Notices

Hi everyone! This is my first post here and I'm sorry if this is a wrong section

I have a problem with uninstalling aMSN on N900 which installation failed. I have ran out of ideas what to do with this. dpkg -L amsn gives "Package amsn' does not have any files (!)". I have tried

- N900 app manager (can't uninstall)
- dpkg -r amsn (says "Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should reinstall it before attempting a removal."
- dpkg --purge amsn (same as above)
- dpkg --purge --force-remove-reinstreq amsn (says that amsn.desktop does not exist etc.)

I have also tried to update it with the app. manager but.. nothing :/

EDIT: /var/lib/dpkg/status and /var/lib/dpkg/available might be the answer but I don't wanna mess them up if I do something wrong... So, any ideas?

Did you try to reinstall it before remove it?

Yes I did. Install bar stops at ~50% and fails.

try running from the console
apt-get install amsn
and tell us the output

it gives:

Install these packages without verification [y/N]? y
(Reading database ... 25373 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace amsn 0.98.1-1 (using .../amsn_0.98.1-1_armel.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement amsn ...
rm: cannot remove '/usr/share/applications/hildon/amsn.desktop': No such file or directory
dpkg: warning - old post-removal script returned error exit status 1
dpkg - trying script from the new package instead ...
rm: cannot remove '/usr/share/applications/hildon/amsn.desktop': No such file or directory
dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/amsn_0.98.1-1_armel.deb (--unpack):
subprocess new post-removal script returned error exit status 1
rm: cannot remove '/usr/share/applications/hildon/amsn.desktop': No such file or directory
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
subprocess post-removal script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
/var/cache/apt/archives/amsn_0.98.1-1_armel.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

well... if it doesn't find the file, we will give it a fake one.
try making this as root
if it gives you again the error "No such file or directory" on another file, do the same thing with touch.
Eventually, post the new apt's output here

I created amsn.desktop and tried 'apt-get install amsn' but it failed just like before. Then I recreated the .desktop file and with 'dpkg -r amsn' it said something like 'Package does not exist can't delete'. I checked the app.managers uninstall list and it was gone, but dpkg -L amsn says that it does not contain any files instead of package not installed. So, I'm still where I started

EDIT: I forgot the output after touch and apt-get:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
amsn is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
6 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0B/10,0MB of archives.
After this operation, 0B of additional disk space will be used.
WARNING: The following packages cannot be authenticated!
amsn
Install these packages without verification [y/N]? y
Selecting previously deselected package amsn.
(Reading database ... 25373 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace amsn 0.98.1-1 (using .../amsn_0.98.1-1_armel.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement amsn ...
Setting up amsn (0.98.1-1) ...
gtk-update-icon-cache: Failed to open file /usr/share/icons/hicolor/.icon-theme.cache : File exists
dpkg: error processing amsn (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Setting up leafpad (0.8.17le-0maemo1) ...
gtk-update-icon-cache: Failed to open file /usr/share/icons/hicolor/.icon-theme.cache : File exists
dpkg: error processing leafpad (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Setting up solarwolf (1.5-2maemo10) ...
gtk-update-icon-cache: Failed to open file /usr/share/icons/hicolor/.icon-theme.cache : File exists
dpkg: error processing solarwolf (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Setting up xulrunner (1.9.2b3pre-20091109081459) ...
gtk-update-icon-cache: Failed to open file /usr/share/icons/hicolor/.icon-theme.cache : File exists
dpkg: error processing xulrunner (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of fennec:
fennec depends on xulrunner (>= 1.9.2b3pre-20091109081459); however:
Package xulrunner is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing fennec (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Setting up uqm (0.6.7-0maemo) ...
gtk-update-icon-cache: Failed to open file /usr/share/icons/hicolor/.icon-theme.cache : File exists
dpkg: error processing uqm (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
amsn
leafpad
solarwolf
xulrunner
fennec
uqm
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

what does dpkg -s amsn tell?

Also take a look to the option --force-remove-reinstreq... I think that this will fix the issue, but after that I suggest you to re-install and then re-remove the package.
If --force-remove-reinstreq doesn't work, try --force-all.

I DON'T KNOW IF THE ABOVE ACTION WILL DAMAGE YOUR SYSTEM. DO THEM AT YOUR OWN RISK

--force-all didn't give any error, app.manager doesn't list it in uninstall but dpkg -L amsn still says 'Package `amsn' does not contain any files (!)'.

Flashed the device and got rid of all other problems as well. Thanks anyway