Dropbox doesn't finish the installation

It seems that sometimes when Ubuntu's package manager stalls while unpacking a file it's trying to install, it's because of kernel I/O problems. Rebooting usually fixes that; have you tried rebooting since you initially attempted to install the package? Are you able to install other packages (you could try installing some Ubuntu-provided package that you don't have installed)? If you have not tried these things, please do so.

If that doesn't fix the problem, then please follow the procedure at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PackageManagerTroubleshootingProcedure, and see if that fixes the problem. If it doesn't, then rather than starting a new question as suggested in that procedure, please post all the information gathered (make sure to include *all* the text in the Terminal) here.

I did what you said, but before I start a new question I just want to clarify some itens. First, I can install other packages (I installed the UMPlayer by a .deb package, and I also can install by apt-get and Ubuntu Software Center with no problems).

Second, when I unpack the Dropbox .deb package, after the unpacking it run a graphical application. That application asks for Nautilus restart and then Dropbox start. I do both things and after all begin the Dropbox download and unpacking, that stops at 97%, as I said before.

I don't know if it's a problem with the Dropbox package or a bug with the Natty, 'cause I installed Dropbox on Maverick with no problem. :|

Ah, I forgot. Thanks for the answer and the informations.

"I did what you said, but before I start a new question"

What new question? As I said, after performing the steps at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PackageManagerTroubleshootingProcedure, post the information (including all the text from the Terminal) here in this question, instead of starting a new question.

Even with the additional information you've recently provided, I still think that's the best first step. It may reveal the nature of the problem. It might even fix the problem.

Oops, something lost in the translation.

Here's the output of the steps I did:

gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ sudo fuser -vvv /var/lib/dpkg/lock
[sudo] password for gabriellhrn:
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=11.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=natty
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 11.04"
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ uname -a
Linux Vulcan 2.6.38-8-generic #42-Ubuntu SMP Mon Apr 11 03:31:50 UTC 2011 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/lock
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ sudo cp -arf /var/lib/dpkg /var/lib/dpkg.backup
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ sudo cp /var/lib/dpkg/status-old /var/lib/dpkg/status
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ sudo cp /var/lib/dpkg/available-old /var/lib/dpkg/available
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ sudo rm -rf /var/lib/dpkg/updates/*
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ sudo rm /var/cache/apt/*.bin
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ sudo mkdir /var/lib/apt/lists
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ sudo mkdir /var/lib/apt/lists/partial
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get clean
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get autoclean
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get --purge autoremove
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get update -o APT::Cache-Limit=25165824
Ign http://linux.dropbox.com maverick InRelease
Ign http://linux.dropbox.com maverick Release.gpg
Ign http://linux.dropbox.com maverick Release
Ign http://linux.dropbox.com maverick/main TranslationIndex
Err http://linux.dropbox.com maverick/main i386 Packages
  403 Forbidden
Ign http://linux.dropbox.com maverick/main Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty InRelease
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty InRelease
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty InRelease
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates InRelease
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty InRelease
Get:1 http://extras.ubuntu.com natty Release.gpg [72 B]
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security InRelease
Get:2 http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release.gpg [316 B]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty Release.gpg [198 B]
Get:4 http://extras.ubuntu.com natty Release [9753 B]
Ign http://archive.canonical.com natty InRelease
Get:5 http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release.gpg [316 B]
Get:6 http://archive.canonical.com natty Release.gpg [198 B]
Get:7 http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release [9736 B]
Get:8 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates Release.gpg [198 B]
Get:9 http://archive.canonical.com natty Release [5916 B]
Get:10 http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main Sources [14 B]
Get:11 http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release [9730 B]
Get:12 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security Release.gpg [198 B]
Get:13 http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner i386 Packages [7861 B]
Get:14 http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main i386 Packages [14 B]
Get:15 http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Sources [3312 B]
Get:16 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty Release [39.8 kB]
Ign http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner TranslationIndex
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main TranslationIndex
Get:17 http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main i386 Packages [1689 B]
Get:18 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates Release [27.2 kB]
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main TranslationIndex
Get:19 http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Sources [1402 B]
Get:20 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security Release [27.2 kB]
Get:21 http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main i386 Packages [1721 B]
Ign http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner Translation-en
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main Translation-en
Get:22 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/main Sources [862 kB]
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en
Get:23 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted Sources [4104 B]
Get:24 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe Sources [4380 kB]
26% [24 Sources 391 kB/4380 kB 8%] 64.3 kB/s 1min 2s^Get:25 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse Sources [155 kB]
Get:26 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/main i386 Packages [1550 kB]
Get:27 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted i386 Packages [8986 B]
Get:28 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe i386 Packages [6021 kB]
Get:29 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse i386 Packages [183 kB]
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe TranslationIndex
Get:30 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main Sources [35.8 kB]
Get:31 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted Sources [14 B]
Get:32 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe Sources [9180 B]
Get:33 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse Sources [1362 B]
Get:34 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main i386 Packages [116 kB]
Get:35 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted i386 Packages [14 B]
Get:36 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe i386 Packages [44.0 kB]
Get:37 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse i386 Packages [3754 B]
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe TranslationIndex
Get:38 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/main Sources [10.2 kB]
Get:39 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted Sources [14 B]
Get:40 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe Sources [3152 B]
Get:41 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse Sources [647 B]
Get:42 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/main i386 Packages [30.9 kB]
Get:43 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted i386 Packages [14 B]
Get:44 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe i386 Packages [11.6 kB]
Get:45 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse i386 Packages [2071 B]
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/main Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/main Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe Translation-en
Fetched 13.6 MB in 4min 19s (52.4 kB/s)
W: Failed to fetch http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/main/binary-i386/Packages 403 Forbidden

E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ sudo dpkg --clear-avail
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 124 not upgraded.
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get --fix-missing install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 124 not upgraded.
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ LANG=C;sudo apt-get update -o APT::Cache-Limit=25165824 && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Ign http://linux.dropbox.com maverick InRelease
Ign http://linux.dropbox.com maverick Release.gpg
Ign http://linux.dropbox.com maverick Release
Ign http://linux.dropbox.com maverick/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.canonical.com natty InRelease
Err http://linux.dropbox.com maverick/main i386 Packages
  403 Forbidden
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty InRelease
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty InRelease
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty InRelease
Ign http://linux.dropbox.com maverick/main Translation-en
Hit http://archive.canonical.com natty Release.gpg
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com natty Release.gpg
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty InRelease
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates InRelease
Hit http://archive.canonical.com natty Release
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com natty Release
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release.gpg
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security InRelease
Hit http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner i386 Packages
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main Sources
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release.gpg
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty Release.gpg
Ign http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner TranslationIndex
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main i386 Packages
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates Release.gpg
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main TranslationIndex
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty Release
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security Release.gpg
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Sources
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty Release
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main i386 Packages
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates Release
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main TranslationIndex
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security Release
Ign http://archive.canonical.com natty/partner Translation-en
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Sources
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/main Sources [862 kB]
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main i386 Packages
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com natty/main Translation-en
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net natty/main Translation-en
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted Sources [4104 B]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe Sources [4380 kB]
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse Sources [155 kB]
Get:5 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/main i386 Packages [1550 kB]
Get:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted i386 Packages [8986 B]
Get:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe i386 Packages [6021 kB]
Get:8 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse i386 Packages [183 kB]
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe TranslationIndex
Get:9 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main Sources [35.8 kB]
Get:10 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted Sources [14 B]
Get:11 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe Sources [9180 B]
Get:12 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse Sources [1362 B]
Get:13 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main i386 Packages [116 kB]
Get:14 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted i386 Packages [14 B]
Get:15 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe i386 Packages [44.0 kB]
Get:16 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse i386 Packages [3754 B]
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe TranslationIndex
Get:17 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/main Sources [10.2 kB]
Get:18 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted Sources [14 B]
Get:19 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe Sources [3152 B]
Get:20 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse Sources [647 B]
Get:21 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/main i386 Packages [30.9 kB]
Get:22 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted i386 Packages [14 B]
Get:23 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe i386 Packages [11.6 kB]
Get:24 http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse i386 Packages [2071 B]
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe TranslationIndex
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/main Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty/universe Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/main Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-updates/universe Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/main Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/multiverse Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/restricted Translation-en
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com natty-security/universe Translation-en
Fetched 13.4 MB in 3min 50s (58.3 kB/s)
W: Failed to fetch http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/main/binary-i386/Packages 403 Forbidden

E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$

---
That's all.

Your Ubuntu system seems unable to download important files from the Dropbox software source, for installing and maintaining an installation of Dropbox. There are several possible causes for this.

Do you use a proxy server? Have you ever used one on this machine (for downloading updates, or for any other purpose)? (Web proxies of the kind you access inside your web browser, provided that you have to manually go to the site to use the proxy, don't count.)

In addition to answering that question, please run this command, which is all one command (if you're viewing this in your email and it is split into multiple lines, you'll have to come here to https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/software-center/+question/160095 to copy it):

for X in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*; do echo \*\*\* $X\:; echo; cat $X; echo; echo; done

Then run each of these five commands, one by one:

echo http_proxy=$http_proxy; echo ftp_proxy=$ftp_proxy
cat /etc/apt/apt.conf; ls -l /etc/apt/apt.conf.d
ping -c 3 linux.dropbox.com
nslookup linux.dropbox.com
cd ~/Downloads

Then run this command, which, like the first command, is also quite long (so it might be split into two lines in your email):

wget http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/main/binary-i386/Packages

(There is nothing special about the first and last commands--they're just longer than the others, and I wanted to make sure it was clear that each of them is a *single* command, rather than appearing as two commands by being split into two lines. Really, I'm asking you to run seven commands, one after the other.)

Then please select all the text in the Terminal (starting with the beginning of the line on which you pasted the first command given in this post, i.e., the long one that starts with "for"), copy it to the clipboard, and paste it here.

There is a proxy server on my college and I already connected to the internet and downloaded some packages there.

The outputs of the commands are bellow:

gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ for X in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*; do echo \*\*\* $X\:; echo; cat $X; echo; echo; done
*** /etc/apt/sources.list.d/atareao-atareao-natty.list:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/atareao/atareao/ubuntu natty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/atareao/atareao/ubuntu natty main

*** /etc/apt/sources.list.d/atareao-atareao-natty.list.save:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/atareao/atareao/ubuntu natty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/atareao/atareao/ubuntu natty main

*** /etc/apt/sources.list.d/dropbox.list:

deb http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu maverick main

*** /etc/apt/sources.list.d/dropbox.list.save:

deb http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu maverick main

*** /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tiheum-equinox-natty.list:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/tiheum/equinox/ubuntu natty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/tiheum/equinox/ubuntu natty main

*** /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tiheum-equinox-natty.list.save:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/tiheum/equinox/ubuntu natty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/tiheum/equinox/ubuntu natty main

*** /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tualatrix-ppa-natty.list:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ppa/ubuntu natty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ppa/ubuntu natty main

gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ echo http_proxy=$http_proxy; echo ftp_proxy=$ftp_proxy
http_proxy=
ftp_proxy=
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ cat /etc/apt/apt.conf; ls -l /etc/apt/apt.conf.d
cat: /etc/apt/apt.conf: Arquivo ou diretório não encontrado
total 40
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 40 2011-06-01 21:34 00trustcdrom
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 430 2011-04-07 08:13 01autoremove
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 129 2008-11-11 09:19 10periodic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 108 2008-11-11 09:19 15update-stamp
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 85 2008-11-11 09:19 20archive
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 121 2011-04-07 08:13 20changelog
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 243 2009-12-16 06:02 20dbus
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1921 2011-04-12 06:22 50unattended-upgrades
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 182 2011-02-20 07:25 70debconf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 231 2010-06-01 10:19 99update-notifier
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ ping -c 3 linux.dropbox.com
PING linux.dropbox.com (174.36.30.74) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 174.36.30.74-static.reverse.softlayer.com (174.36.30.74): icmp_req=1 ttl=52 time=940 ms
64 bytes from 174.36.30.74-static.reverse.softlayer.com (174.36.30.74): icmp_req=2 ttl=52 time=1155 ms
64 bytes from 174.36.30.74-static.reverse.softlayer.com (174.36.30.74): icmp_req=3 ttl=51 time=1299 ms

--- linux.dropbox.com ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2835ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 940.879/1131.934/1299.629/147.390 ms, pipe 2
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ nslookup linux.dropbox.com
Server: 192.168.2.2
Address: 192.168.2.2#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: linux.dropbox.com
Address: 174.36.30.74

gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~$ cd ~/Downloads
gabriellhrn@Vulcan:~/Downloads$ wget http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/main/binary-i386/Packages
--2011-06-06 18:40:29-- http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu/dists/maverick/main/binary-i386/Packages
Resolvendo linux.dropbox.com... 174.36.30.74
Conectando-se a linux.dropbox.com|174.36.30.74|:80... conectado.
A requisição HTTP foi enviada, aguardando resposta... 200 OK
Tamanho: 1664 (1,6K) [application/octet-stream]
Salvando em: “Packages”

100%[======================================>] 1.664 --.-K/s em 0,003s

2011-06-06 18:40:43 (484 KB/s) - “Packages” salvo [1664/1664]

----

That's all.

My problem wasn't solved, but I find that the problem is just with the applet on the panel (or at least, i think it is).

The Dropbox folder is in my home folder and it's sending my files to the cloud. I think the problem is just with the applet.

Anyway, I can use Dropbox the way it is (but if someone know how to fix that problem, I'll be glad to know how).

Thanks for the help.

Problem solved.

I just uninstalled Dropbox and deleted the folders .dropbox and .dropbox-dist on the Home Folder, then I installed Dropbox again and the installation completed.

Thank you, Eliah Kagan, for the help. :)

See you.