install to 21.1 failed

[fredmint]

When I wanted to update to 21.1 from 20,3, mint asked for a snapshot.
I try to make one with time shift but I did not manage to do it, I don't understand how to do.
SO I stopped the 21.1 upgrade process but now linux won't boot, I get a black screen with ask my password after my user name login in tty1.
I type my password but it is no more recognized !
How to recover my password ?

[Cosmo.]

Are you really sure, that your password does not get accepted? Or can it be, that you get thrown back to the login screen after entering the password? In the latter case it would a symptom, that your drive is full, possibly because Timeshift used all available space.

Boot with a live system and make space free, at best for now remove the snaphot.
Note 2 things:
1. What you tried was an upgrade to 21.0, not 21.1. A direct upgrade from 20.3 to 21.1 would be impossible. Upgrading to 21.1 would be another step.
2. If my assumption about too few free space is right, it is likely, that even without the snapshot (definitely not recommended to skip that step) the space on your drive is too small for a newer (and bigger) system. You need to do something about it at first.

[fredmint]

Now I managed to recover my pass word, I forgot to enter my username before but I now I stil can't boot to linux start screen

[fredmint]

Are you really sure, that your password does not get accepted? Or can it be, that you get thrown back to the login screen after entering the password? In the latter case it would a symptom, that your drive is full, possibly because Timeshift used all available space.

Boot with a live system and make space free, at best for now remove the snaphot.
Note 2 things:
1. What you tried was an upgrade to 21.0, not 21.1. A direct upgrade from 20.3 to 21.1 would be impossible. Upgrading to 21.1 would be another step.
2. If my assumption about too few free space is right, it is likely, that even without the snapshot (definitely not recommended to skip that step) the space on your drive is too small for a newer (and bigger) system. You need to do something about it at first.

When I opened time shift 18 Go where available.

[fredmint]

I can now enter the pass word but I got a black screen with mu suer name and tty1, I can't access linux user screen.

[Cosmo.]

Linux reserves 5 % of the drive size for its own usage. Depending from the size of your drive 18 GB can be far too few. 5 % for a today not so uncommon 1 TB drive would mean 50 GB. So once more:
Your drive is (very likely) full and you must make room free.

[fredmint]

Linux reserves 5 % of the drive size for its own usage. Depending from the size of your drive 18 GB can be far too few. 5 % for a today not so uncommon 1 TB drive would mean 50 GB. So once more:
Your drive is (very likely) full and you must make room free.

this is a 128 Go SSD

[fredmint]

Linux reserves 5 % of the drive size for its own usage. Depending from the size of your drive 18 GB can be far too few. 5 % for a today not so uncommon 1 TB drive would mean 50 GB. So once more:
Your drive is (very likely) full and you must make room free.

You was right, I enter recovery mode and hit clean, 5 G were recovered on the ssd on now I can boot on the linux interface. Have a nice day, thanks.

[fredmint]

So how can I update to 21 has there are no more space on my ssd for a system snapshot ?
And no way to skip this stage ?
Is a fresh install the only way ? I have no external DD with linux format partition.

[Cosmo.]

You wrote in the starting post, that you did not know how to create a snapshot and than you wrote that you stopped the upgrade process. This sounds to me, as if you would have started the process without a snapshot and than you stopped it. In this case I must assume, that the upgrade tool did already do a part of its job and you stopped at a state, where the old and the new system are both not able to work.

If my understanding of what had happened is right, than a new install will be necessary. Hopefully you have a complete backup of your user data, otherwise the first needed step is to backup by using the live system.

Regarding your last post:
You ask how to skip the snapshot.. I cannot follow, because following what I read you had already skipped it. And because of this you are now in trouble.
You also asked how to upgrade. Again I cannot follow. You are not able to log into your system, so how should you start to upgrade?

[SMG]

So how can I update to 21 has there are no more space on my ssd for a system snapshot ?
And no way to skip this stage ?
Is a fresh install the only way ? I have no external DD with linux format partition.

Please open the System Reports app and click the System Information tab on the left. Your computer's information should come up in the right pane. Then click the Copy button in the lower right and paste the results into a reply window here so we can see how Linux Mint views your hardware.

[Cosmo.]

You was right, I enter recovery mode and hit clean, 5 G were recovered on the ssd on now I can boot on the linux interface. Have a nice day, thanks.

I saw this post only now. When you posted it, I was concentrated on my previous post.

What do you have now?
1. The proof for what I told you: Your drive is full.
2. There is no chance to upgrade. Those 5 GB are even less than 5 % of 128 GB, the drive is still full up to the collar. Note, that the newer Mint takes more space than its predecessor, so even without Timeshift an upgrade is not doable. Be happy that your 20.3 is working again; it will get support for the next 25 months. Time to think about a new hardware.

[fredmint]

You was right, I enter recovery mode and hit clean, 5 G were recovered on the ssd on now I can boot on the linux interface. Have a nice day, thanks.

I saw this post only now. When you posted it, I was concentrated on my previous post.

What do you have now?
1. The proof for what I told you: Your drive is full.
2. There is no chance to upgrade. Those 5 GB are even less than 5 % of 128 GB, the drive is still full up to the collar. Note, that the newer Mint takes more space than its predecessor, so even without Timeshift an upgrade is not doable. Be happy that your 20.3 is working again; it will get support for the next 25 months. Time to think about a new hardware.

thanks for the reply. New issue, when the connection screen starts, my password my password is no more recognized !

[Cosmo.]

What is the "connection screen"?

[fredmint]

What is the "connection screen"?

issue solved, there was no more space left on my SSD, I managed to erase time shift folder with took lot of space with rm and -rf commands in a terminal.
I'm back to mint 20.3.
Thanks for your help.
Upgrade way with timeshift is a pain, better do a fresh install if you have a small SSD.

[Cosmo.]

there was no more space left

Didn't we had this already?

Regardless how you go to LM 21: Check at first the free space. LM 21 needs more space than LM 20.
You should use TS not only in case of an upgrade. Make room free or add another drive to the system.
And don't forget your user data backups!

[joergent]

The 21.1 release is a fine mess in several ways.
I have been using various versions of Linux Mint with flawless upgrades, but this upgrade is terrible.

I am running en encrypted Linix Mint in a VMware virtual machine on a Windows 11 PC.
I ended up as the original author in this thread with a dead Linux Mint accepting a password but returning immediately to requesting the valid password again.
This appears to be due to NOT being possible to upgrade WITHOUT making a Timeshift backup, which apparently eats so much disk space that it breaks the machine. Suggestions in this thread to release space in a machine, you cannot enter, are not very clever.

Switching to starting all over with a new install on a fresh virtual machine ended up in an installation with an utterly broken apt configuration. After installation a kernel upgrade showed as the only upgraded needed, but not possible the execute. One of the problems was the system suffocating on the /etc/resolv.conf file being a link to the /run/... systemd file.

I only got out of this mess by manually creating various apt directories (found by searching similar problems on the net) and installing some gdebi.. package apparently missing and running a dpkg --configure -a command which the system luckily suggested in an error message.

Next problem is a tor browser package maintainer problem with packages using ALL instead of en-US as language and python gpg verify requiring a trustedkeys.kbx file not provided, nor created. Quite complicated to identify and circumvent.