[Bug 1311969] [NEW] update-manager status file corruption

[mitch]

Public bug reported:

An unresolvable problem occurred while initializing the package information.
Please report this bug against the 'update-manager' package and include the following error message:
'E:Encountered a section with no Package: header, E:Problem with MergeList /var/lib/dpkg/status, E:The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.'

12.04 LTS Dell 745 tower, 2gb, 200gb, (dual OS - W2000 on 60GB. 12.04 on rest) sys fine until installing GNUCASH via software center.  
About 3/4 way through d/l sys crashed.  Reported as corrupt 1st line in dpkg/status file.  Gedit on status file nets this warning - The file you opened has some invalid characters. If you continue editing this file you could corrupt this document. You can also choose another character encoding and try again.  (Unable to edit due to read only status.)

Status-old file opens with no issues.  Unable to rename  files due to
ownership issue.  Various apt-get attempts result in error messages or
inability to read or load files.

** Affects: update-manager (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1311969

Title:
  update-manager status file corruption

Status in “update-manager” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  An unresolvable problem occurred while initializing the package information.
  Please report this bug against the 'update-manager' package and include the following error message:
  'E:Encountered a section with no Package: header, E:Problem with MergeList /var/lib/dpkg/status, E:The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.'

  12.04 LTS Dell 745 tower, 2gb, 200gb, (dual OS - W2000 on 60GB. 12.04 on rest) sys fine until installing GNUCASH via software center.  
  About 3/4 way through d/l sys crashed.  Reported as corrupt 1st line in dpkg/status file.  Gedit on status file nets this warning - The file you opened has some invalid characters. If you continue editing this file you could corrupt this document. You can also choose another character encoding and try again.  (Unable to edit due to read only status.)

  Status-old file opens with no issues.  Unable to rename  files due to
  ownership issue.  Various apt-get attempts result in error messages or
  inability to read or load files.

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