kernel uninstall

[Francesco Pietra <frapietra@alice.it>]

Debian i386 etch kernel linux-image-2.6.15.1-k7 with appropriate nvidia 
kernel, running OK.

Also installed linux-image-2.6.16-2-k7 without proper match for X11.

Wanting to change to 2.6.17, I tried unsuccessfully to first unistall 2.6.16 
(apt-get --purge remove), always aborted because package is in incorrect 
state.

Neither apt-get -f install
nor reinstall followed by --purge remove were successful (package in incorrect 
state).

Could you suggest how to get rid of 2.6.16?

Thank you

francesco pietra