E: dpkg was interrupted - run 'dpkg --configure -a'

[k1008536]

Hi, I ran the update manager today and got the following message:

E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

Now I when I open open Synaptic I get the same message. I have tried running sudo dpkg --configure -a as directed but this does not fix the problem. See output from terminal below. i have also run the following commands but it does not help.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Thanks for any help anyone may have.

james@ubuntu:~$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
Setting up initramfs-tools (0.85eubuntu39.3) ...
update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated)

Setting up linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-23-server (2.6.24-23.37) ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-23-server

gzip: stdout: No space left on device
update-initramfs: failed for /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-23-server
dpkg: error processing linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-23-server (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-server:
linux-image-server depends on linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-23-server; however:
Package linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-23-server is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing linux-image-server (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-server:
linux-server depends on linux-image-server (= 2.6.24.23.25); however:
Package linux-image-server is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing linux-server (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-23-server

gzip: stdout: No space left on device
update-initramfs: failed for /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-23-server
dpkg: subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
james@ubuntu:~$

[snova]

Well, the "No space left on device" messages don't look particularly good...

Please post the output of:


df -h

To get some filesystem information.

[Hobgoblin]

df -i

Might also yield something useful.

[k1008536]

Thanks guys, see below

james@ubuntu:~$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sdb3 276G 3.6G 258G 2% /
varrun 363M 108K 363M 1% /var/run
varlock 363M 0 363M 0% /var/lock
udev 363M 56K 363M 1% /dev
devshm 363M 12K 363M 1% /dev/shm
/dev/sdb1 92M 90M 0 100% /boot
gvfs-fuse-daemon 276G 3.6G 258G 2% /home/james/.gvfs
james@ubuntu:~$ df -i
Filesystem Inodes IUsed IFree IUse% Mounted on
/dev/sdb3 18178048 182263 17995785 2% /
varrun 92828 58 92770 1% /var/run
varlock 92828 2 92826 1% /var/lock
udev 92828 3035 89793 4% /dev
devshm 92828 2 92826 1% /dev/shm
/dev/sdb1 24096 59 24037 1% /boot
gvfs-fuse-daemon 18178048 182263 17995785 2% /home/james/.gvfs
james@ubuntu:~$

[k1008536]

I see the line below output from df -h shows 100% usage but I am not sure what this means?

/dev/sdb1 92M 90M 0 100% /boot

[taurus]

It means it cannot install a new kernel to /boot since it doesn't have any/enough space. How many kernels do you currently have in /boot anyway?


ls -la /boot

[k1008536]

looks like a few??

james@ubuntu:~$ ls -la /boot
total 85767
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 3072 2009-02-26 16:08 .
drwxr-xr-x 21 root root 4096 2009-02-25 13:07 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 422667 2008-08-21 16:46 abi-2.6.24-19-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 426444 2008-08-21 16:50 abi-2.6.24-19-server
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 422838 2008-10-22 16:12 abi-2.6.24-21-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 426615 2008-10-22 16:16 abi-2.6.24-21-server
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 422838 2009-01-26 17:30 abi-2.6.24-23-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 426615 2009-01-26 17:34 abi-2.6.24-23-server
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 80049 2008-08-21 16:46 config-2.6.24-19-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 80181 2008-08-21 16:50 config-2.6.24-19-server
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 80062 2008-10-22 16:12 config-2.6.24-21-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 80194 2008-10-22 16:16 config-2.6.24-21-server
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 80051 2009-01-26 17:30 config-2.6.24-23-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 80183 2009-01-26 17:34 config-2.6.24-23-server
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 1024 2009-02-25 13:07 grub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7348740 2008-09-19 15:30 initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7099322 2008-09-19 14:59 initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic.bak
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7697659 2008-09-19 15:29 initrd.img-2.6.24-19-server
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7085953 2008-09-19 14:03 initrd.img-2.6.24-19-server.bak
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7349130 2008-10-31 12:22 initrd.img-2.6.24-21-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7698957 2008-11-12 13:39 initrd.img-2.6.24-21-server
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7698958 2008-10-31 12:23 initrd.img-2.6.24-21-server.bak
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7347995 2009-02-25 13:06 initrd.img-2.6.24-23-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7696691 2009-02-25 13:07 initrd.img-2.6.24-23-server
drwx------ 2 root root 12288 2008-09-19 13:58 lost+found
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 103204 2007-09-28 22:06 memtest86+.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 905170 2008-08-21 16:46 System.map-2.6.24-19-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 933482 2008-08-21 16:50 System.map-2.6.24-19-server
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 905617 2008-10-22 16:12 System.map-2.6.24-21-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 933929 2008-10-22 16:16 System.map-2.6.24-21-server
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 905809 2009-01-26 17:30 System.map-2.6.24-23-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 934121 2009-01-26 17:34 System.map-2.6.24-23-server
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1921464 2008-08-21 16:46 vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1987480 2008-08-21 16:50 vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-server
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1920760 2008-10-22 16:12 vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1988408 2008-10-22 16:16 vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-server
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1922904 2009-01-26 17:30 vmlinuz-2.6.24-23-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1989368 2009-01-26 17:34 vmlinuz-2.6.24-23-server
james@ubuntu:~$

[taurus]

Which kernel are you running right now, generic or server? If you are running the server kernel, perhaps it's time to remove the generic ones (vice versa) to create some space on /boot. Also, remove the *.bak since they are just a backup copies.


uname -a

[k1008536]

james@ubuntu:~$ uname -a
Linux ubuntu 2.6.24-23-server #1 SMP Mon Jan 26 00:55:21 UTC 2009 i686 GNU/Linux
james@ubuntu:~$

I have removed the *.bak files, is there a quick way to remove the generic kernel files? Also do i need the older files, pre 2.6.24-23? Is this build up in /boot normal? Cheers

[taurus]

Even thought you are running the server kernel, you have window manager because you use update manager. Therefore, the easiest way is to go into synaptic and Search for linux-image-2.6.24-23-generic. Then, remove those versions since you are not using the generic kernels, only the server ones.

That should free up some space on /boot to update your machine.

df -h

[k1008536]

Thanks for the help taurus :), the dpkg --configure -a worked and all seems OK. Do I need to close this thread / mark it as solved etc?

[taurus]

You can edit the title of this thread and add the word (SOLVED) at the end.

[snova]

Thanks for the help taurus :), the dpkg --configure -a worked and all seems OK. Do I need to close this thread / mark it as solved etc?

Only a moderator can close a thread, and Solved was disabled a while back (see http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1039481).

[k1008536]

Cheers everyone!