I just had this on a brand new clean install of Lucid in VirtualBox (which I was using to try and verify bug 1015739 is fixed) which I updated, rebooted and then tried to upgrade to precise with update- manager. I got this whacky dialog too.
** Changed in: update-manager (Ubuntu) Status: New => Confirmed ** Attachment added: "lucid (Snapshot 1) [Running] - Oracle VM VirtualBox_113.png" https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/update-manager/+bug/1035124/+attachment/3329379/+files/lucid%20%28Snapshot%201%29%20%5BRunning%5D%20-%20Oracle%20VM%20VirtualBox_113.png -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1035124 Title: Upgrade from Lucid to Precise displays strange dialog with squares instead of words To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/update-manager/+bug/1035124/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs