How to remove file?

[sudodus]

If I remember correctly I just installed 13.10 over 12.04 from a CD.

It is recommended to upgrade step-wise from version via next version(s) except between LTS versions. So from 12.04 LTS you will be able to upgrade to 14.04 LTS in the end of April (or better beginning of May, when the worst bug are squashed). Otherwise upgrade in a chain

12.04 LTS - 12.10 - 13.04 -13.10

which is a long chain prone to breakage. But skipping 12.10 a dn 13.04 might have caused your problem, and other problems might be lurking.

Maybe the best thing would be to copy your home directory to an own partition and let it be a home partition, and reinstall 13.10 (with separate root and home partitions).

[Buenadriver]

Did you see the original screenshot? Before I could install VLC I had to remove this file. Just learning this system and it's tough navigating. I do appreciate all help.

Don't quite understand the partition method but willing to give a try. Probably was an error to do it the way I did but thats my dilemma. Best solution??

[Bashing-om]

Buenadriver; Hi !

Learning a new operating system is always tough, and there is a steep learning curve. We are trying our best to help.
Please bear in mind that the file " xserver-common-lts-raring" is a critical system file and can not just be removed, rather, it must be replaced with the proper version.
Now, before it can be replaced we must determine why that old version is resident on your system. Most likely is an old PPA.

PPA is Personal Package Archive = a third party addition of software that is not standard to ubuntu. So we need to know what PPAs you have added to the system (maybe like a PPA from a prior install is not supported in the current install of saucy ??).

EDIT: Failed to notice sudodus' advise, (re-)install is always a sure fire fix, and please bear in mind that it is possibly the best solution.
Else we can continue to work to fix this present installation.

So to continue:
Post back to us the output of terminal codes:

ls -la /etc/apt/sources.list.d
apt-cache policy xserver-common-lts-raring
dpkg -l | grep "xserver-common*"

for our inspection ->

a tale will be told

[Buenadriver]

dale@dale-System-Product-Name:~$ ls -la /etc/apt/sources.list.d
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Apr 20  2012 .
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4096 Feb 14 19:46 ..
dale@dale-System-Product-Name:~$

dale@dale-System-Product-Name:~$ apt-cache policy xserver-common-lts-raring
xserver-common-lts-raring:
  Installed: 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu6~precise3
  Candidate: 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu6~precise3
  Version table:
 *** 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu6~precise3 0
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
dale@dale-System-Product-Name:~$

dale@dale-System-Product-Name:~$ dpkg -l | grep "xserver-common*"
ii  xserver-common                            2:1.14.5-1ubuntu2~saucy1                all          common files used by various X servers
rH  xserver-common-lts-raring                 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu6~precise3              all          common files used by various X servers
dale@dale-System-Product-Name:~$

[Bashing-om]

Buenadriver; Well !

A surprise, It is not due to a PPA, unless the source is in the main control file.
show us the out put of:

cat -n /etc/apt/sources.list

and still of interest is // dpkg -l | grep "xserver-common*" //.

Then will see what course of action is best.

just try'n to help

[Buenadriver]

dale@dale-System-Product-Name:~$ cat -n /etc/apt/sources.list
     1	# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS _Precise Pangolin_ - Release i386 (20130820.1)]/ precise main restricted
     2	
     3	# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
     4	# newer versions of the distribution.
     5	deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy main restricted
     6	deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy main restricted
     7	
     8	## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
     9	## distribution.
    10	deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates main restricted
    11	deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates main restricted
    12	
    13	## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
    14	## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
    15	## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
    16	deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy universe
    17	deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy universe
    18	deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates universe
    19	deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates universe
    20	
    21	## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu 
    22	## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to 
    23	## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in 
    24	## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
    25	## security team.
    26	deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy multiverse
    27	deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy multiverse
    28	deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates multiverse
    29	deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates multiverse
    30	
    31	## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
    32	## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
    33	## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
    34	## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
    35	## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
    36	deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    37	deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    38	
    39	deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy-security main restricted
    40	deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy-security main restricted
    41	deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy-security universe
    42	deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy-security universe
    43	deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy-security multiverse
    44	deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy-security multiverse
    45	
    46	## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
    47	## 'partner' repository.
    48	## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
    49	## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
    50	# deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner
    51	# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner
    52	
    53	## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by third-party
    54	## developers who want to ship their latest software.
    55	deb http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy main
    56	deb-src http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu saucy main
dale@dale-System-Product-Name:~$

[Bashing-om]

Buenadriver;
Well, nothing I see out of the ordinary in /etc/apt/sources.list either.
Back to the why !
show us:

dpkg -l | grep "xserver-common*"

and will consider a way to replace it with the correct version.

where there is a will there is a way

[Buenadriver]

dale@dale-System-Product-Name:~$ dpkg -l | grep "xserver-common*"
ii  xserver-common                            2:1.14.5-1ubuntu2~saucy1                all          common files used by various X servers
rH  xserver-common-lts-raring                 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu6~precise3              all          common files used by various X servers
dale@dale-System-Product-Name:~$

[Bashing-om]

Buenadriver. OK !

The version is installed and can not co-exist with that older version.
Let's try an easier method to rid ourselves of that old version. I propose that you use the tool "synaptic" to effect that removal:
"synaptic" is no longer installed by default, so let's see if we can install it .

sudo apt-get install synaptic

else. we will do it from terminal.

many paths to one end

[deadflowr]

Now it's understandable as to what happened.
Somehow that package wasn't correctly identified and removed during the upgrade.
But that upgrade technique isn't one of the more normal ways to do an upgrade, so problems like that are probably more common, but less reported.

That said, I wonder if bodhi.zazen's method of fixing very broken packages would work in this case.
A quick breakdown would be this

cd /var/lib/dpkg/info
sudo rm xserver-common-lts-raring.*
sudo dpkg --remove --force-remove-reinstreq xserver-common-lts-raring