Upgrade hangs at 'Configuring grub-pc' [SOLVED]

[ron_h]

LMDE 201403 Cinnamon 64 bit

I have a 'test' LMDE system on one partition of the only hard drive of a netbook. The netbook is not my primary PC. Other partitions contain Win 7 Starter which I hardly ever use and an LMDE system I use as my prime operating system when I'm travelling with the netbook. A Grub menu allows me to choose which partition to boot, and I chose the 'test' LMDE system today so as to upgrade it to LMDE2.

I am trying to follow the 'Upgrade from 'LMDE 1 to LMDE 2' tutorial. Step 1, OK, APT Source modified. Step 2, OK, APT Cache updated. Step 3, OK, packages installed. Step 4, I don't use a screensaver, so did nothing. Step 5, dist-upgrade In progress. I've taken the defaults whenever asked for input during this step. Now got to "Configuring grub-pc', the terminal has a text box describing what options are going to be available for use with grub-pc, and I hit Enter to continue, and nothing happens. BTW since the netbook already uses Grub to select between partitions, I'm a little concerned, but am hoping if it does proceed, this will not impact access to my production LMDE system nor to Win 7.

Anyway,can someone please advise how to make the configuring grub-pc step continue ?

Ron

[ron_h]

I shut down the netbook to go to bed. Powered up this morning, and did 'apt dist-upgrade' again. Hangs at the same 'Configuring grub-pc' screen.

I really do want to successfully upgrade, I don't want the hassle of a new install then 'tweaking' it. I need to be able to successfully upgrade both the LMDE partitions on the netbook, not to mention the LMDE system on my desktop PC, so would like to know how to get the upgrade process moving again.

I assume at this point my test system is part updated and therefore FUBAR so I guess if all else fails I'll have to reformat the test partition and start again.

Ron

[Lanser]

ron_h. Not sure why the grub update step is failing in your upgrade, but as I remember it was the last step in the process.
Have you tried booting into your main LMDE and running update-grub from there ?


Lanser

[ron_h]

That sounds reasonable but I really am pretty much a Linux newbie so what would I know ..,

I closed the 'Configuring grub-pc' terminal, and then restarted the system. The test LMDE (in whatever state it is after the upgrade so far is now running.

>> Just reread the last post, do I understand I need to boot the main LMDE not the test LMDE in order to run update-grub ?

Do I invoke update-grub by starting it in a terminal ? And do I need sudo ?

I would like to know if possible what this will do if anything as far as the Grub menu entries are concerned for the primary LMDE partition and the Win 7 partition.

Ron

[Lanser]

Hi ron_h. Just boot into your normal LMDE and open a terminal session. Type

Code: Select all

sudo update-grub

and the grub updater will look for partitions with bootable operating systems.
With luck you should see that your new LMDE2 test environment is now listed. You can then re-boot into LMDE2 and check that all updates have been successful.

BTW You have one "GRUB" on your single disk machine.
So if you had three linux instances installed in three bootable partitions, all three would point to the same boot loader files.
So when you run update-grub inside any instance it should include the current OS and any others it finds on the drive.

Lanser

[ron_h]

Many thanks, I did not realise that I had only one GRUB ! On reflection, I should have done.

I rebooted to my primary LMDE, and ran update-grub. It said it found LMDE 2 Betsy on one of the partitions ! So, I will mark this thread as SOLVED.

So the next task, when I get time, is to have a look at the LMDE2 system.

Ron

[ron_h]

I have removed the SOLVED from this thread.

I booted my test system, now LMDE2 - but not quite.

When I went to Synaptic Package Manager it put up an error box saying 'dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem. So I did, and was taken to the 'Configuring grub-pc' box exactly as I was previously. And it still hangs, going nowhere.

Ron

[grizzler]

What exactly are the options in that box?
Do you see a cursor anywhere?
Does an asterisk appear anywhere (particularly in front of any of the options) when you press the space bar?
Can you move around the box using the tab key?

The point is, grub-pc's configuration usually insists on the user making some kind of choice before continuing. So it may not be hanging at all, just waiting for you to select and confirm something.

As your primary LMDE's grub appears to control the bootloader, there is no need to have one in this second install. If you have more than one install, always leave the bootloader under control of one you intend to keep. If you were to let this second install's grub take over and then (for whatever reason) decide to remove it and reformat that partition, grub won't be able to find its files. Keep in mind, grub works in 'stages' and the second stage requires files on the partition it was installed from.

[ron_h]

The box has several paras of informatory text and at the bottom has <Ok> centred 2 lines below the last para.
There are no choosable options.
I cannot see a cursor anywhere in the box.
There is no asterisk anywhere and hitting the space bar has no effect that I can see anywhere in the box.

Using the tab key highlights the <Ok> and using the tab key again removes the highlight. BUT, if I hit enter after highlighting the <Ok>, I get to the next screen. As you suggested, I needed to select something, problem was I didn't realise I needed to use the tab key.

The next screen offers 2 options : install grub on /sda (the 320GB disk) or install grub on /sda8 (the partition with my test LMDE system). I do not want either of these options as Grub is already installed and I did update-grub already from /sda6, my primary LMDE partition. So I've not selected either option, and just selected <Ok> by using the tab key. I confirmed I didn't want to install Grub and an update-grub appears to have run. The upgrade process then continues ...

Ron

[ron_h]

I'm definitely past the problem described in this thread, so I'll post SOLVED

Ron