fix-ubuntu-package-cache.md

Fix Ubuntu package cache

Had problem with Ubuntu package cache.

➜  sources.list.d sudo apt-get update                   
Hit:1 http://fi.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Hit:2 http://fi.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates InRelease                                                                   
Hit:3 http://fi.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports InRelease                                                                 
Hit:4 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security InRelease
Reading package lists... Error!                    
E: Malformed Description-md5 line; includes invalid character '21!0a2ee344f1a65d3401a41cc0d42a7'
E: Malformed Description-md5 line; includes invalid character '21!0a2ee344f1a65d3401a41cc0d42a7'
W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems
E: The package cache file is corrupted

First tried to disable any extra package sources, but it wasn't helping at all. Problem was caused by broken package cache, so had to find a way to remove temporary cache.

Solution was found from old forum thread:

sudo rm -r /var/lib/apt/lists/*
sudo mkdir /var/lib/apt/lists/partial
sudo apt-get update

Thanks much champion!

Oh Sir, you just saved my day! Thanks! This works in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa. Today is May 29th, 2020.

But I got another Error afterwards:
Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/pk.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_focal_universe_binary-amd64_Packages

To solve this,
I did
sudo rm -r /var/lib/apt/lists/*
and finally
sudo apt-get clean && sudo apt-get update

Thanks
https://blog.codeonion.com

works well thanks

Thanks a lot! That worked.

thanks