Comment 32 for bug 1753518

I have a DELL 9343 XPS running 'Ubuntu 18.04.1'. The first recent indication that I had a problem with the Software Updater was with an update I installed on 31-JAN-2019 when Software Updater returned the message 'package operation failed'.

Looking back at the logs, I found in /var/log/dpkg.log the last three lines indicated that my grub-efi was shown as 'half-configured' but not 'installed'.

2019-02-01 07:03:44 startup packages configure
2019-02-01 07:03:44 configure grub-efi-amd64-signed:amd64 1.93.11+2.02-2ubuntu8.10 <none>
2019-02-01 07:03:44 status half-configured grub-efi-amd64-signed:amd64 1.93.11+2.02-2ubuntu8.10

Since I don't like error messages, I began searching for an explanation and for a solution before attempting to remedy the problem. I found that others felt there may be a problem with BIOS file(s) in a permission protected folder /boot/efi.

I found the latest BIOS update '9343_A18.exe' on the DELL support page and downloaded the file. In order to copy the BIOS update binary into the efi partition (/boot/efi) I had to use sudo in the Terminal to copy the 9343_A18.exe file to /boot/efi.

I then followed the instructions to update the BIOS which is to restart / reboot, pressing F12 key in order to enter in the Boot Menu and then choose BIOS Update selecting 9343_A18.exe and choosing to update the BIOS.

After updating the BIOS, Ubuntu Software Updater works fine again without returning any error messages. The last line in the most recent version of /var/log/dpkg.log shows the following documentation that my grub-efi is now shown as 'half-configured' and finally 'installed'.

2019-02-10 05:04:47 configure grub-efi-amd64-signed:amd64 1.93.11+2.02-2ubuntu8.10 <none>
2019-02-10 05:04:47 status half-configured grub-efi-amd64-signed:amd64 1.93.11+2.02-2ubuntu8.10
2019-02-10 05:04:49 status installed grub-efi-amd64-signed:amd64 1.93.11+2.02-2ubuntu8.10

After spending considerable time looking into my problem, I concluded that updating the BIOS to the latest version from DELL was the best answer and solved my problem.

Hope this helps anyone looking for a similar answer. Installed systems are of course different. If your problem is different, looking in /var/log/dpkg.log for 'status half-configured' without seeing 'status installed' files may give you a lead on where to look for your own solution.