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Relatively new to Linux but have been running an Ubuntu webserver problemfree for about a year now. However,

After running

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

it complained about being unable to upgrade due to a package and suggested me to run the same command with the -f flag, so I did. Didn't help, still complained about a broken package.

Anyway, I restarted the whole computer using

sudo shutdown -r now

And now it is unable to complete a boot up. It gets stuck at

Stopping set console keymap

Stopping configure virtual network devices

And then nothing happens no matter how long I wait.

What has happened and how can I fix this? Would prefer not reinstalling the whole system.

Thankful for help!

Screenshot:

enter image description here

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7
  • I can choose between Ubuntu with Linux 3.5.0-34-generic, Linux 3.5.0-34-generic (recovery mode), Previous Linux versions, memtest86+ / memtest 86+ serial console. I dont see any failsafe mode :( – Anka Jan 3 '14 at 4:16
  • sorry I meant recovery mode not fail safe; if you can connect via Ethernet cable you should be able to finish your update, else it's gonna get a bit messy, and I'd recommend the install CD instead. – virtualxtc Jan 3 '14 at 4:20
  • It's currently been running via wireless but I can connect an ethnernet cable if needed for the update. Added a screenshot of the boot failure if it helps in the original post. Anyway how exactly do I go about with repairing this from the Recovery menu? – Anka Jan 3 '14 at 4:38
  • oh, that looks like a drive / mount problem, not just a broken package. Verify your drive cables are all properly seated and try again. If you still get the error, the fastest thing to do is a fresh install (maintaining your home directories), but if for some reason you don't want to do that you should change your question to reflect that you are having mount problems. – virtualxtc Jan 3 '14 at 4:51
  • Unfortunly that can't be the problem. The cables are fine. The server has been standing physically untouched since it was put online 1 year ago. All I did was to SSH into my server and run a apt-get update and upgrade as I do from time to time, but this time it complained about a broken package hence didn't let me run the apt-get upgrade command. Ran the apt-get -f upgrade as it asked me to do, didn't help. Decided to do a restart and it gets stuck in that screen. The computer only has that one single drive (Intel SSD.) – Anka Jan 3 '14 at 5:00
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Try deleting the lock file i.e

rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock

and then run

dpkg-reconfigure -a

(sudo shouldn't be necessary since you are logged in to single user mode)

If you can't run that, then it's a mount issue / your dive is likely mounted as read-only try:

mount -o rw,remount / 
dpkg-reconfigure -a

Use aptitude instead of apt-get updates (and for future installs) as it keeps a much better log of which packages were installed as dependencies, and will provide you with a lot more options if you run into packages that have problems.

aptitude update && aptitude upgrade
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10
  • After running the first command: Cannot remove /var/lib/dpkg/lock - Read only file system – Anka Jan 3 '14 at 5:47
  • mount -o rw,remount / gave no output after execution, so I assume it was successful. :) What would be the next step? – Anka Jan 3 '14 at 5:58
  • I ran dpkg-reconfigure -a (I assume it was a typo, googled it because it complained about --reconfigure being unknown). It was working for a while and gave no output in return, so I assume success on running that command. Next step? – Anka Jan 3 '14 at 6:12
  • Did the two aptitudes now. "Current status 4 updates [-76]. Errors were encountered initramfs-tools, linux-image-3.5.0-45-generic, linux-image-generic-lfs-quantal, linux-generic-lfs-quantal, udev, apparmor" – Anka Jan 3 '14 at 6:24
  • clear you cache: aptitude clean then install each problematic package one-by-one ie: aptitude install initramfs-tools – virtualxtc Jan 3 '14 at 6:32

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