Note: This article is from 2016 and addresses a specific issue with 32-bit Linux systems. Google discontinued Chrome support for 32-bit Linux in March 2016. If you’re using a modern 64-bit Linux distribution, this error should not occur. This information is preserved for historical reference.
Google stopped supporting Google Chrome on 32-bit Linux in March 2016, which left users running 32-bit distributions without updates or security patches. Ubuntu/Debian users on 32-bit systems received an error while attempting to use the Chromium browser or update Chrome:
‘Failed to fetch http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/dists/stable/Release
Unable to find expected entry ‘main/binary-i386/Packages’ in Release file (Wrong sources.list entry or malformed file)
Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.’
For modern users: If you encounter this error, the best solution is to upgrade to a 64-bit version of your Linux distribution. 64-bit systems provide better security, performance, and compatibility with modern software.
For Legacy 32-bit Linux Users (2016)
If you are running a 32-bit Linux system, Google Chrome will no longer receive updates or security fixes. You should uninstall Chrome and use Chromium instead, which is updated by your Linux distribution’s package manager rather than by Google.
For 64-bit Linux Users (2016)
If you were running 64-bit Linux at that time, you could resolve the issue by setting the repository specifically for 64-bit by adding “[arch=amd64]” after “deb” in the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list file. It should read: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
Note: This fix was a temporary workaround. Google resolved this packaging issue in Chrome version 49.0.2623.87 and later versions, so modern Chrome installations on 64-bit Linux should not encounter this error.
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