segfaults with apt-get update

[Kevin Kofler]

Nigel Henry <cave.dnb <at> tiscali.fr> writes:
> tried to open synaptic as root, and it opened, and about 3 secs later 
crashed.

Known bug, there are already several bug reports about this.

To fix this:
rm -f /var/cache/apt/*.bin
(needs root privileges, so use su or sudo).

It is likely that apt had the RPM database locked while crashing, in which case 
you'll also have to:
rm -f /var/lib/rpm/__db.*
(needs root privileges again).
WARNING: DON'T remove any files in the /var/lib/rpm directory which do not 
start with an underscore. If you zap the Packages file, you won't be able to 
rebuild the RPM database, so you'll have to reinstall.

        Kevin Kofler