update problems [Solved]

Archived topics about LMDE 1 and LMDE 2
Locked
victorsk

update problems [Solved]

Post by victorsk »

Hi everyone,

I ran the LMDE update through the icon tray menu and when I restarted the last line during startup was that it's starting gdm3 and the screen went permanently blank after that and never switched into login screen.

I tried using "recovery mode" and run the 'apt-install update'. I got the error saying that this command is broken and I should use something like 'dpkg-reconfigure --install -a' (what I loosely remember). It went through a series of setups after that like configuring grub and optional fonts and lots of other configurations which asked me input 'N' for default and that seemed like it will make things right again but it didn't. When I rebooted the machine I got the same problem - blank screen after the startup process finishes.

Does anybody have an idea what might have went wrong? Any possible solutions?

Thank you,
Victor.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
victorsk

Re: update problems

Post by victorsk »

bump.

I still haven't found a solution to the aforementioned problem - can't use LMDE as it won't show login screen. Using openSUSE as a fallback until problem is fixed.
LifeInTheGrey
Level 3
Level 3
Posts: 145
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:38 pm
Location: Boston

Re: update problems

Post by LifeInTheGrey »

victorsk wrote:Hi everyone,

I ran the LMDE update through the icon tray menu and when I restarted the last line during startup was that it's starting gdm3 and the screen went permanently blank after that and never switched into login screen.

I tried using "recovery mode" and run the 'apt-install update'. I got the error saying that this command is broken and I should use something like 'dpkg-reconfigure --install -a' (what I loosely remember). It went through a series of setups after that like configuring grub and optional fonts and lots of other configurations which asked me input 'N' for default and that seemed like it will make things right again but it didn't. When I rebooted the machine I got the same problem - blank screen after the startup process finishes.

Does anybody have an idea what might have went wrong? Any possible solutions?

Thank you,
Victor.
Well ... for one, apt-install update is the wrong command. There are a couple variations, but the best one is:

apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade

One you may want to run before that, however, is:

apt-get -f install

This will install any missing dependencies and packages that are necessary for the system to function well. If neither of those work, you can try this one:

apt-get install gdm3 --reinstall

This will reinstall gdm3 in all its original glory. I use this somewhat frequently to reinstall gnome-keyring. Hopefully armed with those commands you can make some progress.
Last edited by LifeInTheGrey on Mon Jul 25, 2011 2:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
the beauty of linux is that the rabbit hole goes as deep as you want it to go.
zerozero

Re: update problems

Post by zerozero »

Victor, sorry i missed this one the first time;
in recovery mode try

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
next

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get -f install
and

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
if this doesn't solve the issue you can try

Code: Select all

sudo dpkg --configure --pending
report back :D
victorsk

Re: update problems

Post by victorsk »

LifeInTheGrey wrote: Well ... for one, apt-install update is the wrong command.
Yuikes! That's pretty serious :mrgreen:

I tried all the commands in both replies but none of them seem to work :( When I run

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
I get a long list of "Failed to fetch" statements. I just picked one at random from the screen and it says:

Code: Select all

Failed to fetch http://ftp.debian.org/debian/pool/main/linux...
I also tried 'apt-get install gdm3 --reinstall' . It seemed like the process completed successfully, just as the command 'sudo dpkg --configure --pending' (didn't return any errors).

However, when I reboot and startup text finishes I get into a dark screen and nothing happens afterwards. I don't think I did anything wrong during the update process - I let everything finish up naturally and rebooted and can't get into the login screen anymore :(

This is the biggest hiccup I have with LMDE so far, before that everything ran just great. Any ideas what might have gone wrong?
LifeInTheGrey
Level 3
Level 3
Posts: 145
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:38 pm
Location: Boston

Re: update problems

Post by LifeInTheGrey »

victorsk wrote:
LifeInTheGrey wrote: Well ... for one, apt-install update is the wrong command.
Yuikes! That's pretty serious :mrgreen:

I tried all the commands in both replies but none of them seem to work :( When I run

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
I get a long list of "Failed to fetch" statements. I just picked one at random from the screen and it says:

Code: Select all

Failed to fetch http://ftp.debian.org/debian/pool/main/linux...
I also tried 'apt-get install gdm3 --reinstall' . It seemed like the process completed successfully, just as the command 'sudo dpkg --configure --pending' (didn't return any errors).

However, when I reboot and startup text finishes I get into a dark screen and nothing happens afterwards. I don't think I did anything wrong during the update process - I let everything finish up naturally and rebooted and can't get into the login screen anymore :(

This is the biggest hiccup I have with LMDE so far, before that everything ran just great. Any ideas what might have gone wrong?
Hmm, well the Failed to fetch statements usually refer to a bad connection to the server, but if u were able to reinstall gmd3 its not ur internet connection. Edit your /etc/apt/sources.list file to have ftp.us.debian.org instead of ftp.debian.org (assuming you don't want to use the new "debian.linuxmint.com/latest" repo).

Other than that ... bad as it sounds, I'd wipe and reinstall. You can back up your files once you're booted to the liveCD (just mount the internal drive and copy), and then update using the new repo. I am happy to help with that process, if you'd like.
the beauty of linux is that the rabbit hole goes as deep as you want it to go.
victorsk

Re: update problems

Post by victorsk »

Hi,

Thank you for the message. Yes, I had to re-install LMDE over but it's ok because I distribute important files over other partitions so no big damage was done. I think I just got too complacent having everything work in LMDE so I took for granted that update process and didn't execute commands you mentioned thoroughly to double check. But I ran the updates first thing after new install executing each and every commands you and another contributor suggested and it all seems to work except that now when I choose 'restart' the system doesn't do a computer reboot but it just loops through as if it's restarting and then goes back to login screen.

Thanks,
Victor.
LifeInTheGrey
Level 3
Level 3
Posts: 145
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:38 pm
Location: Boston

Re: update problems

Post by LifeInTheGrey »

victorsk wrote:Hi,

Thank you for the message. Yes, I had to re-install LMDE over but it's ok because I distribute important files over other partitions so no big damage was done. I think I just got too complacent having everything work in LMDE so I took for granted that update process and didn't execute commands you mentioned thoroughly to double check. But I ran the updates first thing after new install executing each and every commands you and another contributor suggested and it all seems to work except that now when I choose 'restart' the system doesn't do a computer reboot but it just loops through as if it's restarting and then goes back to login screen.

Thanks,
Victor.
Yeah, thats because of kexec. Simple command to eliminate:

sudo apt-get purge kexec-tools

Boom, you're all good!

edit: additional favor,can you also mark this guy as solved? allows people to focus on other stuff still affecting people. :)
the beauty of linux is that the rabbit hole goes as deep as you want it to go.
Locked

Return to “LMDE Archive”