Guys, I solved this. Somehow it appears I had deleted my my.cnf file, and this was causing the problem. I had to completely purge mysql-common, mysql- server-5.1 and mysql-server-core-5.1, then reinstall, and everything is now working.
I used this to purge: dpkg -P --force-depends mysql-common -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/776226 Title: package mysql-server 5.1.54-1ubuntu4 failed to install/upgrade: проблемы зависимостей -- оставляем не настроенным To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/mysql-5.1/+bug/776226/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs