<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>Hi Andrew</div><div><br></div><div>I checked the file you shared ; it is exactly the same symptoms as this, for Ubuntu 18.04:</div><div><a href="https://askubuntu.com/questions/1056780/cant-upgrade-update-ubuntu-18-04-as-apt-dpkg-error-is-showing-up">https://askubuntu.com/questions/1056780/cant-upgrade-update-ubuntu-18-04-as-apt-dpkg-error-is-showing-up</a></div><div><br></div><div>In short, you seem to have at some point installed HPLIP HP's own install script, and HP's installer is very broken. Quoting from the linked article:</div><div style="margin-left:40px"><br></div><div style="margin-left:40px">The problem is HPLIP installer. It incorrectly uninstalls
Ubuntu-packaged version by deleting files, which are maintained by
package manager.</div><div><br></div><div>The answer advocated is listed here:</div><div><a href="https://askubuntu.com/questions/1056077/how-to-install-latest-hplip-on-my-ubuntu-to-support-my-hp-printer-and-or-scanner/1056078#1056078">https://askubuntu.com/questions/1056077/how-to-install-latest-hplip-on-my-ubuntu-to-support-my-hp-printer-and-or-scanner/1056078#1056078</a><br></div><div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><br></div><div>To cut the steps to what looks like what you need:</div><div><br></div><div>* get the installer/uninstaller script for HP's custom install</div><div>* uninstall HPLIP custom</div><div>* reinstall python3</div><div>* fix installations</div><div>* install distro's own hplip support</div><div><br></div><div>Commands:<br></div><div><br></div><div style="margin-left:40px"><pre><code>wget <a href="https://kent.dl.sourceforge.net/project/hplip/hplip/3.18.12/hplip-3.18.12.run">https://kent.dl.sourceforge.net/project/hplip/hplip/3.18.12/hplip-3.18.12.run</a> &&<br><code>sh hplip-3.18.12.run --noexec &&
cd hplip-3.18.12 &&
sudo ./uninstall.py &&
sudo rm -rf /usr/share/hplip/ &&<br><br></code></code></pre><code><code>sudo apt-get -f install</code></code><code><code> &&<br>sudo apt-get install hplip-gui<br></code></code><code><code></code></code></div><div><br></div><div>WARNING - some of the above commands are assumptions - I have not tested these, my system is not in this state so I cannot confirm their correctness.</div><div><br></div><div>After the `sudo rm ...` step, it may in fact be necessary to remove python3 and then reinstall it *however* that may have for effect to remove other key packages than just python3 (which is why I do not list a command for it)</div><div><br></div><div>If the apt-get -f install command fails, try running `sudo apt-get install --reinstall python3` to see if this helps, then run the commands from -f install again.</div><div><br></div><div>See AskUbuntu posts for more details.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Good luck.<br></div><div><br></div><div><br>===<br>Tai Kedzierski<br></div><div>Linux Operations and Deployments Engineer<br></div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.redhat.com/rhtapps/services/verify?certId=170-060-834" target="_blank">RHCSA # 170-060-834</a><br></div><br><div><br></div><br><div dir="ltr"><span></span><font size="1"><br>I use <a href="https://www.libreoffice.org/" target="_blank">LibreOffice</a> , a free, Freedom-respecting replacement for MS Office<br><br><i>Open Source Free Software is a matter of liberty, not price.</i><br>
<a href="https://www.fsf.org/about/what-is-free-software" target="_blank">https://www.fsf.org/about/what-is-free-software</a><br></font><font size="2"><br></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Fri, 7 Dec 2018 at 09:35, Edinburgh Linux Users Group <<a href="mailto:edlug@lists.edlug.org.uk">edlug@lists.edlug.org.uk</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>Hi Andrew</div><div><br></div><div>That doesn't look like it is very forthcoming with information....<br></div><div><br></div><div>You'll have to open a Terminal to have a look</div><div><br></div><div>Please try the following ; if it errors out, please copy/paste the last 50 lines or so of output from the commands :<br></div><div><br></div><div style="margin-left:40px">sudo apt-get install -f && sudo apt-get upgrade<br></div><div><div><div dir="ltr" class="m_3947386394711616423gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><br></div><div>"install -f" is shorthand for "fix broken packages", which attempts to repair previously failed installation and upgrade attempts.</div><div><br></div><div>Tai<br></div><div><br>===<br>Tai Kedzierski<br></div><div>Linux Operations and Deployments Engineer<br></div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.redhat.com/rhtapps/services/verify?certId=170-060-834" target="_blank">RHCSA # 170-060-834</a><br></div><br><div><br></div><br><div dir="ltr"><span></span><font size="1"><br>I use <a href="https://www.libreoffice.org/" target="_blank">LibreOffice</a> , a free, Freedom-respecting replacement for MS Office<br><br><i>Open Source Free Software is a matter of liberty, not price.</i><br>
<a href="https://www.fsf.org/about/what-is-free-software" target="_blank">https://www.fsf.org/about/what-is-free-software</a><br></font><font size="2"><br></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Fri, 7 Dec 2018 at 08:19, Edinburgh Linux Users Group <<a href="mailto:edlug@lists.edlug.org.uk" target="_blank">edlug@lists.edlug.org.uk</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">SystemError : Operator Malfunction !<div><br></div><div>Please replace human component and retry,</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Thu, 6 Dec 2018 at 23:21, Edinburgh Linux Users Group <<a href="mailto:edlug@lists.edlug.org.uk" target="_blank">edlug@lists.edlug.org.uk</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p>This evening I asked Tai what may cause an error when updating
the system. Below is the error message.</p>
<p>Andrew Ramage</p>
<p><img alt=""></p>
</div>
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