16.04.2 LTS: Software Updater "The package system is broken"

[exhile]

I'm trying to update the software on Ubuntu but the Software Update dialogue box displays the following:



The package system is broken

Check if you are using third-party repositories. If so, disable them, because they are a common source of problems.
Furthermore, run the following command in a Terminal: apt-get install -f


When I type in

apt-get install -f

I get the following:



~$ apt-get install -f
E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (13: Permission denied)
E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), are you root?


I'm not sure how to disable third-party repositories. I'm new at this.

[deadflowr]

Run it again with sudo

sudo apt-get install -f

Post the output if any problems occur.

[exhile]

Run it again with sudo

sudo apt-get install -f

Post the output if any problems occur.

Thanks for the reply. Here's what I get:


alex@DG45ID:~$ sudo apt-get install -f
[sudo] password for alex:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
gir1.2-rb-3.0 gir1.2-secret-1 libdmapsharing-3.0-2 libftgl2 libprojectm2v5
libqxt-core0 libqxt-gui0 librhythmbox-core9 linux-headers-4.4.0-70
linux-headers-4.4.0-70-generic linux-headers-4.4.0-71
linux-headers-4.4.0-71-generic linux-headers-4.4.0-72
linux-headers-4.4.0-72-generic linux-headers-4.8.0-41
linux-headers-4.8.0-41-generic linux-headers-4.8.0-42
linux-headers-4.8.0-42-generic linux-headers-4.8.0-44
linux-headers-4.8.0-44-generic linux-headers-4.8.0-45
linux-headers-4.8.0-45-generic linux-image-4.4.0-70-generic
linux-image-4.4.0-71-generic linux-image-4.4.0-72-generic
linux-image-4.8.0-41-generic linux-image-4.8.0-42-generic
linux-image-4.8.0-44-generic linux-image-4.8.0-45-generic
linux-image-extra-4.4.0-70-generic linux-image-extra-4.4.0-71-generic
linux-image-extra-4.4.0-72-generic linux-image-extra-4.8.0-41-generic
linux-image-extra-4.8.0-42-generic linux-image-extra-4.8.0-44-generic
linux-image-extra-4.8.0-45-generic media-player-info python3-mako
rhythmbox-data
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following additional packages will be installed:
libsane
Suggested packages:
hplip libsane-extras
The following packages will be upgraded:
libsane
1 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 9 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/2,012 kB of archives.
After this operation, 27.6 kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
(Reading database ... 484791 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libsane_1.0.25+git20150528-1ubuntu2.16.04.1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libsane:amd64 (1.0.25+git20150528-1ubuntu2.16.04.1) over (1.0.25+git20150528-1ubuntu2) ...
dpkg-deb (subprocess): decompressing archive member: lzma error: compressed data is corrupt
dpkg-deb: error: subprocess <decompress> returned error exit status 2
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/libsane_1.0.25+git20150528-1ubuntu2.16.04.1_amd64.deb (--unpack):
cannot copy extracted data for './usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sane/libsane-plustek.so.1.0.25' to '/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sane/libsane-plustek.so.1.0.25.dpkg-new': unexpected end of file or stream
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu7) ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
/var/cache/apt/archives/libsane_1.0.25+git20150528-1ubuntu2.16.04.1_amd64.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)


If I do

sudo apt autoremove

I get the following:



alex@DG45ID:~$ sudo apt autoremove
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
libsane : Depends: libsane-common (= 1.0.25+git20150528-1ubuntu2) but 1.0.25+git20150528-1ubuntu2.16.04.1 is installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try using -f.

[ajgreeny]

What output do you get from
sudo apt-get update
That should show us any third part repos that are unavailable.

[exhile]

What output do you get from
sudo apt-get update
That should show us any third part repos that are unavailable.

Here's what I get from doing

sudo apt-get update



Ign:1 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable InRelease
Hit:2 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable Release
Hit:4 http://ppa.launchpad.net/team-xbmc/ppa/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Get:5 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security InRelease [102 kB]
Hit:6 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Get:7 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports InRelease [102 kB]
Get:8 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [54.1 kB]
Get:9 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates InRelease [102 kB]
Get:10 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main DEP-11 64x64 Icons [42.4 kB]
Get:11 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [32.2 kB]
Get:12 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/universe DEP-11 64x64 Icons [37.0 kB]
Get:13 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [3,328 B]
Get:14 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/multiverse amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [2,520 B]
Get:15 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [160 kB]
Get:16 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/universe DEP-11 64x64 Icons [188 kB]
Get:17 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 Packages [527 kB]
Get:18 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main i386 Packages [513 kB]
Get:19 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main Translation-en [213 kB]
Get:20 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [288 kB]
Get:21 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main DEP-11 64x64 Icons [184 kB]
Fetched 2,551 kB in 4s (539 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done

[Impavidus]

Thanks for the reply. Here's what I get:


Unpacking libsane:amd64 (1.0.25+git20150528-1ubuntu2.16.04.1) over (1.0.25+git20150528-1ubuntu2) ...
dpkg-deb (subprocess): decompressing archive member: lzma error: compressed data is corrupt


Maybe a corrupt download, or bitrot? Try clearing the cache.
sudo apt clean
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -f

[ajgreeny]

No errors there so that is not the problem.

Have you installed anything from third party sources by downloading the .deb package from somewhere and installing it using either software-centre or gdebi?
That might have brought in dependencies which now give you this error of unmet dependencies.

[exhile]

No errors there so that is not the problem.

Have you installed anything from third party sources by downloading the .deb package from somewhere and installing it using either software-centre or gdebi?
That might have brought in dependencies which now give you this error of unmet dependencies.

I did install the latest version of Clementine 1.3.1 from their website instead of version 1.2.3 from the software-centre. I also installed extra packages to play .wma music files. Maybe they were the cause?

[exhile]

Maybe a corrupt download, or bitrot? Try clearing the cache.
sudo apt clean
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -f

That set of commands seem to have fixed the problem.

Thanks! Much appreciated...

[ajgreeny]

Great news!
Please mark as SOLVED from the Thread Tools menu up-top if this is now solved to your satisfaction. It is a great help to users searching the forum.