[plug] Failed Debian system upgrade

[Patrick Coleman]

On 2/24/07, Bret Busby <bret at busby.net> wrote:
>
> Hello again, everyone.
>
> I previously encountered some problems in trying to upgrade our
> mailserver after a power blackout corrupted it.
>
> I posted a query to the list about it, and, amongst the responses that
> I got, was a suggestion to try apt-get dist-upgrade.
>
> So, I have just done an apt-get update, and tried to do an apt-get dist
> upgrade.
>
> The result is below.
>
<snip>
>
> How do I overcome this issue of the dpkg parse error, relating to the
> brushed metal thing, so that I can upgrade the system and (try to) get
> it working properly again?

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?t=225508 seems
to recommend running:

dpkg --clear-avail
apt-get update

/var/lib/spkg/available seems to just contain a database of all the
available packages, so I imagine dpkg --clear-avail is just a fancy
way to delete the file, which is then recreated when you run apt-get
update to refresh the package lists.

--Patrick