I have been affected by this bug described here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/linuxmint/+bug/889706
I did not realize that I could restart gnome by Alt + Ctrl + backspace so when my gnome died, I just hit the power switch. I think this caused some files to become corrupted. I now have to try about 3 times to get my computer to boot (on the first try, I get blank screen, one the second try, it starts printing what it is loading on the screen, but never makes it through complete, then on the 3rd try, it usually boots to Gnome). I also cannot install any patches. When I try, I get the message below. I have my home directory backed up, but of course I don't want to have to reinstall everything. Is there a way that I can 1) repair corrupted system files / configurations 2) fix the system updater error described directly below? I tried sudo apt-get clean, update, and upgrade, but no good.
Preconfiguring packages ...
(Reading database ... 60%dpkg: unrecoverable fatal error, aborting:
reading files list for package 'language-pack-gnome-en-base': Input/output error
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2)
A package failed to install. Trying to recover:




