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I ran the software updater, which updated Ubuntu base on 32 bit 15.04, which as I understand it includes the Linux kernel and it was taking so long (after several hours it still hadn't finished) I felt it must have already finished the job, just the GUI must have stalled. So what I did was I rebooted my PC as I thought this would get the new kernel up and running. But when I tried to install subversion once rebooted it gave me the error:

    E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'sudo dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem. 

I ran sudo dpkg --configure -a but it is taking forever (four hours so far) to finish the job. I have 3.8 GB RAM, my CPU is an Intel Core i5 M460 @ 2.53 GHz x 2, I have over 260 GB HDD space free and my current kernel is 3.19.0-20-generic, but the version of the kernel I am attempting to install with dpkg is 3.19.0-21-generic. If relevant my desktop environment is Cinnamon 2.2.16, although I am running Ubuntu and not Linux Mint. This is my output message from running sudo dpkg --configure -a:

Setting up linux-image-3.19.0-21-generic (3.19.0-21.21) ...
Running depmod.
update-initramfs: deferring update (hook will be called later)
initrd.img(/boot/initrd.img-3.19.0-21-generic
) points to /boot/initrd.img-3.19.0-21-generic
 (/boot/initrd.img-3.19.0-21-generic) -- doing nothing at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.19.0-21-generic.postinst line 491.
vmlinuz(/boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-21-generic
) points to /boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-21-generic
 (/boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-21-generic) -- doing nothing at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.19.0-21-generic.postinst line 491.
Examining /etc/kernel/postinst.d.
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/apt-auto-removal 3.19.0-21-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-21-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools 3.19.0-21-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-21-generic
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.19.0-21-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/pm-utils 3.19.0-21-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-21-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/unattended-upgrades 3.19.0-21-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-21-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/update-notifier 3.19.0-21-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-21-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub 3.19.0-21-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-21-generic
Generating grub configuration file ...
Warning: Setting GRUB_TIMEOUT to a non-zero value when GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT is set is no longer supported.
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-21-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.19.0-21-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-20-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.19.0-20-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-15-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.19.0-15-generic
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.elf
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
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  • It can't take hours unless it is downloaded slowly.
    – Pilot6
    Jun 16, 2015 at 16:24
  • My internet connection is fine, web pages load without a problem, downloading with wget (which I started long after I ran this command if you're wondering whether this could be what's slowing it) is working fine with >200 kB/s achieved easily, and up to 700 kB/s possible.
    – Josh Pinto
    Jun 16, 2015 at 16:26
  • Id try to purge old unused kernels first. maybe you have too many kernel modules that are taking a long time to compile? just a thought
    – trve.fahad
    Jun 16, 2015 at 16:41
  • @Zeus77 I think I only have the one, namely the one I'm using as running uname -r gives: 3.19.0-20-generic.
    – Josh Pinto
    Jun 16, 2015 at 16:44
  • Nope, there are 3.19.0-21-generic, 3.19.0-20-generic and 3.19.0-15-generic, according to the above output. Jun 16, 2015 at 17:59

1 Answer 1

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Aha, I found the solution myself! What I did was I rebooted from a live USB and repaired grub (according to this guide), as I noticed that line in the message generated by sudo dpkg --configure -a namely Warning: Setting GRUB_TIMEOUT to a non-zero value when GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT is set is no longer supported. and it made me wonder what would happen if I repaired grub. After booting back into Ubuntu on my HDD I re-ran sudo dpkg --configure -a and it installed the new kernel in what seemed like less than a minute.

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