apt-get : relocation error

Question

when I issue the apt-get command I receive the following error message:

apt-get: relocation error: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libapt-pkg.so.5.0: symbol _ZNKSt7__cxx1112basic_stringIcSt11char_traitsIcESaIcEE7compareERKS4_, version GLIBCXX_3.4.21 not defined in file libstdc++.so.6 with link time reference

I run Ubuntu 14.04 on a 64 bit machine.

I am aware of a similar question: apt: relocation error: version GLIBCXX_3.4.21 not defined in file libstdc++.so.6 with link time reference

but none of the advice given there works for me. I have tried several variants of apt-get, like apt-get clean , but I always receive the aforementioned error.

I have also tried

wget http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/g/gcc-5/libstdc++6_5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.2_amd64.deb

but receive the following error message

Connecting to security.ubuntu.com (security.ubuntu.com)|91.189.91.26|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 404 Not Found
ERROR 404: Not Found.

How can I fix things?

Answer 1

It's possible that a 16.04 package caused trouble. How do I find out whether this is true and how do I fix it?

Check the version for the installed package 'apt' : dpkg --list apt ( If you didn't trash 'dpkg' too.)

The 14.04 version must be 1.0.1ubuntu2* (The 16.04 version is 1.2.15ubuntu0*)

If dpkg works, you can download apt_1.0.1ubuntu2.17_[arch].deb ( like apt_1.0.1ubuntu2.17_amd64.deb or apt_1.0.1ubuntu2.17_i386.deb ) http://packages.ubuntu.com/trusty-updates/apt

And install with dpkg -i --force ./apt_1.0.1ubuntu2.17*