R: "Error in m[, 1L] : incorrect number of dimensions" when installing a package

Question

When trying to install a package in R I get the following odd error and R does not load and return the CRAN selection menu. What causes this?

> install.packages("rJava")
Warning in install.packages("rJava") :
  argument 'lib' is missing: using '/home/jal/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/2.11'
--- Please select a CRAN mirror for use in this session ---
Loading Tcl/Tk interface ... done
Error in m[, 1L] : incorrect number of dimensions
> 

Answer 1

It appears the error was caused by networking issues. My wifi was connected but the access point required loading a web form and entering a user name and password. I had been logged in but been dropped and had to re-authenticate. Once I logged back in it worked fine.

I think the error message could be a bit more insightful.