UPDATE Dec 2010: I ran into this same problem when updating from 10.4 Lucid to 10.10 Maverick.
The trick is just to reinstall libvdpau1 using synaptic. End update.
There are many users posting reports about this problem and I could not find any real resolutions… Here is a good example:
http://ubuntu-ky.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=8048972
I think this is what fixed it on my system (I did not take real notes about this):
Uninstall libvdpau
Uninstall nvidia drivers (if any)
Reinstall nvidia drivers
Reinstall libvdpau.
My working pkgs (Ubuntu 10.4 Lucid mythtv 0.23):
root@hippo:~# dpkg -l libvdpau*
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Cfg-files/Unpacked/Failed-cfg/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name Version Description
ii libvdpau-doc 0.3-2build1 Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix (documentation)
ii libvdpau1 0.3-2build1 Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix (libraries)
root@hippo:~# dpkg -l nvdia*
No packages found matching nvdia*.
root@hippo:~# dpkg -l nvidia*
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Cfg-files/Unpacked/Failed-cfg/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name Version Description
ii nvidia-173 173.14.22-0ubuntu11 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver, kernel module and VDPAU library
rc nvidia-current 195.36.15-0ubuntu3 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver, kernel module and VDPAU library
ii nvidia-current-modaliases 195.36.15-0ubuntu3 Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org driver
un nvidia-libvdpau (no description available)
un nvidia-libvdpau-ia32 (no description available)
un nvidia-libvdpau1 (no description available)
ii nvidia-settings 195.36.08-0ubuntu2 Tool of configuring the NVIDIA graphics driver
un nvidia-vdpau-driver (no description available)
root@hippo:~# dpkg -l libvdpau*
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Cfg-files/Unpacked/Failed-cfg/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name Version Description
ii libvdpau-doc 0.3-2build1 Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix (documentation)
ii libvdpau1 0.3-2build1 Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix (libraries)
root@hippo:~# dpkg -l mythtv*
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Cfg-files/Unpacked/Failed-cfg/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name Version Description
ii mythtv 0.23.0+fixes24158-0ubuntu2 A personal video recorder application (client and server)
ii mythtv-backend 0.23.0+fixes24158-0ubuntu2 A personal video recorder application (server)
ii mythtv-common 0.23.0+fixes24158-0ubuntu2 A personal video recorder application (common data)
ii mythtv-database 0.23.0+fixes24158-0ubuntu2 A personal video recorder application (database)
un mythtv-doc (no description available)
ii mythtv-frontend 0.23.0+fixes24158-0ubuntu2 A personal video recorder application (client)
ii mythtv-theme-arclight 1:0.23.0+fixes23872-0ubuntu1 The arclight MythTV Theme
un mythtv-theme-blootube (no description available)
ii mythtv-theme-blootube-osd 1:0.23.0+fixes23872-0ubuntu1 The blootube-osd MythTV Theme
un mythtv-theme-blootube-wide (no description available)
un mythtv-theme-blootubelite-wide (no description available)
ii mythtv-theme-blueosd 1:0.23.0+fixes23872-0ubuntu1 The blueosd MythTV Theme
un mythtv-theme-glass-wide (no description available)
ii mythtv-theme-graphite 1:0.23.0+fixes23872-0ubuntu1 The graphite MythTV Theme
un mythtv-theme-gray-osd (no description available)
un mythtv-theme-isthmus (no description available)
un mythtv-theme-iulius (no description available)
ii mythtv-theme-iulius-osd 1:0.23.0+fixes23872-0ubuntu1 The iulius-osd MythTV Theme
ii mythtv-theme-metallurgy 1:0.23.0+fixes23872-0ubuntu1 The metallurgy MythTV Theme
un mythtv-theme-minimalist-wide (no description available)
ii mythtv-theme-mono-osd 1:0.23.0+fixes23872-0ubuntu1 The mono-osd MythTV Theme
ii mythtv-theme-mythbuntu 1:0.23.0+fixes23872-0ubuntu1 The mythbuntu MythTV Theme
un mythtv-theme-mythcenter (no description available)
un mythtv-theme-mythcenter-wide (no description available)
un mythtv-theme-neon-wide (no description available)
un mythtv-theme-proejctgrayhem-wide (no description available)
un mythtv-theme-projectgrayhem (no description available)
ii mythtv-theme-projectgrayhem-osd 1:0.23.0+fixes23872-0ubuntu1 The projectgrayhem-osd MythTV Theme
un mythtv-theme-retro (no description available)
ii mythtv-theme-retro-osd 1:0.23.0+fixes23872-0ubuntu1 The retro-osd MythTV Theme
un mythtv-theme-titivillus (no description available)
ii mythtv-theme-titivillus-osd 1:0.23.0+fixes23872-0ubuntu1 The titivillus-osd MythTV Theme
ii mythtv-themes 1:0.23.0+fixes23872-0ubuntu1 Themes for MythTV
ii mythtv-transcode-utils 0.23.0+fixes24158-0ubuntu2 Utilities used for transcoding MythTV tasks
root@hippo:~#
