40

Whenever I am trying to get the update I am getting the error at the last line:

Ign http://in.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/multiverse Translation-en_IN
Ign http://in.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/restricted Translation-en_IN
Ign http://in.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/universe Translation-en_IN
Ign http://in.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-backports/main Translation-en_IN
Ign http://in.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-backports/multiverse Translation-en_IN
Ign http://in.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-backports/restricted Translation-en_IN
Ign http://in.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-backports/universe Translation-en_IN
E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'sudo dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.

And then according to the prompted error when I run:

$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
dpkg: error: parsing file '/var/lib/dpkg/updates/0009' near line 0:
 newline in field name `#padding'

What now? Can I get out of the error?

I tried this link.

2 Answers 2

76

You referred a wrong link. Try the below commands on terminal to remove all the files inside /var/lib/dpkg/updates directory ,

cd /var/lib/dpkg/updates
sudo rm *

And then run the below command to get newer ones,

sudo apt-get update
6
  • 1
    it works fine for me . Jun 15, 2014 at 13:33
  • 2
    This worked for me on Raspbmc/Raspbian as well. However, I'm curious - is this a safe solution?
    – aalaap
    Feb 17, 2015 at 8:06
  • this worked for me on Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS
    – chicks
    Jan 6, 2016 at 21:43
  • 2
    Still works in 2016 for ubuntu-15.04(-based Zorin OS 10)!
    – x13
    Jan 20, 2016 at 14:00
  • 2
    THANK YOU so much for this solution. I was searching forever to find a way to clear the error when I intentionally interrupted the dpkg installation of a problematic .deb file. I truly appreciate your advice!
    – Ev-
    Jul 1, 2016 at 5:24
5

It works for me! I was trying to install the wireless driver when this error came. Had to delete the files and also the lock files.

sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/lock
sudo rm /var/cache/apt/archives/lock
cd /var/lib/dpkg/updates
sudo rm *
sudo apt-get update

and then you can run your apt-get install to whatever package you want to install

2
  • 1
    Not necessarily a good idea without extra precautions. Jul 19, 2014 at 5:59
  • This worked for me when the previous answer didn't, although I'm not sure it wasn't without side effects... Aug 1, 2016 at 23:29

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