Yesterday I tried opening Cydia but was unable to because it kept crashing. I rebooted, resprung but nothing could cause it to open. I looked around for a fix and found one. Here is a fix for all the people out there on 3.0 and their Cydia is crashing.
The fix involves you moving some files around in your iPhone/iPod Touch’s filesystem so you either need iFile from Cydia or use this guide to access your iPhone/iPod Touch files on your computer.
Method 1: This is if you haven’t added any extra sources or messed around with the sources on your iPhone/iPod Touch:
- This method only works if you have already downloaded Terminal from Cydia. If not, try the next method.
- Open it and type in su root (hit enter)
- Then type alpine (hit enter)
- Type apt-get remove Cydia (hit enter). A warning will come up. Click enter.
- Type apt-get install Cydia (hit enter)
- Type killall SpringBoard (hit enter)
- Cydia should now open.
Method 2: This is if you have added sources or messed around with sources of Cydia. Or if you get this error when you do the above method:
/private/var/lib/apt/lists$ apt-get remove
E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/rep.sources.co.il_._Packages
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
Reading package lists…
- Open up iFile or Total Commander on your computer
- Go to etc/apt/sources.list.d/ where you will find all your sources for Cydia.
- Select all of them EXCEPT SAURIK.list and move them over to your computer. Delete the versions that are on your iPhone/iPod Touch.
- Cydia should now open up.
- To get all your old sources back reinstall Community Sources (this didn’t work for me but it did for some. If this doesn’t work with you can simply move those files back to where they were. Cydia should still boot up.)
Hope it helps!
EDIT: Here are two more tips from the BigBoss’s website on how to fix this issue.
Windows users: Download:Â ClearCydiaListCache (4014) (.NET required) and unzip the files to a handy location. Run the enclosed executable and connect your device to your PC. Click the button to start the fix. A confirmation screen will appear shortly when it has finished.
Mac or Windows users: This document (PDF) describes how to fix Cydia using DiskAid for Mac or Windows.
I've tried all of these methods and it still does not work. Cydia loads for 2 seconds and shuts off.
Check out the changes I have made to the post. Maybe one of the new methods will work for you.
Here’s a wonderfully written article on this. It is basically an expanded and detailed version of the solution contributed by member eg1982:
techchronicle.wordpress.com/2009/04/12/c…rashes-when-loading/
If after going thru this, Cydia still crashes, you can add this to your troubleshooting steps:
1. Go to the private/var/lib/dpkg/updates folder
2. Look for file similarly named like tmp.i and 000* bearing the latest timestamp (*=wildcard)
3. Delete those files
4. Run Cydia again. By the time you finish reading this sentence, you are already smiling and shouting “YES!!”.
Now, just to explain a little further (now bear with me on this), there is a lot of talk about Cydia “crashing”. If you tap on Cydia and it justs pops up and goes back to springboard as if nothing happened, that is Cydia crashing. If you tap on Cydia, it opens up, shows you the main page or maybe an “Unable to load, no internet connection”, and you try to tap on the Manage section and suddenly you get returned to springboard, that, is Cydia exiting. Big difference right? That is the behavior of the “new” Cydia. If it senses you don’t have an internet connection, it simply exits.
But wait, there’s more. You go “But i have an internet connection, why is Cydia telling me I’m getting an “Unable to load, not internet connection message?”. There are a couple of things to consider:
1. Cydia server is really down
2. The site is unresolveable via DNS (in which case, blame your provider)
3. The site is under maintenance.
Here are some steps you can do to see if it’s a problem with the site or your provider:
1. Try enabling edge/3G and enter the correct APN on your cellular network settings. Try to run Cydia again. Most times it will time out on the first pass. Just exit and try again. Voila!! Cydia lives!! I know, I know.. Don’t get all riled up and tell me “Globe data charges are sooo expensive”.. We are doing this to make sure the Cydia server is not down and so you can blame your provider
2. Have someone else (on the LC or text or phone-a-friend) check out if Cydia is timing out on their connection. If they say “Nope, Cydia works”, again, this is a problem with your provider.
3. To check if it is indeed a provider error, you can alway try to ping cydia.saurik.com. It should return results similar to this:
Pinging cydia.saurik.com [74.208.10.249] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 74.208.10.249: bytes=32 time=294ms TTL=49
Reply from 74.208.10.249: bytes=32 time=277ms TTL=49
Reply from 74.208.10.249: bytes=32 time=265ms TTL=49
Reply from 74.208.10.249: bytes=32 time=267ms TTL=49
Ping statistics for 74.208.10.249:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 265ms, Maximum = 294ms, Average = 275ms
If it doesn’t, and you get a “Request timed out or Host unresolvable” message, blame your provider again!! They might not be properly routing this
I hope this helps.
Have a great day ahead!!
YUP!!! That did it! Deleted those two files and Cydia launched without incident! Thanks!
Thank you buddy. I deleted the 2 files and cydia worked fine.
Awesome!!! Finally after trying everything else, your added instructions WORKED!!!
Thank you!
private/var/lib/dpkg/updates folder…etc. deleting update files worked IMMEDIATELY. I didn’t ever have to reboot after I made the changes and ended my SSH session, I just clicked on the Cydia icon and it opened and loaded perfectly. THANK YOU!!
hi
im completely new to this, dont even know how to get to the link to solve this problem.
have downloaded ssh on the i phone and winscp on ma computer
pls help
You are the boss! Thanks for savings my time and recuing me frm major headaches!
great!! works like charm!! ))) thanks a lot!!! ))
hey i was trying to add a new source and all my other sources were delted and i dont know how to get them back on…..any ideas?
OMFG!!!! thank you so much if it wasnt for you i would of had to re JB my iphone and be pissed off for like a month. I cant thank you enough
Thanks, that worked like a charm !!!
This worked. Read a different post that advised deleting all files (except the one named ‘partial’) in /var/lib/apt/lists. Not sure if this working was combination of both these actions. So in case deleting /var/lib/dpkg/* does not work, try the above as well.
Thanks!
Thanks! This time from Simon from Indonesia!
Tried other advice, didn’t work. Tried yours and it worked like a champ!
hey looks helpful but what about 3.1.2? plz try cuzz i cant figure it out
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! Im so glad this worked I've tried the apt-get remove cydia command and that didnt work, i tried running redsn0w again after deleting cydia with diskaid and that didnt work, THIS FINALLY WORKED. appreciate it
what worked, mine still wont after everything
You've done method 2? and the method after the 'EDIT'?
how can i download Terminal from Cydia if my problem is that Cydia keeps crashing?
You cant, try a different method.
cydia won't launch? the fix is to download something FROM CYDIA???
genius!
Method 1 is assuming you have already downloaded Terminal (which is a program everyone should download STRAIGHT after jailbreaking).
Try a different method if you don't have it.
I tried method 2 and also running the ClearCydiaListCache executable file and neither method worked.
Any ideas?
Originally Posted by vampjake
okay, go to moble terminal and the type in
su -
press return then type in the password alpine
(will not show up) press return then type:
Dpkg –configure -a
press return, i hope this works it fixed mine
THIS IS THE ONLY METHOD THAT WORKED FOR ME (PAB).
THANKS GUYS!
tried the :: ClearCydiaListCache option as seemed easier, took like 3 seconds to do, loaded cydia, working fine! love it! im on 3.0.1.
i reccommend trying to do this first.
CHEERS!
THANKS!
This is the method that worked for me. I’m on the original 3.0.
guest says:
August 11, 2009 at 2:28 amHere’s a wonderfully written article on this. It is basically an expanded and detailed version of the solution contributed by member eg1982:
techchronicle.wordpress.com/2009/04/12/c…rashes-when-loading/
If after going thru this, Cydia still crashes, you can add this to your troubleshooting steps:
1. Go to the private/var/lib/dpkg/updates folder
2. Look for file similarly named like tmp.i and 000* bearing the latest timestamp (*=wildcard)
3. Delete those files
4. Run Cydia again. By the time you finish reading this sentence, you are already smiling and shouting “YES!!â€.
Dude this works.. I have tried everything and was about to re-jail brake it and start over.. but this really helped.. I tried all options till this came up.. THANKS ALOT..
Go to the private/var/lib/dpkg/updates folder
2. Look for file similarly named like tmp.i and 000* bearing the latest timestamp (*=wildcard)
3. Delete those files
4. Run Cydia again. By the time you finish reading this sentence, you are already smiling and shouting “YES!!â€.
Hey Q, THANKS!!! This is THE only thing I tried after trying the “ClearCydiaCache.exe” and it crashing…. THIS WORKED!! I had the temp.i and the 000. something files, only 2 of them, but deleted them both and Cydia started RIGHT UP!!!!! Hope it continues to work, but SO FAR SO GOOD!!! Thanks bud!
thanks everyone with such good helping tips
in less than 2 minutes my cydia was already working good again thanks guyz
Thanks everyone for their suggestions and help. The Clear Cydia List Cache program worked best for me.
This method worked perfectly superg! thanks you are da bomb
The above worked, removing the two files. Thanks for the info.
SuM
thanks to “Guest”
Deleteing those 2 files helped.
Spent 4 hours looking arouund, and this helped..
thumbs up
I have tried everything listed, and nothing works. I mean everything. Clear Cydia cache, terminal, ssh and deleting the sources. Nothing seems to work. Ther terminal gives me an error saying command not found, and there are no more files in any of the folder that you recommended deleting.
YOUR AN ABSOLUTE LEGEND
people like u make this world awesum
PERFECT!!! You bloody legend. after doing the extra bit of deleting the tmp.i and 000* files it worked perfectly.
Many thanks
I did that and still crashing it opens until the black screen and then it goes back to the springboard Help me plz plz
Woowwwww
Now Cydia works !!
Thanks from mexico
im so lost. im not too bright with this! can someone tell me how to do this please? using winscp as well..
where am i supossed to type this? im sorry can someone help me? dont know too much about this.. buy my cydia keeps shutting down after loading for two seconds!
This method only works if you have already downloaded Terminal from Cydia. If not, try the next method.
Open it and type in su root (hit enter)
Then type alpine (hit enter)
Type apt-get remove Cydia (hit enter). A warning will come up. Click enter.
Type apt-get install Cydia (hit enter)
Type killall SpringBoard (hit enter)
Cydia should now open.
This method out of all of them only works if you already have MobileTerminal installed on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Follow the guide that ‘guest’ posted at the top of the comments (the long one
Hope that helps!
thank you i searched every where and used different methods of fixing but yours is the only one that worked dude ur a genuis this was driving me nuts thank you so much you are great words cant express my joy
man i tryed all that n it didnt work, first i didnt know what the hell 000* and the *= wildcard thing, idk what the hell wildcard is, what i did is i finally got sick of it and in the private/var/lib/dpkg/updates folder i selected everything that was in there n deleted it all n damn cydia came up n working fine, then i just moved all the files in the etc/apt/sources.list.d/ back in there! sweet!
Thanks bc.budd.smker! I was in the same boat as you, I tried to delete the two files tmp.i and 000*. But i was confused about the 000* wildcard. I continued and deleted tmp.i and 0001 from private/var/lib/dpkg/updates folder. That didn’t work, tried deleting tmp.1 and 0021 and still doesn’t work. I was frustrated and exhausted. Then i saw your reply and did what you said, delete everything in the private/var/lib/dpkg/updates folder and I was able to open Cydia again. It feels great! (: BIG thank you to Guest and you. And hope this will help every else who’s having problem opening Cydia.
For people who do not know to to access private/var/lib/dpkg/updates folder. There are many program out there that will allow you to access your iphone without using iTunes, what I use is IFunBox. Search for it on Google and download it, connect your iphone through a USB to your computer and run IFunBox. It should be able to recognize the name of your iphone. From there select your iphone and choose Raw File System/private/var/lib/dpkg/updates and now you can delete those tmp.1 and 000* files. Make sure you copy all the files to your computer before you choose to delete them. In mine and bc.budd.smker’s case, we had to delete everything for Cydia to start.
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR EVERYONE! (:
when i try apt-get remove cydia terminal says apt-get is not a command..
Make sure you’ve logged in as root by typing in su root clicking enter and then typing alpine.
Then it should work.
where do i find the private/var/lib/dpkg/updates folder?
Just installed the cydelete, once it is done.. cydia is back without issues.
Help me! Everytime i try to boot up cydia it doesn’t last two seconds. I tried everything… I didn’t install terminal on my ipod… and i am using WinSCP and tried to use its version of terminal but its not working… and when I went to the Folder private/var/lib/dpkg/updates it was empty… please help!
I cant find the etc/apt/sources.list.d/
Where is it?
In those folders. What folders can you see?
even when i do su root – alpine it still says “command not found” for apt-get remove cydia
WELL ANYONE CAN HELP ALL 4 THE OTHERS AND NOT JUST ONLY FOR ME????
SO MANY ASKS HERE ABOUT EVERYTHING DOESNT WORK….EVEN MOBILE TERMINAL IS DEAD NOT ‘COMMAND FOUND’ EVEN FOR private/var/lib/dpkg/updates THAT THERE IS ALL EMPTY FILES INSIDE AND ANYTHING ELSE JUST EMPTY….PLEASE ANY SOLUTION FOR THAT WILL HELP MANY FELLAS HERE….RESPECT..GOD BLESS YOU ALL….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank u so much it really worked… saved me a reinstall
worked 101%
used iphone explorer to ssh the iphone http://www.iphone-explorer.com/
and deleted those two files and bingo
thank you
Ok so here is what happened to me:
I opened cydia and it refreshed my sources, like normal. It came up with some errors like normal, and crashed when it tried to refresh data. Now it crashes on loading data every time. I have tried the terminal method, the apt/lists method, and the dpkg/updates method. What should I do?
the same problem happened to me..
i deleted the files in /private/var/lib/apt/lists
and then restarted my ipod touch and then cydia worked like normal it started to download the datebase and the updates. Then after it was finished, it crashed and i reopened it and it crashed again on the “loading Data” screen. i am thinking of rejailbreaking it
If you found a solution please replay!!!
For everyone who still have problem i post what it worked for me:
delete the files in the directories (/var/lib/apt/lists & /var/lib/dpkg/updates) and do the following command (via terminal or SSH)
‘apt-get update’
‘apt-get purge’
‘apt-get autoremove’
Apt-get removed “profil.d” and then Cydia started to work again.
Hey man thanks so much followed instructions and worked like a charm YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH
worked for me. Thank you.
2G iphone, 3.0
You are awesome, this fix totally worked for me. I have been looking and worried all day that I would have to once again reboot, restore, and re-jailbreak my phone again.
THANK YOU
[...] the people who have NOT got AP7 installed, check all the instructions on how to fix on this page. Make sure you look at the ones in the comments as well because they seem to work the [...]
Go to the private/var/lib/apt folder
delete everything except the partial folder
restart
WORKS !!
Didn’t have apt installed, Couldn’t find it with Rock, so I used method 2 and it worked fine. Thanks!
Many thanks
1. Go to the private/var/lib/dpkg/updates folder
2. Look for file similarly named like tmp.i and 000* bearing the latest timestamp (*=wildcard)
3. Delete those files
4. Run Cydia again. By the time you finish reading this sentence, you are already smiling and shouting “YES!!”.
This works saves time and energy:)
Hi all, my problem is that I can’t access root folder on my iPhone. I’ve tried DiskAid, iPhoneExplorer, Cyberduck and Filezilla (via SSH).
My iPhone is jailbroken with blackra1n…anyone can help with that? Thanx…
btw i’m on OSX…
You need to install something called afc2add from Cydia to access the root of your device.
Well thanx for your answer but as we all know that Cydia is crashing at startup so i’m unable to install anything from Cydia…and i don’t have Rock or any other installer exept Cydia… : (
Oh right. That’s too bad then. Try using this: http://blog.alltechrelated.com/2009/11/19/iphone-folders-access-your-iphone-through-windows-explorer/ Perhaps that has it installed with or something.
apt-get –configure -a should do the trick if it is caused by interruptions during the installtion.
thanks from holland
My Cydia won’t load. I only have Terminal on my iphone. I need your help please. I am new at this and need detailed instructions please. ;(
hi My cydia just crashed. I dont have any terminal and no ifile. I download Ifone folders but cant find any files that you mention on the top. I know that i need to install afc2add on my iphone but I cant even open up my Cydia at all. I’ve try ClearCydiaListCache but still not work. pls help
thanks from albania:P:P