4

I have "broken packages" but when I attempt to fix them in Synaptic Package Manager, I get this error message:

dpkg: unrecoverable fatal error, aborting:
 files list file for package `libreoffice-calc' contains empty filename
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2)
A package failed to install.  Trying to recover:
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of libreoffice-writer:
 libreoffice-writer depends on libreoffice-core (= 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu4); however:
  Version of libreoffice-core on system is 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu3.
 libreoffice-writer depends on libreoffice-base-core (= 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu4); however:
  Version of libreoffice-base-core on system is 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu3.

dpkg: error processing libreoffice-writer (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: error processing libreoffice-base-core (--configure):
 Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should
 reinstall it before attempting configuration.
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of libreoffice-calc:
 libreoffice-calc depends on libreoffice-core (= 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu4); however:
  Version of libreoffice-core on system is 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu3.
 libreoffice-calc depends on libreoffice-base-core (= 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu4); however:
  Version of libreoffice-base-core on system is 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu3.

dpkg: error processing libreoffice-calc (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 libreoffice-writer
 libreoffice-base-core
 libreoffice-calc

The sudo apt-get install -f command gives me this:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
  libreoffice-base-core libreoffice-core libreoffice-draw libreoffice-gnome
  libreoffice-gtk libreoffice-impress libreoffice-math python-uno
Suggested packages:
  libreoffice-base libreoffice-evolution
The following packages will be upgraded:
  libreoffice-base-core libreoffice-core libreoffice-draw libreoffice-gnome
  libreoffice-gtk libreoffice-impress libreoffice-math python-uno
8 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 196 not upgraded.
3 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0 B/36.8 MB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
dpkg: unrecoverable fatal error, aborting:
 files list file for package `libreoffice-calc' contains empty filename
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2)

Using sudo apt-get purge libreoffice* followed by sudo apt-get install libreoffice give me:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 libreoffice : Depends: libreoffice-core (= 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu4) but 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
               Depends: libreoffice-base but it is not going to be installed
               Depends: ttf-dejavu but it is not going to be installed
               Depends: libreoffice-java-common (>= 1:3.6.2~rc2~) but it is not going to be installed
 libreoffice-calc : Depends: libreoffice-core (= 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu4) but 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
                    Depends: libreoffice-base-core (= 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu4) but 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
 libreoffice-writer : Depends: libreoffice-core (= 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu4) but 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
                      Depends: libreoffice-base-core (= 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu4) but 1:3.6.2~rc2-0ubuntu3 is to be installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

I have NO IDEA what to do.

Cody Hagman
  • 41

3 Answers3

6

Try doing sudo apt-get purge libreoffice*

Then do sudo apt-get install libreoffice

If it finds dependence problems:

Type

sudo apt-get purge libreoffice*

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install libreoffice

David M. Sousa
  • 861
  • I disagree about randomly enabling PPAs. The libreoffice in quantal should work just fine – tumbleweed Dec 18 '12 at 13:23
  • helped solve the problem for me.... after a lots of apt-get autoremove etc....I used sudo aptitude etc.. which gives more details about the possibilities and broken dependencies – Yves May 23 '13 at 15:04
  • The problem might have been me downloading the latest version of libreoffice while the newer versions of the packages weren't available on my mirror yet – Yves May 23 '13 at 15:05
  • Based on this answer I did sudo apt purge libreoffice\* followed by sudo apt install libreoffice. Voila! Works! – Mark Sep 22 '21 at 02:29
0

I found this when I got a fatal error from dpkg with the same symptom - empty list file. . . https://serverfault.com/questions/430682/dpkg-warning-files-list-file-for-package-x-missing

I also rm'ed the list file from var/lib.

rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/my_missing_package.list.

then reinstalled

wajig reinstall synaptic

I like wajig - takes away the effort of remembering less often used calls to dkpg and apt

Community
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pete_m
  • 1
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  • No, reinstalling Synaptic apparently will not help. Also there is a right way to remove broken package list: sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/my_missing_package.list && sudo apt-get update. – Danatela Jul 17 '13 at 06:55
0

This solved it for me:

sudo apt-get purge libreoffice*

A complain stating missing dependencies appeared and suggested to run

sudo apt-get -f install

which I did. Then again:

sudo apt-get purge libreoffice*

followed by:

sudo apt-get install libreoffice

PBrando
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  • 2
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