Hi folks,

I installed Ubuntu the other day, and ran immediately into trouble. I haven't fiddled with anything (except the automatic updates) and wanted to install emacs and mp3-support first using Synaptec, then aptitude (since Synaptec failed). All my efforts were in vain - the final error messages I got were:

Use of uninitialized value in substitution (s///) at /usr/share/perl5/Debconf/Format/822.pm line 65, <$__ANONIO__> line 989.
Use of uninitialized value in substitution (s///) at /usr/share/perl5/Debconf/Format/822.pm line 65, <$__ANONIO__> line 990.
Use of uninitialized value in substitution (s///) at /usr/share/perl5/Debconf/Format/822.pm line 65, <$__ANONIO__> line 992.
dpkg: parse error, in file `/var/lib/dpkg/available' near line 22052 package `foomatic-db':
field name `Suggests*' must be followed by colon
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2)

I reinstalled Ubuntu in despair (and reformatted my hard drive) - but the very same problem showed up again. I'm quite lost here about how to troubleshoot/proceed, so any help, comments and suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thx,

Zup

Which packages are you installing? Dapper or Edgy?

Hiya,

I'm running Dapper. And actually the situation is getting even more absurd. I decided to (once again) reinstall the whole shebang. I updated the repo list, as suggested in

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Dapper#H...a_repositories

After this I did all the updates and upgrades from the terminal, using only the command "sudo aptitude XXX". The first installations and updates went smoothly, but soon the same problems started accumulating - some kind of corruption in the package information and dependency files. Rebooting my system after each aptitude-command has helped some, the installations have (sometimes) succeeded after the reboot. Just as often, though, they have failed, and the error messages vary. The latest ones (after running 'sudo aptitude install build-essential') are

dpkg: parse error, in file `/var/lib/dpkg/status' near line 6276:
`inCta' is not allowed for first (want) word in `status' field
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2)
A package failed to install. Trying to recover:
dpkg: parse error, in file `/var/lib/dpkg/status' near line 6276:
`inCta' is not allowed for first (want) word in `status' field

So, it seems that my files are somehow randomly corrupted, simply by running the updates/installations. To top it off, Firefox refuses to start every now and then. The task bar (bottom of screen) says something like "Starting up Firefox", after a while the message disappears and nothing happens. And to think that I installed Linux to get rid of Windows .

A worried

Zup

Hi folks,

I think I've pinpointed the problem. Ubuntu identified my harddrive correctly, but suggested it was 231G big, not 251G. I presume that this has affected the data and filetables - repeated reinstalls have failed, all of them report corrupted partitions even after the first rebbot.

Solving the problem is another matter. How can I tell Ubuntu what size the harddisk is?

As usual, any hints will be much appreciated.

Cheerio sez

Zup