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I am trying to install ia32-libs on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (x86). I enabled all the repository sources but I'm receiving the error message below:

~$ sudo apt-get install ia32-libs  
Reading package lists... Done  
Building dependency tree         
Reading state information... Done  
Package ia32-libs is not available, but is referred to by another package.  
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or  
is only available from another source  

E: Package 'ia32-libs' has no installation candidate

output of sudo apt-cache policy ia32-libs 

ia32-libs:  
  Installed: (none)  
  Candidate: (none)  
  Version table:

output of cat /etc/apt/sources.list (removed similar hyperlinks) 

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise restricted main multiverse universe  
deb-src archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise restricted main multiverse universe #Added by software-properties  
deb security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-security main restricted universe multiverse  
deb-src security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-security main restricted universe multiverse #Added by software-properties  
deb archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates main restricted universe multiverse  
deb-src archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates main restricted universe multiverse #Added by software-properties
Anwar
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Dcm1405
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  • Did you run sudo apt-get update after enabling the software sources (repositories)? If not, you should try this and then run sudo apt-get install ia32-libs again. Also, what is the output of apt-cache policy ia32-libs? And what is the output of cat /etc/apt/sources.list? This will provide detailed information about what software sources are enabled and how they are enabled. You should edit your question to add this information. (Code, like text from the Terminal, can be highlighted as such with the <$> button in the editing toolbar, which makes it easier to read.) – Eliah Kagan May 29 '12 at 22:34
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    Just to have mentioned it: ia32-libs will not be available for a i386 32-bit Ubuntu (it already is 32-bit). – Takkat May 30 '12 at 06:25

3 Answers3

4

That package is only needed when running certain 32 Bit applications on a 64 Bit version of Ubuntu. On 32 Bit / i386 architecture everything (applications, libraries etc) is 32 Bit.

Since you are not trying to install that package for the sake of doing so, what software are you trying to install and what guide or how to do you use?

LiveWireBT
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  • @Eliah, You are correct. I ran apt-get-update and saw the repositories being updated (I posted their output). The original issue is that a while back I installed the ia32-libs on another 64-bit box and didn't realize it was not needed here in the 32-bit one. The software I was installing is SQL Anywhere 12. – Dcm1405 May 30 '12 at 14:45
  • Games like Enemy territory needs 32-bit libraries..... – Ravi Jul 26 '12 at 09:04
0

You can fix this removing system package cache

rm -f /var/lib/apt/lists/* 
apt-get clean all
apt-get update
Mitesh Shah
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0

to install 32 bit processes on a 64 bit box you need to add the new architecture then some libs 

dpkg --print-foreign-architectures  #  show non native arch if any
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386   #  add the 32 bit arch
sudo apt-get -qqy update
sudo apt-get -qqy install libncurses5:i386 libstdc++6:i386 zlib1g:i386

this works fine on 16.04 through 17.04

Scott Stensland
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