Error reading package lists

Question

I have been trying to get updates on my Quantal Desktop and apt-get update gives me the following:

Reading package lists... Error!
E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/sa.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_quantal_main_i18n_Translation-en%5fUS
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

I have tried deleting the file

sa.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_quantal_main_i18n_Translation-en%5fUS

and then apt-get update again and still get the same error. I have also tried visitng the actual directory through a browser (sa.archive.ubuntu.com/Ubuntu/quantal/main/i18n/Translation-en%5fUS) and that does not exist. What should I do now?

Answer 1

The problem I had was that my University was blocking the Ubuntu repos and mirrors. I tried opening up the file at:

/var/lib/apt/lists/sa.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_quantal_main_i18n_Translation-en%5fUS

and it gives me the default page used by the IT department to block certain sites. My solution was to use VPN.