View Full Version : [ubuntu] dpkg: failed to open package info file
jonny_bowes
December 12th, 2010, 11:08 PM
He all!
Full error dpkg: failed to open package info file `/var/lib/dpkg/available' for reading: Input/output error
Runing 10.10 on USB.All was fine until a week ago then when trying to update I get that error.
Ive followed instructions in many threads to no avail. Heres what ive done and the result.
sudo apt-get update
No error,all download fine
sudo apt-get upgrade
Preconfiguring packages ...
dpkg: failed to open package info file `/var/lib/dpkg/available' for reading: Input/output error
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2)
sudo apt-get install -f
dpkg: failed to open package info file `/var/lib/dpkg/available' for reading: Input/output error
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2)
sudo dpkg --clear-avail && sudo apt-get update
dpkg: failed to link '/var/lib/dpkg/available' to '/var/lib/dpkg/available-old' for backup of available database: Input/output error
sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/available
rm: cannot remove `/var/lib/dpkg/available': Input/output error
sudo cp /var/lib/dpkg/available-old /var/lib/dpkg/available
cp: accessing `/var/lib/dpkg/available': Input/output error
Any help would be great!!
drs305
December 12th, 2010, 11:14 PM
It may generate the same error message, but there is a specific command to remove the file. Try:
sudo dpkg --clear-avail
jonny_bowes
December 12th, 2010, 11:49 PM
sudo dpkg --clear-avail
dpkg: failed to link '/var/lib/dpkg/available' to '/var/lib/dpkg/available-old' for backup of available database: Input/output error
matt_symes
December 13th, 2010, 10:10 PM
Hi
What happens if you type
cat /var/lib/dpkg/available
Can you see the contents of the file?
Kind regards
jonny_bowes
December 13th, 2010, 10:45 PM
Hi Matt,
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ cat /var/lib/dpkg/available
cat: /var/lib/dpkg/available: Input/output error
booooo
matt_symes
December 13th, 2010, 10:55 PM
Hi
From a USB pen drive? Hmmmm.
I am beginning to think it's a hardware issue. Pen drives are not great for OS's as the cells have a life time.
From (if you trust wiki) <someone will pick me up on this if it is no longer revelent>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory#Memory_wear
Another limitation is that flash memory has a finite number of program-erase cycles (typically written as P/E cycles). Most commercially available flash products are guaranteed to withstand around 100,000 P/E cycles, before the wear begins to deteriorate the integrity of the storage.[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory#cite_note-6) Micron Technology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micron_Technology) and Sun Microsystems (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Microsystems) announced an SLC flash memory chip rated for 1,000,000 P/E cycles on December 17, 2008.[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory#cite_note-7)
Kind regards
jonny_bowes
December 13th, 2010, 10:59 PM
Hi Matt,
thanks for input.This pendrive is about 2 months old,max.I only boot from it a few times a week.
I'll fdisk it anyway to see.
matt_symes
December 13th, 2010, 11:49 PM
Hi
I have edited this post a couple of times because i did not want to give incorrect information.
I assume you have installed Ubuntu to the pen drive and it is not a LiveUSB?
If this is so then check the filing system by opening a terminal and typing
sudo touch /forcefsck
This will force a filing system check the next time the pen drive is booted.
Also, i would try to get some software to validate the pen drive itself to check for hardware problems.
Kind regards
AllGamer
May 18th, 2011, 02:56 PM
i've got exactly the same issue
so far i got all the same feedback from the OP, and nothing seems to be working.
at the moment trying to fix it from another machine via live CD
-- Update 1 --
found the problem...
I ran testdisk and it gave me this:
Warning: Bad starting sector (CHS and LBA don't match)
seems like a simple repartitioning with Gparted using match to Cylinder instead of Mib should solve the problem
-- Update 2 ---
SOLVED!
TestDisk 6.11, Data Recovery Utility, April 2009
Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
http://www.cgsecurity.org
Disk /dev/sdb - 32 GB / 30 GiB - CHS 3948 255 63
Current partition structure:
Partition Start End Size in sectors
1 * FAT32 LBA 0 0 33 1973 254 63 31712278 [LINUX-USB]
Bad relative sector.
2 P Linux 1974 0 1 3947 254 63 31712310 [casper-rw]
after it booted back into the OS, it no longer had i/o errors
AllGamer
May 18th, 2011, 11:14 PM
just an additional note, it also helps to mark all the bad sectors if any on the USB stick
sudo e2fsck -c -k -C 0 /dev/sdb2 (replace with your usb device location)
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