Totally messed up VLC... DOH!!!

[xdarkknight]

ok, so I'm aware of computery things... not entirely savy, but somewhat able to comprehend tech talk.
I had VLC installed and working perfectly. I saw that you can add the daily repository to my updates. So i did this, thinking that I may actually have a better experience by doing so. As a result, I wasn't able to use VLC at all. I'd click VLC to access it. Initially I waited and waited, but later realised that it wasn't going to open. it may have been open in the alternate universe of my computer, but not the present, non-fictional universe that I live in.
I've left this for a while, not needing to use it. But as I've moved permanently to the UK from the US and like to watch dvds on my laptop from either country, I kindof need a player that isn't dvd-racist.
I looked up "How do I completely uninstall VLC on Ubuntu" and found this website: http://community.futuremark.com/forum/showthread.php?103409-Completely-removing-VLC-(Ubuntu)

I followed the directions. It seemed like it may have worked. so I restarted my system and tried re-installing VLC through the Software Center. I was left with this dialog:

Package dependencies cannot be resolved
This error could be caused by required additional software packages which are missing or not installable. Furthermore there could be a conflict between software packages which are not allowed to be installed at the same time.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
vlc: Depends: vlc-nox (= 2.0.3-0ubuntu0.12.04.1) but 2.0.3+git20120822+r347-0~r41~precise1 is to be installed
Depends: libavcodec-extra-53 (>= 4:0.8-1~) but 4:0.8.3ubuntu0.12.04.1 is to be installed
Depends: libavutil-extra-51 (>= 4:0.8-1~) but 4:0.8.3ubuntu0.12.04.1 is to be installed
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.15) but 2.15-0ubuntu10 is to be installed
Depends: libfreetype6 (>= 2.2.1) but 2.4.8-1ubuntu2 is to be installed
Depends: libgcc1 (>= 1:4.1.1) but 1:4.6.3-1ubuntu5 is to be installed
Depends: libqtcore4 (>= 4:4.8.0) but 4:4.8.1-0ubuntu4.2 is to be installed
Depends: libqtgui4 (>= 4:4.7.0~beta1) but 4:4.8.1-0ubuntu4.2 is to be installed
Depends: libstdc++6 (>= 4.6) but 4.6.3-1ubuntu5 is to be installed
Depends: zlib1g (>= 1:1.2.3.3.dfsg) but 1:1.2.3.4.dfsg-3ubuntu4 is to be installed

I'm out of good options. I don't think I've killed my system, but I've definitely given it a bit of a run for it's money. I know, knowledge can be useful. A little knowledge can be dangerous.

Please Help!
xDK

[Laiquendi]

Check if you have not messed up the sources, sources settings.
Second point - you can try downloading missing dependencies from the internet.

[xdarkknight]

How would I know if I messed up the sources & where do I put the dependencies? Once downloaded, how do I apply the dependencies (meaning, do I need to "install" them to make them work?)

[oldos2er]

Is this the PPA you installed? https://launchpad.net/~videolan/+archive/master-daily
Usually the "daily" or "nightly" versions of software are for testing by developers, they're not intended for end users.

If I were you I'd remove the daily repository, remove vlc and its config file:
sudo apt-get purge vlc

rm -r ~/.cache/vlc/

rm -r ~/.local/share/vlc/

rm -r ~/.config/vlc/

Update your repos and install vlc from the universe repo (the default version for 12.04)
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install vlc

[Vesa Paatero]

... And if you still need to download some missing dependency manually, you can download specific packages from packages.ubuntu.com, and then use dpkg (or perhaps something apt-based) to install them.

Vesa

[xdarkknight]

WELL... I think I may have made some sort of progress...
I realised that it's not too difficult to install the dependencies and installed them. HOWEVER... now when I try to install vlc (using the terminal command), I get the following error:
The following packages have unmet dependencies.
vlc : Depends: vlc-nox (= 2.0.3-0ubuntu0.12.04.1) but 2.0.3+git20120822+r347-0~r41~precise1 is to be installed
Recommends: vlc-plugin-notify (= 2.0.3-0ubuntu0.12.04.1) but it is not going to be installed
Recommends: vlc-plugin-pulse (= 2.0.3-0ubuntu0.12.04.1) but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.


So I install vlc-nox and it tells me:
"vlc-nox is already the newest version."

So I figure that it should be fine to install these notify and pulse plugins, but it gives me this error:
The following packages have unmet dependencies.
vlc-plugin-notify : Depends: vlc-nox (= 2.0.3-0ubuntu0.12.04.1) but 2.0.3+git20120822+r347-0~r41~precise1 is to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

and
The following packages have unmet dependencies.
vlc-plugin-pulse : Depends: vlc-nox (= 2.0.3-0ubuntu0.12.04.1) but 2.0.3+git20120822+r347-0~r41~precise1 is to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.


I think this means I need to remove a package or 2, but I'm not sure if I need to uninstall vlc-nox or another one and I'm not sure of the commands for this.

Thanks for all the help thus far! I totally love Ubuntu for exactly this reason! good help. real people. not some windows-licker getting paid $120k/year to tell me to turn it off and on again.

Ubuntu Geeks, this is for you: YOU ROCK!

xDK

[xdarkknight]

I FIGURED IT OUT!!! I had a broken package! (I know, this should have been obvious cause it told me that initially.)
VLC-nox was broken, so I used my black and white cane and tapped my way around, finally removing it and reinstalling it.

{For those interested, using the terminal, I decided to systematically uninstall and reinstall packages till it seemed to work as expected.

To do this, I installed aptitude (sudo apt-get install aptitude) and searched for vlc-nox.
Then, in aptitude, I selected VLC-nox for removal and executed the removal following the commands on the terminal.
Then quit aptitude (too much going on, and I'm not used to the interface).
Went back to the terminal input, and re-installed vlc-nox (sudo apt-get install vlc-nox).The install confirmation requested y/n, I selected y. And stuff started to happen! stuff I'd not seen before! Cool.
I then reinstalled VLC (sudo apt-get install vlc) and again: STUFF!

I opened the program and all seems to be working the way it should!}
:guitar: {Rock and Roll Garth!} {Rock and Roll Wayne!}:guitar:

All seems to be in order now and I'm happy!

Thanks to those who donated their intellect for the cause of my happiness.
xDK
:popcorn: