How to fix E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem in APT

Open a terminal and run this command to configure any packages left in an incomplete state:

sudo dpkg --configure -a

This command will attempt to finish configuring all packages that were interrupted. It will resolve any dependency issues automatically if possible.

This command can take a very long time, especially on slower systems like Raspberry Pi. Some users have reported wait times exceeding several hours when recompiling drivers or packages from source.

Do NOT interrupt this process again. Leave your system running and be patient. If you're concerned it has frozen, check system activity with:

# Check if dpkg is still running
ps aux | grep dpkg

# Check system load
top

Once dpkg --configure -a completes, clean and update your package cache:

sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get update

This ensures your package lists are fresh and removes any partially downloaded packages.

If the above command hangs or reports unresolvable dependency errors, you may need to remove specific problematic packages. First, find which package is causing issues - dpkg output will show it.

Then remove it with:

sudo dpkg -r <package-name>

After removing, try sudo dpkg --configure -a again. Handle dependencies carefully by removing packages in the correct order.

If none of the above steps work and your system is critically broken:

- If you use Timeshift (Ubuntu/Linux Mint): Restore a snapshot from before the interrupted operation occurred
- If you have another backup strategy: Restore from your most recent good state

This should only be done if the package manager is completely unable to recover, as it will undo all system changes since the backup point.