How to Fix Broken Packages in Ubuntu

In This article, We talk about “How to Fix Broken Packages in Ubuntu”. Apt, Ubuntu’s package manager, The apt command is a powerful command-line tool, which works with Ubuntu’s Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) performing such functions as installation of new software packages, upgrade of existing software packages, updating of the package list index, and even upgrading the entire Ubuntu system.

Some examples of popular uses for the apt utility:

Actions of the apt command, such as installation and removal of packages, are logged in the /var/log/dpkg.log log file.

For further information about the use of APT, read the comprehensive Debian APT User Manual or type:

apt help

With Apt/Apt-Get

Apt has a couple of flags that you can use in order to fix missing dependencies or packages that broke for one reason or another during install. A common use here would be installing a third-party .deb and finding that it had dependencies you didn’t know about. Those dependencies probably won’t be pulled in on their own, and dpkg will complain that the package is missing in them.

You can try these steps.

First, run an update to make sure that there aren’t newer versions of the required packages.

sudo apt update --fix-missing

Next, you can try forcing Apt to look for and correct any missing dependencies or broken packages. This will actually install any missing packages and repair existing installs.

sudo apt install -f

With DPKG

Another place where error can pop up in package installations is the configuration process. Behind the scenes, dpkg is taking care of this part, not Apt, so it would stand to reason that when a package fails during configuration, dpkg is the tool to turn to in order to fix it.

Start by trying to force dpkg to reconfigure any broken or partially configured packages.

sudo dpkg --configure -a

If that doesn’t solve the problem, you can take a more forceful approach. Start by listing any packages that dpkg marked as requiring a reinstall.

sudo dpkg -l | grep ^..r

You should see the problematic package(s) there. As long as there’s nothing that seems not to belong there, you can force-remove the broken packages.

sudo dpkg --remove --force-remove--reinstreq

When dpkg is done, try to clean up with Apt.

sudo apt clean
sudo apt update

With any luck that’ll get you back to where you started. It won’t get you the broken packages that you tried to install, but at least Apt will be functional again.

Permanent DPKG Lock

There’s a less common issue with ridiculous dpkg locks preventing you from doing anything. Every time you try to use Apt or dpkg, you get an error saying another application already is … when it isn’t. It’s actually easy to delete the lock file preventing you from using Apt and get back to doing what you need to. Sometimes these lock files remain in place after an error occurs in an install, derailing the process and preventing the file from being removed automatically.

sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/lock

For good measure, delete the lock in cache.

sudo rm /var/cache/apt/archives/lock

Ubuntu Software Center Not Working?

Sometimes the Ubuntu Software Center fails to load. If you see a message such as “Unable to download from …” then it usually means that it cannot read the local cache because it doesn’t exist. To resolve this you need to open the Terminal and enter:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt get upgrade

You can chain these commands using the && syntax. If the above doesn’t work, then you may need to reinstall Gnome-Software.

sudo apt autoremove gnome-software && sudo apt install gnome-software

You can also try the following:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade -f

This should pull down the latest version of Ubuntu which should fix the issue.

Corrupted Cache

Something has gone wrong with the cached packages, and the Software Center cannot read them. Go back to the Terminal and enter:

sudo apt clean

Now the cache will be completely clear allowing you to enter:

sudo apt update

This will pull a clean package list to your machine and should allow you to install software via the search.

Crashing

Sometimes the Software Center crashes when entering categories. Usually this can be resolved by running the update commands as shown earlier in the article or by reinstalling as before.

sudo apt install --reinstall software-center

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