installing old version of flashplugin-installer leaves package in broken state.

[Argider]

Binary package hint: flashplugin-nonfree

When forcing an old version of flashplugin-installer, the installation fails. This leaves the package in an half-installed phase where (re)installation, (re)configuration and removal are impossible. Only by editting the postinst script can the package be removed.

Here are the log of the install and the attempted removal:
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Log started: 2009-12-31 13:02:56
Selecting previously deselected package nspluginwrapper.

(Reading database ...
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(Reading database ... 170905 files and directories currently installed.)

Unpacking nspluginwrapper (from .../nspluginwrapper_1.2.2-0ubuntu6_amd64.deb) ...

Selecting previously deselected package flashplugin-installer.

Unpacking flashplugin-installer (from .../flashplugin-installer_10.0.22.87ubuntu2_amd64.deb) ...

Processing triggers for man-db ...

Setting up nspluginwrapper (1.2.2-0ubuntu6) ...

plugin dirs: :/var/lib/flashplugin-installer/

Auto-update plugins from /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins

Looking for plugins in /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins

Auto-update plugins from /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins

Looking for plugins in /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins

Auto-update plugins from /usr/lib/firefox/plugins

Looking for plugins in /usr/lib/firefox/plugins

Auto-update plugins from /usr/lib64/firefox/plugins

Looking for plugins in /usr/lib64/firefox/plugins

Auto-update plugins from /var/lib/flashplugin-installer/

Looking for plugins in /var/lib/flashplugin-installer/

Auto-update plugins from /root/.mozilla/plugins

Looking for plugins in /root/.mozilla/plugins

Setting up flashplugin-installer (10.0.22.87ubuntu2) ...

Downloading...

--2009-12-31 13:02:59-- http://archive.canonical.com/pool/partner/a/adobe-flashplugin/adobe-flashplugin_10.0.22.87.orig.tar.gz

Resolving archive.canonical.com... 91.189.90.142

Connecting to archive.canonical.com|91.189.90.142|:80... connected.

HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 404 Not Found

2009-12-31 13:02:59 ERROR 404: Not Found.

download failed

The Flash plugin is NOT installed.

________________________________________________________________________________________

 sudo apt-get remove flashplugin-installer
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  nspluginwrapper
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  flashplugin-installer
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 8 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 180kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
(Reading database ... 170949 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing flashplugin-installer ...
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iceape-flashplugin.
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iceape-flashplugin.
dpkg: error processing flashplugin-installer (--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-installer
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

ProblemType: Package
AptOrdering:
 flashplugin-installer: Purge
 flashplugin-nonfree: Install
 flashplugin-nonfree: Configure
Architecture: amd64
Date: Wed Dec 30 15:34:25 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
ErrorMessage: subprocess installed pre-removal script returned error exit status 2
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release amd64 (20091027)
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: flashplugin-installer 10.0.22.87ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-16.53-generic
SourcePackage: flashplugin-nonfree
Title: package flashplugin-installer 10.0.22.87ubuntu2 failed to install/upgrade: subprocess installed pre-removal script returned error exit status 2
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-16-generic x86_64

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This particular bug has already been reported and is a duplicate of bug 429841, so it is being marked as such. Please look at the other bug report to see if there is any missing information that you can provide, or to see if there is a workaround for the bug. Additionally, any further discussion regarding the bug should occur in the other report. Please continue to report any other bugs you may find.