Could not initialize the package information

[bss]

Binary package hint: update-manager

Hi,

I am running Ubuntu 7.10, and recently encountered the following bug when I try to update
the system:

A unresolvable problem occurred while initializing the package information.
Please report this bug against the 'update-manager' package and include the following error message:
'E:Problem parsing dependency Conflicts,
 E:Error occurred while processing man-db (NewVersion1),
 E:Problem with MergeList /var/lib/dpkg/status,
 E:The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.'

The bug occurs both via Synaptic as well as apt-get and aptitude. I am using update-manager
version 0.81. The update log directory is empty. I also tried following your advice for several
similar bugs, but nothing worked. I will appreciate your help.

Thanks,
Beata

[Richard Birnie (rbirnie-deactivatedaccount)]

bss

thanks for taking the time to report this bug. It's difficult to tell what might have caused this. One possibilty is a error in the sources.list file. Could you please attach or post the contents of /etc/apt/sources.list

thanks,
Rich

[bss (bss)]

Rich,

thanks for replying. I tried updating the system directly with dpkg rather
than via update-manager. This returned me a bunch of syntax errors in
/var/lib/dpkg/status, which I fixed according to an older version of the file,
and this way managed to eliminate the problem. So, for now I am all right.

Thanks again,
Beata

On Tue, Mar 18, 2008 at 12:40 PM, Richard Birnie <email address hidden> wrote:
> bss
>
> thanks for taking the time to report this bug. It's difficult to tell
> what might have caused this. One possibilty is a error in the
> sources.list file. Could you please attach or post the contents of
> /etc/apt/sources.list
>
> thanks,
> Rich
>
> ** Changed in: update-manager (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
> ** Tags added: gutsy2hardy
>
>
> --
> Could not initialize the package information
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/199363
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in Source Package "update-manager" in Ubuntu: Incomplete
>
>
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: update-manager
>
> Hi,
>
> I am running Ubuntu 7.10, and recently encountered the following bug when I try to update
> the system:
>
> A unresolvable problem occurred while initializing the package information.
> Please report this bug against the 'update-manager' package and include the following error message:
> 'E:Problem parsing dependency Conflicts,
> E:Error occurred while processing man-db (NewVersion1),
> E:Problem with MergeList /var/lib/dpkg/status,
> E:The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.'
>
> The bug occurs both via Synaptic as well as apt-get and aptitude. I am using update-manager
> version 0.81. The update log directory is empty. I also tried following your advice for several
> similar bugs, but nothing worked. I will appreciate your help.
>
> Thanks,
> Beata
>

[Richard Birnie (rbirnie-deactivatedaccount)]

OK that sounds like pretty much problem solved to me. If the problem was dpkg and a malformed status file then it's not really a bug in update manager and we can't really find source of it from this anyway. Closing this report