grub was "half configured". dpkg was sleeping instead of configuring. Relaunching the installer from a terminal revealed the problem: grub itself was launching a terminal window and asking questions. Under software updater, the window was never displayed.
reboot and then from a terminal window: sudo apt-get clean sudo apt-get update Many things re-installed. During the "update" phase, grub displayed a completely new terminal window which reported that the disk had changed and I needed to identify the new disk (it had not). I fed it one of the choices ( I think /dev/hda) and it was happy, and everything seems to be functional again. I think it was the inability of software updater to permit the terminal window which caused the dpkg to wait for ever. -Chris -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Touch seeded packages, which is subscribed to unattended-upgrades in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1525469 Title: package unattended-upgrades 0.82.1ubuntu2.4 failed to install/upgrade: subprocess installed post-installation script was killed by signal (Terminated) Status in unattended-upgrades package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Bug description: Installer hung, so I killed it. `ps -eFHw` beforehand said: root 22667 21419 0 1828 5180 1 09:14 pts/20 00:00:00 /usr/bin/dpkg --status-fd 54 --configure ntpdate:i386 libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-0:i386 python-apt-common:all python3-apt:i386 gnome-desktop3-data:all libgnome-desktop-3-7:i386 gir1.2-gnomedesktop-3.0:i386 gir1.2-gst-plugins-base-1.0:i386 grub-common:i386 grub2-common:i386 grub-pc-bin:i386 grub-pc:i386 gstreamer1.0-alsa:i386 gstreamer1.0-plugins-base:i386 gstreamer1.0-plugins-base-apps:i386 gstreamer1.0-x:i386 python-apt:i386 unattended-upgrades:all root 30641 22667 0 566 556 1 21:41 pts/20 00:00:00 /bin/sh /var/lib/dpkg/info/libc-bin.postinst triggered ldconfig root 30642 30641 0 274 440 1 21:41 pts/20 00:00:00 /sbin/ldconfig.real ProblemType: Package DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04 Package: unattended-upgrades 0.82.1ubuntu2.4 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-71.114-generic 3.13.11-ckt29 Uname: Linux 3.13.0-71-generic i686 ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.19 Architecture: i386 Date: Fri Dec 11 21:41:43 2015 DuplicateSignature: package:unattended-upgrades:0.82.1ubuntu2.4:subprocess installed post-installation script was killed by signal (Terminated) ErrorMessage: subprocess installed post-installation script was killed by signal (Terminated) InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-12-01 (376 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release i386 (20140417) PackageArchitecture: all RelatedPackageVersions: dpkg 1.17.5ubuntu5.5 apt 1.0.1ubuntu2.10 SourcePackage: unattended-upgrades Title: package unattended-upgrades 0.82.1ubuntu2.4 failed to install/upgrade: subprocess installed post-installation script was killed by signal (Terminated) UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unattended-upgrades/+bug/1525469/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages Post to : touch-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp