Update manager failure and ubuntu crash

[Gingalone]

Yesterday after an update process I got a Software Updater crash, it looks it's something that has to do with Linux headers package... A first window says: "the package system is broken"
Then the crash report title reads:
"update-manager crashed with linux-headers-generic in_show_trasaction(): Depends: linux-headers-3.13.0-105-generic but it is not installed".
I tried to fix the problem with Synaptic but got another error warning from it:

An error occurred
E: /var/cache/apt/archives/linux-headers-3.13.0-105-generic_3.13.0-105.152_i386.deb: unable to create `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.13.0-105-generic/include/config/reed/solomon/dec16.h.dpkg-new' (while processing `./usr/src/linux-headers-3.13.0-105-generic/include/config/reed/solomon/dec16.h'): No space left on device

I was surprised from the "No space left on device" statement since there is plenty of space on system disks...
Any idea???

[howefield]

Could be that /boot is full hence the "No space left on device" rather than the entirety of your system disks.

What's the output of..


df -i

df -h /boot

[Gingalone]

Thank you awefield, here's the output of the commands you suggested:

sudo df -i
[sudo] password for ginus:
Filesystem Inodes IUsed IFree IUse% Mounted on
udev 196206 557 195649 1% /dev
tmpfs 202895 609 202286 1% /run
/dev/sdb1 1466368 1466364 4 100% /
none 202895 2 202893 1% /sys/fs/cgroup
none 202895 3 202892 1% /run/lock
none 202895 61 202834 1% /run/shm
none 202895 30 202865 1% /run/user
/dev/sda3 28393472 177612 28215860 1% /home
/dev/sda2 1525920 15119 1510801 1% /var
/home/ginus/.Private 28393472 177612 28215860 1% /home/ginus

sudo df -h /boot
[sudo] password for ginus:
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sdb1 22G 20G 1,8G 92% /
It looks your diagnose correct and that I should free (how?) some space in sdb1 (which is a SSD disk) I never save files in that disk and so don't know how it went full of stuff...

[howefield]

Try to free up some inodes to allow you to properly update and upgrade.

Header packages use up thousands of inodes, so find and remove some of them..


dpkg -l | grep linux-headers

to list all installed headers packages and remove the oldest ones, do not remove the currently running ones. If you are not sure post back with the results of the dpkg command and also the output of..


uname -r

[Gingalone]

Thank you Howefield, in the attached file there is the output of the dpkg command you suggested (a lot of stuff there, 86 lines!) and the other:
uname -r
3.13.0-103-generic I need some hint on the inodes to delete (I'm not that ubuntu expert!)

[ian-weisser]

It's better to paste than to attach.


ii linux-headers-3.13.0-100 3.13.0-100.147 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0ii linux-headers-3.13.0-100-generic 3.13.0-100.147 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-101 3.13.0-101.148 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-101-generic 3.13.0-101.148 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-103 3.13.0-103.150 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-103-generic 3.13.0-103.150 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-105 3.13.0-105.152 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-32 3.13.0-32.57 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-32-generic 3.13.0-32.57 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-44 3.13.0-44.73 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-44-generic 3.13.0-44.73 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-45 3.13.0-45.74 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-45-generic 3.13.0-45.74 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-46 3.13.0-46.79 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-46-generic 3.13.0-46.79 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-48 3.13.0-48.80 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-48-generic 3.13.0-48.80 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-49 3.13.0-49.83 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-49-generic 3.13.0-49.83 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-51 3.13.0-51.84 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-51-generic 3.13.0-51.84 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-52 3.13.0-52.86 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-52-generic 3.13.0-52.86 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-53 3.13.0-53.89 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-53-generic 3.13.0-53.89 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-55 3.13.0-55.94 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-55-generic 3.13.0-55.94 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-57 3.13.0-57.95 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-57-generic 3.13.0-57.95 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-58 3.13.0-58.97 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-58-generic 3.13.0-58.97 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-59 3.13.0-59.98 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-59-generic 3.13.0-59.98 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-61 3.13.0-61.100 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-61-generic 3.13.0-61.100 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-62 3.13.0-62.102 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-62-generic 3.13.0-62.102 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-63 3.13.0-63.103 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-63-generic 3.13.0-63.103 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-65 3.13.0-65.106 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-65-generic 3.13.0-65.106 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-66 3.13.0-66.108 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-66-generic 3.13.0-66.108 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-67 3.13.0-67.110 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-67-generic 3.13.0-67.110 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-68 3.13.0-68.111 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-68-generic 3.13.0-68.111 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-71 3.13.0-71.114 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-71-generic 3.13.0-71.114 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-73 3.13.0-73.116 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-73-generic 3.13.0-73.116 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-74 3.13.0-74.118 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-74-generic 3.13.0-74.118 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-76 3.13.0-76.120 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-76-generic 3.13.0-76.120 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-77 3.13.0-77.121 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-77-generic 3.13.0-77.121 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-79 3.13.0-79.123 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-79-generic 3.13.0-79.123 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-83 3.13.0-83.127 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-83-generic 3.13.0-83.127 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-85 3.13.0-85.129 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-85-generic 3.13.0-85.129 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-86 3.13.0-86.131 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-86-generic 3.13.0-86.131 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-87 3.13.0-87.133 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-87-generic 3.13.0-87.133 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-88 3.13.0-88.135 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-88-generic 3.13.0-88.135 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-91 3.13.0-91.138 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-91-generic 3.13.0-91.138 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-92 3.13.0-92.139 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-92-generic 3.13.0-92.139 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-93 3.13.0-93.140 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-93-generic 3.13.0-93.140 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-95 3.13.0-95.142 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-95-generic 3.13.0-95.142 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-96 3.13.0-96.143 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-96-generic 3.13.0-96.143 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-98 3.13.0-98.145 all Header files related to Linux kernel version 3.13.0
ii linux-headers-3.13.0-98-generic 3.13.0-98.145 i386 Linux kernel headers for version 3.13.0 on 32 bit x86 SMP
iU linux-headers-generic 3.13.0.105.113 i386 Generic Linux kernel headers

Here is an example of how to remove the oldest set of kernel headers:

sudo dpkg --remove linux-headers-3.13.0-32 linux-headers-3.13.0-32-generic

Repeat for the -44, -45, -46, -48, etc headers.

After the first or second, you should have enough free space to use apt again.
Once apt is working, run the following to clear more additional space by removing orphaned packages and cached packages:

sudo apt autoremove
sudo apt autoclean

In addition to looking at linux-header package, look for obsolete linux-image packages, too.
DO NOT remove your currently-running kernel. That would be very very bad.
Best practice is to retain one older kernel in case of breakage.
Remove the rest exactly the same way you uninstalled the kernel-header packages. (apt autoremove should have dome most of this work for you)

Finally, survey the results of your effort.
Run 'df' again and see how much space you have freed.

[Gingalone]

Thank you ian-weisser, i did

sudo dpkg --remove linux-headers-3.13.0-32 linux-headers-3.13.0-32-generic removing a lot of headers (up to 79)
then I rebooted, but afterwords the apt commands were unsuccessful
sudo apt autoremove
[sudo] password for ginus:
E: Invalid operation autoremove
sudo apt autoclean
E: Invalid operation autoclean and the problem is just there: broken system pakage...

[ian-weisser]

Ah, you are using an older release of Ubuntu.
Use 'apt-get' instead of 'apt' for autoremove and autoclean.

Please show us an entire apt-get output showing the 'broken system package' error and you you got the error.

[Gingalone]

Please show us an entire apt-get output showing the 'broken system package' error and you you got the error.here we go:
sudo apt-get autoremove
[sudo] password for ginus:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
linux-headers-generic : Depends: linux-headers-3.13.0-105-generic but it is not installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try using -f.

sudo apt-get autoclean
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Del gstreamer1.0-pulseaudio 1.2.4-1~ubuntu1.1 [48,9 kB]
Del linux-image-generic 3.13.0.101.109 [2.324 B]
Del linux-tools-virtual-lts-vivid 3.19.0.74.56 [2.342 B]
Del libmagickcore5-extra 8:6.7.7.10-6ubuntu3.2 [55,0 kB]
Del libgstreamer-plugins-good1.0-0 1.2.4-1~ubuntu1.1 [30,9 kB]
Del linux-image-generic 3.13.0.103.111 [2.322 B]
Del linux-generic 3.13.0.101.109 [1.786 B]
Del gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio 0.10.31-3+nmu1ubuntu5.1 [98,8 kB]
Del libmagickwand5 8:6.7.7.10-6ubuntu3.2 [235 kB]
Del libmagickcore5 8:6.7.7.10-6ubuntu3.2 [1.386 kB]
Del ghostscript 9.10~dfsg-0ubuntu10.5 [40,8 kB]
Del firefox 50.0+build2-0ubuntu0.14.04.2 [45,2 MB]
Del libgstreamer-plugins-bad0.10-0 0.10.23-7.2ubuntu1.2 [132 kB]
Del linux-headers-generic 3.13.0.103.111 [2.302 B]
Del linux-headers-generic 3.13.0.101.109 [2.320 B]
Del linux-libc-dev 3.13.0-101.148 [770 kB]
Del linux-libc-dev 3.13.0-103.150 [771 kB]
Del gstreamer0.10-gconf 0.10.31-3+nmu1ubuntu5.1 [68,0 kB]
Del gstreamer0.10-plugins-good 0.10.31-3+nmu1ubuntu5.1 [1.344 kB]
Del firefox-locale-en 50.0+build2-0ubuntu0.14.04.2 [646 kB]
Del gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad 0.10.23-7.2ubuntu1.2 [1.137 kB]
Del imagemagick-common 8:6.7.7.10-6ubuntu3.2 [37,8 kB]
Del gstreamer1.0-plugins-good 1.2.4-1~ubuntu1.1 [1.260 kB]
Del ghostscript-x 9.10~dfsg-0ubuntu10.5 [33,2 kB]
Del libgs9-common 9.10~dfsg-0ubuntu10.5 [2.066 kB]
Del linux-tools-virtual-lts-vivid 3.19.0.75.57 [2.328 B]
Del linux-generic 3.13.0.103.111 [1.782 B]
Del imagemagick 8:6.7.7.10-6ubuntu3.2 [188 kB]
Del libgs9 9.10~dfsg-0ubuntu10.5 [1.892 kB]
Del samba 2:4.1.6+dfsg-1ubuntu2.14.04.13 [999 B]
Del libwbclient0 2:4.1.6+dfsg-1ubuntu2.14.04.13 [999 B]
Del thunderbird-locale-en-us 1:38.6.0+build1-0ubuntu0.14.04.1 [999 B]
Del libsmbclient 2:4.1.6+dfsg-1ubuntu2.14.04.13 [999 B]
Del thunderbird-gnome-support 1:38.6.0+build1-0ubuntu0.14.04.1 [999 B]
Del thunderbird-locale-en 1:38.6.0+build1-0ubuntu0.14.04.1 [999 B]
Del thunderbird 1:38.6.0+build1-0ubuntu0.14.04.1 [999 B]
Del samba-vfs-modules 2:4.1.6+dfsg-1ubuntu2.14.04.13 [999 B]
Del samba-dsdb-modules 2:4.1.6+dfsg-1ubuntu2.14.04.13 [999 B]
Del python-samba 2:4.1.6+dfsg-1ubuntu2.14.04.13 [999 B]
Del samba-common 2:4.1.6+dfsg-1ubuntu2.14.04.13 [999 B]
Del samba-libs 2:4.1.6+dfsg-1ubuntu2.14.04.13 [999 B]

Then, as suggested by apt-get, I did
sudo apt-get -f install
Then I made run the update manager and got no "Broken system package" warning!
Solved, thank you!