package empathy-common 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2 failed to install/upgrade: package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should reinstall it before attempting configuration

[Sydney]

I'm running ubuntu 14.04 Trusty and I tried to update and for some reason there are now unmet dependencies. Tried to reinstall as ubuntu recommends but it says the following:

dpkg: error processing package empathy-common (--configure):
 package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
 reinstall it before attempting configuration
Errors were encountered while processing:
 empathy-common
Error in function:
dpkg: error processing package empathy-common (--configure):
 package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
 reinstall it before attempting configuration

ProblemType: Package
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: empathy-common 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-55.94-generic 3.13.11-ckt20
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-55-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.11
Architecture: amd64
Date: Mon Sep 7 13:14:44 2015
DuplicateSignature: package:empathy-common:3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2:package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should reinstall it before attempting configuration
ErrorMessage: package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should reinstall it before attempting configuration
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-04-11 (514 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.10 "Saucy Salamander" - Release amd64 (20131016.1)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: empathy
Title: package empathy-common 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2 failed to install/upgrade: package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should reinstall it before attempting configuration
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2015-01-18 (231 days ago)

After trying to uninstall and reinstall empathy, the following occured:

installArchives() failed: Selecting previously unselected package empathy.
(Reading database ...
(Reading database ... 5%
(Reading database ... 10%
(Reading database ... 15%
(Reading database ... 20%
(Reading database ... 25%
(Reading database ... 30%
(Reading database ... 35%
(Reading database ... 40%
(Reading database ... 45%
(Reading database ... 50%
(Reading database ... 55%
(Reading database ... 60%
(Reading database ... 65%
(Reading database ... 70%
(Reading database ... 75%
(Reading database ... 80%
(Reading database ... 85%
(Reading database ... 90%
(Reading database ... 95%
(Reading database ... 100%
(Reading database ... 331478 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../empathy_3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking empathy (3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Selecting previously unselected package mcp-account-manager-uoa.
Preparing to unpack .../mcp-account-manager-uoa_3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking mcp-account-manager-uoa (3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Selecting previously unselected package account-plugin-aim.
Preparing to unpack .../account-plugin-aim_3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking account-plugin-aim (3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Selecting previously unselected package account-plugin-jabber.
Preparing to unpack .../account-plugin-jabber_3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking account-plugin-jabber (3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Selecting previously unselected package account-plugin-salut.
Preparing to unpack .../account-plugin-salut_3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking account-plugin-salut (3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Selecting previously unselected package account-plugin-yahoo.
Preparing to unpack .../account-plugin-yahoo_3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking account-plugin-yahoo (3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Selecting previously unselected package nautilus-sendto-empathy.
Preparing to unpack .../nautilus-sendto-empathy_3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking nautilus-sendto-empathy (3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.54ubuntu1.1) ...
Processing triggers for bamfdaemon (0.5.1+14.04.20140409-0ubuntu1) ...
Rebuilding /usr/share/applications/bamf-2.index...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.22-1ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.10.1-0ubuntu2) ...
Processing triggers for libglib2.0-0:amd64 (2.40.2-0ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for libglib2.0-0:i386 (2.40.2-0ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for gconf2 (3.2.6-0ubuntu2) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.6.7.1-1ubuntu1) ...
dpkg: error processing package empathy-common (--configure):
 package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
 reinstall it before attempting configuration
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of empathy:
 empathy depends on empathy-common (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy-common is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package empathy (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of mcp-account-manager-uoa:
 mcp-account-manager-uoa depends on empathy (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package mcp-account-manager-uoa (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of account-plugin-aim:
 account-plugin-aim depends on empathy (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy is not configured yet.
 account-plugin-aim depends on mcp-account-manager-uoa; however:
  Package mcp-account-manager-uoa is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package account-plugin-aim (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: depeNo apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
ndency problems prevent configuration of account-plugin-jabber:
 account-plugin-jabber depends on empathy (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy is not configured yet.
 account-plugin-jabber depends on mcp-account-manager-uoa; however:
  Package mcp-account-manager-uoa is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package account-plugin-jabber (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of account-plugin-salut:
 account-plugin-salut depends on empathy (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy is not configured yet.
 account-plugin-salut depends on mcp-account-manager-uoa; however:
  Package mcp-account-manager-uoa is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package account-plugin-salut (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of account-plugin-yahoo:
 account-plugin-yahoo depends on empathy (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy is not configured yet.
 account-plugin-yahoo depends on mcp-account-manager-uoa; however:
  Package mcp-account-manager-uoa is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package account-plugin-yahoo (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of nautilus-sendto-empathy:
 nautilus-sendto-empathy depends on empathy (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy is not configured yet.
 nautilus-sendto-empathy depends on empathy-common (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy-common is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package nautilus-sendto-empathy (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 empathy-common
 empathy
 mcp-account-manager-uoa
 account-plugin-aim
 account-plugin-jabber
 account-plugin-salut
 account-plugin-yahoo
 nautilus-sendto-empathy
Error in function:
dpkg: error processing package empathy-common (--configure):
 package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
 reinstall it before attempting configuration
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of empathy:
 empathy depends on empathy-common (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy-common is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package empathy (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of account-plugin-yahoo:
 account-plugin-yahoo depends on empathy (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package account-plugin-yahoo (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of account-plugin-jabber:
 account-plugin-jabber depends on empathy (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package account-plugin-jabber (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of nautilus-sendto-empathy:
 nautilus-sendto-empathy depends on empathy (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy is not configured yet.
 nautilus-sendto-empathy depends on empathy-common (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy-common is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package nautilus-sendto-empathy (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of mcp-account-manager-uoa:
 mcp-account-manager-uoa depends on empathy (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package mcp-account-manager-uoa (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of account-plugin-aim:
 account-plugin-aim depends on empathy (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy is not configured yet.
 account-plugin-aim depends on mcp-account-manager-uoa; however:
  Package mcp-account-manager-uoa is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package account-plugin-aim (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of account-plugin-salut:
 account-plugin-salut depends on empathy (= 3.8.6-0ubuntu9.2); however:
  Package empathy is not configured yet.
 account-plugin-salut depends on mcp-account-manager-uoa; however:
  Package mcp-account-manager-uoa is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package account-plugin-salut (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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