package transmission-daemon 2.50-0ubuntu3 failed to install/upgrade: subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 255

[Emily Slocombe]

I have edited some of the files which get written over by the upgrade. Every time there is an update of transmission-daemon - I get a failure to update / bug

ProblemType: Package
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: transmission-daemon 2.50-0ubuntu3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-22.35-generic 3.2.14
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-22-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu2
Architecture: amd64
Date: Thu Apr 12 20:08:57 2012
ErrorMessage: subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 255
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release amd64 (20111012)
SourcePackage: transmission
Title: package transmission-daemon 2.50-0ubuntu3 failed to install/upgrade: subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 255
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to precise on 2012-04-05 (7 days ago)
mtime.conffile..etc.default.transmission.daemon: 2012-03-25T21:48:36.599637
mtime.conffile..etc.init.d.transmission.daemon: 2012-03-25T21:04:43.287567
mtime.conffile..etc.transmission.daemon.settings.json: 2012-04-12T19:53:08.205512

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Carlos Campderrós (carlos-campderros)]

That bug affected me, too. I had changed the user transmission-daemon was running (by adding "USER=myuser" in /etc/default/transmission-daemon and changing the owner of several transmission files (all /etc/transmission-daemon and /var/lib/transmission-daemon folders and their contents). The upgrade changed those files to belong to root/debian-transmission. Changing them again to 'myuser' made transmission-daemon work again for me.

[Carlos Campderrós (carlos-campderros)]

I forgot... as apt-get -f install will sort of reinstall the package, it will change the owner of those files again to root or debian-transmission, so I solved this by putting

chown -R $USER /etc/transmission-daemon /var/lib/debian-transmission

just before the 'start-stop-daemon ...' line inside the start_daemon() function in /etc/init.d/transmission-daemon

[Elias (rtxehi)]

@Carlos Campderrós: Thanks, this is a nice temporary fix, although, on my system the last directory was /var/lib/transmission-daemon.