Synaptic has an error how would i fix it

sethis · 08-25-2006, 10:33 PM

E: Malformed line 39 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list (dist)
E: The list of sources could not be read.
Go to the repository dialog to correct the problem.
E: Malformed line 39 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list (dist)
E: Unable to lock the list directory

Thats what synaptic gives me when i try to reload. i cant get any more programs.......please help me. thanks

archtoad6 · 08-26-2006, 09:13 AM

"... how would i fix it"

I assume from the rest of your post you mean "get around" rather than "repair", is in rewrite the source code.

I don't use synaptic because I can't read its output -- gray on black & ~5 pt type. I would consider using KPackage if you can adjust to the interface differences.

Other options include aptitude, w/ "TUI" or "GCLI"; & apt-get itself. apt-get in an X-term is quite easy to use.

Or someone may know what is going wrong w/ synaptic for you, sorry I don't.

sethis · 08-26-2006, 09:54 AM

Thanks, but i think Kpackage is only for KDE desktops, and the distro i use is Ubuntu, which only has Gnome. So i probably will need to fix it. I know very very little terminal. or syntax (i thinK) as the language is called. Thanks for you time. Please any help.

XavierP · 08-26-2006, 11:18 AM

Quote:

E: Malformed line 39 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list (dist)
E: The list of sources could not be read.
Go to the repository dialog to correct the problem.
E: Malformed line 39 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list (dist)
E: Unable to lock the list directory

What does line 39 of sources.list read? The error message tells you where the problem is.

sethis · 08-26-2006, 08:25 PM

.....now it doesnt even let me log in.......and oem was deleted.

XavierP · 08-26-2006, 09:58 PM

What doesn't let you log in? You ran the oem-configure script didn't you? I believe that wipes out your user.

scheidel21 · 08-27-2006, 04:07 PM

The problem was in flat text file, likely the apt source on line39 of /etc/apt/sources.list was in the wrong format so it couldn't be read by synaptic