Member Avatar for MasterHacker110

I have been using kali linux for a wile now on my mini laptop. I am a developer and would like to start developing in nasm. The problem is when I try to download nasm I use this command:

apt-get install nasm

It gives an error that there isnt such a package.

I have also tried:

apt-cache policy nasm

It also give that error (I am not sure what the precise error code is as I am posting this from a different computer, but it is basicly that there isnt a package named nasm)

I also tried to install g-edit, it gives the same error. Same with libre office.
How do I fix this?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by JasonHippy

Dani AI

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Short summary and diagnosis tied to earlier replies: the symptom you describe is usually not that NASM (or gedit / LibreOffice) vanished — it’s that apt on that machine can’t see the repositories. was right to suggest refreshing package metadata, ’s fallback (installing a .deb by hand) is a valid short-term fix, and ’s DNS hint is also a frequent root cause. General “unable to locate package” causes include stale package indexes, misconfigured or offline-only repositories, wrong distro/branch or architecture, and network/DNS failures. (support.circleci.com)

Kali-specific things to check next: a normal Kali install expects the official network repository (the distro’s rolling repository) to be enabled; if sources were left pointing to the installer medium or the repo lines are missing/commented, apt won’t find new packages. The Kali docs explain the default repository layout and the “offline install” behaviour that causes this exact confusion. (kali.org) NASM is packaged for Debian and is provided in Kali’s toolset, so the package itself is available upstream — if apt can reach the correct repo it should be installable. (kali.org)

Network/DNS checklist: apt contacts hostnames (mirrors), so name-resolution problems silently stop package downloads even when raw IP connectivity looks OK. Modern systems may use systemd-resolved or other managers that change how resolv.conf is populated; that behavior can prevent apt from reaching mirrors. If DNS looks suspect, test name resolution against a Kali mirror or try switching to a different official mirror. (freedesktop.org)

Practical quick checklist (in order):

  • Confirm your APT sources point to an official Kali network mirror (not to installer media or commented-out lines). (kali.org)
  • Re-run a package-list refresh and read its output carefully for “Failed to fetch”, 404 or GPG/key errors. (support.circleci.com)
  • Verify hostname resolution to the mirror (DNS/systemd-resolved); try a different official mirror if needed. (freedesktop.org)
  • If all else fails, use the distro package pages to fetch the appropriate .deb that matches your architecture, then investigate why apt can’t reach the repos (logs, proxy, firewall). (packages.debian.org)

If the outputs from the refresh step show specific errors (404, refused, GPG, or name-resolution failures), include those exact messages when asking for follow-up — they point straight to the cause.

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Member Avatar for Octet

Have you updated your package list using:

apt-get update

It might be that it isn't on your current one, and so a simple refresh of it shall do the trick. It depends when you last updated it, and when it was added (or removed in some cases).

Edited by Octet
Member Avatar for MasterHacker110

I did use apt-get update, still doesnt work. Note that kali linux is debian based

Member Avatar for JasonHippy

OK, sounds like it could be a DNS related issue.
This thread in the official kali forum might help you:
http://www.kalilinux.net/community/threads/installing-packages.61/

In it, the OP reports being unable to install any packages from the official repos via apt.
Turns out their DNS settings were causing the problem. Some way down the first page the OP posts the following as the solution to their problem:

Ok we have success,done a bit of googling and found some info on editing the etc/resolv.conf file. Changed the nameserver from my routers default address to googles 8.8.8.8,ran commands and hey presto we have lift off.. Thanks for everything...

So checking/changing your DNS settings might solve your problem!

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