failed to install libffi-dev package

[Pooja Saxena]

Hi there,
I'm trying to install libffi-dev and receiving this error [1]:
 libffi-dev : Depends: libffi6 (= 3.2.1-4) but 3.2.1-6 is to be installed

However, my system already had the libff6=3.2.1-6 [2,3].
I also tried updating and installing this package, however did not work [4].

I would appreciate your feedback on this.

Thanks a lot,

Info about my system:
$ uname -a
Linux pooja-XPS-13-9360 4.13.0-46-generic #51-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jun 12 12:36:29 UTC 2018 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[1]
*************************************
$ sudo apt-get install libffi-dev
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:
 libffi-dev : Depends: libffi6 (= 3.2.1-4) but 3.2.1-6 is to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

[2]
*************************************

$ sudo apt-get install libffi6
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
libffi6 is already the newest version (3.2.1-6).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 10 not upgraded.

[3]
*************************************
$ apt-cache policy libffi-dev
libffi-dev:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 3.2.1-4
  Version table:
     3.2.1-4 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages

[4]
********************************************
$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install libffi-dev
Hit:1 https://repo.skype.com/deb unstable InRelease
Hit:2 http://ppa.launchpad.net/brightbox/ruby-ng/ubuntu artful InRelease
Hit:3 https://packages.sury.org/php stretch InRelease
Ign:4 http://ppa.launchpad.net/deadsnakes/ppa/ubuntu artful InRelease
Hit:5 http://ppa.launchpad.net/ondrej/php/ubuntu artful InRelease
Hit:6 http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-toolchain-r/test/ubuntu artful InRelease
Ign:7 http://ppa.launchpad.net/webupd8team/unstable/ubuntu artful InRelease
Err:8 http://ppa.launchpad.net/deadsnakes/ppa/ubuntu artful Release
  404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.95.85 80]
Err:9 http://ppa.launchpad.net/webupd8team/unstable/ubuntu artful Release
  404 Not Found [IP: 91.189.95.85 80]
Hit:10 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable InRelease
Ign:11 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Ign:12 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates InRelease
Ign:13 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports InRelease
Ign:14 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu artful InRelease
Ign:15 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu vivid InRelease
Err:16 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial Release
  Cannot initiate the connection to archive.ubuntu.com:80 (2001:67c:1360:8001::23). - connect (101: Network is unreachable) [IP: 2001:67c:1360:8001::23 80]
Err:17 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates Release
  Cannot initiate the connection to archive.ubuntu.com:80 (2001:67c:1360:8001::23). - connect (101: Network is unreachable) [IP: 2001:67c:1360:8001::23 80]
Ign:18 https://deb.etcher.io stable InRelease
Ign:19 https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian stable InRelease
Err:20 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports Release
  Cannot initiate the connection to archive.ubuntu.com:80 (2001:67c:1360:8001::23). - connect (101: Network is unreachable) [IP: 2001:67c:1360:8001::23 80]
Err:21 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu artful Release
  Cannot initiate the connection to archive.ubuntu.com:80 (2001:67c:1360:8001::23). - connect (101: Network is unreachable) [IP: 2001:67c:1360:8001::23 80]
Err:22 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu vivid Release
  Cannot initiate the connection to archive.ubuntu.com:80 (2001:67c:1360:8001::23). - connect (101: Network is unreachable) [IP: 2001:67c:1360:8001::23 80]
Err:23 https://deb.etcher.io stable Release
  Cannot initiate the connection to deb.etcher.io:443 (2606:4700:3030::6815:5d19). - connect (101: Network is unreachable) [IP: 2606:4700:3030::6815:5d19 443]
Err:24 https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian stable Release
  Cannot initiate the connection to dl.yarnpkg.com:443 (2606:4700::6810:ab63). - connect (101: Network is unreachable) [IP: 2606:4700::6810:ab63 443]
Hit:25 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Hit:26 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security InRelease
Ign:27 https://dl.bintray.com/sbt/debian InRelease
Get:28 https://dl.bintray.com/sbt/debian Release [815 B]
Hit:29 https://packagecloud.io/slacktechnologies/slack/debian jessie InRelease
Reading package lists... Done
E: The repository 'http://ppa.launchpad.net/deadsnakes/ppa/ubuntu artful Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
E: The repository 'http://ppa.launchpad.net/webupd8team/unstable/ubuntu artful Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
W: Target Packages (main/binary-amd64/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:3 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:4
W: Target Packages (main/binary-all/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:3 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:4
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en_US) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:3 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:4
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:3 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:4
W: Target DEP-11 (main/dep11/Components-amd64.yml) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:3 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:4
W: Target DEP-11 (main/dep11/Components-all.yml) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:3 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:4
W: Target DEP-11-icons (main/dep11/icons-64x64.tar) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:3 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:4
N: Skipping acquire of configured file 'main/binary-i386/Packages' as repository 'http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable InRelease' doesn't support architecture 'i386'
E: The repository 'http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial Release' no longer has a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
E: The repository 'http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates Release' no longer has a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
E: The repository 'http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports Release' no longer has a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
E: The repository 'http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu artful Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
E: The repository 'http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu vivid Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
E: The repository 'https://deb.etcher.io stable Release' no longer has a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
E: The repository 'https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian stable Release' no longer has a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
W: Target Packages (main/binary-amd64/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:3 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:4
W: Target Packages (main/binary-all/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:3 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:4
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en_US) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:3 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:4
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:3 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:4
W: Target DEP-11 (main/dep11/Components-amd64.yml) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:3 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:4
W: Target DEP-11 (main/dep11/Components-all.yml) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:3 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:4
W: Target DEP-11-icons (main/dep11/icons-64x64.tar) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:3 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list:4

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

This isn't a bug on Launchpad itself (i.e. the launchpad.net website). Moving to Ubuntu libffi, although I rather suspect this should actually be a support request considering the very large volume of errors from apt-get update. If I were you I would sort those out first, probably by upgrading to at least bionic rather than having a weird completely unsupported mix of vivid, xenial, and artful on your system.

[Pooja Saxena (nrjrasaxena)]

Hi Colin,
thanks for your comment,

could you help me in figurning out which one I should rather have among vivid, xenial and artful? or is it none are needed?

thanks again

[Gianfranco Costamagna (costamagnagianfranco)]

Hello, xenial has version 3.2.1-4 and artful had 3.2.1-6.
Sadly, artful is EOL now, so no support is available for it anymore.
I would suggest you to upgrade to bionic or focal, the latest LTS available.

alternatively you can download manually the deb from there
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libffi/3.2.1-6/+build/10963483 and dpkg -i it.

But moving to 20.04 or newer is really the best option I suggest.