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I let the PC install lots of updates at once and after restart, I got a console screen with an error message saying something about udevadm. Google told me it's a known bug caused by the system prompting for restart before configuring is over. I tried the solution suggested there, which was to boot from a live cd, chroot into the normal install and run 

dpkg --configure -a

I got lots of errors, and now trying to boot results in a different error message:

Kernel panic - not syncing: No init found. Try passing init= option to kernel.

-.-.-

Update: Using Darth Android's suggestion, I was able to run dpkg --configure -a without error messages. However, booting into 2.6.23.25 still produces the Kernel not syncing error message, booting into 2.6.32.24 (the kernel from which the first update started) still produces the udevadm error message, and only booting into 2.6.32.23 works. I haven't tried booting into older kernel versions.

-.-.-

Any suggestions how to repair the PC? Right now, I cannot get Internet while booting from the live cd, so I'd prefer options which don't need it.

The OS is Ubuntu 10.04 64 bit. The details of the configuring bug are here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/devmapper/+bug/358654/comments/0

The error message from dpkg is:

root@ubuntu:/# dpkg --configure -a Setting up samba-common (2:3.4.7~dfsg-1ubuntu3.2) ... sh: cannot create /dev/null: Permission denied sh: cannot create /dev/null: Permission denied Can't open /dev/null: Permission denied dpkg: error processing samba-common (--configure): subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 13 Setting up linux-headers-2.6.32-25-generic (2.6.32-25.44) ... Examining /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d. run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms 2.6.32-25-generic /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-25-generic /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms: line 7: /dev/null: Permission denied run-parts: /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms exited with return code 1 Failed to process /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-headers-2.6.32-25-generic.postinst line 110. dpkg: error processing linux-headers-2.6.32-25-generic (--configure): subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 2 dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of smbclient: smbclient depends on samba-common (= 2:3.4.7~dfsg-1ubuntu3.2); however: Package samba-common is not configured yet. dpkg: error processing smbclient (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured Setting up linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic (2.6.32-24.43) ... Examining /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d. run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms 2.6.32-24-generic /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms: line 7: /dev/null: Permission denied run-parts: /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms exited with return code 1 Failed to process /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic.postinst line 110. dpkg: error processing linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic (--configure): subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 2 Setting up gnome-terminal-data (2.30.2-0ubuntu1) ... Traceback (most recent call last): File "/usr/sbin/gconf-schemas", line 107, in fd = os.open("/dev/null",os.O_WRONLY) OSError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/dev/null' dpkg: error processing gnome-terminal-data (--configure): subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1 dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of samba-common-bin: samba-common-bin depends on samba-common (>= 2:3.4.0~pre1-2); however: Package samba-common is not configured yet. dpkg: error processing samba-common-bin (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-headers-generic: linux-headers-generic depends on linux-headers-2.6.32-25-generic; however: Package linux-headers-2.6.32-25-generic is not configured yet. dpkg: error processing linux-headers-generic (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of gnome-terminal: gnome-terminal depends on gnome-terminal-data (>= 2.30); however: Package gnome-terminal-data is not configured yet. gnome-terminal depends on gnome-terminal-data (<< 2.31); however: Package gnome-terminal-data is not configured yet. dpkg: error processing gnome-terminal (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured Errors were encountered while processing: samba-common linux-headers-2.6.32-25-generic smbclient linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic gnome-terminal-data samba-common-bin linux-headers-generic gnome-terminal

Sorry for the lack of formatting, posting from the phone and repairing it on this keyboard is next to impossible.

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2
  • Which guide were you using? Can you link it?
    – Darth Android
    Oct 4, 2010 at 19:46
  • The guide is in the launchpad link I included in the post just before the error message dump. Mounting as described there didn't work, so I double clicked the boot hdd in a root-rights nautilus instead.
    – rumtscho
    Oct 4, 2010 at 19:56

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

Follow that guide again, but after the chroot command, try the following before running dpkg -a --configure:

mount -t proc proc /proc
mount -t devtmpfs none /dev

And before running exit, remember to umount:

umount /proc
umount /dev

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5
  • now dpkg ran without errors, outputting "setting up linux-headers-2.6.32-25-generic (2.6.32-25.44) ..." and "setting up linux-headers-generic (2.6.32.25.27) ..." among other messages. But the errors stayed (udevadm when booting 2.6.32.24 and kernel init when booting 2.6.32.25). 2.6.32.23 boots.
    – rumtscho
    Oct 4, 2010 at 21:30
  • 1
    @rumtscho Try sudo dpkg-reconfigure linux-image-generic. If that doesn't help, try sudo apt-get install --reinstall linux-image-generic. Make sure to tell the system "no" if it prompts to reboot in the middle of either of these commands. After the command finishes, reboot to test if it worked.
    – Darth Android
    Oct 4, 2010 at 23:13
  • This did nothing visible (didn't try apt-get). Running dpkg-reconfigure -a from the 2.6.32.23 kernel (not from the live CD) solved the problem. I don't understand why it worked when dpkg --configure -a ran from the same kernel had no result, but I am happy that I didn't need a reinstall.
    – rumtscho
    Oct 5, 2010 at 9:26
  • @rumtscho dpkg --configure -a only configured the remaining packages; if the system considered the kernel already configured, it wouldn't have touched it. dpkg--reconfigure linux-image-generic tells the system to redo all the configuration scripts for that package, even if it's already been configured.
    – Darth Android
    Oct 5, 2010 at 15:03
  • What about: mount sysfs /sys -t sysfs
    – JoelFan
    May 3, 2012 at 2:36
1

It looks as if your current kernel is only partly installed. Does GRUB give you the choice of using an older kernel? It should. If so, try that.

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2
  • The kernel from which I updated still has the old error message about the udevadm (the one I intended to repair by running dpkg configure). The next older one boots just fine. I am now afraid to run a "normal" update from the booted kernel, maybe it will get corrupted in the same way. Should I run the update manager, or is there another way to fully install the newer kernel?
    – rumtscho
    Oct 4, 2010 at 20:16
  • The most obvious way is to download the latest Ubuntu installer and reinstall. You can get a complete list of your current packages with "dpkg --get-selections" and install them all again after reinstallation.
    – CarlF
    Oct 4, 2010 at 20:18

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