fail to install with subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 3

I have a similar error (up-to-date Kubuntu Feisty):
-----
stdin@home:~$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
Setting up console-setup (1.13ubuntu8) ...
dpkg: error processing console-setup (--configure):
 subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 20
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of ubuntu-minimal:
 ubuntu-minimal depends on console-setup; however:
  Package console-setup is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing ubuntu-minimal (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 console-setup
 ubuntu-minimal
-----

After changing 'set -e' to 'set -ex' to the postinst I got:
-----
stdin@home:~$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
Setting up console-setup (1.13ubuntu8) ...
+ which md5sum
+ local IFS
+ IFS=:
+ [ -x /usr/local/sbin/md5sum ]
+ [ -x /usr/local/bin/md5sum ]
+ [ -x /usr/sbin/md5sum ]
+ [ -x /usr/bin/md5sum ]
+ echo /usr/bin/md5sum
+ return 0
+ md5sum=/usr/bin/md5sum
+ [ -z /usr/bin/md5sum ]
+ [ -f /usr/share/console-setup-mini/console-setup.config ]
+ CONFIGDIR=/etc/console-setup
+ CONFIGFILE=/etc/default/console-setup
+ . /usr/share/debconf/confmodule
+ [ ! ]
+ PERL_DL_NONLAZY=1
+ export PERL_DL_NONLAZY
+ [ ]
+ exec /usr/share/debconf/frontend /var/lib/dpkg/info/console-setup.postinst configure 1.13ubuntu7
dpkg: error processing console-setup (--configure):
 subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 20
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of ubuntu-minimal:
 ubuntu-minimal depends on console-setup; however:
  Package console-setup is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing ubuntu-minimal (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 console-setup
 ubuntu-minimal
-----
so It looks like "exec /usr/share/debconf/frontend /var/lib/dpkg/info/console-setup.postinst configure 1.13ubuntu7" fails with status 20 (in my case)

Mine fails like that:

root@zabba9000:/home/zabba# /usr/share/debconf/frontend /var/lib/dpkg/info/console-setup.postinst configure 1.13ubuntu7
DESTROY created new reference to dead object ' Qt::VBoxLayout' during global destruction.

Mine also fails like that:

dpkg: error al procesar console-setup (--configure):
 el subproceso post-installation script devolvió el código de salida de error 20
dpkg: problemas de dependencias impiden la configuración de ubuntu-minimal:
 ubuntu-minimal depende de console-setup; sin embargo:
 El paquete `console-setup' no está configurado todavía.
dpkg: error al procesar ubuntu-minimal (--configure):
 problemas de dependencias - se deja sin configurar
Se encontraron errores al procesar:
 console-setup
 ubuntu-minimal
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Confirming since everyone responded with a broken install, plus there is a guy in #kubuntu right now with the same issue.

I get this error too
I dont know why.
Here i did a pastbin, but its in dutch.

http://paste.ubuntu-nl.org/10382/

Confirmed in swedish localization too. I don't know if that's a factor though.

What would be the effect of this bug? Does anyone know?

Log follows:

sudo aptitude dist-upgrade
Läser paketlistor... Färdig
Bygger beroendeträd
Reading state information... Färdig
Läser utökad tillståndsinformation
Initierar pakettillstånd... Färdig
Bygger taggdatabas... Färdig
Inga paket kommer att installeras, uppgraderas eller tas bort.
0 paket uppgraderade, 0 nyinstallerade. 0 att ta bort och 0 inte uppgraderade.
Behöver hämta 0B arkiv. Efter uppackning kommer 0B diskplats att användas.
Ställer in console-setup (1.13ubuntu9) ...
dpkg: fel vid hantering av console-setup (--configure):
 underprocess post-installation script gav felkod 20
Fel uppstod vid hantering:
 console-setup
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
En paketinstallation misslyckades. Försöker att återhämta:
Ställer in console-setup (1.13ubuntu9) ...
dpkg: fel vid hantering av console-setup (--configure):
 underprocess post-installation script gav felkod 20
Fel uppstod vid hantering:
 console-setup

Same failing here.
Setting up console-setup (1.13ubuntu9) ...
dpkg: error processing console-setup (--configure):
 subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 20

It's kind of bothersome, since ubuntu-minimal requires it.

Managed to get this out of it:
 Setting up console-setup (1.13ubuntu9) ...
 D000002: fork/exec /var/lib/dpkg/info/console-setup.postinst ( configure 1.13ubuntu7 )
 dpkg: error processing console-setup (--install):
  subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 20
 Errors were encountered while processing:
  console-setup

Running "sudo /var/lib/dpkg/info/console-setup.postinst" afterwards returns nothing.

Seems to be only on Kubuntu Feisty.
What seems weird, though, is that AFAIK console-setup shouldn't have too much to do with KDE.

Martin's comment got me thinking about this again. Are either one of these packages necessary for Kubuntu? I have some gnome apps installed, which is really the only non-KDE/ubuntu stuff I have on the system. What's odd about this is that it only began to occur about two weeks ago. I ignored it for a while because I've seen many bugs killed in subsequent updates. Since this is a beta, you tend not to worry about them.

I didn't want to ignore console-setup because of ubuntu-minimal's dependency on it. If you read the description of ubuntu-minimal, it appears to be necessary for the sysytem to do important stuff, so the user is between a rocak and a hard place on this.

I also noticed last night that the bug acts differently based on how you do an update. If I use apt-get from the console, everything downloaded is installed, and the error appears at the end of the update, with apparently no negative affect on the other updates.

However, if I run Adept to do the upgrades, it will fail part of the way through because of the console-setup/ubuntu-minimal error.

If I go back after and finish the update from the console manually, the uninstalled packages get installed and setup correctly.

Trying to reconfigure the package gives the following error:

$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure console-setup
/usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure: console-setup is broken or not fully installed

$ dpkg -s console-setup
Package: console-setup
Status: install ok half-configured
Priority: optional
Section: utils
Installed-Size: 1148
Maintainer: Colin Watson <email address hidden>
Architecture: all
Version: 1.13ubuntu9
Config-Version: 1.13ubuntu8
Depends: debconf (>= 0.5) | debconf-2.0, perl, console-terminus (>= 4.16), xkb-data (>= 0.9), initramfs-tools (>= 0.40ubuntu30)
Recommends: kbd (>= 1.12-15) | console-tools (>= 1:0.2.3dbs-62ubuntu10)
Suggests: lsb-base (>= 3.0-6)
Conflicts: lsb-core (<< 2.0-6), lsb (<< 2.0-6), lsb-base (<< 3.0-6)
Conffiles:
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ARMSCII-8.inc fef36b61fb8b1cacc151ad3db127f777
 /etc/console-setup/compose.CP1251.inc fef88d8c8dd4c726498003fd3cd84a7f
 /etc/console-setup/compose.CP1255.inc c972a2e90938657e97b643366b98b2ed
 /etc/console-setup/compose.CP1256.inc 5ea5e4d41da7a88f742863810e86144b
 /etc/console-setup/compose.GEORGIAN-ACADEMY.inc b6d80f40abff7e8af236796ebaca0247
 /etc/console-setup/compose.GEORGIAN-PS.inc cf45272b6bf35a22223b132600dc36c3
 /etc/console-setup/compose.IBM1133.inc a31102602f7e7cab9738022b6c5469ae
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISIRI-3342.inc 5ada7fbba750192f11fa238add232ba9
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-1.inc 719a4300a50dcb168d7de921bab338e9
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-10.inc e5fce59617c839b56574c9e323d34686
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-11.inc ad2f3cc7ee64602a790bad8a2a989243
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-13.inc 9c2f47a52091515749fefc62fc8efd63
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-14.inc a19822b59629ea7af7682d9247de807f
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-15.inc cfa9b04fec26afa1debc17ce09d46a0a
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-16.inc 8245c19b5262d8d23ca856587739eb20
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-2.inc a56cb83dbe0cd88e4deef52d966d30e4
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-3.inc e70d7b634791b9c97db75bddf6dcc5fa
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-4.inc 4092be9556db0ac82e96eae413f1bd47
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-5.inc f861a4b0403490677e6d400f2d7129da
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-6.inc 41ea36ea1c1a1c0c9bebdf0016395e1f
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-7.inc aa280de25f20e82f58da707101b24d48
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-8.inc 9cceaa9f3312f89aba371d3c893f4e7b
 /etc/console-setup/compose.ISO-8859-9.inc 1893bc3994c24917c907a17ceb2f284b
 /etc/console-setup/compose.KOI8-R.inc 8cfd7766b86e5e55d6e71d0d95519c92
 /etc/console-setup/compose.KOI8-U.inc 217ee62f6982736276f41f760f8622f8
 /etc/console-setup/compose.TIS-620.inc 31b73af83ef3993c128e2b983b9eaf89
 /etc/console-setup/compose.VISCII.inc 0741db54ddb6268e476010a44f219f03
 /etc/init.d/keyboard-setup b2181350edc66a76ed84f43dc3bdd70c
 /etc/init.d/console-setup b1ef6b3b9fc19a25483e0e122659a775
Description: Setup the font and the keyboard on the console
 The package provides the Linux console with the same versatile
 keyboard configuration that X Window uses. As a result there is no
 need to duplicate or change the keyboard files just to make simple
 customisations such as the use of dead keys, th...

The command "/usr/share/debconf/frontend /var/lib/dpkg/info/console-setup.postinst configure 1.13ubuntu7" causes the code below from the "usr/share/debconf/frontend" to get executed.

Does this mean that there is something wrong in the dpkg "database" files?

-- snippet of code from usr/share/debconf/frontend --

my $confmodule=make_confmodule(@ARGV);

$confmodule->owner($package);

1 while ($confmodule->communicate);

$frontend->shutdown;

Debconf::Db->save;

exit $confmodule->exitcode;

Found a solution. Just purge console-setup and install it again.

That means previous version of the package had an issue, and the latest one fixes it.... Changed status to fix released.

Just purge the package and install again.

Sorry if my question seems stupid but I understood martin suggestion as remove the console set-up package and then reinstall it (apt-get remove and then via adept manager request console-set-up install) and I get again the error for this console setup package....
So either i didn't understood Martin suggestion either there are still a problem

dpkg : erreur de traitement de console-setup (--configure) :
 le sous-processus post-installation script a retourné une erreur de sortie d'état 20
Des erreurs ont été rencontrées pendant l'exécution :
 console-setup
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

run "sudo apt-get purge console-setup" and then "sudo apt-get install console-setup".

No, you got to purge the package using this command:

sudo apt-get --purge remove console-setup

this will remove all the configuration files of console-setup. Then install
with:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-minimal

On 3/23/07, marcmpub <email address hidden> wrote:
>
> Sorry if my question seems stupid but I understood martin suggestion as
> remove the console set-up package and then reinstall it (apt-get remove and
> then via adept manager request console-set-up install) and I get again the
> error for this console setup package....
> So either i didn't understood Martin suggestion either there are still a
> problem
>
> dpkg: erreur de traitement de console-setup (--configure):
> le sous-processus post-installation script a retourné une erreur de sortie
> d'état 20
> Des erreurs ont été rencontrées pendant l'exécution:
> console-setup
> E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
>
> --
> fail to install with subprocess post-installation script returned error
> exit status 3
> https://launchpad.net/bugs/91399
>

usermoi@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get purge console-setup
Password:
E: L'opération purge n'est pas valable

meaning with a rough traduction purge operation is not valid

this other suggestion

sudo apt-get --purge remove console-setup

this will remove all the configuration files of console-setup. Then install
with:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-minimal

doesn't give any error message (against what happened in the past)
and nice to see that console-setup is installed (during my tries I could remove console setup and of course after that nothing was complainning about error in consol-setup)

Thanks to all of you it looks fine now, you are marvellous
I can go sleeping it's enough for today ;-)

Fran6co saved my system ;
sudo apt-get --purge remove console-setup
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-minimal ;
Worked for me :-))

Confirmed. Worked for me too.

A bug that can be closed?

Got the same error, again, after updating. Purging and reinstalling seems to fix it. Doesn't look like the package is able to be updated.
Who is responsible for these .debs?

After some (recent) updates, the bug seems to be solved (for me).

Got the same bug _again_ today, with the latest version of console-setup.

It looks like this bug has moved on from its initial manifestation. The original problem was probably something that's since been worked around in debconf. As for the exit status 20 which several people seem to be getting, unfortunately not one of the many logs posted here sheds any light on that.

Could somebody suffering from this problem please reproduce it with the environment variable DEBCONF_DEBUG=developer set, and post the output?

I'm get the same problem here when upgrading from feisty to gutsy on my laptop. The output with DEBCONF_DEBUG=developer looks something like this: (I'm going to quickly type it over)

<apt get out stuff ....>
Setting up console-setup (1.16ubuntu5) ...
debconf (developer): frontend started
debconf (developer): frontend running, package name is console-setup
debconf (developer): starting /var/lib/dpkg/info/console-setup.config configure 1.13ubuntu8
debconf (developer): <-- DEBIAN_HAS_FRONTEND: 1
debconf (developer): <-- CAPB backup
debconf (developer): --> 0 multiselect escape backup
dpkg: error processing console-set (--configure):
 subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 20
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of ubuntu-minimal:
  ubuntu-minimal depends on console-setup; however:
   Package console-setup is not configured yet.
 dpkg: error processing ubuntu-minimal (--configure):
  dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
 Errors were encountered while processing:
  console-setup
  ubuntu-minimal

Thanks, Simon. Are you certain that this is an accurate transcription? I noticed one typo ("console-set" for "console-setup"), and wondered if there might be others. The CAPB command cannot ordinarily return anything but 0. Code 20 is "syntax error", suggesting a malformed incoming command, but incoming commands are logged before that check and I can't see any evidence of this in your log.

Very strange.

I recently noticed this error on one of my systems and have included the full debug output requested.

Fix committed for the next upload, thanks to Brian's log and configuration file.

This bug was fixed in the package console-setup - 1.19ubuntu2

---------------
console-setup (1.19ubuntu2) hardy; urgency=low

  * Handle an empty codeset in the configuration file gracefully (a remnant
    of a previous bug, perhaps Debian #420802?), and re-ask the question on
    upgrade (LP: #91399).

 -- Colin Watson <email address hidden> Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:30:07 +0000