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When I do

sudo apt-get update

I get this error message

Reading package lists... Error!
E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/cran.stat.unipd.it_bin_linux_ubuntu_precise_en
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

I followed https://askubuntu.com/a/30199/96271 and apt lists in /var/lib/apt/lists overwritten with html page for Starbucks wifi terms but with no success.

The content of /var/lib/apt/lists/cran.stat.unipd.it_bin_linux_ubuntu_precise_en is the following 

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Frameset//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/frameset.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>The Comprehensive R Archive Network</title>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="content-type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="R.css">
</head>

<FRAMESET cols="1*, 4*" border=0>
<FRAMESET rows="120, 1*">
<FRAME src="logo.html" name="logo" frameborder=0>
<FRAME src="navbar.html" name="contents" frameborder=0>
</FRAMESET>
<FRAME src="banner.shtml" name="banner" frameborder=0>
<noframes>
<h1>The Comprehensive R Archive Network</h1>

Your browser seems not to support frames,
here is the <A href="navbar.html">contents page</A> of CRAN.
</noframes>
</FRAMESET>

Even if I remove the offending file, then the following apt-get update bring back it again.

Where in my system is stored the instructions to refer to this bogus file?

Launching "Ubuntu Software Center" is unsuccessful it immediately exits with the same error, the same for "Synaptic Package Manager" (both launched graphically from the task bar).

aj@aji3:~$ grep -R cran.stat /etc/apt/sources.list*
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb http://cran.stat.unipd.it/bin/linux/ubuntu precise/
/etc/apt/sources.list.save:deb http://cran.stat.unipd.it/bin/linux/ubuntu precise/
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Alessandro Jacopson
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  • Please add the output of grep -R cran.stat /etc/apt/sources.list*. You seem to be using http://cran.stat.unipd.it/ - seemingly related to R - as a source. Perhaps their repository URL has changed. – muru Jan 21 '15 at 20:35
  • @muru Thank you, I double clicked on /etc/apt/sources.list and I've managed to uncheck cran.stat.unipd.it from the list. Now it seems apt-get update works. If you add an answer I will be happy to accept it. – Alessandro Jacopson Jan 21 '15 at 20:44

1 Answers1

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You seem to be using http://cran.stat.unipd.it - seemingly related to R - as a source. Perhaps their repository URL has changed. However, I looked through http://cran.stat.unipd.it/bin/linux/ubuntu/ and it seems to be fine. Perhaps it's a temporary issue with that mirror, and you could try another mirror, or wait for some time and re-enable that one.

muru
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