I have a similar error, though mine is from lenny. I've done as suggested by Marlon:
# find /var/lib/apt/lists/ -type f \( ! -iname "lock" \) -exec rm -f {} \; .. and put the following in sources.list: deb http://ftp.au.debian.org/debian lenny main contrib non-free deb http://security.debian.org lenny/updates main contrib non-free # aptitude update [ looks good, until .. ] Get:9 http://ftp.au.debian.org lenny/contrib Packages [94.3kB] Get:10 http://ftp.au.debian.org lenny/non-free Packages [124kB] Fetched 7697kB in 6s (1197kB/s) Reading package lists... Error! E: Encountered a section with no Package: header E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/security.debian.org_dists_lenny_updates_main_binary-i386_Packages E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened. E: Couldn't rebuild package cache .. I've bypassed our local debcache and tried other mirrors. The only thing I found that stops this error is removing the deb .. security.debian.org line. Don't like to update like that, and iirc there aren't alternative mirrors for security.debian.org. If you look at the sndfile-programs package description in http://security.debian.org/dists/lenny/updates/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz it is followed by the lines below, which are different to the layout of the rest of the file, and do seem to fit the error message. None None None I'm going to wait a few days before updating again. If there is something wrong with this package description, I don't think I'll be the only one affected. I'd love to hear better ideas. -- Pete in SA -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20111204134118.8fcb774e.psid-d...@riverland.net.au