I recently upgraded to 11.10 but when I started my computer up again I got a blank screen.
I tried hitting esc at Grub page and then tried to load in recovery mode. I looked on the forum and tried running sudo dpkg --configure -a, but I get an error message as follows:

dpkg: error: parsing file '/var/lib/dpkg/status' near line 23427 package 'xmind': blank line in value field 'Description'
E: sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2)

My question is what do I do now?

Thank you

From which previous version? If you skipped version it would create problems.

Were you able to boot in Recovery Mode?

1 members found this post helpful.

Apologies for not saying earlier, I upgraded from 11.04 through Upgrade Manager and have not been able to reboot in Recovery Mode, I still get a blank screen with a blinking cursor.

Check the link below. It refers to 11.04 but might work on 11.10. Not much to lose.

http://thedaneshproject.com/posts/ub...n-boot-solved/

1 members found this post helpful.

Thank you Yancek. Tried following the information in the link you sent, but it hasn't worked. I will try again later when I have more time.

I think you are installing the program Xmind right
the available solution is to use the the ubuntu 11
10 live cd to back up your data and reinstall ubuntu again from scratch : fresh installation
otherwise u should remove xmind at runlevel 3 (the console level).
BTY I am not an expert in Linux although I love it but I want to help

Try these steps if you are experiencing a blank screen during boot or install of Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal.

1. LiveCD boots into a blank screen.

When you see the boot menu when you boot LiveCD, hit F6 and select the “nomodeset” option.

2. Boots into a blank screen after install.

Reboot and keep your finger on the “SHIFT” key till you get the grub menu. Highlight the first entry and replace “quiet splash” with “nomodeset” . Hit CTRL + X to continue booting. Once logged in install the latest Graphics drivers. System -> Administration -> Additional Drivers

I think you should open the file /var/lib/dpkg/status and search for the line 23427 if u found the Description value empty I suggest writing anything in it and reboot
good luck

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...kg/+bug/613018

---------- Post added 05-16-12 at 09:52 PM ----------

may be it is a bug.. if nothing of the above worked

Thank you for the suggestions, Kareempharmacist. I am afraid I don't know a great deal about computers (other than how to use them for basic stuff). Can you tell me how I would go about deleting xmind, at the moment I have root@laptop:~# on my screen and I am afraid I am not sure how to go about deleting things using terminal.

this command will remove xmind from your system but will keep configuration filesin case u want to reinstall it later

Hi guys

Thank you for all the help and advice. A new development this morning. Turned computer on, pressed Esc at grub menu and hit to load the top kernel version (?). It then went to Ubuntu logo and ran a check disk, it switched off as soon as this was complete. I turned computer on again and repeated actions, but this time it quickly flashed up Bug: but then closed before I could write down the bug number. Switched computer back on again, hit Esc at grub and this time it comes up with a few lines which all read ok until it gets to:
2012-05-20 12:29:35: (network.c.358) can't bind to port: 80 Address already in use [fail]

Any advice greatly appreciated. Would load from a live CD help.

run the following command to find out what is running on port 80

and you didn't tell us if u ran the command I told u about ..