package menu 2.1.40ubuntu1 failed to install/upgrade: subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1

[teplow]

Binary package hint: sbackup

teplow@teplowNC10:~$ sudo apt-get install sbackup
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  linux-headers-2.6.27-7 linux-headers-2.6.27-7-generic
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following extra packages will be installed:
  menu
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  menu sbackup
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 504kB of archives.
After this operation, 2494kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/universe menu 2.1.40ubuntu1 [434kB]
Get:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/universe sbackup 0.10.5ubuntu2 [70.1kB]
Fetched 504kB in 2s (192kB/s)
Selecting previously deselected package menu.
(Reading database ... 147516 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking menu (from .../menu_2.1.40ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package sbackup.
Unpacking sbackup (from .../sbackup_0.10.5ubuntu2_all.deb) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Processing triggers for doc-base ...
Processing 1 added doc-base file(s)...
Registering documents with scrollkeeper...
Setting up python-xlib (0.14-2) ...
install-info: No dir file specified; try --help for more information.
dpkg: error processing python-xlib (--configure):
 subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Setting up menu (2.1.40ubuntu1) ...
install-info: No dir file specified; try --help for more information.
dpkg: error processing menu (--configure):
 subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of sbackup:
 sbackup depends on menu; however:
  Package menu is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing sbackup (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
                          Errors were encountered while processing:
 python-xlib
 menu
 sbackup
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

ProblemType: Package
Architecture: i386
Dependencies:
 libgcc1 1:4.3.2-1ubuntu11
 gcc-4.3-base 4.3.2-1ubuntu11
 libstdc++6 4.3.2-1ubuntu11
 findutils 4.4.0-2ubuntu3
 libc6 2.8~20080505-0ubuntu7
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 8.10
ErrorMessage: subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Package: menu 2.1.40ubuntu1
SourcePackage: menu
Title: package menu 2.1.40ubuntu1 failed to install/upgrade: subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Uname: Linux 2.6.27-9-generic i686

[ThomasA (thomas-arildsen)]

I have experienced a similar problem trying to install bum (depending on menu). Here are the details attempting to install menu (soory, my Ubuntu is in Danish):

tha@tha-desktop:~$ sudo apt-get install menu
Indlæser pakkelisterne... Færdig
Opbygger afhængighedstræ
Læser tilstandsoplysninger... Færdig
menu er i forvejen den nyeste version.
0 opgraderes, 0 nyinstalleres, 0 afinstalleres og 0 opgraderes ikke.
1 ikke fuldstændigt installerede eller afinstallerede.
0B/434kB skal hentes fra arkiverne.
After this operation, 0B of additional disk space will be used.
(Læser database... 145879 filer og mapper aktuelt installeret.)
Gør klar til at erstatte menu 2.1.40ubuntu1 (med .../menu_2.1.40ubuntu1_i386.deb)...
install-info: No dir file specified; try --help for more information.
dpkg: advarsel - gammelt pre-removal-script returnerede afslutningsstatus 1
dpkg - forsøger i stedet script fra ny pakke...
install-info: No dir file specified; try --help for more information.
dpkg: fejl under behandling af /var/cache/apt/archives/menu_2.1.40ubuntu1_i386.deb (--unpack):
 underproces nyt pre-removal-script returnerede afslutningsstatus 1
install-info: No dir file specified; try --help for more information.
dpkg: fejl under oprydning:
 underproces post-installation script returnerede afslutningsstatus 1
Der opstod fejl under behandlingen:
 /var/cache/apt/archives/menu_2.1.40ubuntu1_i386.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

I have looked at the following message (and the other meassages in the thread): https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2005-October/012349.html . I have identified that the problem in my case also seems to be caused by the wrong 'install-info' being used:

tha@tha-desktop:~$ which install-info
/usr/local/bin/install-info
tha@tha-desktop:~$ ls -l /usr/local/bin/install-info
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 51 2009-02-27 15:54 /usr/local/bin/install-info -> /usr/local/texlive/2008/bin/i386-linux/install-info
tha@tha-desktop:~$

So, the problem seems to be caused by my PATH containing paths in an order that uses /usr/local/texlive/2008/bin/i386-linux/install-info.

I worked around the problem by specifying a modified PATH for apt-get as follows:
sudo PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/game apt-get -f install menu
There may be more elegant ways of working around this?

Thomas Arildsen

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

Thanks for your report.

If it's still an issue, do you have a locally installed version of Texlive ?

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

 We are closing this bug report because it lacks the information we need to investigate the problem, as described in the previous comments. Please reopen it if you can give us the missing information, and don't hesitate to submit bug reports in the future. To reopen the bug report you can click on the current status, under the Status column, and change the Status back to "New". Thanks again!