Problems fixing java---probably

[Gerald I. Evenden]

From the Mozilla Id which says everything about my system:

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux x86_64; en-US; rv:1.9.0.7) Gecko/2009030423 
Ubuntu/8.04 (hardy) Firefox/3.0.7

I am having trouble with the new flash 10 *and* possibly java---I do not know 
which.  But a major symptom when I try to do any down loading with synaptic,
or adept is the message:

"There was an error commiting changes. Possibly there was a problem
downloading some packages of the commit would break packages"

and when the acknowledgement button is clicked the "installation" is 
immediately "successful".  Note: when the error occurs, the progress bar 
typically indicates that the process is only about 20% completed.

I have absolutely no idea where to look for a solution.

Any suggestions would be *greatly* appreciated.

PS: one recent attempt at downloading indicated that the Flash plugin was up 
to date, so I feel that the problem is probably with the Java installation.

-- 
The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due
to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum.
-- Havelock Ellis (1859-1939) British psychologist