Warning: Critical issue in base-files 19.0.2 update

[DAMIEN1307]

As karlchen says,

Do not accept base-files 19.0.2, offered by Update Manager. - No. No. Please, do not install it.

DO NOT install 19.0.2

Clem was quite clear with his message about this towards the end of yesterdays announcement;

About 2h ago, the repositories were rolled back to version 19.0.1 of the base-files package. It can take up to 48h for this change to be picked up by all the mirrors.

You need to make sure that it says 19.0.1 before installing it...DAMIEN

[JVR]

I sincerely thank you all for your patience, kindness and hard work. I won't install updates until my mirror is itself updated. I am so glad I am back to business as usual.

Best regards,

JV

[Voltron]

Hello, Clem & all Linux Minters:

Just wanted to say that I saw this month's blog update and reviewed what was going on, regarding the latest updates. I wanted to add my appreciation for Clem, the Linux Mint developers, and the entire Linux Mint community, for all the support. Thank you so very much!

[meco]

After 3 horrible days I have acces to my PC again. Thank you so much for sharing this solution!

Tuesday I installed 2 updates and after that it wouldn't boot. Used live cd with Timeshift twice but did not solve it. Thought my SSD was corrupt so made a clone with clonezilla cd to backup my systemdata (i do make regular external backups of my personal data ofcourse). Did a fresh install of Mint with another hdd to come back online and finaly read this post.

Again thank you so much.. stress levels were very high. Still a little bit anxious to install updates now

Next time I have a backup-PC available so I am able to continue my activities. Learned a lesson

[linuxgrrl]

Oh my goodness, how many hours I spent trying to troubleshoot this. Whew. 7:00 a.m. and I now have a working computer!

[AndyMH]

Just wanted to say that I saw this month's blog update and reviewed what was going on, regarding the latest updates. I wanted to add my appreciation for Clem, the Linux Mint developers, and the entire Linux Mint community, for all the support. Thank you so very much!

Having had a moan about this taking me a day to fix before I found the problem, I suppose I should add that in over four years of using mint, this is the first bad thing that has happened that wasn't my fault - I've had plenty of those, always self-inflicted. So, yes, thanks to the mint team. A better track record than M$.

[MikZ]

tl;dr: Thank you.

It was the first time in about eight months that I needed to reboot my computer, and apparently I chose the wrong day. I agree with Voltron, and thank you for the easy-to-follow instructions. I had to get pointed to this thread by posting another, but in the end, this was the easiest boot fix ever.

[auspicker]

Hi Clem & Team

First off let me say how much I love Linux Mint, so happy to have found it after ditching Microsoft and Apple.

In relation to this issue, is it only an software update problem or is it an issue within the iso file of the installer meaning I will have to download an updated iso file?

On another note,

I currently use two versions of Mint 19.0 Cinnamon and 20.0 Cinnamon.

I have the V2 of the 19.0 iso but when I was checking my local download mirror (australia - internode) it was saying 19.0 and 20.0 was uploaded on the below dates

INTERNODE
linuxmint-19-cinnamon-64bit-v2.iso 1942355968 17-Jul-2018 14:01
and
linuxmint-20-cinnamon-64bit.iso 1984790528 24-Jun-2020 19:02

But the world mirror (evowise cdn) is saying there was an update this year. Seems 19.0 and 20.0 were uploaded to evowise on the same day so has there been an change to 19.0 iso?

EVOWISE CDN
linuxmint-19-cinnamon-64bit-v2.iso 18-Jul-2020 16:45 1942355968

linuxmint-20-cinnamon-64bit.iso 18-Jul-2020 16:47 1984790528

Because internode dont show a recent date when they have more stuff coming onto the mirror, it keeps the old sync dates.

Just confused if there has been any changes to the iso files since launch. Because why has evowise got a more recent file.

[karlchen]

Hello, auspicker.

About the faulty Mint 19 Tara update package base-files 19.0.2

In relation to this issue, is it only an software update problem or is it an issue within the iso file of the installer meaning I will have to download an updated iso file?

As Clem explained in his initial post the problem was caused by and affected precisely one single updated software package for Mint 19 Tara, base-files 19.0.2, published end of September 2020.

A critical issue was found in yesterday's base-file 19.0.2 update.

I.e.: it affected Mint 19 Tara only, no other Mint release. It affected this single updated package, no other packages. In particular it does not affect the base-files package, which the ISO image file linuxmint-19-cinnamon-64bit-v2.iso brings along.

About ISO image file dates on different mirror servers:
I cannot comment on why on different mirror servers, particular ISO image files may have been re-uploaded and why these files may have different timestamps.
Such questions can only be answered by the administrators managing those mirror servers.

Assuming that you have local copies of the 2 ISO image files in question:
+ linuxmint-19-cinnamon-64bit-v2.iso
+ linuxmint-20-cinnamon-64bit.iso

Simply use the Verify ISO images webpage and check your ISO image files against the published sha256 checksums for linuxmint-19-cinnamon-64bit-v2.iso and for linuxmint-20-cinnamon-64bit.iso. If your ISO's still match the published sha256 checksums, then there is no reason to worry about.

Best regards,
Karl

[monarch4]

I also was running 19 on one of my laptops. I'm glad to know it wasn't me. I like to tinker around. I tried over and over to get it going. I finally gave up and made sure my files were transferred to an external drive and I installed Linux Mint 20. I'm using that right now and it is excellent. Thanks for all you do.

[astuart]

Many thanks Clem, for the key-by-key instruction how to fix this. At least it kept me out out mischief all weekend.
Alastair

[richardamer]

Most grateful Clem, many thanks for the 'heads up' and fix... Kindest regards... Richard.

[Blindekinder]

I thought it was my many layers of Mint versions guilty. Fortunately, I had just made backup, so I installed 20 directly, which works nice!
Anyway, thank you for the quick fix!!!

[jharris1993]

This is why when I tell people about Linux, I tell them about Linux MINT.

Mistakes happen, we all get that.

What I like is that when something DOES happen, Clem steps right up, takes ownership, makes it right, and (most important in my opinion), he doesn't hide behind a bunch of smoke-and-mirrors. He tells us all exactly WHAT happened, WHY it happened, and (if necessary), WHAT is being done to prevent it from happening again.

This is the kind of transparency that I used to dream of when I was active in software QA, and is why Mint is my go-to distribution for everything Linux. (Except on the Pi. . . Lot's of berries but no Mint!)

[richardamer]

Hello... From my otherwise dead machine I followed Clem's advice to the letter and the boot problem is now fixed BUT with the additional irritant that on booting, the American Megatrend logo appears followed by the SET UP program followed again by the normal Linux Mint boot options screen... How do I prevent this 'delinquent' behaviour?? Kind regards... Richard.

[euphrates]

I'm on Mint 19.0 Tara and did have the nightmarish crash about a week ago. A belated thanks for the fix. As I understand from the previous posts in this thread, the base-files 19.0.2 update, which I still see on my update manager list, is still broken and I shouldn't install it. I've been skipping it for a while now, and would like to know whether it will be removed or when it will be safe to install it. I have a fast update script which I'm keen on using instead of the update manager GUI, and I fear I will run it out of muscle memory one day and will have the same trouble all over again. Thanks a lot.

[karlchen]

Hello, euphrates,

as Clem had explained in his initial post in this thread, the package base-files 19.0.2 has been reverted to 19.0.1 on the main Mint repo server.
It should no longer be offered to any Mint 19 Tara users by any other mirror server.
Have you tried clicking [Refresh] in your Update Manager? No more base-files 19.0.2 should be offered.
In case it will still be offered to you, then either the mirror server, which your system uses, fails to sync with the main Mint repo server properly. Or your system fails to refresh the list of available software properly.

Karl

[euphrates]

Hi Karl,
Thank you for your response. Base-files 19.0.2 disappeared once I refreshed the list. It didn't occur to me to refresh updates manually as I thought the update manager was already doing that periodically. It's good to learn that it doesn't.
Cheers

[druatmint]

Well done, feeling good to see you forward to take lessons.

[karlchen]

It didn't occur to me to refresh updates manually as I thought the update manager was already doing that periodically. It's good to learn that it doesn't.

Indeed Update Manager should automatically refresh the list of available software updates in regular intervals. Check under Update Manager => Edit => Preferences, which interval has been configured.
In case your Update Manager never refreshes itself, please, open a new thread and report so.