Compiling Kernel : Unable to locate ncurses

Question

I am trying to compile the kernel. I downloaded the source . When I tried 'make menucionfig'. I got following result :

* Unable to find the ncurses libraries or the
* required header files.
* 'make menuconfig' requires the ncurses libraries.   
* * Install ncurses (ncurses-devel) and try again.  
* make[1]: *** [scripts/kconfig/dochecklxdialog]   
Error 1 make: *** [menuconfig] Error 2`

So tried following commands:

sudo apt-get install libncurses5-dev  
sudo apt-get install ncurses-dev  
sudo apt-get install ncurses-devel

Output :

Reading package lists... Done  
Building dependency tree  
Reading state information... Done  
E: Unable to locate package <package_name>

sources.list :

# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 11.04 _Natty Narwhal_ - Release i386 (20110427.1)]/ natty main restricted
deb-src http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/ natty main restricted #Added by software-properties

# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.
deb http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/ natty main restricted
deb-src http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/ natty main multiverse universe #Added by software-properties

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
deb http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/ natty-updates main restricted
deb-src http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/ natty-updates restricted main multiverse universe #Added by software-properties

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/ natty universe
deb http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/ natty-updates universe

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu 
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to 
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in 
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
deb http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/ natty multiverse
deb http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/ natty-updates multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'backports'
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
# deb http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty-backports main restricted universe multiverse
# deb-src http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty-backports main restricted universe multiverse

deb http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/ natty-security main restricted
deb-src http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/ natty-security restricted main multiverse universe #Added by software-properties
deb http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/ natty-security universe
deb http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/ natty-security multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu natty partner
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu natty partner

## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by third-party
## developers who want to ship their latest software.
deb http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty main
deb-src http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty main

apt-get update result:

Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty InRelease                                                                               
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates InRelease                                       
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security InRelease                 
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty Release.gpg                        
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates Release.gpg                
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty InRelease                               
Ign http://archive.canonical.com natty InRelease                     
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty Release.gpg                       
Hit http://archive.canonical.com natty Release.gpg                   
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty Release     
Hit http://archive.canonical.com natty Release 
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security Release.gpg          
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main Sources/DiffIndex
Hit http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner Sources               
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main i386 Packages/DiffIndex      
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty Release
Hit http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner i386 Packages         
Ign http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner TranslationIndex      
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates Release
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security Release             
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/main TranslationIndex        
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/restricted TranslationIndex  
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/universe TranslationIndex    
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner Translation-en_IN
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/universe TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner Translation-en
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/main TranslationIndex
Err http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main Sources
  404  Not Found
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/universe TranslationIndex
Err http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main Translation-en_IN
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main Translation-en
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/main Sources     
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/restricted Sources
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/multiverse Sources
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/universe Sources
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/main i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/restricted i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/universe i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/multiverse i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/restricted Sources
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/main Sources
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/multiverse Sources
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/universe Sources
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/main i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/restricted i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/universe i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/multiverse i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/restricted Sources
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/main Sources
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/multiverse Sources
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/universe Sources
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/main i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/restricted i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/universe i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Err http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/multiverse i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/main Translation-en_IN
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/main Translation-en
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/multiverse Translation-en_IN
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/restricted Translation-en_IN
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/universe Translation-en_IN
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty/universe Translation-en
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/main Translation-en_IN
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/main Translation-en
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/multiverse Translation-en_IN
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/restricted Translation-en_IN
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/universe Translation-en_IN
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-updates/universe Translation-en
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/main Translation-en_IN
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/main Translation-en
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/multiverse Translation-en_IN
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/restricted Translation-en_IN
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/universe Translation-en_IN
Ign http://archive.linux.duke.edu natty-security/universe Translation-en
W: Failed to fetch http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/natty/main/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/natty/main/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty/main/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty/restricted/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty/multiverse/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty/universe/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty/main/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty/restricted/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty/universe/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty/multiverse/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-updates/restricted/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-updates/main/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-updates/multiverse/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-updates/universe/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-updates/main/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-updates/restricted/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-updates/universe/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-updates/multiverse/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-security/restricted/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-security/main/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-security/multiverse/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-security/universe/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-security/main/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-security/restricted/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-security/universe/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://archive.linux.duke.edu/ubuntu/dists/natty-security/multiverse/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

I tried many suggestions in the google. Please help.

Answer 1

You need to use the "old-releases" archive for Natty Narwhal; replace archive.linux.duke.edu with old-releases.ubuntu.com in your sources.list file, then run sudo apt-get update, and you should be able to install the packages.

As Huygens suggests though, you should really upgrade to a supported version of Ubuntu.

Answer 2

Natty Narwhal is no longer supported by Ubuntu. So you can't use apt-get to install ncurses.

You have the following choices:

• upgrade to a supported version of Ununtu. But as your version is no longer supported, you can't easily upgrade in-place but would rather need to install over. So backup!!!
• install ncurses from sources. Get the source and compile them. Note that it might not be an easy task.
• find a "compatible" repository for Natty which you could use instead of the Ubuntu ones. Maybe a Debian one could work but you need to find from which Debian Natty is derived. This might not work!

I would recommend to try to upgrade to latest Ubuntu. You will benefit from the security updates as well.

Answer 3

I just change the command in ubuntu, and then success：

sudo apt-get install ncurses-dev

maybe the ncurses-devel is an old version package name.

the result is following:

sudo apt-get install ncurses-dev Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree... Done Reading state information... Done Note, selecting 'libncurses-dev' instead of 'ncurses-dev' Suggested packages: ncurses-doc The following NEW packages will be installed: libncurses-dev 0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 33 not upgraded. Need to get 381 kB of archives. After this operation, 2,428 kB of additional disk space will be used. Get:1 https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/ubuntu-ports jammy-updates/main arm64 libncurses-dev arm64 6.3-2ubuntu0.1 [381 kB] Fetched 381 kB in 1s (754 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package libncurses-dev:arm64. (Reading database ... 213220 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to unpack .../libncurses-dev_6.3-2ubuntu0.1_arm64.deb ... Unpacking libncurses-dev:arm64 (6.3-2ubuntu0.1) ... Setting up libncurses-dev:arm64 (6.3-2ubuntu0.1) ... Processing triggers for man-db (2.10.2-1) ... Scanning processes...
Scanning linux images...
Running kernel seems to be up-to-date. No services need to be restarted. No containers need to be restarted. No user sessions are running outdated binaries. No VM guests are running outdated hypervisor (qemu) binaries on this host.