Ubuntu
firefox-3.5 package

Security Update broke xulrunner and now firefox won't start

Asked by Matt Pharoah

Yesterday before I allowed update manager to install a security update for xulrunner, everything was working fine. Then I let it update and it came up with an error saying xulrunner couldn't be installed. I tried running Firefox, but now it's broken because it was also updated to use the updated xulrunner-1.9 which could not be installed. (I'm using Konqueror now since Firefox won't start).

I have tried uninstalling xulrunner and xulrunner-1.9.1.7 completely as well as firefox, but it didn't help.

Update manager keeps wanting me to apply this xulrunner-1.9.1 update, but every time it fails.

Here is the error I'm getting:
E: /var/cache/apt/archives/xulrunner-1.9.1_1.9.1.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1_amd64.deb: subprocess new post-removal script returned error exit status 1

Here's the result of `sudo apt-get install xulrunner-1.9.1`:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be upgraded:
  xulrunner-1.9.1
1 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
32 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B/9,102kB of archives.
After this operation, 0B of additional disk space will be used.
(Reading database ... 239035 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace xulrunner-1.9.1 1.9.1.6+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1 (using .../xulrunner-1.9.1_1.9.1.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement xulrunner-1.9.1 ...
/rm/rm: cannot remove `/usr/lib/xulrunner-1.9.1.6/python/xpcom/__init__.pyo': No such file or directory
dpkg: warning: old post-removal script returned error exit status 1
dpkg - trying script from the new package instead ...
/rm/rm: cannot remove `/usr/lib/xulrunner-1.9.1.7/python/xpcom/__init__.pyo': No such file or directory
dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/xulrunner-1.9.1_1.9.1.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1_amd64.deb (--unpack):
 subprocess new post-removal script returned error exit status 1
/rm/rm: cannot remove `/usr/lib/xulrunner-1.9.1.7/python/xpcom/__init__.pyo': No such file or directory
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
 subprocess new post-removal script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /var/cache/apt/archives/xulrunner-1.9.1_1.9.1.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1_amd64.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

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Ubuntu firefox-3.5 Edit question
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Matt Pharoah
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marcobra (Marco Braida) (marcobra) said : 		#1

Not sure it solve but please try this...

Open a Terminal from the menu Applications → Accessories → Terminal and type:
(if the system ask you a password give your user password, you will not see nothing when you type it, then press enter)

sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt-get -f install
sudo apt-get --fix-missing install
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get autoremove

Please report only error here.

Hth

Revision history for this message
Matt Pharoah (mpharoah) said : 		#2

Unfortunately, that did not help. I got the same error as before with most of those.

sudo dpkg --configure -a gave a bundle of errors: apparently a bunch of files (I believe all of these are dependencies of xulrunner or were updated at the same time as my first attempt at installing xulrunner, which would explain why they are not configured)

dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of desktopcouch:
 desktopcouch depends on python-desktopcouch; however:
  Package python-desktopcouch is not configured yet.
 desktopcouch depends on python-desktopcouch-records; however:
  Package python-desktopcouch-records is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing desktopcouch (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Setting up python-kde4 (4:4.3.2-0ubuntu4.1) ...
/rm/rm: cannot remove `/usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/PyKDE4/__init__.pyc': No such file or directory
dpkg: error processing python-kde4 (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of bindwood:
 bindwood depends on python-desktopcouch; however:
  Package python-desktopcouch is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing bindwood (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of gdebi-kde:
 gdebi-kde depends on python-kde4 (>= 3.16.0-0ubuntu11); however:
  Package python-kde4 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing gdebi-kde (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Setting up libxul0d (1.8.1.16+nobinonly-0ubuntu1) ...
/rm/rm: cannot remove `/usr/lib/xulrunner/components/compreg.dat': No such file or directory
/rm/rm: cannot remove `/usr/lib/xulrunner/components/xpti.dat': No such file or directory
dpkg: error processing libxul0d (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of couchdb-bin:
 couchdb-bin depends on xulrunner-1.9.1; however:
  Package xulrunner-1.9.1 is not installed.
dpkg: error processing couchdb-bin (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-3.5:
 firefox-3.5 depends on xulrunner-1.9.1 (>= 1.9.1); however:
  Package xulrunner-1.9.1 is not installed.
dpkg: error processing firefox-3.5 (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-3.0:
 firefox-3.0 depends on firefox-3.5; however:
  Package firefox-3.5 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox-3.0 (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-3.1:
 firefox-3.1 depends on firefox-3.5; however:
  Package firefox-3.5 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox-3.1 (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-3.5-branding:
 firefox-3.5-branding depends on firefox-3.5 (= 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1); however:
  Package firefox-3.5 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox-3.5-branding (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of install-package:
 install-package depends on gdebi-kde; however:
  Package gdebi-kde is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing install-package (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-3.1-branding:
 firefox-3.1-branding depends on firefox-3.5-branding; however:
  Package firefox-3.5-branding is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox-3.1-branding (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of xulrunner:
 xulrunner depends on libxul0d (>= 1.8.1.4); however:
  Package libxul0d is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing xulrunner (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-3.5-dev:
 firefox-3.5-dev depends on firefox-3.5 (= 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1); however:
  Package firefox-3.5 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox-3.5-dev (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-3.0-venkman:
 firefox-3.0-venkman depends on firefox-3.5; however:
  Package firefox-3.5 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox-3.0-venkman (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-3.5-dbg:
 firefox-3.5-dbg depends on firefox-3.5 (= 3.5.7+nobinonly-0ubuntu0.9.10.1); however:
  Package firefox-3.5 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox-3.5-dbg (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-3.1-dbg:
 firefox-3.1-dbg depends on firefox-3.5-dbg; however:
  Package firefox-3.5-dbg is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox-3.1-dbg (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of kubuntu-firefox-installer:
 kubuntu-firefox-installer depends on install-package; however:
  Package install-package is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing kubuntu-firefox-installer (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-3.0-branding:
 firefox-3.0-branding depends on firefox-3.5-branding; however:
  Package firefox-3.5-branding is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox-3.0-branding (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-3.0-dom-inspector:
 firefox-3.0-dom-inspector depends on firefox-3.5; however:
  Package firefox-3.5 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox-3.0-dom-inspector (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox:
 firefox depends on firefox-3.5; however:
  Package firefox-3.5 is not configured yet.
 firefox depends on firefox-3.5-branding; however:
  Package firefox-3.5-branding is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-dom-inspector:
 firefox-dom-inspector depends on firefox-3.5; however:
  Package firefox-3.5 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox-dom-inspector (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-showcase:
 firefox-showcase depends on firefox | abrowser | firefox-3.0 | firefox-2; however:
  Package firefox is not configured yet.
  Package abrowser is not installed.
  Package firefox-3.0 is not configured yet.
  Package firefox-3.5 which provides firefox-3.0 is not configured yet.
  Package firefox-2 is not installed.
dpkg: error processing firefox-showcase (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of ubufox:
 ubufox depends on firefox | abrowser | firefox-3.0 | firefox-2; however:
  Package firefox is not configured yet.
  Package abrowser is not installed.
  Package firefox-3.0 is not configured yet.
  Package firefox-3.5 which provides firefox-3.0 is not configured yet.
  Package firefox-2 is not installed.
dpkg: error processing ubufox (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-3.0-dev:
 firefox-3.0-dev depends on firefox-3.5-dev; however:
  Package firefox-3.5-dev is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox-3.0-dev (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-notify:
 firefox-notify depends on firefox (>= 1.0) | abrowser (>= 1.0); however:
  Package firefox is not configured yet.
  Package abrowser is not installed.
 firefox-notify depends on firefox (<< 3.6) | abrowser (<< 3.6); however:
  Package firefox is not configured yet.
  Package abrowser is not installed.
dpkg: error processing firefox-notify (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-3.1-dev:
 firefox-3.1-dev depends on firefox-3.5-dev; however:
  Package firefox-3.5-dev is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox-3.1-dev (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-launchpad-plugin:
 firefox-launchpad-plugin depends on firefox; however:
  Package firefox is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing firefox-launchpad-plugin (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of firefox-linky:
 firefox-linky depends on firefox | abrowser; however:
  Package firefox is not configured yet.
  Package abrowser is not installed.
dpkg: error processing firefox-linky (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 desktopcouch
 python-kde4
 bindwood
 gdebi-kde
 libxul0d
 couchdb-bin
 firefox-3.5
 firefox-3.0
 firefox-3.1
 firefox-3.5-branding
 install-package
 firefox-3.1-branding
 xulrunner
 firefox-3.5-dev
 firefox-3.0-venkman
 firefox-3.5-dbg
 firefox-3.1-dbg
 kubuntu-firefox-installer
 firefox-3.0-branding
 firefox-3.0-dom-inspector
 firefox
 firefox-dom-inspector
 firefox-showcase
 ubufox
 firefox-3.0-dev
 firefox-notify
 firefox-3.1-dev
 firefox-launchpad-plugin
 firefox-linky

Revision history for this message
Matt Pharoah (mpharoah) said : 		#3

I figured out the problem. It wasn't really with xulrunner, but I had recently moved the rm binary to another folder, then replaced rm's old location with a link to a shell script that runs rm $* -I, but apparently dpkg doesn't like that. I guess it needs a binary file, not a shell script, since it probably needs to load that file into memory as binary data rather than having the OS run the file and decide what to do with it. A bit strange that I was able to install and remove other packages in this time, but xulrunner was the only one to fail, but this isn't really a bug. I guess I'll just use an alias for rm instead. Not sure why I didn't just do that in the first place. Seems so obvious now that replacing a binary with a shell script is a bad idea. >_<