Synaptic won't start since upgrade to 12.04

[rbjscv]

Just upgraded from 10.04 to 12.04

Now Synaptic begins startup and then I get this:

E: The value 'lucid' is invalid for APT::Default-Release as such a release is not available in the sources
E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

My only choice is to click 'close' and synaptic shuts down.

How can I fix it? I'm guessing it has to do with leftover stuff from Lucid. I've tried removing Syanptic, purging it, reinstalling it, searching for the word 'lucid' - all to no avail. I'm in over my head.

Thanks for your help.

[Karlchen]

Hello, rbjscv.

Search the file /etc/apt/sources.list for occurrences of the string "lucid". Either replace "lucid" by "precise" or comment out such lines.

If you are unsure, please, post the content of your file /etc/apt/sources.list.

Kind regards,
Karl

[cwsnyder]

I'm going to assume from what you have stated that you are running Ubuntu 12.04, not Xubuntu, Lubuntu, or one of the other alternatives, and that you performed an upgrade-in-place rather than re-installing from disk.

The quick fix, assuming you have either a separate /home partition or have backed up your /home directory would be to install Ubuntu from CD. This would remove any PPAs and other left-overs from Lucid, and would remove Synaptic. Ubuntu 12.04 removes Synaptic and depends on the Software Center (or command line) to install/remove packages. Xubuntu and Lubuntu continue to maintain Synaptic.

Alternatively, open Software Center, select the Edit menu item, then Software Sources . . ., then the Other Software tab and make sure that you have no PPAs which list Lucid as the version of Ubuntu supported. You may try simply replacing any instance of Lucid in the PPA with Precise and see if your PPAs have been updated.

You may also try editing the /etc/apt/sources.list directly (remember you will need sudo), but take care.

[rbjscv]

Here's the contents of my \etc\apt\sources.list file:

deb http://le-web.org/repository stable main
deb http://ubuntu.mirror.frontiernet.net/ubuntu/ precise main universe multiverse restricted
deb-src http://ubuntu.mirror.frontiernet.net/ubuntu/ precise main universe multiverse restricted #Added by software-properties


And that's the whole sources.list file. I can't help but think this has to do with leftover Lucid files.

[cwsnyder]

Have you tried commenting out the le-web.org line and rechecking? This is a third-party repository and may be causing the problem.

[rbjscv]

I tried commenting out the le-web.org line. Synaptic installs, but still displays the 'lucid' error.

[cwsnyder]

The following is my (VirtualBox) Xubuntu 12.04 /etc/apt/sources.list:
# deb cdrom:[Xubuntu 12.04 LTS _Precise Pangolin_ - Release amd64 (20120425)]/ dists/precise/main/binary-i386/

# deb cdrom:[Xubuntu 12.04 LTS _Precise Pangolin_ - Release amd64 (20120425)]/ dists/precise/multiverse/binary-i386/
# deb cdrom:[Xubuntu 12.04 LTS _Precise Pangolin_ - Release amd64 (20120425)]/ dists/precise/restricted/binary-i386/
# deb cdrom:[Xubuntu 12.04 LTS _Precise Pangolin_ - Release amd64 (20120425)]/ dists/precise/universe/binary-i386/
# deb cdrom:[Xubuntu 12.04 LTS _Precise Pangolin_ - Release amd64 (20120425)]/ precise main multiverse restricted universe

# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted

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

## 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://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-backports main restricted universe multiverse

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security 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 precise partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise 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 precise main
deb-src http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise main
Don't know if this helped, but Synaptic works fine on my (virtual) Precise box.

[rbjscv]

cwsnyder, I tried your sources list and I still got no joy. So far nothing has worked and my frustration with Precise is growing to the point that I'm ready to revert to Lucid.

I would still like to solve this and stay current rather than have a machine that would be out of date.

[rbjscv]

Also have searched my entire hard drive for 'lucid.' All that was found were fonts that began with 'lucid.'

[oldos2er]

There's nothing "lucid" in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ ?

Check https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/synaptic/+bug/978821
although it's for oneiric and not lucid. In post #8 there may be a solution for you.

[rbjscv]

Read the bugs @ launchpad and 'lucid' didn't appear in any of the files mentioned. But 'lucid' doesn't appear anyway in my file system.

[rbjscv]

I have been through everyfile on my machine to find the cause of this when Synaptic starts up:

E: The value 'lucid' is invalid for APT Default-Release as such a release is not available in the sources
E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

Double colons go between APT and Default but I keep getting a smiley emoticon and I can't seem to turn them off.

Also I've searched the forum high and low and been through all the known bugs - all to no avail. Tried removing and reinstalling. And have checked and rechecked the sources.list file. Nothing has made a difference. Maybe if someone could explain what's going on here, I might be able figure out how to correct the problem.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

rbjscv

[asgekar]

try to remove directory /root/.synaptic


sudo \rm -fr /root/.synaptic

perhaps there are errors in the configuration files of synaptic... it cleared this error for me.