doing wrong?

[Clement Lefebvre (clementlefebvre)]

Jeremy: Sorry about this, you're absolutely right. I only tested the live session and didn't think of the installer. I ran a quick installation of Ubuntu 12.10 64-bit. In live mode dpkg is only configured for amd64 but post-installation it also handles i386 and ia32-libs is installable out of the box. This used to be done in dpkg though.. if it's now handled by Ubiquity, is it also handled when Ubuntu users upgrade from 12.04 to 12.10?

I'll facepalm on blog.linuxmint.com now and make it clear this particular issue is specific to Mint (ia32-libs not installable out of the box). Thanks and sorry about the confusion :)

[Sean (sproctor)]

ia32-libs is not installable using the wubi installer for Ubuntu 12.10.

[Steve Illgen (sillgen)]

Doridian's suggestion worked for me. It works like a champ!

Thanks!

[Ben Blanks (ben-a-blanks)]

Having the same issue.

OS: Ubuntu 12.10 64 Bit
Installed using WUBI installer

On a fresh install, and I mean nothing else installed.

Ran sudo apt-get install ia32-libs and got:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
    ia32-libs : Depends: ia32-libs-multiarch but it is not installable
    E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

However when I came across Doridian's suggestion, it made sense so I gave it a try and it worked.

I would have to say that Clems suggestion is also 100% correct for the WUBI installation of Ubuntu as it does not run through the traditional installer but extracts the tar.xz version which I assume only has 64 bit enabled and does not enable 32 bit.

Doridians Response: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ia32-libs/+bug/1016294/comments/27
Clems Response: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ia32-libs/+bug/1016294/comments/30

So a very BIG thank you to Doridian and Clems Posts for helping me resolve this issue.

[Daniel Hartwig (wigs)]

There appears to be at least two issues conflated here:
- dependency problems (and archive skew, upgrade issues); and
- i386 not configured.

I have just moved bug 1093819 from apt which covers the later case (and presumably the above comments #15, #20, #27, that is, systems without i386 configured).

[Wizek (123-wizek)]

I had this same issue.
Installed with Wubi, couldn't install ia32-libs.

Doridians response https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ia32-libs/+bug/1016294/comments/27
was a perfect solution for me as well, ia32-libs is currently installing.

p.s. don't forget to run `sudo apt-get update` as s/he advises, because if you forget, you will be very sad and think it didn't work -- as I was for a few moments.

[Daniel Hartwig (wigs)]

From bug 971761, comment #37:
> These issues are, without exception, the result of local misconfiguration
> and/or local installation of mismatched library versions. It is not a bug
> in ia32-libs that users have their systems in a state that doesn't allow the
> package's dependencies to be satisfied - the dependencies *are* satisfiable
> in the Ubuntu archive.

[Andrew Schulman (andrex)]

> These issues are, without exception, the result of local misconfiguration
> and/or local installation of mismatched library versions. It is not a bug
> in ia32-libs that users have their systems in a state that doesn't allow the
> package's dependencies to be satisfied - the dependencies *are* satisfiable
> in the Ubuntu archive.

OK, I tested that and it is true. In a virgin Quantal installation, ia32-libs-multiarch installs fine as you say.

[Andrew B. Felix (abfelix)]

Doridian's fix of 2012-11-07 worked fine for me.

After running that I was able to install Google Earth 64 bit on a Linux Mint 14 - MATE
system.

[psypher (psypher246)]

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 is no longer supported in newer versions of Ubuntu and does not work just like Ubuntu Warrior said:

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/dpkg/+question/221647
http://lists.linaro.org/pipermail/linaro-dev/2012-May/012224.html

But Clement says that file is not longer being used either and we must use: /var/lib/dpkg/arch.

I have amended that file as per Clement and updated and still this issue persists:

sudo apt-get install ia32-libs-multiarch
Package ia32-libs-multiarch is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source

E: Package 'ia32-libs-multiarch' has no installation candidate

So what else can we do?

[James Sleeman (james-gogo)]

This problem of uninstallable ia32-libs affects the current Amazon EC2 AMI's for 12.10 which Amazon presents to users in the Quick Launch Interface in the EC2 management console.

ubuntu/images/ebs/ubuntu-quantal-12.10-amd64-server-20121218 (ami-26745463)
Description:
Status: available
Platform: Ubuntu Cloud Guest
Image size: 8 GB
Visibility: Public
Owner: undefined (099720109477)

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
Fixes it on such instances.

[James Sleeman (james-gogo)]

Should add, that after doing sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386, you must do an update before you can install ia32-libs.

[Daniel Hartwig (wigs)]

On 15 February 2013 12:30, James Sleeman <email address hidden> wrote:
> This problem of uninstallable ia32-libs affects the current Amazon EC2
> AMI's for 12.10 which Amazon presents to users in the Quick Launch
> Interface in the EC2 management console.
>
> ubuntu/images/ebs/ubuntu-quantal-12.10-amd64-server-20121218 (ami-26745463)

The 12.10-amd64 images seem to have been rebuilt on 2012-02-06 [1].
If you find this specific fault with one of the current images, then
file a *new* report with whoever is the image provider in the correct
place (ia32-libs is not related to provision of Amazon EC2 images).

More comments here will not get any such issues actioned.

[1] http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/locator/ec2/

> sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
> Fixes it on such instances.

Everyone can please stop repeating this comment.

[Hans (old-man999)]

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ia32-libs/+bug/1016294/comments/39

According to this I was able to narrow the problem when going down the dependency tree so I just corrected matching versions of both x64 and x86 libraries by forcing it with a proper version (apt-get install lib*=version lib*:i386=version)
A lot of libraries had to be downgraded to avoid anything to be uninstalled to allow ia32-libs being installed in the end.
As far as I can see there is no possibility to automate that process because the whole system isn't designed to be downgraded.
I had a normal install of precise before updated on a regular basis.

[John (vanuan)]

For me, the problem was in "libcupsfilters1:i386"

The version "1.0.34-0ubuntu1.1" (that was used for 64bit package) was for some unknown reason moved to " -updates"
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/raring/i386/libcupsfilters1

After enabling "-updates", I was able to install it.