[RESOLVED] Need help installing adobe-flashplugin

[joneall]

Every time I upgrade I go thru hell getting the Flash Player plugin to work. Karmic is no exception.

Installing flash player from the deb file is a catastrophe:

$ sudo dpkg -i install_flash_player_10_linux.deb
Selecting previously deselected package adobe-flashplugin.
(Reading database ... 142080 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace adobe-flashplugin 10.0.42.34-2karmic1 (using install_flash_player_10_linux.deb) ...
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iceape-flashplugin.
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iceape-flashplugin.
dpkg: warning: old pre-removal script returned error exit status 2
dpkg - trying script from the new package instead ...
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iceape-flashplugin.
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iceape-flashplugin.
dpkg: error processing install_flash_player_10_linux.deb (--install):
subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 2
postinst called with argument `abort-upgrade'
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
install_flash_player_10_linux.deb

Removing it is no better:

$ sudo dpkg -r adobe-flashplugin
dpkg: error processing adobe-flashplugin (--remove):
Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should
reinstall it before attempting a removal.
Errors were encountered while processing:
adobe-flashplugin

Trying apt leads to:

$ sudo apt-get install adobe-flashplugin
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
adobe-flashplugin is already the newest version.
You might want to run `apt-get -f install' to correct these:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
libavformat52: Depends: libavcodec52 (>= 4:0.5+svn20090706) but it is not going to be installed or
libavcodec-extra-52 (>= 4:0.5+svn20090706) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libavcodec52 (< 4:0.5+svn20090706-99) but it is not going to be installed or
libavcodec-extra-52 (< 4:0.5+svn20090706-99) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libavutil49 (>= 4:0.5+svn20090706) but it is not going to be installed or
libavutil-extra-49 (>= 4:0.5+svn20090706) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libavutil49 (< 4:0.5+svn20090706-99) but it is not going to be installed or
libavutil-extra-49 (< 4:0.5+svn20090706-99) but it is not going to be installed
libpostproc51: Depends: libavutil49 (>= 4:0.5+svn20090706) but it is not going to be installed or
libavutil-extra-49 (>= 4:0.5+svn20090706) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libavutil49 (< 4:0.5+svn20090706-99) but it is not going to be installed or
libavutil-extra-49 (< 4:0.5+svn20090706-99) but it is not going to be installed
libswscale0: Depends: libavutil49 (>= 4:0.5+svn20090706) but it is not going to be installed or
libavutil-extra-49 (>= 4:0.5+svn20090706) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libavutil49 (< 4:0.5+svn20090706-99) but it is not going to be installed or
libavutil-extra-49 (< 4:0.5+svn20090706-99) but it is not going to be installed
libxine1-ffmpeg: Depends: libavcodec52 (>= 3:0.svn20090303-1) but it is not going to be installed or
libavcodec-extra-52 (>= 3:0.svn20090303-1) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libavutil49 (>= 3:0.svn20090303-1) but it is not going to be installed or
libavutil-extra-49 (>= 3:0.svn20090303-1) but it is not going to be installed
vlc-nox: Depends: libavcodec52 (>= 3:0.svn20090303-1) but it is not going to be installed or
libavcodec-extra-52 (>= 3:0.svn20090303-1) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libavutil49 (>= 3:0.svn20090303-1) but it is not going to be installed or
libavutil-extra-49 (>= 3:0.svn20090303-1) but it is not going to be installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

So, obedient as I am, I try:

$ sudo apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
libavcodec52 libavutil49
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libavcodec52 libavutil49
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 9 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B/8,086kB of archives.
After this operation, 11.2MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
Selecting previously deselected package adobe-flashplugin.
(Reading database ... 142080 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace adobe-flashplugin 10.0.42.34-2karmic1 (using .../adobe-flashplugin_10.0.42.34-2karmic1_i386.deb) ...
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iceape-flashplugin.
update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for iceape-flashplugin.
dpkg: warning: old pre-removal script returned error exit status 2
dpkg - trying script from the new package instead ...
dpkg: ... it looks like that went OK.
Unpacking replacement adobe-flashplugin ...
Selecting previously deselected package libavutil49.
Unpacking libavutil49 (from .../libavutil49_4%3a0.5+svn20090706-2ubuntu2_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libavcodec52.
Unpacking libavcodec52 (from .../libavcodec52_4%3a0.5+svn20090706-2ubuntu2_i386.deb) ...
Setting up adobe-flashplugin (10.0.42.34-2karmic1) ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so to provide /usr/lib/iceape/plugins/flashplugin-alternative.so (iceape-flashplugin) in auto mode.
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so to provide /usr/lib/iceweasel/plugins/flashplugin-alternative.so (iceweasel-flashplugin) in auto mode.
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so to provide /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/flashplugin-alternative.so (mozilla-flashplugin) in auto mode.
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so to provide /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/flashplugin-alternative.so (firefox-flashplugin) in auto mode.
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so to provide /usr/lib/xulrunner/plugins/flashplugin-alternative.so (xulrunner-flashplugin) in auto mode.
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so to provide /usr/lib/midbrowser/plugins/flashplugin-alternative.so (midbrowser-flashplugin) in auto mode.
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so to provide /usr/lib/xulrunner-addons/plugins/flashplugin-alternative.so (xulrunner-addons-flashplugin) in auto mode.

Setting up libavutil49 (4:0.5+svn20090706-2ubuntu2) ...

Setting up libavcodec52 (4:0.5+svn20090706-2ubuntu2) ...

Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place

I take this to be encouraging. But I can still not find Flash anywhere and Firefox's "aboutlugins" does not see it either.

What to do? Thanks in advance

[joneall]

Re: Need help installing adobe-flashplugin

Forgot to add that K3B is telling me it wants to install more software "for added functionality": MP3 Tag reading, K3b cd codecs, video codecs and flash. Obviously, this installation bombs too.

[dibl]

Re: Need help installing adobe-flashplugin

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree

is what always works for me. No need to download tarballs and such.

[Snowhog]

Re: Need help installing adobe-flashplugin

Every time I upgrade I go thru hell getting the Flash Player plugin to work. Karmic is no exception.

Installing flash player from the deb file is a catastrophe:

What to do? Thanks in advance

As dibl stated - use either apt-get from the CLI or use the default package manager (kpackagekit) [most of us don't use that], or better yet, use apt-get to install synaptic and use it as your default package manager.

Bottom line: Don't download separate .deb packages to install from unless you know exactly what you are doing.

[joneall]

Re: Need help installing adobe-flashplugin

Thankee. Dibl's method did the trick, for which much thanks.

It is not obvious what to choose among the various offerings for flashplugin:

$ apt-cache search flashplugin
flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound - Adobe Flash Player platform support library for Esound and OSS
flashplugin-installer - Adobe Flash Player plugin installer
flashplugin-nonfree - Adobe Flash Player plugin installer (transitional package)
adobe-flashplugin - Adobe Flash Player plugin version 10

And there have been cases in the past where one needed to go thru dpkg and the .deb file, so it is not always clear which to do. I tend to use apt-get because I can see the output. Adept tends to hide it. I have not used Aptitude. Which brings up another question:

Which package management method should one use?

- apt-cache + apt-get -- gives the most control and shows you what it is doing
- aptitude
- adept

Opinions? Thanks again.

[dibl]

Re: Need help installing adobe-flashplugin

Opinions? Thanks again.

I'm with Snowhog -- I use apt-get rather than aptitude, and I use dist-upgrade rather than upgrade.

It's partly a matter of taste, and partly a matter of technical considerations. apt is the original Debian package management tool, and I know it gets continuous maintenance. Aptitude -- I'm not so sure about. dist-upgrade manages changes in the distribution (added and removed packages, not just version changes). upgrade only deals with existing packages on your installation, so if one has been replaced, you'll never know it using upgrade only.

Note that if you were using a less dynamic distribution, such as Mepis, it might not matter.

[joneall]

RESOLVED: Need help installing adobe-flashplugin

I use apt-get dist-upgrade too. I like apt-get because you can see what it is doing and because i am used to it. (Started with Debian before Ubuntu...)

Thanks, all.