Problems with apt-get(unmet dependencies)

Question

I am using Ubuntu Desktop 12.04(64 bit). I have downloaded skype from the official website and opened the deb package from the terminal(sudo dpkg -i skype-ubuntu-precise_4.1.0.20-1_i386.deb) but install did not finish successfully. Now whatever I try to install I get the following error:

You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 skype:i386 : Depends: libssl1.0.0:i386 but it is not going to be installed
              Conflicts: skype-bin
              Conflicts: skype-bin:i386 but 4.1.0.20.0-0ubuntu0.12.04.1 is to be installed
 skype-bin:i386 : Breaks: skype:i386 (< 4.1.0.20.0-0ubuntu0.12.04.1) but 4.1.0.20-1 is to be installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

Of course I tried running apt-get -f install, but when I do, I get the following output:

...
After this operation, 36.7 MB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of skype:i386:
 skype:i386 depends on libssl1.0.0.
 skype-bin:i386 (4.1.0.20.0-0ubuntu0.12.04.1) breaks skype (<< 4.1.0.20.0-0ubuntu0.12.04.1) and is installed.
  Version of skype:i386 to be configured is 4.1.0.20-1.
dpkg: error processing skype:i386 (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 skype:i386
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

You can also have a look at the output from dpkg --list here.

I have also tried running sudo apt-get remove skype-bin, but again it fails with similar error.

What should I do to fix this problem?

Answer 1

After a lot of searching round the internet, I have finally found a solution for my problem. I directly used dpkg to remove skype:i386. In a terminal type:

sudo dpkg -r skype:i386

Hope this will save the day I wasted on this for someone.