Hi
I don't know what happened, but when I tried to access Synaptic Package Manager, the following error window opened. I'm at a loss as to how to manually fix the problem. Any help from the gurus will be most appreciated

E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg -configure -a' to correct the problem.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

Many thanks for helping me out.

PS: Another problem is that after installing KMail and assigned settings etc, the program refuses to open at all. I click on the icon and nothing happens.
Can the live install DVD be used to correct problems such as the above?

Have you tried running:
?

Yes, this was the result:

dpkg: error: unknown option -o

Type dpkg --help for help about installing and deinstalling packages[*];
Use 'apt' or 'aptitude' for user-friendly package management;
Type dpkg -Dhelp for a list of dpkg debug flag values;
Type dpkg --force-help for a list of forcing options;
Type dpkg-deb --help for help about manipulating *.deb files;

A whole lot of commands etc were listed but i have no clue what to do

I'm stuck. Hopefully, someone with more experience with dpkg will notice this thread.

It says unknown option -o. Look at the command again. It's supposed to -a.

In a terminal type/paste if doesn't work.
When you post command output can you enclose it in code tags.

Thanks everyone!
Thought it was simpler to reinstall since it was a fresh install anyway.