package util-linux 2.27.1-6ubuntu3.3 failed to install/upgrade: package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should reinstall it before attempting configuration

[Jeff Frazier]

jefff@jefff-System-Product-Name:~$ sudo apt-get -f install util-linux
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
util-linux is already the newest version (2.27.1-6ubuntu3.3).
You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 grub-pc : Depends: grub-common (= 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12) but 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.11 is to be installed
           Depends: grub2-common (= 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12) but 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.11 is to be installed
           Depends: grub-pc-bin (= 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12) but 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.11 is to be installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

jefff@jefff-System-Product-Name:~$ sudo apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  linux-headers-4.8.0-36 linux-headers-4.8.0-36-generic linux-headers-4.8.0-53 linux-headers-4.8.0-53-generic linux-image-4.8.0-36-generic linux-image-4.8.0-53-generic linux-image-extra-4.8.0-36-generic
  linux-image-extra-4.8.0-53-generic
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following additional packages will be installed:
  grub-common grub-pc grub-pc-bin grub2-common
Suggested packages:
  multiboot-doc grub-emu xorriso desktop-base
The following packages will be upgraded:
  grub-common grub-pc grub-pc-bin grub2-common
4 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 221 not upgraded.
2 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 4,337 kB of archives.
After this operation, 5,120 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main i386 util-linux i386 2.27.1-6ubuntu3.3 [875 kB]
Get:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main i386 grub-pc i386 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12 [197 kB]
Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main i386 grub-pc-bin i386 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12 [915 kB]
Get:4 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main i386 grub2-common i386 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12 [545 kB]
Get:5 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main i386 grub-common i386 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12 [1,806 kB]
Fetched 4,337 kB in 0s (6,404 kB/s)
Preconfiguring packages ...
dpkg: error processing package util-linux (--configure):
 package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
 reinstall it before attempting configuration
Errors were encountered while processing:
 util-linux
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
jefff@jefff-System-Product-Name:~$

jefff@jefff-System-Product-Name:~$ sudo apt-get -f install grub-common
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 grub-pc : Depends: grub2-common (= 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12) but 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.11 is to be installed
           Depends: grub-pc-bin (= 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12) but 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.11 is to be installed
 grub-pc-bin : Depends: grub-common (= 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.11) but 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12 is to be installed
 grub2-common : Depends: grub-common (= 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.11) but 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12 is to be installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).
jefff@jefff-System-Product-Name:~$

jefff@jefff-System-Product-Name:~$ sudo apt-get -f install grub2-common
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 grub-pc : Depends: grub-common (= 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12) but 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.11 is to be installed
           Depends: grub-pc-bin (= 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12) but 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.11 is to be installed
 grub2-common : Depends: grub-common (= 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12) but 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.11 is to be installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

jefff@jefff-System-Product-Name:~$ sudo apt-get -f install grub-pc-bin
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 grub-pc : Depends: grub-common (= 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12) but 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.11 is to be installed
           Depends: grub2-common (= 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12) but 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.11 is to be installed
 grub-pc-bin : Depends: grub-common (= 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.12) but 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.11 is to be installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

ProblemType: Package
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: util-linux 2.27.1-6ubuntu3.3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.8.0-58.63~16.04.1-generic 4.8.17
Uname: Linux 4.8.0-58-generic i686
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.6
Architecture: i386
Date: Sat Aug 26 12:51:18 2017
DpkgTerminalLog:
 dpkg: error processing package util-linux (--configure):
  package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
  reinstall it before attempting configuration
ErrorMessage: package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should reinstall it before attempting configuration
InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-05-13 (111 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release i386 (20170215.2)
RelatedPackageVersions:
 dpkg 1.18.4ubuntu1.2
 apt 1.2.20
SourcePackage: util-linux
Title: package util-linux 2.27.1-6ubuntu3.3 failed to install/upgrade: package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should reinstall it before attempting configuration
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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