Unknown Package error on fresh install

[Derelicht]

Okay. Just did a clean install on my desktop of 10.04. Net was working fine, until I installed GIMP and restarted. A little "NO" symbol pops up next to my wireless indicator, and it tells me to either do an apt-get check from terminal or start the package manager to find out what the problem is...so, I do the apt-get check.

Here's what I get returned from the terminal:

E: Unable to write to /var/cache/apt/
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

Any ideas as to what this could mean? I'm new to Ubuntu. Used to rock RHL, but found it cumbersome. Can anyone help? I'd be eternally grateful

[Derelicht]

Oh, there's a third line when I do the Package Manager Route:

E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

Who do I report this to?

[Segfault]

Too little information, possible causes:

A. hard drive gone bad
B. filesystem corrupted (due to A or unclean shutdown or full filesystem)

Is your /var on a separate partition?

[Derelicht]

It's one partition. But, unfortunately, that's ALL the info I have on the prob. Although, I do have to whack the tower every once in a while to get the HDD to spool up when it starts up...

[Segfault]

Bad HDD wires may cause corruption, too. I'd check connections and run smartctl on that drive.

[Derelicht]

Okay, this is gonna make sound like the n00b that I am *laughs* I type that into terminal, right? Any special syntax?

EDIT: Reinstalled Ubuntu and everything is smooth sailing, so, I don't know if it was just an anomaly, or what.

[devils casper]

Re-install was not necessary. If you want to learn about Linux OS, you have to be a bit patient. Solving or at least trying to solve problems teach a lot more than following a good tutorial or book. Btw, it's my opinion only.

[Derelicht]

Yeah...sorry...used to Windows...

[glene77is]

We had problems with "stiction' (HDD sticking at startup),
and realized it was in a cold temperature room.
Grease on the spindle was thickening in the cold.

So, we moved it into a warm temperature room.

Whacking a Mac every morning just did not seem 'right'.

[glene77is]

Casper is right.

To enable myself to re-install without consequence:
I setup a second computer just for learning/tinkering.
I have installed Puppy, Ubuntu, and Knoppix, and run DSL Live,
re-installing in different partitiions, etc.
I wipe out a partition and re-install in different partitions,
just to see what happens, particularly to Grub.
That is the way I discovered the difference between the old Grub and the new Grub 1.98+. Now, with no consequences to tinkering, I have started tracing the boot procedures, modifying the scripts, etc.
All that to say, that there is a place for lots of re-installs, but not on your primary system,
unless you prepare the system for such activity.

Linux is neat. With Windows I always had to install to the entire disk.
Linux allows scripting, like I did thirty years ago, and feels like an old glove.

Good Luck.