1

I get an error when I typed;

sudo apt upgrade

The error is;

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt --fix-broken install' to correct these.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 python3-dev : Depends: python3-distutils (>= 3.10.6-1~) but 3.10.4-0ubuntu1 is installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt --fix-broken install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

If I try to type;

sudo apt --fix-broken install

The issue didn't solved and I get same error.

"apt policy python3-distutils" report is below;

python3-distutils:
  Installed: 3.10.4-0ubuntu1
  Candidate: 3.10.6-1~22.04
  Version table:
     3.10.6-1~22.04 500
        500 http://tr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://tr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates/main i386 Packages
 *** 3.10.4-0ubuntu1 500
        500 http://tr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://tr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

"sudo apt --fix-broken install" also gave error such below;

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  python3-distutils python3-lib2to3
The following packages will be upgraded:
  python3-distutils python3-lib2to3
2 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 25 not upgraded.
9 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0 B/216 kB of archives.
After this operation, 105 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
(Reading database ... 319749 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../python3-distutils_3.10.6-1~22.04_all.deb ...
Unpacking python3-distutils (3.10.6-1~22.04) over (3.10.4-0ubuntu1) ...
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/python3-distutils_3.10.6-
1~22.04_all.deb (--unpack):
 trying to overwrite '/usr/lib/python3.11/distutils/README', which is also in pa
ckage python3.11-distutils 3.11.0~rc2-1+jammy1
Preparing to unpack .../python3-lib2to3_3.10.6-1~22.04_all.deb ...
Unpacking python3-lib2to3 (3.10.6-1~22.04) over (3.10.4-0ubuntu1) ...
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/python3-lib2to3_3.10.6-1~
22.04_all.deb (--unpack):
 trying to overwrite '/usr/lib/python3.11/lib2to3/Grammar.txt', which is also in
 package python3.11-lib2to3 3.11.0~rc2-1+jammy1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /var/cache/apt/archives/python3-distutils_3.10.6-1~22.04_all.deb
 /var/cache/apt/archives/python3-lib2to3_3.10.6-1~22.04_all.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
Improve this question
7
  • Please run sudo apt update first and then run sudo apt upgrade again. Commented Sep 27, 2022 at 14:45
  • unfortunatelly that that didn't solve the issue Commented Sep 27, 2022 at 14:51
  • Please add the output of apt policy python3-distutils via edit to your question. Commented Sep 27, 2022 at 15:21
  • The required version of python3-distutils is availabe, so sudo apt --fix-broken install should be able to solve the dependency problem now. Please try again. Commented Sep 27, 2022 at 15:48
  • 1
    sorry but "sudo apt --fix-broken install" did not solved the issue. Commented Sep 27, 2022 at 15:53

1 Answer 1

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1

I had the same error on my system. Turns out there was a conflict between python3.11 and python3.10. Running these fixed it for me.

sudo dpkg -r python3.11-distutils
sudo dpkg -r python3.11-lib2to3
sudo apt --fix-broken install

I found it by attempting to install the troublesome packages manually and getting more detailed error messages.

When I tried installing python3-distutils, apt said it couldn't install pyhton3-lib2to3. So I downloaded the deb from here.

After that I got a long error message with this at the end:

dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/python3-lib2to3_3.10.6-
1~22.04_all.deb (--unpack):
 trying to overwrite '/usr/lib/python3.11/lib2to3/Grammar.txt', which is also 
in package python3.11-lib2to3 3.11.0~rc2-1+jammy1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /var/cache/apt/archives/python3-distutils_3.10.6-1~22.04_all.deb
 /var/cache/apt/archives/python3-lib2to3_3.10.6-1~22.04_all.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

So that was my clue to remove python3.11-lib2to3. Hopefully the three commands above fixes your issue or it is something similar.

Improve this answer
4
  • I couldn't remove those debs because of dependency issues so I ran: $ sudo apt remove python3.11 The following packages have unmet dependencies. python3-dev : Depends: python3-distutils ... python3-venv : Depends: python3-distutils ... python3.11-dev : Depends: python3.11 ... python3.11-venv : Depends: python3.11 ... eventually the full command was sudo apt remove python3.11 python3.11-dev python3.11-venv python3-dev python3-venv pipx python3-pythran python3-scipy python3-fonttools python3-ufolib2 python3-matplotlib mu-editor Commented Oct 7, 2022 at 9:56
  • Oh thanks. I have had a achievement. 'python3-distutilsis' fixed. But I still get error code when type 'sudo apt upgrade'. The error code is; 'dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/python3-lib2to3_3.10.6-1~ 22.04_all.deb (--unpack):<br/>trying to overwrite '/usr/lib/python3.11/lib2to3/Grammar.txt', which is also in package python3.11-lib2to3 3.11.0~rc2-1+jammy1<br/> Errors were encountered while processing: <br/>/var/cache/apt/archives/python3-lib2to3_3.10.6-1~22.04_all.deb>br/>E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)' Commented Oct 7, 2022 at 11:22
  • I just fix it at Synaptic Packace Manager. python3-distutils was broken and it SPM gave error message. First of all I marked it for complete removal. SPM gave error message but I don't remember it. Then on terminal I typed sudo apt --fix-broken install. Then the issues have gone copletely. Thanks for your help. Commented Oct 7, 2022 at 11:38
  • Similar issue with 3.10 and this one was the only thing that solved it. My X was not starting. This post saved my OS. Commented Aug 24, 2023 at 13:07

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