This bug issue also affected me -- thanks so much for posting the fix. I had the same pinning levels as Andy, except I had the file
/etc/apt/preferences.d/99-proposed with the same contents as Andy's file. Once I removed that file (which had a creation date of Sept 12 - 2012) rm /etc/apt-preferences.d/99-proposed then things worked after I did a apt-get dist-upgrade -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of DX Packages, which is subscribed to unity in Ubuntu. Matching subscriptions: dx-packages https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1267665 Title: Unable to upgrade Unity due to libxi6 dependency Status in “libxi” package in Ubuntu: Invalid Status in “unity” package in Ubuntu: Invalid Status in “libxi” source package in Precise: Invalid Status in “unity” source package in Precise: Invalid Bug description: As of Thursday 9th January I am unable to upgrade packages without being offered to remove unity and Ubuntu desktop: http://paste.ubuntu.com/6723064/ "apt-get install ubuntu-desktop^" complains that a version of libxi6 is to be installed which doesn't meet unity's dependencies: http://paste.ubuntu.com/6724056/ "apt-get policy" outputs for libxi6 and unity: http://paste.ubuntu.com/6724078/ http://paste.ubuntu.com/6724082/ ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04 Package: unity 5.20.0-0ubuntu2 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-35.50~precise1-generic 3.8.13.13 Uname: Linux 3.8.0-35-generic i686 ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu17.6 Architecture: i386 CompizPlugins: [core,composite,opengl,compiztoolbox,decor,imgpng,mousepoll,vpswitch,unitymtgrabhandles,text,resize,gnomecompat,snap,grid,place,move,regex,resizeinfo,wall,session,animation,workarounds,expo,fade,scale,ezoom,scalefilter,unityshell] Date: Fri Jan 10 01:23:18 2014 MarkForUpload: True ProcEnviron: TERM=screen PATH=(custom, no user) LANG=en_GB.UTF-8 SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: unity UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to precise on 2012-05-01 (618 days ago) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libxi/+bug/1267665/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dx-packages Post to : dx-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dx-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp