Ubuntu 18.04 to 20.04.1 upgrade I get error dpkg: error processing package linux-firmware (--configure)

Asked by Rick T

I upgraded from 18.04 to Ubuntu 20.04.1 but get a firmware error how can I fix this? I can boot into the GUI and have network access but updates don't work due to the error)

Ubuntu 18.04 to 20.04.1 upgrade I get error dpkg: error processing package linux-firmware (--configure)

**I tried: sudo dpkg --configure -a**

    rt@sys76:~$ sudo dpkg --configure -a

    dpkg: error processing package linux-firmware (--configure):
     package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
     reinstall it before attempting configuration
    dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-generic:
     linux-image-generic depends on linux-firmware; however:
      Package linux-firmware is not configured yet.

    dpkg: error processing package linux-image-generic (--configure):
     dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
    Errors were encountered while processing:
     linux-firmware
     linux-image-generic

**I also tried sudo apt-get install -f**

    rt@sys76:~$ sudo apt-get install -f

    dpkg: error processing package linux-firmware (--configure):
     package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
     reinstall it before attempting configuration
    dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-generic:
     linux-image-generic depends on linux-firmware; however:
      Package linux-firmware is not configured yet.

    dpkg: error processing package linux-image-generic (--configure):
     dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
    No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
                              Errors were encountered while processing:
     linux-firmware
     linux-image-generic
    E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

**I also tried sudo apt-get install -y linux-firmware**

    rt@sys76:~$ sudo apt-get install -y linux-firmware

        2 not fully installed or removed.
        Need to get 0 B/98.9 MB of archives.
        After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
        dpkg: error processing package linux-firmware (--configure):
         package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
         reinstall it before attempting configuration
        No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
                                  dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-generic:
         linux-image-generic depends on linux-firmware; however:
          Package linux-firmware is not configured yet.

        dpkg: error processing package linux-image-generic (--configure):
         dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
        Errors were encountered while processing:
         linux-firmware
         linux-image-generic
        E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

**Also tried: sudo apt --fix-broken install**

    rt@sys76:~$ sudo apt --fix-broken install

    Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
    0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
    2 not fully installed or removed.
    Need to get 0 B/98.9 MB of archives.
    After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
    dpkg: error processing package linux-firmware (--configure):
     package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
     reinstall it before attempting configuration
    No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup erro
    r from a previous failure.
                              dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of lin
    ux-image-generic:
     linux-image-generic depends on linux-firmware; however:
      Package linux-firmware is not configured yet.

    dpkg: error processing package linux-image-generic (--configure):
     dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
    Errors were encountered while processing:
     linux-firmware
     linux-image-generic
    E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

**Also tried: sudo apt-get dist-upgrade**

    rt@sys76:~$ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

    Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
    0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
    2 not fully installed or removed.
    Need to get 0 B/98.9 MB 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 linux-firmware (--configure):
     package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
     reinstall it before attempting configuration
    No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
                              dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-generic:
     linux-image-generic depends on linux-firmware; however:
      Package linux-firmware is not configured yet.

    dpkg: error processing package linux-image-generic (--configure):
     dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
    Errors were encountered while processing:
     linux-firmware
     linux-image-generic
    E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Some Info:

    rt@sys76:~$ uname -a
    Linux sys76 5.4.0-48-generic #52-Ubuntu SMP Thu Sep 10 10:58:49 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
    rt@sys76:~$

    rt@sys76:~$ ls -lh /lib/modules
    total 236K
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jan 23 2018 4.10.0-42-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jun 29 10:36 4.15.0-101-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jul 2 00:22 4.15.0-106-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jul 13 23:18 4.15.0-108-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jul 23 03:40 4.15.0-109-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Sep 2 12:10 4.15.0-111-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Sep 8 09:50 4.15.0-112-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Sep 21 16:47 4.15.0-115-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Sep 30 09:32 4.15.0-117-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K Sep 21 10:27 4.15.0-118-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jun 11 2018 4.15.0-20-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jul 2 2018 4.15.0-22-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jul 21 2018 4.15.0-23-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Aug 7 2018 4.15.0-24-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Sep 5 2018 4.15.0-29-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Aug 24 2018 4.15.0-30-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Sep 10 2018 4.15.0-32-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Oct 2 2018 4.15.0-33-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Oct 23 2018 4.15.0-34-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Nov 14 2018 4.15.0-36-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Dec 21 2018 4.15.0-38-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Dec 20 2018 4.15.0-39-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jan 29 2019 4.15.0-42-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jan 31 2019 4.15.0-43-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Mar 6 2019 4.15.0-44-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Apr 4 2019 4.15.0-45-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Apr 25 2019 4.15.0-46-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K May 15 2019 4.15.0-47-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jun 4 2019 4.15.0-48-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K May 20 11:30 4.15.0-50-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jun 28 2019 4.15.0-51-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jul 25 2019 4.15.0-52-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Aug 14 2019 4.15.0-54-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Sep 3 2019 4.15.0-55-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Sep 10 2019 4.15.0-58-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Sep 18 2019 4.15.0-60-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Oct 1 2019 4.15.0-62-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Oct 22 2019 4.15.0-64-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Nov 13 2019 4.15.0-65-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Nov 15 2019 4.15.0-66-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Dec 2 2019 4.15.0-69-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jan 7 2020 4.15.0-70-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jan 28 2020 4.15.0-72-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Feb 17 2020 4.15.0-74-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Mar 17 2020 4.15.0-76-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Apr 7 07:49 4.15.0-88-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K Mar 16 2020 4.15.0-91-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K May 20 04:37 4.15.0-96-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jun 10 14:52 4.15.0-99-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Mar 7 2018 4.4.111-0404111-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Mar 13 2018 4.4.119-0404119-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Mar 20 2018 4.4.120-0404120-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Mar 27 2018 4.4.121-0404121-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Apr 2 2018 4.4.122-0404122-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4.0K Apr 27 2018 4.4.126-0404126-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4.0K Apr 27 2018 4.4.127-0404127-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Apr 18 2018 4.4.128-0404128-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Apr 26 2018 4.8.17-040817-generic
    drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K Sep 30 07:44 5.4.0-48-generic

    rt@sys76:~$ sudo dpkg -C
    The following packages are in a mess due to serious problems during
    installation. They must be reinstalled for them (and any packages
    that depend on them) to function properly:
     linux-firmware Firmware for Linux kernel drivers

    The following packages have been unpacked but not yet configured.
    They must be configured using dpkg --configure or the configure
    menu option in dselect for them to work:
     linux-image-generic Generic Linux kernel image

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Solved
For:
Ubuntu linux-firmware Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Solved by:
Manfred Hampl
Solved:
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
Best Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said :
#1

Try

sudo apt install --reinstall linux-firmware

Revision history for this message
Rick T (ratulloch) said :
#2

Thanks Manfred Hampl, that solved my question.