Mint MATE 19.3 Update bricks my desktop [SOLVED]

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marsrise
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Mint MATE 19.3 Update bricks my desktop [SOLVED]

Post by marsrise »

Hi all, I'm really stuck on this and haven't found any workarounds on the Mint forum nor otherwise online that seem relevant.

I started running a normal update earlier this week from Software Manager and returned awhile later to a terminal screen, multiple lines of "ERROR: command failed" and then "You need to load the kernel first". Pressed ENTER and then:

"Failed to boot both default and fallback entries
Press any key to continue"

Pressed ENTER and then a new screen appeared entitled "GNU Grub version 2.04" with these choices:

"Linux Mint 19.3 MATE
Advanced options for Linux Mint 19.3 MATE"

Selecting either option renders only "ERROR: command failed"

I've used Mint for a number of years and so far have never experienced any update-related issues. Most recent backup was several months back, so I'll need to revisit Timeshift again. This is not a multi-boot setup, I can run a live version of Mint 19.2 that I had on hand from a thumb drive but then I'm lost.

Hardware is older HP Elite 8300 SFF desktop.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much for your attention.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
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SMG
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Re: Mint MATE 19.3 Update bricks my desktop

Post by SMG »

Welcome to the forum, marsrise.
marsrise wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 1:31 pm Most recent backup was several months back, so I'll need to revisit Timeshift again. This is not a multi-boot setup, I can run a live version of Mint 19.2 that I had on hand from a thumb drive but then I'm lost.
If you boot to that live session, open Timeshift on it. If the hard drive is okay then you should be able to restore to a snapshot (even if it is a couple of months old). See if you can do that.

If not, use the live session to provide us with information about how Mint sees your hardware. Enter this command in a terminal: inxi -Fxxxrz
Click </> from the mini toolbar above the textbox where you type your reply and then place your cursor between the code markers and paste the results of the command between the code markers [code]Results[/code].
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marsrise
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Re: Mint MATE 19.3 Update bricks my desktop

Post by marsrise »

Hi SMG, thanks for the response. The Timeshift suggestion only showed some trial backups from 2019 and so too old. Below is the information I believe you're asking for. I'll look forward to your reply.

Again, many thanks.

Code: Select all

System:
  Host: mint Kernel: 4.15.0-54-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc 
  v: 7.4.0 Desktop: MATE 1.22.0 info: mate-panel wm: marco 1.22.2 
  dm: LightDM 1.26.0 Distro: Linux Mint 19.2 Tina base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Compaq Elite 8300 SFF 
  v: N/A serial: 2UA3521BRT Chassis: type: 4 serial: 2UA3521BRT 
  Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 3397 serial: 2UA3521BRT UEFI: Hewlett-Packard 
  v: K01 vA.03.04 date: 12/09/2016 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-3470 bits: 64 type: MCP 
  arch: Ivy Bridge rev: 9 L1 cache: 256 KiB L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
  L3 cache: 6144 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 25541 
  Speed: 1597 MHz min/max: 1600/3600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1597 2: 1597 
  3: 1596 4: 1597 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor Graphics 
  vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
  chip ID: 8086:0152 
  Display: server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
  compositor: marco v: 1.22.2 resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Ivybridge Desktop v: 4.2 Mesa 19.0.2 
  compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio 
  vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
  chip ID: 8086:1e20 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.15.0-54-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network vendor: Hewlett-Packard 
  driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k port: f080 bus ID: 00:19.0 chip ID: 8086:1502 
  IF: eno1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: f0:92:1c:e0:a6:87 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.39 TiB used: 832.74 GiB (58.4%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: SSD 850 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: S3PTNB0JC14153F rev: 3B6Q scheme: GPT 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Western Digital model: WD1001FALS-00J7B1 
  size: 931.51 GiB speed: 3.0 Gb/s serial: WD-WMATV2614388 rev: 0K05 
  temp: 30 C scheme: MBR 
  ID-3: /dev/sdc type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: Cruzer size: 29.82 GiB 
  serial: 4C530001140908118073 rev: 1.27 scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 3.83 GiB used: 102.1 MiB (2.6%) fs: overlay source: ERR-102 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8 C mobo: 27.8 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  1: deb cdrom:[Linux Mint 19.2 _Tina_ - Release amd64 20190729]/ bionic contrib main non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com tina main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
  2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ bionic partner
Info:
  Processes: 179 Uptime: 18m Memory: 7.67 GiB used: 488.5 MiB (6.2%) 
  Init: systemd v: 237 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.4.0 alt: 7 
  Shell: bash (sudo) v: 4.4.19 running in: mate-terminal inxi: 3.0.32 
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SMG
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Re: Mint MATE 19.3 Update bricks my desktop

Post by SMG »

marsrise wrote: Sun May 16, 2021 12:18 pm The Timeshift suggestion only showed some trial backups from 2019 and so too old.
I do not understand your comment about them being "too old". Timeshift snapshots restore your system to a working order. You can then selectively do updates to get your system up to date. The default settings of Timeshift do not back up your personal data, so I would not expect the age of the system files to be an issue.

Nothing in your system data jumped out at me as a possible issue.
marsrise wrote: Fri May 14, 2021 1:31 pmI started running a normal update earlier this week from Software Manager and returned awhile later to a terminal screen,
Were you running Software Manager or Update Manager? Normal updates are done with Update Manager which is an app and normally does not bring up a terminal screen.

If you were using Software Manager, what were you running?

Maybe someone else will have some ideas of what happened. Nothing is coming to mind for me right now.
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marsrise
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Re: Mint MATE 19.3 Update bricks my desktop

Post by marsrise »

Thanks for your suggestion. I decided to move over the data files manually onto a new drive and will give your approach a try once the backup is completed.
marsrise
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Re: Mint MATE 19.3 Update bricks my desktop

Post by marsrise »

Hi SMG--
I wanted you to know that your suggestion corrected my issue. Your help is appreciated.
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Re: Mint MATE 19.3 Update bricks my desktop

Post by SMG »

marsrise wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 11:19 pm Hi SMG--
I wanted you to know that your suggestion corrected my issue. Your help is appreciated.
Glad to hear the Timeshift snapshot worked.

If you go to your first post in this thread, click the pencil icon, and edit the title to add [SOLVED], others will know you no longer need help with this issue.
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