Failed to upgrade to 16.04 - too many errors?

[beenny]

Hello,

I tried to upgrade from 14.04 to 16.04 and it stopped part way through saying there were too many errors.

it says that the version is 16.04



]$lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS
Release: 16.04
Codename: xenial


However when I try: sudo dpkg --configure -a



]$sudo dpkg --configure -a
...
Errors were encountered while processing:
binfmt-support
speech-dispatcher
whoopsie
grub-common
initscripts
kerneloops-daemon
irqbalance
cron
sane-utils
gnome-orca
ubuntu-standard
keyboard-configuration
grub-pc-bin
grub-pc
grub2-common
xserver-xorg-core
mdadm
xserver-xorg-video-radeon
procps
xserver-xorg
grub-gfxpayload-lists
openssh-server
xserver-xorg-video-vesa
openvpn
udev
xserver-xorg-video-amdgpu
gnome-bluetooth
xserver-xorg-video-cirrus
xserver-xorg-video-tdfx
upstart
samba
ubuntu-minimal
xserver-xorg-input-wacom
console-setup-linux
nvidia-340
nvidia-331-updates
xserver-xorg-input-synaptics
unity-greeter
bluez
xserver-xorg-video-mach64
indicator-bluetooth
python3-checkbox-support
xorg
python3-checkbox-ng
xserver-xorg-video-ati
nvidia-340-updates
pulseaudio
plainbox-provider-checkbox
xserver-xorg-video-sisusb
console-setup
xserver-xorg-video-intel
Processing was halted because there were too many errors.


Running: sudo apt-get upgrade gives a whole bunch of errors (i get forum errors when trying to paste the full output)

Things mostly seem to be working normally but I am noticing some random errors - for example it doesn't seem to recognize my network printer anymore - and am obviously a bit concerned that things underneath are not stable.

Before I try to reinstall the backup image from 14.04 or just go for fresh install any thoughts would be appreciated...

bg

[ian-weisser]

Try installing 16.04 afresh first.
If that fails, then use your 14.04 backup image.

Most upgrade failures are due to non-Ubuntu software. Non-Ubuntu software should be uninstalled before upgrading to a new release of Ubuntu.

[beenny]

Thanks for the reply - that seems odd as I've never had that issue before. And while I know direct upgrades aren't the safest approach, having to reinstall and configure external software (virtual box, vpns etc.) is a pretty big nuisance and the appeal of the direct upgrade.

is there a way to fix the errors without a fresh install or have i missed the boat on that?