[Bug 29832] Synaptic proxy

[Bill Chivers]

Public bug report changed:
https://launchpad.net/malone/bugs/29832

Comment:
Thanks for the quick replies. I have used Ubuntu since April 2005 (I
waited for 5.04) on my notebook. I am now using 5.10 and, as Synaptic
works fine at home, all packages are up to date. Synaptic V0.57.4. At
home I have a simple direct broadband connection.

CORRECTION: Synaptic now does not work at home! After trying to change
proxy settings yesterday at work, and getting messages such as "Could
not download all repository indexes", I am now getting these messages at
home for the first time! I have changed the Proxy Server setting in
Synaptic back to "Direct connection to the Internet" which has always
worked at home, and I get the following messages:

When I click "Reload":
----------------------
Could not download all repository indexes

The repository might be no longer available or could not be contacted
because of network problems. If available an older version of the failed
index will be used. Otherwise the repository will be ignored. Check your
network connection and the correct writing of the repository address in
the preferences.

http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/breezy-updates/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz: MD5Sum mismatch
http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/breezy-updates/main/source/Sources.gz: MD5Sum mismatch
http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/breezy/restricted/binary-i386/Packages.gz: Sub-process gzip returned an error code (1)

Then when I click close
-----------------------
The following problems were found on your system:

W: Couldn't stat source package list http://au.archive.ubuntu.com breezy/restricted Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/au.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_breezy_restricted_binary-i386_Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory)
W: Couldn't stat source package list http://au.archive.ubuntu.com breezy-updates/main Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/au.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_breezy-updates_main_binary-i386_Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory)

HELP! I am not a Linux guru, just a Linux user. I really need a computer
that works, so that I can get on with my teaching and research. The
place where I work is a committed Microsoft shop, very Linux-phobic.
Whenever I contact the help desk, they tell me that I should not be
using Linux, even if I ask simple questions about proxy settings.

To answer the other questions, the proxy settings I used were the proxy
URL at work with port numbers 8080 and 3128. All other applications,
such as Firefox, work though the proxy. Firefox auto-detects the proxy
so I do not have to change settings at home.

Sorry if I sound stressed, but I am  This problem is a real killer for my use of Ubuntu at work.
Many thanks,

Bill Chivers