Issue
Earlier, I had used:- sudo apt-get remove samba, thinking that it will remove samba. but it started uninstalling all my applications including libreoffice, texteditor, java plugin software update manager etc.
And now I am getting error , for the command:- sudo apt-get update
Err http://snapshot.debian.org lenny Release.gpg
Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise Release.gpg
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://snapshot.debian.org lenny/updates Release.gpg
Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com precise Release
Ign http://snapshot.debian.org lenny Release
Ign http://snapshot.debian.org lenny/updates Release
Ign http://snapshot.debian.org lenny/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://snapshot.debian.org lenny/updates/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe TranslationIndex
Err http://snapshot.debian.org lenny/main Sources
Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://snapshot.debian.org lenny/main i386 Packages
Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://snapshot.debian.org lenny/updates/main Sources
Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://snapshot.debian.org lenny/updates/main i386 Packages
Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://snapshot.debian.org lenny/main Translation-en_US
Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://snapshot.debian.org lenny/main Translation-en
Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://snapshot.debian.org lenny/updates/main Translation-en_US
Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://snapshot.debian.org lenny/updates/main Translation-en
Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/main Sources
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe Sources
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted Sources
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse Sources
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/main i386 Packages
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe i386 Packages
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted i386 Packages
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse i386 Packages
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/main Translation-en_US
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/main Translation-en
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse Translation-en_US
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse Translation-en
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted Translation-en_US
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted Translation-en
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe Translation-en_US
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe Translation-en
Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/Release.gpg Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/20070730T000000Z/dists/lenny/Release.gpg Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian-security/20070730T000000Z/dists/lenny/updates/Release.gpg Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/source/Sources Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/universe/source/Sources Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/restricted/source/Sources Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/multiverse/source/Sources Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/binary-i386/Packages Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/universe/binary-i386/Packages Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/restricted/binary-i386/Packages Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/multiverse/binary-i386/Packages Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/20070730T000000Z/dists/lenny/main/source/Sources Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/20070730T000000Z/dists/lenny/main/binary-i386/Packages Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian-security/20070730T000000Z/dists/lenny/updates/main/source/Sources Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian-security/20070730T000000Z/dists/lenny/updates/main/binary-i386/Packages Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/20070730T000000Z/dists/lenny/main/i18n/Translation-en_US Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/20070730T000000Z/dists/lenny/main/i18n/Translation-en Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian-security/20070730T000000Z/dists/lenny/updates/main/i18n/Translation-en_US Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian-security/20070730T000000Z/dists/lenny/updates/main/i18n/Translation-en Something wicked happened resolving 'snapshot.debian.org:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/i18n/Translation-en_US Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/i18n/Translation-en Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/multiverse/i18n/Translation-en_US Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/multiverse/i18n/Translation-en Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/restricted/i18n/Translation-en_US Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/restricted/i18n/Translation-en Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/universe/i18n/Translation-en_US Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/universe/i18n/Translation-en Something wicked happened resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com:http' (-5 - No address associated with hostname)
E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
further while trying to install any application, i get the error, in this case for installing vim:-
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package vim-gnome is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package 'vim-gnome' has no installation candidate
Any help is appreciated. Thank you
Solution
When a large number of other packages are listed by an apt-get remove, this means that they have listed the package as a dependency. Samba seems to be depended on by some package that all theses others are, and may have then uninstalled major parts of the system.
I recommend using a repair disk for your distribution.
Answered By - Danny Staple Answer Checked By - Katrina (WPSolving Volunteer)