Possible Duplicate:
Cannot install any software from the Software Center due to ttf-mscorefonts-installer package error
I was trying to install ubuntu-restricted-extras from the command line, as instructed here: Can't play dvd with movie player
Near the end, I came to a EULA screen that wouldn't let me past it. Clicking OK, hitting enter, nothing worked.
After aborting that attempt at installing, I find that attempting to install anything leads to the following message:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/aptdaemon/worker.py", line 961, in simulate
trans.unauthenticated = self._simulate_helper(trans)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/aptdaemon/worker.py", line 1085, in _simulate_helper
return depends, self._cache.required_download, \
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/apt/cache.py", line 226, in required_download
pm.get_archives(fetcher, self._list, self._records)
SystemError: E:I wasn't able to locate file for the ttf-mscorefonts-installer package. This might mean you need to manually fix this package.
(The above was an attempt to install 7zip from the Software Center.)
How do I undo what I've done? Tell me how this can be fixed without re-installing the OS.
I'm not particularly Linux-savvy, so please help me to understand how I can investigate this problem, and hopefully regain the ability to install software without reinstalling the OS.
Best Answer
Here's a good article on what to do when apt-get breaks. http://www.linux.com/archive/feed/48910
Basically, try to re-install with -f flag (to force) the offending package. If that doesn't work try remove, then with -f flag.
Also - a good practice that doesn't seem to be actively encouraged by the Ubuntu installer is to have /home and / on different partitions, so that you can freely reinstall the core OS without affecting most of your settings, which makes recovering from fatal issues easier. Great tip when you're still learning.