package software-center 13.10-0ubuntu4.1 failed to install/upgrade: subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1

[Shahrouz Raeisi]

shahrouz@shahrouz-Precision-M6400:~/.config$ sudo apt-get upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0 B/325 kB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
dpkg: error processing package software-center (--configure):
 package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
 reinstall it before attempting configuration
Errors were encountered while processing:
 software-center
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

shahrouz@shahrouz-Precision-M6400:~/.config$ sudo apt-get install --reinstall software-center
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
2 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0 B/325 kB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
(Reading database ... 211607 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../software-center_13.10-0ubuntu4.1_all.deb ...
  File "/usr/bin/pyclean", line 63
    except (IOError, OSError), e:
                             ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
dpkg: warning: subprocess old pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ...
  File "/usr/bin/pyclean", line 63
    except (IOError, OSError), e:
                             ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/software-center_13.10-0ubuntu4.1_all.deb (--unpack):
 subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/pycompile", line 35, in <module>
    from debpython.version import SUPPORTED, debsorted, vrepr, \
  File "/usr/share/python/debpython/version.py", line 24, in <module>
    from ConfigParser import SafeConfigParser
ImportError: No module named 'ConfigParser'
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /var/cache/apt/archives/software-center_13.10-0ubuntu4.1_all.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

ProblemType: Package
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: software-center 13.10-0ubuntu4.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-34.60-generic 3.13.11.4
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-34-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.3
AptOrdering:
 software-center: Install
 software-center: Configure
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sat Aug 16 19:39:32 2014
DuplicateSignature: package:software-center:13.10-0ubuntu4.1:subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
ErrorMessage: subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-08-15 (1 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: software-center
Title: package software-center 13.10-0ubuntu4.1 failed to install/upgrade: subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

Temporary workaround.

Ubuntu 14.04 apt-get install has dependencies to Python 2.7

For me this issue has occurred aster I have tried to use Python 3 as default and going back to python 2.7 fixed the issue.

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/python2.7 /usr/bin/python

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.