i found the solution
1) open System > Administration > synaptic package manager
2) Edit > fix broken packages
3) press apply
4) the fixing may hang for a little while if so
open the terminal and enter the following command
ps ax | grep mysql
if you find a process called start mysql then kill it
and
i tried that but i keep getting this error
E: /var/cache/apt/archives/mysql-server-5.1_5.1.41-3ubuntu12.6_amd64.deb:
subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
E:
/var/cache/apt/archives/openoffice.org-emailmerge_1%3a3.2.0-7ubuntu4.1_all.deb:
subprocess new pre-removal scrip
--
package mysql-server-5.1 5.1.41-3ubuntu12.3 failed to install/upgrade:
subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/670032
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(20100429)
Logs.var.log.kern.log:
Nov 2 10:14:10 neo-desktop kernel: [ 452.809932] type=1505
audit(1288685650.696:17): operation="profile_replace" pid=3220
name="/usr/sbin/mysqld"
Nov 2 10:15:21 neo-desktop kernel: [ 523.254303] type=1505
audit(1288685721.143:18): operation=&q
