APT says malformed line 63, can't install anything since installing Adobe reader

Question

My apt-get is not working. Keeps saying malformed line 63. Also, every time I try to download Chrome it says "software index is broken".

I have no idea what I'm doing. I somehow managed to uninstall Chrome after it crashed, now firefox won't let me check my gmail or send any messages. I can't reinstall Chrome.

It all started when I tried installing adobe reader which I finally figured out and it doesn't even work properly. neither does my printer- I can't figure out how to scan anything and I can't download simple scan or figure that out either.

When I try to access the Ubuntu Software Center it shuts down. I can't do anything with this operating system it's so frustrating. I can't even upgrade from 14.04. What should I do?

# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu-Studio 14.04.1 LTS _Trusty Tahr_ - Release amd64 (20140722.1)]/ trusty 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/ trusty main restricted
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty main restricted

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

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-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 trusty partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu trusty partner

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Ubuntu's
## 'extras' repository.
## 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 trusty main
# deb http://archive.ubuntugames.org ubuntugames main
# deb-src http://archive.ubuntugames.org ubuntugames main
# deb-src http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty main
deb http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu utopic-getdeb games
# deb-src http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu utopic-getdeb games
deb http:archive.canonical.com/recise partner
# deb-src http:archive.canonical.com/recise partner
# deb-src http:archive.canonical.com/recise partner
# deb-src http:archive.canonical.com/recise partner
# deb-src http:archive.canonical.com/recise partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ precise partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ precise partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ precise partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ precise partner

Why don't you edit your question to show us Line 63 of the file that it's complaining about? Better yet, show us the 10 lines before and after Line 63, too. Until you fix Line 63, you probably won't be able to install anything. We can only solve one problem at a time, so please be patient. — user535733, Dec 05 '18 at 21:11
I'm trying to figure out how to post the source list, when I entered it in the body it came up as a link. — Jackie, Dec 05 '18 at 21:17
Okay, took me a while to figure out how to post the correct format for the source list, so there it is! ^ — Jackie, Dec 05 '18 at 21:46
Near the bottom, the line deb http:archive.canonical.com/recise partner DELETE that line. You're not running 12.04 anymore. Delete ALL 'precise' or 'recise' lines. — user535733, Dec 05 '18 at 21:48
Around line 61 you have another: deb http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu utopic-getdeb games Utopic is 14.10, not 14.04. NEVER mix sources from different releases - they might break your system horribly. I suggest you comment out (#) that line. ` — user535733, Dec 05 '18 at 21:51
After corrections, please try a sudo apt-get update and sudo apt-get upgrade. If you get errors, please edit your question to add complete output. — user535733, Dec 05 '18 at 21:52
I wanted to say thank you very much for helping me solve my malformed line problem and showing me how to update and upgrade my system. Although I still cannot figure out how to fix the error issues that showed up during the update and upgrade, my apt-get update is now working, and I was able to install google chrome again, it's fixed many of the issues I was having, thank you. — Jackie, Dec 06 '18 at 16:46

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 07 '18 at 07:51

What a mess...

I've edited your original sources.list file and it should look more like this...

There may be further errors in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list... for those errors you need to look at each individual error, then search *.list files and make corrections. (ie: getdeb doesn't exist any more, so you can just delete that specific .list file)...

# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu-Studio 14.04.1 LTS _Trusty Tahr_ - Release amd64 (20140722.1)]/ trusty 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/ trusty main restricted
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty main restricted

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

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-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 trusty partner
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu trusty partner

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Ubuntu's
## 'extras' repository.
## 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 trusty main
deb-src http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty main

Update #1:

After re-reading the original question, and all of the various comments, my recommendation is to reinstall Ubuntu. Use a later version if you can.

Update #2:

Re-installation help can be found here

@Jackie I saw your original sources file in your question, and I used that as the template for my answer. I deleted a bunch of bad lines, and uncommented a few other lines. My answer also calls out that you have even more errors in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list files... too many to guess now. This didn't EVER work for you, did it? There are just too many different errors. — heynnema, Dec 06 '18 at 03:48
you are so right! This never properly worked, It is my first experience with unbuntu, a friend installed it for me- I just thought this operating system was horrible across the board, but with this help I've been receiving from unbuntu, I'm starting to get more optimistic. Hopefully I'll have a half way decent operating system if I can somehow get all this figured out, especially difficult not knowing anything about it and being a beginner. Thank you for your help! — Jackie, Dec 06 '18 at 05:18
Hi, thank you for the link. However, I can't seem to be able to run the ubuntu installer. How do I do this? — Jackie, Dec 06 '18 at 16:19
Okay, I don't have a DVD or a USB to use at the moment, so when I get one I will try this. Thank you so much for all your help!!! — Jackie, Dec 06 '18 at 16:41
@Jackie Please see the edited link: it will point you to an excellent answer here on-site. — Fabby, Dec 07 '18 at 07:52

APT says malformed line 63, can't install anything since installing Adobe reader

1 Answers1