package i8kutils (not installed) failed to install/upgrade: subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1

i8k seems to be an ongoing problem for Ubuntu and Dell machines. We've had problems with i8k on other Dell machines. No solutions were reached. All threads marked as SOLVED were narrow in scope concerning a few models. Alternative was to dump Ubuntu and install Microsoft.

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

Got this same error on my computer I use for G.I.S.

Sad because our IT guy said it could not be fixed running Ubuntu 16.04. He said he's had these issues for years now with Ubuntu and i8k.

I know that some in the other departments have issues with Dell desktops and i8k because they got new machines because of it.

I'm not a IT expert or a Ubuntu expert; I just use it for work. That said, I do know that i8k has to do with fans and I know that we had computers overheat and burn out because the fans weren't running. I talked with a manager and he said they were looking at other alternatives because Ubuntu was causing problems. Things like no fans, no fan control, or fans running at max speed until they burn out quickly.

Trying to install this package on my Dell XPS 15 (2015) laptop and it fails.

Upstream: https://launchpad.net/i8kutils

$ sudo apt install i8kutils -y
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  gir1.2-telepathyglib-0.12 gir1.2-telepathylogger-0.2 gjs libgjs0e
  libmission-control-plugins0 libmozjs-24-0v5 libtelepathy-logger3 telepathy-idle
  telepathy-logger telepathy-mission-control-5
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following additional packages will be installed:
  acpi tclx8.4
Suggested packages:
  tclx8.4-doc
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  acpi i8kutils tclx8.4
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 21 not upgraded.
Need to get 121 kB of archives.
After this operation, 437 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://is.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe amd64 acpi amd64 1.7-1 [13,8 kB]
Get:2 http://is.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe amd64 tclx8.4 amd64 8.4.1-1 [81,1 kB]
Get:3 http://is.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe amd64 i8kutils amd64 1.41 [25,9 kB]
Fetched 121 kB in 0s (1.860 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package acpi.
(Reading database ... 284969 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../archives/acpi_1.7-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking acpi (1.7-1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package tclx8.4.
Preparing to unpack .../tclx8.4_8.4.1-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking tclx8.4 (8.4.1-1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package i8kutils.
Preparing to unpack .../i8kutils_1.41_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking i8kutils (1.41) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
Processing triggers for systemd (229-4ubuntu7) ...
Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...
Setting up acpi (1.7-1) ...
Setting up tclx8.4 (8.4.1-1) ...
Setting up i8kutils (1.41) ...
Job for i8kmon.service failed because the control process exited with error code. See "systemctl status i8kmon.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details.
invoke-rc.d: initscript i8kmon, action "start" failed.
dpkg: error processing package i8kutils (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu3) ...
Processing triggers for systemd (229-4ubuntu7) ...
Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 i8kutils
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
$