Ubuntu – “the package cache file is corrupted” error

updates

When I run

sudo apt-get update

I get multiple errors and warnings. The final error is:

The package cache file is corrupted

Here are the errors and warnings.

Reading package lists... Error!
W: Target Packages (main/binary-amd64/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list:52 and /etc/apt/sources.list:54
W: Target Packages (main/binary-i386/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list:52 and /etc/apt/sources.list:54
W: Target Packages (main/binary-all/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list:52 and /etc/apt/sources.list:54
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en_US) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list:52 and /etc/apt/sources.list:54
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list:52 and /etc/apt/sources.list:54
W: Target DEP-11 (main/dep11/Components-amd64.yml) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list:52 and /etc/apt/sources.list:54
W: Target DEP-11-icons (main/dep11/icons-64x64.tar) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list:52 and /etc/apt/sources.list:54
E: Failed to fetch store:/var/lib/apt/lists/partial/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_main_dep11_icons-64x64.tar.gz  Hash Sum mismatch
E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
W: Target Packages (main/binary-amd64/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list:52 and /etc/apt/sources.list:54
W: Target Packages (main/binary-i386/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list:52 and /etc/apt/sources.list:54
W: Target Packages (main/binary-all/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list:52 and /etc/apt/sources.list:54
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en_US) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list:52 and /etc/apt/sources.list:54
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list:52 and /etc/apt/sources.list:54
W: Target DEP-11 (main/dep11/Components-amd64.yml) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list:52 and /etc/apt/sources.list:54
W: Target DEP-11-icons (main/dep11/icons-64x64.tar) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list:52 and /etc/apt/sources.list:54
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_main_binary-amd64_Packages (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_main_binary-i386_Packages (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_main_binary-all_Packages (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_main_i18n_Translation-en (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_restricted_binary-amd64_Packages (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_restricted_binary-i386_Packages (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_restricted_binary-all_Packages (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_restricted_i18n_Translation-en (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_universe_binary-amd64_Packages (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_universe_binary-i386_Packages (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_universe_binary-all_Packages (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_universe_i18n_Translation-en (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_multiverse_binary-amd64_Packages (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_multiverse_binary-i386_Packages (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_multiverse_binary-all_Packages (1)
E: Unable to parse package file /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_xenial-security_multiverse_i18n_Translation-en (1)
W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems
E: The package cache file is corrupted

Question is different in that there are numerous warnings and errors. We have the same error message but not the same problem.

Best Answer

Try this fixes:

  1. Open the file /etc/apt/sources.list:

    sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
    
  2. Comment out either line 52 or 54 with a # at the start of your choice.

  3. Now run sudo apt update

Now do (WARNING: copy and paste, don't leave out the *):

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
sudo apt update
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