12 package upgrade this evening failed ...

[GreyGeek]

Here is the complete story:

root@jerry-hp17cn1xxx:/# apt full-upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages will be upgraded:
gir1.2-gtk-3.0 gtk-update-icon-cache libc-bin libc-dev-bin libc6 libc6:i386 libc6-dbg libc6-dev
libgtk-3-0 libgtk-3-bin libgtk-3-common locales
12 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 26.0 MB of archives.
After this operation, 34.8 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/main amd64 libc6-dev amd64 2.31-0ubuntu9.7 [2,518 kB]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 libgtk-3-common all 3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1 [234 kB]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 libgtk-3-0 amd64 3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1 [2,620 kB]
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 gir1.2-gtk-3.0 amd64 3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1 [196 kB]
Get:5 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 gtk-update-icon-cache amd64 3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1 [28.8 kB]
Get:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 libgtk-3-bin amd64 3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1 [61.9 kB]
Get:7 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/main amd64 libc-dev-bin amd64 2.31-0ubuntu9.7 [71.6 kB]
Get:8 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/main amd64 libc6-dbg amd64 2.31-0ubuntu9.7 [10.5 MB]
Get:9 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/main amd64 libc6 amd64 2.31-0ubuntu9.7 [2,714 kB]
Get:10 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/main i386 libc6 i386 2.31-0ubuntu9.7 [2,572 kB]
Get:11 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/main amd64 locales all 2.31-0ubuntu9.7 [3,871 kB]
Get:12 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/main amd64 libc-bin amd64 2.31-0ubuntu9.7 [636 kB]
Fetched 26.0 MB in 5s (5,220 kB/s)
Preconfiguring packages ...
(Reading database ... 419200 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libc6-dev_2.31-0ubuntu9.7_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libc6-dev:amd64 (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) over (2.31-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Preparing to unpack .../libc-dev-bin_2.31-0ubuntu9.7_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libc-dev-bin (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) over (2.31-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Preparing to unpack .../libc6-dbg_2.31-0ubuntu9.7_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libc6-dbg:amd64 (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) over (2.31-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Preparing to unpack .../libc6_2.31-0ubuntu9.7_i386.deb ...
De-configuring libc6:amd64 (2.31-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Unpacking libc6:i386 (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) over (2.31-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Preparing to unpack .../libc6_2.31-0ubuntu9.7_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libc6:amd64 (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) over (2.31-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Setting up libc6:amd64 (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) ...
(Reading database ... 419200 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../locales_2.31-0ubuntu9.7_all.deb ...
Unpacking locales (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) over (2.31-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Preparing to unpack .../libc-bin_2.31-0ubuntu9.7_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libc-bin (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) over (2.31-0ubuntu9.2) ...
Setting up libc-bin (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) ...
(Reading database ... 419200 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libgtk-3-common_3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1_all.deb ...
Unpacking libgtk-3-common (3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1) over (3.24.20-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up libgtk-3-common (3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1) ...
(Reading database ... 419200 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libgtk-3-0_3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libgtk-3-0:amd64 (3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1) over (3.24.20-0ubuntu1) ...

dpkg: dependency problems prevent processing triggers for libglib2.0-0:i386:
libglib2.0-0:i386 depends on libc6 (>= 2.28); however:
Package libc6:i386 is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package libglib2.0-0:i386 (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving triggers unprocessed
dpkg: dependency problems prevent processing triggers for libglib2.0-0:i386:
libglib2.0-0:i386 depends on libc6 (>= 2.28); however:
Package libc6:i386 is not configured yet.
...lots of repeat msg
dpkg: error processing package libglib2.0-0:i386 (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving triggers unprocessed

dpkg: too many errors, stopping
Errors were encountered while processing:
libglib2.0-0:i386
libglib2.0-0:i386
.... lots of repeat lines
libglib2.0-0:i386
libglib2.0-0:i386
Processing was halted because there were too many errors.
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Here I begin trying to fix the problems:

root@jerry-hp17cn1xxx:/# apt -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 3 not upgraded.
6 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.

dpkg: dependency problems prevent processing triggers for libglib2.0-0:i386:
libglib2.0-0:i386 depends on libc6 (>= 2.28); however:
Package libc6:i386 is not configured yet.

The apt -f install command produced a lot of the following error

dpkg: error processing package libglib2.0-0:i386 (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving triggers unprocessed
dpkg: too many errors, stopping
Errors were encountered while processing:
libglib2.0-0:i386
... lots of this line
libglib2.0-0:i386
libglib2.0-0:i386
Processing was halted because there were too many errors.
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Now I try to use dpkg to fix the errors:

root@jerry-hp17cn1xxx:/# dpkg --configure -a
Setting up locales (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) ...
Generating locales (this might take a while)...
en_US.UTF-8... done
Generation complete.
Setting up libc6-dbg:amd64 (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) ...
Setting up libc6:i386 (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) ...
Setting up libc-dev-bin (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) ...
Setting up libc6-dev:amd64 (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ...
Not building database; man-db/auto-update is not 'true'.
Processing triggers for libglib2.0-0:amd64 (2.64.6-1~ubuntu20.04.4) ...
Processing triggers for libglib2.0-0:i386 (2.64.6-1~ubuntu20.04.4) ...
Setting up libgtk-3-0:amd64 (3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.31-0ubuntu9.7) ...

It looks like the dpkg command fixed the problem! Now to retry the update:

root@jerry-hp17cn1xxx:/# apt update
Get:1 file:/var/lib/preinstalled-pool focal InRelease
Ign:1 file:/var/lib/preinstalled-pool focal InRelease
Get:2 file:/var/lib/preinstalled-pool focal Release [3,949 B]
Get:2 file:/var/lib/preinstalled-pool focal Release [3,949 B]
Hit:4 http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb stable InRelease
Hit:5 https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:7 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease
Hit:8 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease
Get:9 http://archive.neon.kde.org/user focal InRelease [162 kB]
Fetched 162 kB in 2s (68.9 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
3 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.

And, the update and full-upgrade again:

root@jerry-hp17cn1xxx:/# apt list --upgradable
Listing... Done
gir1.2-gtk-3.0/focal-updates 3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1 amd64 [upgradable from: 3.24.20-0ubuntu1]
gtk-update-icon-cache/focal-updates 3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1 amd64 [upgradable from: 3.24.20-0ubuntu1]
libgtk-3-bin/focal-updates 3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1 amd64 [upgradable from: 3.24.20-0ubuntu1]

root@jerry-hp17cn1xxx:/# apt update
Get:1 file:/var/lib/preinstalled-pool focal InRelease
Ign:1 file:/var/lib/preinstalled-pool focal InRelease
Get:2 file:/var/lib/preinstalled-pool focal Release [3,949 B]
Get:2 file:/var/lib/preinstalled-pool focal Release [3,949 B]
Hit:4 http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb stable InRelease
Hit:5 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:6 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease
Hit:7 https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:8 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease
Get:9 http://archive.neon.kde.org/user focal InRelease [162 kB]
Fetched 162 kB in 2s (83.0 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
3 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.

root@jerry-hp17cn1xxx:/# apt full-upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages will be upgraded:
gir1.2-gtk-3.0 gtk-update-icon-cache libgtk-3-bin
3 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/287 kB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
(Reading database ... 419200 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../gir1.2-gtk-3.0_3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking gir1.2-gtk-3.0:amd64 (3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1) over (3.24.20-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up gir1.2-gtk-3.0:amd64 (3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1) ...
(Reading database ... 419200 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../gtk-update-icon-cache_3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking gtk-update-icon-cache (3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1) over (3.24.20-0ubuntu1) ...
Preparing to unpack .../libgtk-3-bin_3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libgtk-3-bin (3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1) over (3.24.20-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up gtk-update-icon-cache (3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1) ...
Setting up libgtk-3-bin (3.24.20-0ubuntu1.1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ...
Not building database; man-db/auto-update is not 'true'.
root@jerry-hp17cn1xxx:/#

It looks like the recovery worked, but testing of the 32bit apps remains to be done. I always take a snapshot before any update/full-upgrade in case things don't work out, so I am ready to roll back IF necessary.

[claydoh]

Package libc6:i386 is not configured yet.

For whatever reason, this package did not get configured during the install, so all that is needed to repair is sudo dpkg --configure -a, then updating again to make sure anything else is installed.

Oddly, I updated my two neon systems at the same time last night, but only the PC had this error.The laptop did not.

[GreyGeek]

For whatever reason, this package did not get configured during the install, so all that is needed to repair is sudo dpkg --configure -a, then updating again to make sure anything else is installed.

Oddly, I updated my two neon systems at the same time last night, but only the PC had this error.The laptop did not.

True, using dpkg --configure -a alone often resolves an issue but I always use

sudo apt  -f install
sudo dpkg --configure -a

repeatedly until the error resolves itself because I never use dpkg along to do updates.

[claydoh]

yes, using --fix-missing will try to handle any missing deps, and is safe to do as a safety measure, for sure.

But as the errors and nothing to do with missing packages, it was not necessary in this case.
Others had the same exact problem as this one you experienced. I did , oddly only on one system, and not the other - both updated within a minute or two of each other.

[GreyGeek]

...oddly only on one system, and not the other - both updated within a minute or two of each other.

Were you able to determine why?