Follow up to my comment #7: Inspecting log files I find what to me looks like a bad recursion in dependency checking when setting up the package gcr (GNOME crypto services). The apt-term log shows 50 of the same error message about unability to run triggers for gconf2 because python3 is unconfigured. /var/log/dist-upgrade/apt-term.log: --- Setting up dbus (1.10.6-1ubuntu3.1) ... A reboot is required to replace the running dbus-daemon. Please reboot the system when convenient. Removing obsolete conffile /etc/dbus-1/session.conf ... Removing obsolete conffile /etc/dbus-1/system.conf ... Setting up dbus-x11 (1.10.6-1ubuntu3.1) ... Setting up gcr (3.18.0-1ubuntu1) ... dpkg: dependency problems prevent processing triggers for gconf2: gconf2 depends on python3; however: Package python3 is not configured yet. ***** repeats 50 times **** dpkg: error processing package gconf2 (--configure): dependency problems - leaving triggers unprocessed dpkg: dependency problems prevent processing triggers for gconf2: gconf2 depends on python3; however: Package python3 is not configured yet. ***** dpkg: error processing package gconf2 (--configure): dependency problems - leaving triggers unprocessed dpkg: too many errors, stopping Errors were encountered while processing: gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 gconf2 Processing was halted because there were too many errors. (Reading database ... ^M(Reading database ... 5%^M(Reading database ... 10%^M(Reading database ... 15%^M(Reading database ... 20%^M(Reading database ... 25%^M(Reading database ... 30%^M(Reading database ... 35%^M(Reading database ... 40%^M(Reading database ... 45%^M(Reading database ... 50%^M(Reading database ... 55%^M(Reading database ... 60%^M(Reading database ... 65%^M(Reading database ... 70%^M(Reading database ... 75%^M(Reading database ... 80%^M(Reading database ... 85%^M(Reading database ... 90%^M(Reading database ... 95%^M(Reading database ... 100%^M(Reading database ... 278060 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to unpack .../gnupg2_2.1.11-6ubuntu2_amd64.deb ... --- The unconfigured gconf2 state looks like it generates a cascade of dependency errors in subsequent packages, from the main log /var/log/dist-upgrade/main.log; --- 2016-11-08 12:14:00,647 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'gconf2': 'dependency problems - leaving triggers unprocessed' 2016-11-08 12:14:00,648 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() gconf2: dependency problems - leaving triggers unprocessed 2016-11-08 12:14:00,657 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'gconf2': 'dependency problems - leaving triggers unprocessed' 2016-11-08 12:36:56,197 WARNING no activity on terminal for 300 seconds (Installed libsecret-common (amd64)) 2016-11-08 12:36:56,377 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'gnupg2': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:36:56,377 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() gnupg2: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 2016-11-08 12:36:56,377 DEBUG dpkg error because of dependency problems, not reporting against gnupg2 2016-11-08 12:36:56,377 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'gnupg2': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:47:33,520 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'gnome-keyring': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:47:33,520 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() gnome-keyring: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 2016-11-08 12:47:33,520 DEBUG dpkg error because of dependency problems, not reporting against gnome-keyring 2016-11-08 12:47:33,520 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'gnome-keyring': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:47:33,531 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'evolution-data-server': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:47:33,531 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() evolution-data-server: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 2016-11-08 12:47:33,531 DEBUG dpkg error because of dependency problems, not reporting against evolution-data-server 2016-11-08 12:47:33,531 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'evolution-data-server': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:47:33,728 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'libfolks-eds25': '76.5689:dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:47:33,728 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() libfolks-eds25: 76.5689:dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 2016-11-08 12:47:33,728 DEBUG dpkg error because of dependency problems, not reporting against libfolks-eds25 2016-11-08 12:47:33,728 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'libfolks-eds25': '76.5689:dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:47:33,741 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'gnome-contacts': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:47:33,741 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() gnome-contacts: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 2016-11-08 12:47:33,741 DEBUG dpkg error because of dependency problems, not reporting against gnome-contacts 2016-11-08 12:47:33,742 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'gnome-contacts': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:48:38,479 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'python-ubuntu-sso-client': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:48:38,479 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() python-ubuntu-sso-client: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 2016-11-08 12:48:38,479 DEBUG dpkg error because of dependency problems, not reporting against python-ubuntu-sso-client 2016-11-08 12:48:38,479 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'python-ubuntu-sso-client': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:48:38,490 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'ubuntu-sso-client': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:48:38,490 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() ubuntu-sso-client: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 2016-11-08 12:48:38,491 DEBUG dpkg error because of dependency problems, not reporting against ubuntu-sso-client 2016-11-08 12:48:38,491 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'ubuntu-sso-client': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:48:38,501 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'ubuntu-sso-client-qt': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:48:38,501 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() ubuntu-sso-client-qt: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 2016-11-08 12:48:38,502 DEBUG dpkg error because of dependency problems, not reporting against ubuntu-sso-client-qt 2016-11-08 12:48:38,502 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'ubuntu-sso-client-qt': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:49:02,247 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'libgpgme11': '87.7304:dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:49:02,247 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() libgpgme11: 87.7304:dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 2016-11-08 12:49:02,248 DEBUG dpkg error because of dependency problems, not reporting against libgpgme11 2016-11-08 12:49:02,248 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'libgpgme11': '87.7304:dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:49:02,261 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'fwupd': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:49:02,262 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() fwupd: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 2016-11-08 12:49:02,262 DEBUG dpkg error because of dependency problems, not reporting against fwupd 2016-11-08 12:49:02,262 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'fwupd': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:49:49,300 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'python-gpgme': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:49:49,300 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() python-gpgme: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 2016-11-08 12:49:49,300 DEBUG dpkg error because of dependency problems, not reporting against python-gpgme 2016-11-08 12:49:49,300 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'python-gpgme': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:49:58,096 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'seahorse': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:49:58,096 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() seahorse: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 2016-11-08 12:49:58,096 DEBUG dpkg error because of dependency problems, not reporting against seahorse 2016-11-08 12:49:58,096 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'seahorse': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:49:58,527 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'oneconf': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:49:58,527 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() oneconf: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 2016-11-08 12:49:58,527 DEBUG dpkg error because of dependency problems, not reporting against oneconf 2016-11-08 12:49:58,527 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'oneconf': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:49:58,756 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'software-center': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:49:58,756 DEBUG running apport_pkgfailure() software-center: dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 2016-11-08 12:49:58,756 DEBUG dpkg error because of dependency problems, not reporting against software-center 2016-11-08 12:49:58,756 ERROR got an error from dpkg for pkg: 'software-center': 'dependency problems - leaving unconfigured' 2016-11-08 12:55:21,961 WARNING ctrl-c press detected, user decided to pass it on: False 2016-11-08 12:59:12,969 WARNING no activity on terminal for 300 seconds (Installed system-config-printer-gnome (amd64)) 2016-11-08 13:05:39,624 ERROR not handled exception: SystemError: E:Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1), E:Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1), E:Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) 2016-11-08 13:05:39,624 DEBUG running apport_crash() 2016-11-08 13:05:39,650 ERROR failed to import apport python module, can't generate crash: No module named 'xml.dom' 2016-11-08 13:05:39,747 ERROR SystemError from cache.commit(): installArchives() failed 2016-11-08 13:07:25,316 DEBUG Running PostInstallScript: './xorg_fix_proprietary.py' 2016-11-08 13:07:25,326 ERROR got error from PostInstallScript ./xorg_fix_proprietary.py (g-exec-error-quark: Failed to execute child process "./xorg_fix_proprietary.py" (No such file or directory) (8)) --- Last item in the main.log is an unhandled exception which must have been what caused the "Error in function:" output in the GUI upgrader. Curiously enough that messages is not reflected in the apt-term.log The ctrl-c was me trying to copy the terminal output using GUI shortcuts. A dialog asked whether to interrupt the process which was declined. Would the complete set of dist-upgrade logs be helpful?