Broadband Activation

From iainsimpson@ntlworld.com Fri Mar 4 21:35:02 2011 From: Iain Simpson To: staffslug@staffslug.org.uk Subject: [Staffslug] virgin strikes again but how ? Date: Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:34:56 +0000 Message-ID: <4D715B00.8060800@ntlworld.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="===============2060863300372926706==" --===============2060863300372926706== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A week or so ago I had the unfortunate experience of upgrading my Virgin 20Mb system to 30Mb with their new Super-Hubs. I'm not going into details here but an engineer came and 'set it up' for me - including activating the system. It's working sort-of OK. Anyhow today I had a message on my Ubuntu 10.10 system > E: Encountered a section with no Package: header > E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_maverick-security_multiverse_binary-amd64_Packages > E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened. > E: _cache->open() failed, please report. It occurred to me that I hadn't been updated recently. I looked at file " /var/lib/apt/lists/security.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_maverick-security_multiverse_binary-amd64_Packages" which contained > > > Broadband Activation > > > > Please click on this link to proceed with Broadband Activation... > > How the H*** did that happen !!! Luckily I had taken a backup 2 days earlier and recovered the file and I think I'm OK weird Iain --===============2060863300372926706==-- From a@u.gg Fri Mar 4 21:42:22 2011 From: Adam Naylor To: staffslug@staffslug.org.uk Subject: Re: [Staffslug] virgin strikes again but how ? Date: Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:42:14 +0000 Message-ID: <17150092.01299274934949.JavaMail.root@mail> In-Reply-To: 4D715B00.8060800@ntlworld.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="===============1255666443350896733==" --===============1255666443350896733== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sometimes suppliers redirect all web page requests to an "activation" page like that. They forget that there may be automated stuff also making web requests. Once you go through the activation process everything works as normal. Seems a bit daft that Ubuntu accepted an unparseable file though - it should have rejected it as nonsense. Adam --===============1255666443350896733==-- From martinrome999@gmail.com Sat Mar 5 06:46:57 2011 From: martin rome To: staffslug@staffslug.org.uk Subject: Re: [Staffslug] virgin strikes again but how ? Date: Sat, 05 Mar 2011 06:46:52 +0000 Message-ID: In-Reply-To: 17150092.01299274934949.JavaMail.root@mail MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="===============4403516573517053843==" --===============4403516573517053843== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit i too had the switch over to the 30mb connection from 20mb. we were meant to have the "engineer install" which consisted of a guy dropping it off and when asked about the "engineer install" he said "i don't know anything about that I'm a delivery driver" was just a case of switching and ringing virgin to get it "activated" then making sure they aren't going to charge us for said "engineer install" because if they do i think i'll charge them for the "engineer install seeing as i did it for them. Also the wi-fi seems to have died on my "superhub" withing about 2 days of install. So i just wired in my "old" N wireless router and it's working fine and dandy. So tbh it doesn't shock me virgin are making silly mistakes etc. :) thanks for reading, martin On 4 March 2011 21:42, Adam Naylor wrote: > Sometimes suppliers redirect all web page requests to an "activation" page > like that. They forget that there may be automated stuff also making web > requests. Once you go through the activation process everything works as > normal. > > Seems a bit daft that Ubuntu accepted an unparseable file though - it > should have rejected it as nonsense. > > Adam > > _______________________________________________ > Staffslug mailing list > Staffslug(a)staffslug.org.uk > http://lists.staffslug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/staffslug > --===============4403516573517053843==-- From tom@ninjabadger.net Sun Mar 6 02:47:09 2011 From: Tom Hill To: staffslug@staffslug.org.uk Subject: Re: [Staffslug] virgin strikes again but how ? Date: Sun, 06 Mar 2011 02:47:05 +0000 Message-ID: <1299379625.6636.2.camel@teh-desktop> In-Reply-To: 17150092.01299274934949.JavaMail.root@mail MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="===============3029744335077117040==" --===============3029744335077117040== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Fri, 2011-03-04 at 21:42 +0000, Adam Naylor wrote: > Sometimes suppliers redirect all web page requests to an "activation" > page like that. They forget that there may be automated stuff also > making web requests. Once you go through the activation process > everything works as normal. Iain, try running: 'sudo apt-get clean && sudo apt-get update' If not, delete the file you mention and re-update. > Seems a bit daft that Ubuntu accepted an unparseable file though - it > should have rejected it as nonsense. > E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened. > E: _cache->open() failed, please report. ^ I think it did, Adam. :) Tom --===============3029744335077117040==-- From a@u.gg Sun Mar 6 04:41:38 2011 From: Adam Naylor To: staffslug@staffslug.org.uk Subject: Re: [Staffslug] virgin strikes again but how ? Date: Sun, 06 Mar 2011 04:41:29 +0000 Message-ID: <19605997.01299386489142.JavaMail.root@mail> In-Reply-To: 1299379625.6636.2.camel@teh-desktop MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="===============2539223618139737013==" --===============2539223618139737013== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- "Tom Hill" wrote: ... > > E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened. > > E: _cache->open() failed, please report. > > ^ I think it did, Adam. :) Fair point, but Ubuntu's scripts didn't make it easy - they should have grabbed the next parseable version and used that IMO. Or at least said "broken file, click here (URL) to fix, or await next update when we will fix it automatically for you. Not having a go at Ubuntu, just how I think stuff like this should work when it gets daft info from the web. Adam --===============2539223618139737013==--