Broken Packages After Upgrade

[Brodie337]

Hello there,

I'm a fairly basic user, so bear with me...

I recently upgraded to Ubuntu 10.04, (from 9.10) using the update-manager. However, during the installation there was an error during the 'Installing Packages' phase, which has left me with some broken packages, including initramfs-tools, and upstart. I suspect there may be more, but I have not come across them yet.

I've tried using "Fix broken packages" under "Edit" in Synaptic, but to no avail.

Is there any way to recover this install? I really don't want to do a fresh install.

Thanks in advance,
Brodie.

[kansasnoob]

I would try:


sudo apt-get clean

Then :


sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Any error messages that the terminal displays may be very helpful.

[Brodie337]

Thats the thing... There are no error messages.

I run that, and it comes up with nothing for "sudo apt-get clean"
and then after updating it simply says:
"0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded."

[Brodie337]

Any ideas?

[kansasnoob]

Try:


sudo dpkg --configure -a

or possibly see what the following tells you:


sudo apt-get -f install

[wme]

so i upgraded from 9.10 to 10.04 nice
but i had my computer partition with windows 7 and now when i boot up
i cant use windows 7 it says missing mbr helper can somone help
maybe a update or terminal command could fix >? dont want to loose my data
:confused:

[Brodie337]

OK, I've given that a crack, and "sudo dpkg --configure -a" doesn't return anything, it just takes me back to the prompt.

Here's the other one:

sudo apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

[P4man]

so what happens when you try to install something. Try this, just for us to get the output:


sudo apt-get install iotop

(iotop is just tiny network monitor, and harmless)

[kansasnoob]

so i upgraded from 9.10 to 10.04 nice
but i had my computer partition with windows 7 and now when i boot up
i cant use windows 7 it says missing mbr helper can somone help
maybe a update or terminal command could fix >? dont want to loose my data
:confused:

It would be best to start your own thread, and since it's boot related include the output of the boot info script:

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/

[Brodie337]

iotop installs OK:

sudo apt-get install iotop
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
iotop
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 26.0kB of archives.
After this operation, 168kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/universe iotop 0.4-1 [26.0kB]
Fetched 26.0kB in 1s (23.1kB/s)
Selecting previously deselected package iotop.
(Reading database ... 163231 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking iotop (from .../archives/iotop_0.4-1_all.deb) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Setting up iotop (0.4-1) ...

Processing triggers for python-support ...


However, if we try something like usplash, which I do not have installed:


sudo apt-get install usplash
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
usplash: Depends: initramfs-tools (>= 0.92bubuntu55) but it is not going to be installed
Depends: upstart (>= 0.6.3-4) but it is not going to be installed
E: Broken packages


I attempt to install initramfs-tools...

sudo apt-get install initramfs-tools
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
initramfs-tools is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

[wme]

srry i know but i couldnt find create your fourm but i would really appreciate your help and i apologize
and that script should be able to alow me to boot back into windows 7
from grub dual boot ?

[kansasnoob]

Hello there,

I'm a fairly basic user, so bear with me...

I recently upgraded to Ubuntu 10.04, (from 9.10) using the update-manager. However, during the installation there was an error during the 'Installing Packages' phase, which has left me with some broken packages, including initramfs-tools, and upstart. I suspect there may be more, but I have not come across them yet.

I've tried using "Fix broken packages" under "Edit" in Synaptic, but to no avail.

Is there any way to recover this install? I really don't want to do a fresh install.

Thanks in advance,
Brodie.

So if you go to Synaptic, click on Custom Filters, then look under "Upgradable" or "Broken" does it show anything?

While in Synaptic click on the Settings > Repositories and see if anything looks haywire.

Also from Synaptic you can use the search feature, for instance type "initramfs-tools", then click on Package > Properties and see what versions are available and/or installed. Or alternately you can use:


aptitude show <package-name>

e.g.


lance@lance-desktop:~$ aptitude show initramfs-tools
Package: initramfs-tools
State: installed
Automatically installed: no
Version: 0.92bubuntu78
Priority: required
Section: utils
Maintainer: Ubuntu Kernel Team <kernel-team@lists.ubuntu.com>
Uncompressed Size: 442k
Depends: initramfs-tools-bin (= 0.92bubuntu78), klibc-utils (>= 1.5.9-1),
busybox-initramfs (>= 1:1.13.3-1ubuntu5), cpio, module-init-tools, udev
(>= 147~-5), findutils (>= 4.2.24), util-linux (> 2.15~rc1)
Conflicts: usplash (< 0.5.50)
Breaks: mountall (< 2.0~)
Provides: linux-initramfs-tool
Description: tools for generating an initramfs
This package contains tools to create and boot an initramfs for packaged 2.6
Linux kernel. The initramfs is a gzipped cpio archive. At boot time, the kernel
unpacks that archive into RAM, mounts and uses it as initial root file system.
The mounting of the real root file system occurs in early user space. klibc
provides utilities to setup root. Having the root on EVMS, MD, LVM2, LUKS or
NFS is also supported. Any boot loader with initrd support is able to load an
initramfs archive.

lance@lance-desktop:~$ aptitude show upstart
Package: upstart
State: installed
Automatically installed: no
Version: 0.6.5-6
Priority: required
Section: admin
Maintainer: Scott James Remnant <scott@ubuntu.com>
Uncompressed Size: 819k
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.4), libdbus-1-3 (>= 1.2.16), libnih-dbus1 (>= 1.0.0),
libnih1 (>= 1.0.0), libudev0 (>= 151-5), sysvinit-utils, sysv-rc,
initscripts, mountall, ifupdown (>= 0.6.8ubuntu29)
Conflicts: startup-tasks, system-services, sysvinit, upstart-compat-sysv,
upstart-job
Replaces: startup-tasks, system-services, sysvinit, upstart-compat-sysv,
upstart-job
Provides: startup-tasks, system-services, upstart-compat-sysv, upstart-job
Description: event-based init daemon
upstart is a replacement for the /sbin/init daemon which handles starting of
tasks and services during boot, stopping them during shutdown and supervising
them while the system is running.
Homepage: http://upstart.ubuntu.com/

lance@lance-desktop:~$

[kansasnoob]

srry i know but i couldnt find create your fourm but i would really appreciate your help and i apologize
and that script should be able to alow me to boot back into windows 7
from grub dual boot ?

At the top of the forum page click on Installation & Upgrades. In the somewhat upper left hand corner you'll see the option to Start new thread.

The Boot Info Script will not fix anything but it will provide us with the info we need to troubleshoot the problem.

[Brodie337]

There's nothing at all showing up under the "Broken" filter.

Theres what I get using aptitude show.


[user @ ~] aptitude show initramfs-tools
Package: initramfs-tools
State: installed
Automatically installed: no
Version: 0.92bubuntu78
Priority: required
Section: utils
Maintainer: Ubuntu Kernel Team <kernel-team@lists.ubuntu.com>
Uncompressed Size: 442k
Depends: initramfs-tools-bin (= 0.92bubuntu78), klibc-utils (>= 1.5.9-1),
busybox-initramfs (>= 1:1.13.3-1ubuntu5), cpio, module-init-tools, udev
(>= 147~-5), findutils (>= 4.2.24), util-linux (> 2.15~rc1)
Conflicts: usplash (< 0.5.50)
Breaks: mountall (< 2.0~)
Provides: linux-initramfs-tool
Description: tools for generating an initramfs
This package contains tools to create and boot an initramfs for packaged 2.6
Linux kernel. The initramfs is a gzipped cpio archive. At boot time, the kernel
unpacks that archive into RAM, mounts and uses it as initial root file system.
The mounting of the real root file system occurs in early user space. klibc
provides utilities to setup root. Having the root on EVMS, MD, LVM2, LUKS or
NFS is also supported. Any boot loader with initrd support is able to load an
initramfs archive.

[user @ ~] aptitude show upstart
Package: upstart
State: installed
Automatically installed: no
Version: 0.6.5-6
Priority: required
Section: admin
Maintainer: Scott James Remnant <scott@ubuntu.com>
Uncompressed Size: 819k
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.4), libdbus-1-3 (>= 1.2.16), libnih-dbus1 (>= 1.0.0),
libnih1 (>= 1.0.0), libudev0 (>= 151-5), sysvinit-utils, sysv-rc,
initscripts, mountall, ifupdown (>= 0.6.8ubuntu29)
Conflicts: startup-tasks, system-services, sysvinit, upstart-compat-sysv,
upstart-job
Replaces: startup-tasks, system-services, sysvinit, upstart-compat-sysv,
upstart-job
Provides: startup-tasks, system-services, upstart-compat-sysv, upstart-job
Description: event-based init daemon
upstart is a replacement for the /sbin/init daemon which handles starting of
tasks and services during boot, stopping them during shutdown and supervising
them while the system is running.
Homepage: http://upstart.ubuntu.com/

[P4man]

There seems nothing wrong with your package manager. usplash is not supported on lucid. Im thinking your software sources may have entries for karmic that you manually added.

Can you post the contents of

/etc/apt/sources.list

[Brodie337]

# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 9.10 _lucid Koala_ - Release i386 (20091028.5)]/ lucid main restricted
deb-src http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid main restricted #Added by software-properties
# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.

deb http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid main restricted
deb-src http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid multiverse universe #Added by software-properties

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
deb http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-updates main restricted
deb-src http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-updates restricted main multiverse universe #Added by software-properties

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid universe
deb http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-updates universe

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
deb http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid multiverse
deb http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-updates multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'backports'
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
# deb http://hr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-backports main restricted universe multiverse
# deb-src http://hr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-backports main restricted universe multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu lucid partner
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu lucid partner

deb http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-security main restricted
deb-src http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-security restricted main multiverse universe #Added by software-properties
deb http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-security universe
deb http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-security multiverse

# deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/bisigi/ppa/ubuntu lucid main
# deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/bisigi/ppa/ubuntu lucid main

[P4man]

that looks okay as well, but it seems third party repositories are no longer in there, but moved to /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

Perhaps post the output of


ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

or check the "other software" tab in system > adminstration > software sources. Disable anything you dont know you need (and if there is something you need, post it here)

[Brodie337]

ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ returns nothing at all.

There's no other sources under "Other", apart from the standard Lucid repos.

[P4man]

Well, then Im running out of ideas then. But remind me, what is the problem exactly? I do get slightly different messages than you trying to install invalid or unavailable packages, but it seems you can update and install and remove apps that are actually available and installable, so whats the problem again (serious question, sounds more rhetorical than i mean it) ?

[Brodie337]

It appeared that there were broken packages after an upgrade to 10.04 failed (Sort of). The nly thing wrong with it was that when I rebooted, there was no splash screen, so I assumed usplash must be missing. Now I can see I should have been trying to install plymouth (facepalm!) instead, and thats why it was telling me that initramfs was broken.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to put up with a newbie like myself!

[P4man]

It appeared that there were broken packages after an upgrade to 10.04 failed (Sort of). The nly thing wrong with it was that when I rebooted, there was no splash screen, so I assumed usplash must be missing. Now I can see I should have been trying to install plymouth (facepalm!) instead, and thats why it was telling me that initramfs was broken.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to put up with a newbie like myself!

You might have had broken packages,but it looks like its fixed now. And indeed, lucid uses plymouth. If you dont get the splash screen try this:


echo FRAMEBUFFER=y | sudo tee /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/plymouth followed by:

sudo update-initramfs -u

That will slow your boot a tiny bit (like 0.5s) but might fix it (it did for me)

[charlesopondo]

This worked very well for me, and actually reduced my boot time substantially. The echo command was failing, though, even with sudo, so using the terminal I manually created the file:


sudo pico /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/splash

then inserted the text:


FRAMEBUFFER=y

exited, saving changes, then back to the terminal:


sudo update initramfs -u

and on rebooting saw the lovely Plymouth for the first time!