Errors processing Python packages in output of every APT command

Question

I encounter a long list of errors ending with E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) whenever I try to run sudo apt-get ... and I can't figure out why. For example:

Setting up python-gobject-2 (2.28.6-12ubuntu1) ...
/var/lib/dpkg/info/python-gobject-2.postinst: 6:    /var/lib/dpkg/info/python-gobject-2.postinst: pycompile: not found
dpkg: error processing package python-gobject-2 (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 127
Setting up python-cairo (1.8.8-2) ...
/var/lib/dpkg/info/python-cairo.postinst: 6: /var/lib/dpkg/info/python-cairo.postinst: pycompile: not found
dpkg: error processing package python-cairo (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 127
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of python-gtk2:
 python-gtk2 depends on python-cairo (>= 1.0.2-1.1); however:
  Package python-cairo is not configured yet.
 python-gtk2 depends on python-gobject-2 (>= 2.21.3); however:
  Package python-gobject-2 is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package python-gtk2 (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of python-liblarch:
 python-liblarch depends on python-gobject-2; however:
  Package python-gobject-2 is not configured yet.
 python-liblarch depends on python-gtk2; however:
  Package python-gtk2 is not configured yet.

No apport report written because the error message indicates it's a follow-up error from a previous failure.
                                  No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached
                            dpkg: error processing package python-liblarch (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of python-glade2:
 python-glade2 depends on python-gtk2 (= 2.24.0-4ubuntu1); however:
  Package python-gtk2 is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package python-glade2 (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Setting up python-dbus (1.2.0-3) ...
No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached
                                                                    Remove stale byte-compiled files...
/var/lib/dpkg/info/python-dbus.postinst: 22: /var/lib/dpkg/info/python-dbus.postinst: pycompile: not found
dpkg: error processing package python-dbus (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 127
No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached
                                                                    Setting up python-xdg (0.25-4) ...
/var/lib/dpkg/info/python-xdg.postinst: 6: /var/lib/dpkg/info/python-xdg.postinst: pycompile: not found
dpkg: error processing package python-xdg (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 127
No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached
                                                                    Setting up python-six (1.10.0-3) ...
/var/lib/dpkg/info/python-six.postinst: 6: /var/lib/dpkg/info/python-six.postinst: pycompile: not found
dpkg: error processing package python-six (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 127
No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached
                                                                    dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of python-configobj:
 python-configobj depends on python-six; however:
  Package python-six is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package python-configobj (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached
                                                                    dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of gtg:
 gtg depends on python-gtk2 (>= 2.14); however:
  Package python-gtk2 is not configured yet.
 gtg depends on python-glade2; however:
  Package python-glade2 is not configured yet.
 gtg depends on python-dbus; however:
  Package python-dbus is not configured yet.
 gtg depends on python-xdg; however:
  Package python-xdg is not configured yet.
 gtg depends on python-configobj; however:
  Package python-configobj is not configured yet.
 gtg depends on python-liblarch (>= 2.1.0); however:
  Package python-liblarch is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package gtg (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached
                                                                    Setting up python-gi (3.20.0-0ubuntu1) ...
/var/lib/dpkg/info/python-gi.postinst: 6: /var/lib/dpkg/info/python-gi.postinst: pycompile: not found
dpkg: error processing package python-gi (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 127
No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached
                                                                    dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of ibus-pinyin:
 ibus-pinyin depends on python-gi; however:
  Package python-gi is not configured yet.
 ibus-pinyin depends on python-xdg; however:
  Package python-xdg is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package ibus-pinyin (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached
                                                                    Setting up python-simplejson (3.8.1-1ubuntu2) ...
/var/lib/dpkg/info/python-simplejson.postinst: 6: /var/lib/dpkg/info/python-simplejson.postinst: pycompile: not found
dpkg: error processing package python-simplejson (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 127
No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached
                                                                    Setting up python-wxversion (3.0.2.0+dfsg-1build1) ...
/var/lib/dpkg/info/python-wxversion.postinst: 6: /var/lib/dpkg/info/python-wxversion.postinst: pycompile: not found
No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached
                                                                    dpkg: error processing package python-wxversion (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 127
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of python-wxgtk3.0:
 python-wxgtk3.0 depends on python-wxversion; however:
  Package python-wxversion is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package python-wxgtk3.0 (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached
                                                                    dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of compizconfig-settings-manager:
 compizconfig-settings-manager depends on python-gtk2; however:
  Package python-gtk2 is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package compizconfig-settings-manager (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached
                                                                    Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu3) ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 python-gobject-2
 python-cairo
 python-gtk2
 python-liblarch
 python-glade2
 python-dbus
 python-xdg
 python-six
 python-configobj
 gtg
 python-gi
 ibus-pinyin
 python-simplejson
 python-wxversion
 python-wxgtk3.0
 compizconfig-settings-manager
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Also: dpkg --verify python-minimal returns nothing

David Foerster · Answer 1 · 2022-02-03T14:46:29.263

Multiple packages are trying to run the pycompile program during their execution. dpkg-query -S */pycompile tells us that pycompile is a program that is part of the python-minimal package. (In newer Ubuntu releases it would likely be python3-minimal because all the mentioned depending packages are now based on Python 3. Run the previously stated dpkg-query command to be sure. Once confirmed, replace all occurrences below accordingly.)

Apt doesn't complain about the missing package, but it seems the program is missing nonetheless. You can restore the corrupted package with:

sudo apt-get install -f --reinstall python-minimal

If Apt complains that it cannot re-install that package (e. g. because half-installed packages), we need to go deeper and download and install the package manually:

cd /tmp
apt-get download python-minimal
sudo dpkg -i python-minimal_*.deb
sudo apt-get install -f

Errors processing Python packages in output of every APT command

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