Problem description
When trying to run an Ubuntu update in the NavVis software or with the UI Updater, the update fails with an error similar to:
The package system is broken
Check if you are using third party repositories. If so disable them, since they are a common source of problems.
Furthermore run the following command in a Terminal: apt-get install -f
Transaction failed: The package system is broken
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
navvis-mapping-ui
Similarly, the error could appear when you install Navvis desktop processing software for the first time on a workstation.
Possible cause and fixes
Dependencies of NavVis software might not be configured correctly (e.g. only partially updated...). In the above example, some NavVis packages were updated to 2.6.0 but unpacked, others were still at 2.5.0.
Results from executing the navvis-diagnosis command in an Ubuntu Terminal can bring similar messages to the following lines:
$navvis-diagnosis
...
navvis-mapper-catkin | unknown ok not-installed
navvis-mapper-m6 2.5.0-b15537-de7b9322-bionic-release-2-5 | install ok installed
navvis-mapping-ui 2.6.0-b12375-4164b197-bionic-release-2.6 | install ok unpacked
navvis-mappy 0.0.19-b2574-030c2927-bionic-release-2.6 | install ok installed
navvis-navgraph-generator 2.4.1-b1675-bionic | install ok installed
navvis-panorama-extractor 1.4.1-b239-f5a5dc5d-bionic | install ok installed
navvis-panorama-rendering 2.5.0-b6375-de1d883e-bionic-release-2.5. | install ok installed
navvis-pointcloud-coloring 4.0.14-b7108-a1745b77-bionic-release-2.5 | install ok installed
navvis-pointcloud-segmenter 2.4.1-b1675-bionic | install ok installed
navvis-pointcloud-tools 2.5.0-b7773-0252ccb1-bionic-release-2.5. | install ok installed
navvis-potree-converter 1.6.1-b273-87d08edd-bionic | install ok installed
navvis-remote-support 1.0.5-b985-76da07db-bionic-release-2.5.0 | install ok installed
navvis-repos 1.0.9-99-stable-b800-30e8d366-bionic-rel | install ok installed
navvis-ros-shared 2.6.0-b15485-0f6bd2fc-bionic-release-2.6 | install ok installed
navvis-slam 2.5.0-b2968-1bfa4333-bionic-release-2.5. | install ok installed
navvis-trolley-app 2.6.0-b19369-27030aaf-bionic-release-2-6 | install ok unpacked
navvis-trolley-m3 | unknown ok not-installed
navvis-trolley-m6 2.5.0-b15537-de7b9322-bionic-release-2-5 | install ok installed
...
Possible Fixes
Fix 1: Check Software & Updates application pre-installed on Ubuntu to see if needed updates are selected
If the workstation has not yet installed Navvis software, check if the following software updates are selected under the Ubuntu Software tab:
Also, check the Updates tab and ensure the following options are selected:
Make sure that the Other Software tab has relevant data selected.
First, leave repo.navvis.com (or repo2.navvis.com for software version 2.11.0 and higher) entries unchecked, so you can clean the system software without facing errors from NavVis's related repositories:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Afterwards try to install Navvis software again using the official installation scripts.
Fix 2: Fix broken installations
Open a terminal and run
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
The last command likely fails with
(...)
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt --fix-broken install' with no packages (or specify a solution).
To fix this, run
sudo apt --fix-broken install
If that passes, run again
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
This might fail because dpkg is still blocked:
...
Errors were encountered while processing:
navvis-jetty9
navvis-web
navvis-trolley-m6
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
To fix this, run:
sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Written in December 2021