[SOLVED] upgrade from Mint 20.3 to 21 fails with missing boot device UUID alert

Questions about Grub, UEFI,the liveCD and the installer
Forum rules
Before you post read how to get help. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
Locked
ggill
Level 1
Level 1
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2022 1:19 am

[SOLVED] upgrade from Mint 20.3 to 21 fails with missing boot device UUID alert

Post by ggill »

I'm using a DELL XPS8300 desktop, bios A06, legacy (no UEFI).

I've had no problem running Mint since version 19, and I've always upgraded via the upgrade instructions instead of doing a fresh install. Never a problem with this before.

However, this time after following the upgrade instructions from 20.3 Cinnamon, when I reboot I get an
ALERT! UUID=<boot device UUID> does not exist! Dropping to a shell!
and then a BusyBox version number and an (initramfs) prompt.

After this failure I burned a LM21 ISO on a USB and booted into that to try BootRepair. That doesn't appear to work, but I did produce a BootInfo summary to pastebin, here: http://sprunge.us/nQgkAA

I should say I have 2x 1TB SSDs in a hardware RAID0 as my boot device. / and /usr are in separate partitions, along with a data partition and a swap partition (32gb to match RAM as I do hibernate the machine often).This has never been a problem before or during upgrades as I mentioned.

The machine also has a 2TB HDD on which /home and /var reside, as well as a data partition and an old 4gb swap partition that I haven't bothered to remove to date (was planning to after this upgrade, since I've had to try a fresh install anyway). My timeshift folder is in the data partition on this drive, and my non-system files are all backed up to a USB drive array under mergerfs with backintime and more recently borg. So I'm covered for backups.

I tried a fresh install of LM21 to the SSD RAID, and reformatted /var and /usr as part of the fresh install, but want to leave the data partition on the HDD alone because, as I said, it contains my timeshift backup folder. I still get the same results about the boot device UUID not existing.

I've checked the GRUB config with 'e' from the boot menu and it is the correct UUID.

Googling for alert uuid does not exist doesn't bring up an answer that seems to apply to my case.

At this point my options are to go back to LM20.3 (hopefully I'll be able to reinstall it) or to appeal for help here on the forum.

Your help would be much appreciated.

Here is inxi -Fxxxrz output, produced in the LM21 installer live session:

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.15.0-41-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.2.0
    Desktop: Cinnamon 5.4.8 tk: GTK 3.24.33 wm: Mutter vt: 7 dm: LightDM 1.30.0
    Distro: Linux Mint 21 Vanessa base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Dell product: XPS 8300 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 3 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 0Y2MRG v: A01 serial: <superuser required> BIOS: Dell
    v: A06 date: 10/17/2011
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech M510 serial: <filter>
    charge: 55% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes status: Discharging
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel Core i7-2600 bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    smt: enabled arch: Sandy Bridge rev: 7 cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 1024 KiB
    L3: 8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2535 high: 3690 min/max: 1600/3800 cores: 1: 2045
    2: 3690 3: 2002 4: 1673 5: 1845 6: 3690 7: 3688 8: 1649 bogomips: 54277
  Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics
    vendor: Dell XPS 8300 driver: i915 v: kernel ports: active: HDMI-A-1
    empty: DP-1,VGA-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0102 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP108 [GeForce GT 1030] vendor: eVga.com.
    driver: nouveau v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 4 ports:
    active: DVI-D-1,HDMI-A-2 empty: none bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1d01
    class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915,nouveau display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 5760x1200 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1524x318mm (60.0x12.5")
    s-diag: 1557mm (61.3")
  Monitor-1: DVI-D-1-1 mapped: DVI-D-1 pos: primary,left model: Dell U2410
    serial: <filter> res: 1920x1200 hz: 60 dpi: 94 size: 518x324mm (20.4x12.8")
    diag: 611mm (24.1") modes: max: 1920x1200 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: HDMI-1 mapped: HDMI-A-1 pos: center
    model: LG (GoldStar) Ultra HD serial: <filter> res: 1920x1080 hz: 60
    dpi: 81 size: 600x340mm (23.6x13.4") diag: 690mm (27.2") modes:
    max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
  Monitor-3: HDMI-1-2 mapped: HDMI-A-2 pos: right model: LG (GoldStar) TV
    serial: <filter> res: 1920x1080 dpi: 30 size: 1600x900mm (63.0x35.4")
    diag: 1836mm (72.3") modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 2000 (SNB GT1)
    v: 3.3 Mesa 22.0.1 compat-v: 3.1 direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio
    vendor: Dell XPS 8300 driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
    chip-ID: 8086:1c20 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP108 High Definition Audio vendor: eVga.com.
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 4
    bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0fb8 class-ID: 0403
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-41-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter
    vendor: Dell Inspiron M5010 / XPS 8300 driver: bcma-pci-bridge v: N/A pcie:
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4727
    class-ID: 0280
  Device-2: Broadcom NetLink BCM57788 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe
    vendor: Dell XPS 8300 driver: tg3 v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    port: N/A bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:1691 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp4s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: wlp2s0b1 state: down mac: <filter>
RAID:
  Hardware-1: Intel SATA Controller [RAID mode] driver: ahci v: 3.0
    port: f060 bus-ID: 00:1f.2 chip-ID: 8086:2822 rev: N/A class-ID: 0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 3.65 TiB used: 1.13 TiB (31.0%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 1TB size: 931.51 GiB
    speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 1B6Q
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 1TB size: 931.51 GiB
    speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 1B6Q
  ID-3: /dev/sdc vendor: Seagate model: ST2000DM001-1ER164 size: 1.82 TiB
    speed: 3.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> rev: CC26 scheme: MBR
  ID-4: /dev/sdd type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: Cruzer Glide
    size: 7.45 GiB type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 1.26 scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 15.6 GiB used: 270.2 MiB (1.7%) fs: overlay source: ERR-102
  ID-2: /var/log size: 5.01 GiB used: 73.2 MiB (1.4%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sdd3
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 4 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/sdc7
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 36.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau temp: 41.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 871 mobo: 913
Repos:
  Packages: apt: 2079
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
    1: deb cdrom:[Linux Mint 21 _Vanessa_ - Release amd64 20220726]/ jammy main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
    1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com vanessa main upstream import backport
    2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy main restricted universe multiverse
    3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates main restricted universe multiverse
    4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security main restricted universe multiverse
Info:
  Processes: 308 Uptime: 19h 36m wakeups: 17 Memory: 31.21 GiB
  used: 2.53 GiB (8.1%) Init: systemd v: 249 runlevel: 5 Compilers:
  gcc: 11.2.0 alt: 11 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: gnome-terminal
  inxi: 3.3.13
And here is lsblk -f output:

Code: Select all

NAME                         FSTYPE          FSVER            LABEL                         UUID                                 FSAVAIL FSUSE% MOUNTPOINTS
loop0                        squashfs        4.0                                                                                       0   100% /rofs
sda                          isw_raid_member 1.0.00                                                                                             
├─sda1                                                                                                                                          
├─sda2                                                                                                                                          
├─sda3                                                                                                                                          
└─isw_cjgccechdg_Volume0                                                                                                                        
  ├─isw_cjgccechdg_Volume0p1 ext4            1.0                                            92e6acfa-f360-4e04-899f-b011c0ef2b08                
  ├─isw_cjgccechdg_Volume0p2 ext4            1.0                                            9526306b-43b9-41b3-a265-35b9b7f89203                
  ├─isw_cjgccechdg_Volume0p3 ext4            1.0                                            e31cd88c-7456-4d0b-81fb-1b6fd1965000                
  └─isw_cjgccechdg_Volume0p4 swap            1                                              cf30b74f-3cfe-4cdc-b95f-3e757b4ae994                
sdb                          isw_raid_member 1.0.00                                                                                             
└─isw_cjgccechdg_Volume0                                                                                                                        
  ├─isw_cjgccechdg_Volume0p1 ext4            1.0                                            92e6acfa-f360-4e04-899f-b011c0ef2b08                
  ├─isw_cjgccechdg_Volume0p2 ext4            1.0                                            9526306b-43b9-41b3-a265-35b9b7f89203                
  ├─isw_cjgccechdg_Volume0p3 ext4            1.0                                            e31cd88c-7456-4d0b-81fb-1b6fd1965000                
  └─isw_cjgccechdg_Volume0p4 swap            1                                              cf30b74f-3cfe-4cdc-b95f-3e757b4ae994                
sdc                                                                                                                                             
├─sdc1                                                                                                                                          
├─sdc5                       ext4            1.0                                            01804bc3-1685-41f5-a728-40392688236a                
├─sdc6                       ext4            1.0              HOME                          a0f81015-b364-44a5-af91-47949dc25f33                
├─sdc7                       swap            1                                              4ea714e5-19d9-4f71-8ecd-a4c17265491e                [SWAP]
└─sdc8                       ext4            1.0              HDDdata                       3217bd49-f3a4-44c6-ae21-5e6e96c5bf54                
sdd                          iso9660         Joliet Extension Linux Mint 21 Cinnamon 64-bit 2022-07-26-15-24-44-00                              
├─sdd1                       iso9660         Joliet Extension Linux Mint 21 Cinnamon 64-bit 2022-07-26-15-24-44-00                     0   100% /cdrom
├─sdd2                       vfat            FAT12            ESP                           8D6C-A9F8                                           
└─sdd3                       ext4            1.0              writable                      01b63587-7d77-4524-9948-4f38b346cbd4    4.7G     1% /var/log
sde                                                                                                                                             
sdf                                                                                                                                             
sdg                                                                                                                                             
sdh                                                                                                                                             
sdi                                                                                                                                             
sr0                                                                                                                                             
Last edited by LockBot on Thu Feb 16, 2023 11:00 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
ggill
Level 1
Level 1
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2022 1:19 am

Re: upgrade from Mint 20.3 to 21 fails with missing boot device UUID alert

Post by ggill »

The solution, after much poking around the internet, is described here:
mint_42 wrote: Sat Aug 06, 2022 8:18 amif you use kpartx you can mount the partitions again :)
In my case, looking at /dev/mapper from the (initramfs) prompt, I could see isw_cjgccechdg_Volume0 but not any of its partitions.

Issuing the command kpartx -a isw_cjgccechdg_Volume0 creates device nodes for the partitions and then exiting from the initramfs shell the system boots normally.
mint_42 wrote: Sat Aug 06, 2022 8:18 amThis problem seems to be related to Ubuntu 22.04. Some ppl have the exact same problem.
(Also after updating the system)
The problem in the Ubuntu 22.04 install could be this: https://bugs.launchpad.net/subiquity/+bug/1960926
See the duplicate ticket link and the link to the github page.

Now, how do I get kpartx to run automatically during boot?
ggill
Level 1
Level 1
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2022 1:19 am

Re: upgrade from Mint 20.3 to 21 fails with missing boot device UUID alert

Post by ggill »

I'm marking this solved since it's known why the error happens (problem in Ubuntu 22.04 install on RAID which I guess Mint has inherited) and there's a workaround for it.

I'll post the remaining question - how to make the workaround a part of my boot process - separately.
Locked

Return to “Installation & Boot”