kde-guidance install crashes and blocks all package manager (adept, synaptics, dpkg...)

[Albert]

Binary package hint: kde-guidance

I try to install kubuntu-desktop on ubuntu 7.04 but the installation crashes on this package:

Configuro Kde-guidance (0.8.0-0ubuntu5)...
Removing any system startup links for etc/init.d/displayconfig-hwprobe.py...

After the hardware reset and reboot Synaptics and other managers are unavailable with this error:

E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

If I insert in a shell the command

dpkg --configure -a

I obtain the same error and the system crashes:

Configuro Kde-guidance (0.8.0-0ubuntu5)...
Removing any system startup links for etc/init.d/displayconfig-hwprobe.py...

and so recursively.
After a reset I recovery the system with the commands:

sudo dpkg --clear-avail
sudo dpkg --forget-old-unavail
sudo dpkg -P Kde-guidance*

but the kubuntu-desktop isn't available.

[Marco Maini (maini10)]

Please try to reinstall the package kubuntu-desktop from shell giving the command sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop. Report any other issue. Thanks again.

[Albert (aranbenjo80)]

Hi Marco, thanks for your interest.
Finally I have installed kde-desktop without the file Kde-guidance (0.8.0-0ubuntu5). When I try to install the file kde-guidance and dipendencies the system krashes with my hardware (Core 2 Duo E6420, Gygabyte 965p-DS3 rev 3.3, nVidia 8600GT). There is no solution with kde-guidance 0.8.0.
When I try to install Kubuntu 7.0.4 from cd or dvd the installation crashes for the same problem.
It seems Kubuntu isn't compatible with my hardware, perhaps because the file kde-guidance has problems with my hardware.
Byz

[Marco Maini (maini10)]

Now, do you have a working KDE session?
Please try sudo dpkg -i kde-guidance. This operation may take some minutes. If it is broken, please report here the error.

[Marco Maini (maini10)]

Sorry, to use dpkg -i, you must have downloaded the package in your /home directory (http://packages.ubuntu.com/feisty/kde/kde-guidance). Otherwise, you must use sudo apt-get install kde-guidance.

[Albert (aranbenjo80)]

Yes, now I have a working kde session but without kde-guidance package (and dependencies)
If I try to install this package (version 0.8.0) the system crashes and only hardware reset is possible to recover the pc. After the hardware reset and reboot Synaptics and other packages manager are unavailable.

[Marco Maini (maini10)]

So, you can check if required package is installed. Try apt-get install -f kde-guidance or apt-get install -f without package name. Usually, this suggest you how to fix dependencies.
Do you have installed third party software?
Try to post the output of dpkg -l, so it's possible to see which packages is installed.
Thanks.

[Albert (aranbenjo80)]

When I try apt-get install -f the system crashes as before with a similar message in the shell:
...
Configuro Kde-guidance (0.8.0-0ubuntu5)...
Removing any system startup links for etc/init.d/displayconfig-hwprobe.py...

After the hardware reset I recovery adept or synaptics only with the commands:

sudo dpkg --clear-avail
sudo dpkg --forget-old-unavail

otherwise the package manager is unavailable.

[Albert (aranbenjo80)]

N.B.: When I try to install Kubuntu 7.04 directly from DVD or CD the system crashes during the installation. It seems Kubuntu isn't compatible with my hardware or the parameters of the bios regard the chipset or graphic card.

[Marco Maini (maini10)]

Please report a new bug against ubiquity, the Kubuntu installer, for the installation issue. The output of lspci -vvn may be very useful to developers to track this bug.

About kde-guidance issue: do you have etc/init.d/displayconfig-hwprobe.py in your system?

Thanks.

[Albert (aranbenjo80)]

I suspect that the system freezes during the Kubuntu installation for this same problem.
I don't have the file etc/init.d/displayconfig-hwprobe.py in my system.

[Marco Maini (maini10)]

In this case please post here the output of lspci -vvn.

You can try to add a trace of your problem. Please follow the procedure described here https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DebuggingSystemCrash:
1) try to reproduce the problem in a login shell (e.g. give the command sudo apt-get install kde-guidance)
2) wait for the crash
3) press Alt+SysRq+1 and next Alt+SysRq+t
The trace may appear on the screen or in kern.log (in this case use dmesg to see it). Please post here this trace.
Thanks again.

[Marco Maini (maini10)]

We are closing this bug report because it lacks the information we need to investigate the problem, as described in the previous comments. Please reopen it if you can give us the missing information, and don't hesitate to submit bug reports in the future. To reopen the bug report you can click on the current status, under the Status column, and change the Status back to "New". Thanks again!