Installing updates 16.04 ruing post-installation trigger dpkg-exec seems frozen

I have been using the new 16.04 (from fresh install) and has been working. I decided to do the updates because while I was trying to get the wireless-info (trying to fix wireless issue), I was unable to run a script because chmod was missing from base ...

So now Software Installer window shows Installing updates..., the progress bar is 100%, Ruing post-installation trigger dpkg-exec
The Details drop-down does not work...
The spier is on the screen...
The display will dim and tu off at the set times... tus on when mouse is moved...
I can open other apps/programs...

Is there a terminal command or utility I can run to see if anything is going on with dpkg-exec? i.e., disk i/o's, cpu usage by app/process

I'm curious why chmod was not installed from the liveDVD