Ubuntu 20.04 Error: Opening the Cache

Question

I have been getting this error for months:

Error: Opening the cache(E: can not open /var/lib/apt/lists/
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened
This usually means your installed package have unmet dependencies

Then I try to fix it with:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get autoclean
sudo apt-get update --fix-missing

I tried these to no effect. Sometimes the error goes away for a while but then it comes back in a few minutes.

I also tried this

Are the crash/whoopsie files related to the error?

Answer 1

This will occasionally happen when your apt lists are incomplete or broken. You can rebuild them like this:

0. Open Terminal (if it's not already open)
1. Remove the contents of the lists directory:

   sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/* -vf
   

2. Rebuild the lists:

   sudo apt clean
   sudo apt update
   

3. Update your system:

   sudo apt dist-upgrade
   

Hope this allows you to have an up-to-date system again 👍🏻