apt-get update error: Unable to find expected entry contrib/source/Sources in Meta-index file

Question

I've made a horrible mistake and removed gtk (and all linked packets, including gnome). After that, I've recovered my GUI with sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop and most of key packets, but now I'm getting error when i'm trying to do sudo apt-get update:

Hit http://repo.yandex.ru maverick Release.gpg
Hit http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com maverick Release.gpg
Ign http://repo.yandex.ru/ubuntu/ maverick/main Translation-en
Ign http://repo.yandex.ru/ubuntu/ maverick/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://repo.yandex.ru/ubuntu/ maverick/main Translation-ru
Ign http://repo.yandex.ru/ubuntu/ maverick/non-free Translation-en
Ign http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/contrib Translation-en
Ign http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/contrib Translation-en_US
Ign http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/contrib Translation-ru
Ign http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/main Translation-en
Ign http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/main Translation-en_US
Hit http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/main Translation-ru
Ign http://repo.yandex.ru/ubuntu/ maverick/non-free Translation-en_US
Ign http://repo.yandex.ru/ubuntu/ maverick/non-free Translation-ru
Hit http://repo.yandex.ru maverick Release                 
Ign http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/restricted Translation-en_US
Hit http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick/restricted Translation-ru
Hit http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com maverick Release                                
Hit http://repo.yandex.ru maverick/main i386 Packages      
Hit http://repo.yandex.ru maverick/non-free i386 Packages
Hit http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com maverick/main Sources
W: Failed to fetch http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/Release  Unable to find expected entry  contrib/source/Sources in Meta-index file (malformed Release file?)

E: Some index files failed to download, they have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

I've issued sudo apt-get clean all and it changed nothing.

/etc/apt/sources.list looks like:

deb http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick main contrib restricted  
deb-src http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick main contrib restricted  
deb http://repo.yandex.ru/ubuntu/ maverick main non-free

sudo apt-get update works fine without contrib in deb records

Is there any way to fix to that problem?

I am using ubuntu 10.10.

Answer 1

contrib is not a valid section for the official ubuntu mirrors, hence the cryptic message that contrib/source/Sources cannot be found.

repo.yandex.ru is not an official one listed at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archivemirrors. The non-free section of that mirror does not contain any binaries nor sources. If you want to use the Yandex mirror, use mirror.yandex.ru.

Furthermore, your repository sources list is missing security.ubuntu.com which may cause delayed security updates.

You to should set your repository sources to at least:

deb http://ru.archive.com/ubuntu/ maverick main restricted
deb-src http://ru.archive.com/ubuntu/ maverick main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick main-security restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick main-security restricted

You're missing a lot packages with this list, I recommend you to use the list which was provided on a new installation, save the below text as /etc/apt/sources.list:

# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.

deb http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick main restricted
deb-src http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick main restricted

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
deb http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-updates main restricted
deb-src http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-updates main restricted

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick universe
deb-src http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick universe
deb http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-updates universe
deb-src http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-updates universe

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu 
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to 
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in 
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
deb http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick multiverse
deb-src http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick multiverse
deb http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-updates multiverse
deb-src http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-updates multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'backports'
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
# deb http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-backports main restricted universe multiverse
# deb-src http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ maverick-backports main restricted universe multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
# deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu maverick partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu maverick partner

## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by third-party
## developers who want to ship their latest software.
deb http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu maverick main
deb-src http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu maverick main

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu maverick-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu maverick-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu maverick-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu maverick-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu maverick-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu maverick-security multiverse