Score:2

fix apt after incorrect package name

jp flag

After an automatic update, my Ubuntu desktop station ended up with a package libebackend-1.2-10:(amd64 (note the :(amd64 at the end, which is not a mistake) in its list of packages.

Because such a package name is invalid, starting by the presence of a ( character in the name, apt seems unable to work correctly anymore. I tried to remove the offending package, but since its name is incorrect, the operation doesn't succeed. Ton of other problems follow, due to unmet dependencies.

There is a general advise to attempt apt --fix-broken install, but it fails too :

dpkg: warning: parsing file '/var/lib/dpkg/status' near line 23426 package 'libebackend-1.2-10:(amd64':
 '(amd64' is not a valid architecture name in 'Architecture' field: must start with an alphanumeric
dpkg: error: illegal package name at line 1: illegal architecture name in specifier 'libebackend-1.2-10:(amd64': must start with an alphanumeric

Any way to fix the situation ?

in flag
Are you able to edit `/var/lib/dpkg/status` to correct the issue?
jp flag
@matigo: I might, but what am I expected to do in this case?
user535733 avatar
cn flag
Does this answer your question? [How do I rebuild a corrupt dpkg status file?](https://askubuntu.com/questions/4834/how-do-i-rebuild-a-corrupt-dpkg-status-file)
jp flag
I edited `/var/lib/dpkg/status`, and manually fixed the line that seemed broken. Thankfully, in this particular case, the problem and corresponding solution felt obvious. `apt` looks in much better shape now.
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