ggplot2 fails to install on R 3.0.2 - r

Question

I am unable to install ggplot2 in R 3.0.2 on Ubuntu.
When I run
install.packages('ggplot2',dependencies = TRUE)
I get the following error.
> install.packages('ggplot2',dependencies = TRUE)
Installing package into ‘/home/gowthamn/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.0’
(as ‘lib’ is unspecified)
Warning in install.packages :
dependencies ‘plyr’, ‘testthat’ are not available
also installing the dependencies ‘reshape2’, ‘scales’, ‘Hmisc’
trying URL 'http://cran.rstudio.com/src/contrib/reshape2_1.4.1.tar.gz'
Content type 'application/x-gzip' length 34693 bytes (33 Kb)
opened URL
==================================================
downloaded 33 Kb
trying URL 'http://cran.rstudio.com/src/contrib/scales_0.2.4.tar.gz'
Content type 'application/x-gzip' length 40093 bytes (39 Kb)
opened URL
==================================================
downloaded 39 Kb
trying URL 'http://cran.rstudio.com/src/contrib/Hmisc_3.16-0.tar.gz'
Content type 'application/x-gzip' length 629536 bytes (614 Kb)
opened URL
==================================================
downloaded 614 Kb
trying URL 'http://cran.rstudio.com/src/contrib/ggplot2_1.0.1.tar.gz'
Content type 'application/x-gzip' length 2351203 bytes (2.2 Mb)
opened URL
==================================================
downloaded 2.2 Mb
ERROR: dependency ‘plyr’ is not available for package ‘reshape2’
* removing ‘/home/gowthamn/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.0/reshape2’
Warning in install.packages :
installation of package ‘reshape2’ had non-zero exit status
ERROR: dependency ‘plyr’ is not available for package ‘scales’
* removing ‘/home/gowthamn/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.0/scales’
Warning in install.packages :
installation of package ‘scales’ had non-zero exit status
ERROR: dependencies ‘plyr’, ‘reshape2’, ‘scales’ are not available for package ‘ggplot2’
* removing ‘/home/gowthamn/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.0/ggplot2’
Warning in install.packages :
installation of package ‘ggplot2’ had non-zero exit status
ERROR: dependencies ‘ggplot2’, ‘scales’ are not available for package ‘Hmisc’
* removing ‘/home/gowthamn/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/3.0/Hmisc’
Warning in install.packages :
installation of package ‘Hmisc’ had non-zero exit status
I also tried
install.packages(c('reshape2','scales'))
Get the error that plyr is not available.
I also upgraded Ubuntu and also reinstalled latest version of R and updated the packages using update.packages(checkBuilt=TRUE).
But, nothing worked. What can I do?

Answer 1

If you do not need the latest version, you can install the packaged version distributed by Ubuntu by using:
sudo apt-get install r-cran-ggplot2

Answer 2

I fixed this problem by typing these command:
$ sudo apt-get install r-cran-plyr
$ sudo apt-get install r-cran-reshape2

Answer 3

You should update your R version (r-base) to the latest.
Command line like:
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install r-base
updated didn't work for me.
First uninstall R.
Then download 3.2.1 deb file from the link:
http://cran.es.r-project.org/bin/linux/ubuntu/trusty/
Install it by Ubuntu software center.
Run install.packages as regular.

Answer 4

apt-get tracks what repos to look for packages in /etc/apt/sources.list. The default set defined in most people's sources.list does not include CRAN mirrors. For Ubuntu users, you can add the following line to /etc/apt/sources.list:
deb https://<my.favorite.cran.mirror>/bin/linux/ubuntu <linux ver>/
I use 'trusty' Ubuntu version and prefer the berkley cran mirror, so my line looks like:
deb http://cran.cnr.berkeley.edu/bin/linux/ubuntu trusty/
If you need to find out your Ubuntu version, try running:
lsb_release -a
Now apt-get can interact with a CRAN mirror for you. Enjoy!

Answer 5

Download the newest version of r-base (3.2.2) from [http://cran.es.r-project.org/bin/linux/ubuntu/trusty/]
use Ubuntu software Centre to open it and install.
This would update your already installed version to the latest. Then try installing the ggplot2 packgage again. It worked for me like magic.
Good luck with it!!