How can I resolve dpkg dependency problems?

Question

$ sudo apt-get upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
8 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
Setting up unity-2d-common (5.12.0-0ubuntu1.1) ...

(gconftool-2:13920): GConf-WARNING **: Failed to load source "xml:merged:/tmp/gconf-pfTj8n/gconf": Failed: Could not make directory `/tmp/gconf-pfTj8n/gconf': Permission denied
**
GConf:ERROR:gconftool.c:969:main: assertion failed: (err == NULL)
dpkg: error processing unity-2d-common (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 250
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of unity-2d-panel:
 unity-2d-panel depends on unity-2d-common (= 5.12.0-0ubuntu1.1); however:
  Package unity-2d-common is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing unity-2d-panel (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of unity-2d-spread:
 unity-2d-spread depends on unity-2d-common (= 5.12.0-0ubuntu1.1); however:
  Package unity-2d-common is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing unity-2d-spread (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of unity-2d-shell:
 unity-2d-shell depends on unity-2d-common (= 5.12.0-0ubuntu1.1); however:
  Package unity-2d-common is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing unity-2d-shell (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of unity-2d:
 unity-2d depends on unity-2d-panel; however:
  Package unity-2d-panel is not cNo apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
                                                           No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
     No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
                                                                   No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
                                                 No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
                               No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
             No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
                                                                           onfigured yet.
 unity-2d depends on unity-2d-spread; however:
  Package unity-2d-spread is not configured yet.
 unity-2d depends on unity-2d-shell; however:
  Package unity-2d-shell is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing unity-2d (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of unity-2d-launcher:
 unity-2d-launcher depends on unity-2d-shell; however:
  Package unity-2d-shell is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing unity-2d-launcher (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of unity-2d-places:
 unity-2d-places depends on unity-2d-shell; however:
  Package unity-2d-shell is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing unity-2d-places (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of unity-2d-dbg:
 unity-2d-dbg depends on unity-2d (= 5.12.0-0ubuntu1.1); however:
  Package unity-2d is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing unity-2d-dbg (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 unity-2d-common
 unity-2d-panel
 unity-2d-spread
 unity-2d-shell
 unity-2d
 unity-2d-launcher
 unity-2d-places
 unity-2d-dbg
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

I've tried a lot and can't get this working. I think I interrupted an install and it just screwed it all up. I've googled and tried various fixes.

Solution

Try this. Press Ctrl-Alt-F1 to switch to a terminal (you can switch back to your desktop with Ctrl-Alt-F7). Log in, and type:

• sudo apt-get remove unity-3d-common unity-2d-panel unity-2d-spread unity-2d-shell

And then:

• sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

---

If that doesn't work, please edit your question with the output of this command: dpkg --list | grep unity

Comments

[shellbye]

i have not enough reputation to vote, but the answer above solved my problem

[HungryMan]

Ok I removed those and now I get no errors... but don't I need those packages?

[ish]

That simply removes the unconfigured/half-configured versions of those packages that were causing the error. The original versions should still be there, and upgraded correctly when you try now.

[HungryMan]

Not done yet. I'm getting an error again. One of them is still stuck - unity-2d-common. edit: OK it's working now. Thanks a ton!

[Calmarius]

What command should I use to remove all unconfigured packages? So I don't need to list them after the command.