flashplugin-nonfree broken

[Christopher Biessener]

On 05/13/2010 11:29 AM, Janne Jokitalo wrote:
> On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 11:12:43AM -0500, Christopher Biessener wrote:
>> $ apt-get install --reinstall flashplugin-nonfree
> <snip>
>> dpkg: error processing flashplugin-nonfree (--remove):
>>    Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should
>>    reinstall it before attempting a removal.
>> Errors were encountered while processing:
>>    flashplugin-nonfree
>> E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
>
> Please, don't top-post. I'm tired of re-organizing the posts, so I deleted the
> earlier discussion, which is always a loss for someone who reads in midst of
> thread.
>
> Okay, so that didn't work. Try:
>
> $ sudo dpkg -r --force-remove-reinstreq flashplugin-nonfree
$ dpkg -r --force-remove-reinstreq flashplugin-nonfree
dpkg: warning: overriding problem because --force enabled:
  Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should
  reinstall it before attempting a removal.
(Reading database ... 338350 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing flashplugin-nonfree ...
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iceape-flashplugin.
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iceape-flashplugin.
dpkg: error processing flashplugin-nonfree (--remove):
  subprocess installed pre-removal script returned error exit status 2
postinst called with argument `abort-remove'
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
  subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
  flashplugin-nonfree


Is there a way to edit the package list and remove the 
flashplugin-nonfree entry?


I've also tried 'apt-get -m install dselect' because the manpage for 
apt-get -f recommends using dselect...   The -m flag did not work either.

Thanks again,

Christopher