package nvidia-331 340.76-0ubuntu0.1 failed to install/upgrade: package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should reinstall it before attempting a removal

[James Kershaw]

Report of bug.

I was made aware of an issue by not being able to log in, the screen would make odd images black and white shaped S's then it logged me out. (3rd Oct and 4th Oct 2015) Had to go into recovery mode and work through the terminal as root. Found that "the system is running in low-graphics mode" had appeared as a warning. Uninstalled nvidia-331 and then reinstalled through the terminal.
This issue had stopped me logging into my account. Thankfully ask ubuntu had the questions and answers relating to similar issues and I was able to pick up what to do.

Regards,
James

ProblemType: Package
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: nvidia-331 340.76-0ubuntu0.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.16.0-49.65~14.04.1-generic 3.16.7-ckt15
Uname: Linux 3.16.0-49-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.13
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sun Oct 4 15:41:23 2015
DpkgHistoryLog:
 Start-Date: 2015-10-04 15:39:39
 Commandline: apt-get purge nvidia-331
 Install: nvidia-340:amd64 (340.76-0ubuntu0.1, automatic), nvidia-340-uvm:amd64 (340.76-0ubuntu0.1, automatic)
 Upgrade: nvidia-331-uvm:amd64 (331.113-0ubuntu0.0.4, 340.76-0ubuntu0.1)
 Purge: nvidia-331:amd64 (331.113-0ubuntu0.0.4)
DuplicateSignature: package:nvidia-331:340.76-0ubuntu0.1:package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should reinstall it before attempting a removal
ErrorMessage: package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should reinstall it before attempting a removal
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-04-17 (169 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20150218.1)
RelatedPackageVersions:
 dpkg 1.17.5ubuntu5.4
 apt 1.0.1ubuntu2.10
SourcePackage: nvidia-graphics-drivers-340
Title: package nvidia-331 340.76-0ubuntu0.1 failed to install/upgrade: package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should reinstall it before attempting a removal
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Seth Arnold (seth-arnold)]

Thanks for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. We appreciate the difficulties you are facing, but this appears to be a "regular" (non-security) bug. I have unmarked it as a security issue since this bug does not show evidence of allowing attackers to cross privilege boundaries nor directly cause loss of data/privacy. Please feel free to report any other bugs you may find.