package flashplugin-nonfree 10.0.1.218+10.0.0.525ubuntu1~hardy1+really9.0.246.0ubuntu1 failed to install/upgrade: Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should reinstall it before attempting a removal.

[gbulmash]

Binary package hint: flashplugin-nonfree

broke the old flashplayer and will not install a new one

this happened when upgrading from heron 8.0.4

ProblemType: Package
Architecture: i386
Date: Fri Dec 18 18:58:36 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
ErrorMessage: Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should reinstall it before attempting a removal.
Package: flashplugin-nonfree 10.0.1.218+10.0.0.525ubuntu1~hardy1+really9.0.246.0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-15.50-generic
SourcePackage: flashplugin-nonfree
Title: package flashplugin-nonfree 10.0.1.218+10.0.0.525ubuntu1~hardy1+really9.0.246.0ubuntu1 failed to install/upgrade: Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should reinstall it before attempting a removal.
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-15-generic i686

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

Thanks for your report. This is bug 429841

To workaround it, open a terminal and enter the following commands:
$ sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/flashplugin-nonfree.prerm
$ dpkg --purge --force-remove-reinstreq flashplugin-nonfree

You should then be able to install flashplugin-installer.