unable to remove a failed package (adobe-flashplugin)

[Dave Hampton]

Software index is broken

It is impossible to install or remove any software. Please use the package manager "Synaptic" or run "sudo apt-get install -f" in a terminal to fix this issue at first.
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dvh@Teddy:~$ sudo apt-get install -f
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: The package adobe-flashplugin needs to be reinstalled, but I can't find an archive for it.
dvh@Teddy:~$
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so I went to a ubuntu forum and tried the following and got the following results. I don't seem to be able to delete this corupted package. It's presence prevents me from adding any new packages.

dvh@Teddy:~$ sudo dpkg --remove --force-remove-reinstreq adobe-flashplugin
[sudo] password for dvh:
dpkg: warning: overriding problem because --force enabled:
 Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should
 reinstall it before attempting a removal.
(Reading database ... 116995 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing adobe-flashplugin ...
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iceape-flashplugin.
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iceape-flashplugin.
dpkg: error processing adobe-flashplugin (--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:
 adobe-flashplugin

ProblemType: Bug
.home.dvh..cache.ubuntuone.log.oauth.login.log:
 Starting Ubuntu One client version 1.0.2
 [Errno socket error] [Errno -2] Name or service not known
.home.dvh..config.ubuntuone.ubuntuone.client.conf:
 [ubuntuone]
 show_applet = 1
 connected = True
 connect = 0
 bookmarked = True
Architecture: i386
Date: Sun Nov 15 18:45:09 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release i386 (20091028.5)
Package: ubuntuone-client 1.0.2-0ubuntu2
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-14.48-generic
SourcePackage: ubuntuone-client
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-14-generic i686

[Micah Gersten (micahg)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This bug did not have a package associated with it, which is important for ensuring that it gets looked at by the proper developers. You can learn more about finding the right package at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. I have classified this bug as a bug in adobe-flashplugin.
For future reference you might be interested to know that a lot of applications have bug reporting functionality built in to them. This can be accessed via the Report a Problem option in the Help menu for the application with which you are having an issue. You can learn more about this feature at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

[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 412944, 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.