Ubuntu Synaptic repository problem

I am currently running Breezy on my laptop - it's a bit of a limited machine (156 MB RAM, 450 MHz processor, 4 GB HDD) so I'm using xubuntu-desktop.

I access the internet by using a GSM cellphone as a GPRS modem - I have to do it this way as my landlord doesn't allow us to have landline telephones in our rooms. When I first started using Ubuntu, this internet link was fine. I got updates through Synaptic okay, and I was able to install the xubuntu-desktop.

In the past few weeks, however, I've been having problems. When I run Synaptic, I get warning messages about not being able to find repos. For instance, I just ran Synaptic and got this warning message:

breezy-main Packages (-var-lib-apt-lists-archive.ubuntu.comubuntudistsbreezymainbinary-i386Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) breezy-restricted Packages (-var-lib-apt-lists-archive.ubuntu.comubuntudistsbreezyrestrictedbinary-i386Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) breezy-universe Packages (-var-lib-apt-lists-archive.ubuntu.comubuntudistsbreezyuniversebinary-i386Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) breezy-multiverse Packages (-var-lib-apt-lists-archive.ubuntu.comubuntudistsbreezymultiversebinary-i386Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) breezy-updates-main Packages (-var-lib-apt-lists-archive.ubuntu.comubuntudistsbreezy-updatesmainbinary-i386Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) breezy-updates-restricted Packages (-var-lib-apt-lists-archive.ubuntu.comubuntudistsbreezy-updatesrestrictedbinary-i386Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) breezy-security-main Packages (-var-lib-apt-lists-security.ubuntu.comubuntudistsbreezy-securitymainbinary-i386Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) breezy-security-restricted Packages (-var-lib-apt-lists-security.ubuntu.comubuntudistsbreezy-securityrestrictedbinary-i386Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) breezy-security-universe Packages (-var-lib-apt-lists-security.ubuntu.comubuntudistsbreezy-securityuniversebinary-i386Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) breezy-security-multiverse Packages (-var-lib-apt-lists-security.ubuntu.comubuntudistsbreezy-securitymultiversebinary-i386Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) breezy-backports-main Packages (-var-lib-apt-lists-archive.ubuntu.comubuntudistsbreezy-backportsmainbinary-i386Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) breezy-backports-restricted Packages (-var-lib-apt-lists-archive.ubuntu.comubuntudistsbreezy-backportsrestrictedbinary-i386Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) breezy-backports-universe Packages (-var-lib-apt-lists-archive.ubuntu.comubuntudistsbreezy-backportsuniversebinary-i386Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory) breezy-backports-multiverse Packages (-var-lib-apt-lists-archive.ubuntu.comubuntudistsbreezy-backportsmultiversebinary-i386Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory)

I have tried a few different sources.list files and have the same kind of difficulties with them all. The one I have right now is:

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the ## distribution.

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'universe' ## repository. ## 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 ## universe WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu security ## team

## Security Updates restricted

multiverse multiverse

## official backports universe multiverse

# If you get errors about missing keys follow these command's : # gpg --keyserver subkeys.pgp.net --recv 33BAC1B3 # gpg --export --armor 33BAC1B3 sudo apt-key add - # # Cipherfunk multimedia packages (packages, GPG key: 33BAC1B3) deb ftp:--cipherfunk.org-pub-packages-ubuntubreezy main

## plf primary repo non-free

## plf mirror. use if primary repo is offline ## deb ftp:--ftp.free.fr-pub-DistributionsLinux-plf-ubuntu-plfbreezy free non-free ## deb-src ftp:--ftp.free.fr-pub-DistributionsLinux-plf-ubuntu-plfbreezy free non-free

## ## Use the following repos ONLY if you need them. ## To use one remove the "##" from the line that starts with "## deb". ##

## official wine apt repository

## opera web browser

## Oo2 final - you can optionally use this one until OOo2 final arrives in backports

## skype

You can see from the warning message that Synaptic can't find the repos is a repo ftp:--cipherfunk.org, but the error message isn't mentioning that one.

I have read on ubuntuforums.org that proxy server settings can cause this sort of problem. But the fact that Synaptic appears to see the cipherfunk.org repo suggests to me that that isn't the problem. And there's the weird fact that last night it didn't complain about security.ubuntu.com, yet today it does complain. Also, the repos, updates, etc, to do with Synaptic and apt-get worked fine when I first installed Ubuntu.

This morning I received my Dapper CDs that I ordered from shipit. I want to install Dapper, then use Synaptic or apt-get to install the xubuntu-desktop. But this problem has me worried. If I install Dapper over my current Breezy Xubuntu set-up then can't access the repos to install xubuntu-desktop, I'm going to be stuck with a version of Dapper that I can hardly use - Gnome runs horribly slow on this machine.

I can't download a ISO image of Xubuntu to burn to CD because my internet link (over the cellphone) is far too slow - it can take up to 30 minutes to download a 5 MB MP3 file sometimes! I really need to do it via the Dapper CD sent to me by shipit and the xubuntu-desktop available through apt-get.

Can anyone suggest what I can do? Why is Synaptic having these weird problems? Not only am I unable to upgrade to Dapper - I also haven't been able to get any updates for some time, so I may be running a system with God only knows what security problems. I really need to get this sorted.