SOLVED: system trashed: apt-utils

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pccobbler
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SOLVED: system trashed: apt-utils

Post by pccobbler »

I had a recently built 20.3 MATE system on an external SSD running via USB 3.0. I just logged in and did an update (apt update, apt upgrade) in a terminal. It ran for a bit and then displayed (keep in mind that this was written down; this was posted from a different system, the one on the internal NVMe SSD):

Code: Select all

unpacking apt-utils (2.09) over (2.08)
dpkg: unrecoverable fatal error, aborting
unable to fsync updated status of 'apt-utils' input/output error
E: sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2)
W: problem unlinking /var/cache/apt/pkgcache.bin and then something about read-only file system
All icons, including at the bottom, were grayed-out. I tried to insert a USB 2.0 flash drive to copy some things, but Caja would not start (nothing would start).

The system is toast. I thought this only happened with Antergos and later cousins.
Last edited by LockBot on Sun Jan 01, 2023 11:00 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Cosmo.
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Re: system trashed: apt-utils

Post by Cosmo. »

Restore a Timeshift snapshot. You can do this from a live system. After that you are back in business.
pccobbler
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Re: system trashed: apt-utils

Post by pccobbler »

Difficult to do when nothing starts.

Timeshift from a live system? I'll try it, but I've never done that before.
Cosmo.
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Re: system trashed: apt-utils

Post by Cosmo. »

It works. Read https://github.com/teejee2008/timeshift and scroll down to "System Restore".
rene
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Re: system trashed: apt-utils

Post by rene »

A note is that the I/O error (and the probably in response mounted read-only filesystem) tends to point to hardware issue; that "apt-utils" is probably a red herring; just the thing that failed when the hardware issue occurred independently from it.
pccobbler
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Re: system trashed: apt-utils

Post by pccobbler »

@Cosmo

It seems that I never got around to configuring Timeshift, as well as a few other things. I think it's a lost cause.


@rene

Interesting point. The fact that the LM MATE system was running via USB might have exacerbated a hardware and/or network issue. And this is a strange laptop, a gray-market one from Asia. The system running on the internal NVMe SSD has never had any update problems, which is what one would expect.
rene
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Re: SOLVED: system trashed: apt-utils

Post by rene »

Might be as simple as the USB connection momentarily having cut out due to a wobbly connector...
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