Correct diagnosis. The distribution upgrade (not aptitude dist-upgrade) removed a bunch of python dependent packages (eg pybliographer) and then installed a bunch of 2.5 new packages and hal-device-manager now works.
-- hal-device-manager crash https://launchpad.net/bugs/78980 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
