Comment 7 for bug 50041

Theres a quick hack to make it bypass modem detection at install...

after the first time u install it using apt ..when it hangs at Setting up wvdial.. press CTRL-C

Then edit your /etc/wvdial.conf

[Dialer Defaults]
Phone =
Username =
Password =
New PPPD = yes
modem

basically just add the line modem at the end..

then do a
sudo dpkg --reconfigure -a

this should work..and give the fullowing message..

mendred@dantooine:~$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
Setting up wvdial (1.56-1.1ubuntu2) ...

/etc/wvdial.conf already exists -- not probing your modem.
  (Run wvdialconf manually if you want to re-detect your modem.)

Setting up kubuntu-desktop (1.32ubuntu1) ...

I figured this workaround after examining the /var/lib/dpkg/info/wvdial.postinst file that is generated..it does a grep -qui ^modem on the wvdial file and if it finds modem it does not try detection.

Its a lousy workaround but if u are like me and dont use wvdial, then this will atleast ensure that package manager is sane..

u can remove the last line i.e. "modem" after the dpkg run. Hopefully, this will be fixed in later versions..

-Bharat