lucid install freezes during "setting up mlocate"

[John Quinn]

Binary package hint: mlocate

Chose "upgrade to 10.04.1" in update manager. Current OS is 9.10. Packages download OK. Installation freezes (hangs) at the "Configuring mlocate" step. Specifically, freeze occurs after the terminal output of the installation displays the following:
            Setting up mlocate (0.22.2-1ubuntu1) ...

Mouse and keyboard become unresponsive. I have let the system sit in this state for 8 hours, just in case something happens.

Current mlocate package info:
mlocate:
  Installed: 0.21.1-2
  Candidate: 0.21.1-2
  Version table:
 *** 0.21.1-2 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

Things I've tried to fix the problem:
Unplug USB external drive
Turn off screen saver
Turn off Power Management

Just in case it's a video problem (I do have a nVidia card), here is some info from Xorg.conf:
Section "Device"
    Identifier "Device0"
    Driver "nvidia"
    VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName "GeForce FX 5200"
EndSection