flashplugin-nonfree broken

[Janne Jokitalo]

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 12:27:39PM -0500, Christopher Biessener wrote:
> On 05/13/2010 11:29 AM, Janne Jokitalo wrote:
> > On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 11:12:43AM -0500, Christopher Biessener wrote:
> >> $ apt-get install --reinstall flashplugin-nonfree
> > <snip>
> >> dpkg: error processing flashplugin-nonfree (--remove):
> >>    Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should
> >>    reinstall it before attempting a removal.
> >> Errors were encountered while processing:
> >>    flashplugin-nonfree
> >> E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
> >
> > Please, don't top-post. I'm tired of re-organizing the posts, so I deleted the
> > earlier discussion, which is always a loss for someone who reads in midst of
> > thread.
> >
> > Okay, so that didn't work. Try:
> >
> > $ sudo dpkg -r --force-remove-reinstreq flashplugin-nonfree
> $ dpkg -r --force-remove-reinstreq flashplugin-nonfree
> dpkg: warning: overriding problem because --force enabled:
>   Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should
>   reinstall it before attempting a removal.
> (Reading database ... 338350 files and directories currently installed.)
> Removing flashplugin-nonfree ...
> update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iceape-flashplugin.
> update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iceape-flashplugin.
> dpkg: error processing flashplugin-nonfree (--remove):
>   subprocess installed pre-removal script returned error exit status 2
> postinst called with argument `abort-remove'
> dpkg: error while cleaning up:
>   subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
> Errors were encountered while processing:
>   flashplugin-nonfree

Uh oh, sneaky little thing.

> Is there a way to edit the package list and remove the 
> flashplugin-nonfree entry?

Well, I believe that's the final resort, unless someone else comes up with a
better idea. You can find it in /var/lib/dpkg/status, but please PLEASE back it
up first. :)

> I've also tried 'apt-get -m install dselect' because the manpage for 
> apt-get -f recommends using dselect...   The -m flag did not work either.

I'm not sure any front-end to dpkg resolves this for you. It's up to dpkg, but
sometimes even it becomes confused. If adding "--force-all" to the
above-mentioned dpkg command doesn't do the trick, then I would edit the package
list by hand. Good luck!


-- 
Jaska