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I was updating my Ubuntu 18.04 to 20.04.1 LTS. But forgot to plug my laptop to charging. My laptop battery died in middle of upgrade. When I turned my laptop on, it started getting stuck on ubuntu logo screen. I googled for some solutions, tried some of them.

  • Like going in Advanced Options for Ubuntu through GRUB and running in recovery mode, selecting dpkg to fix package issues. That stuck on a line saying "e2scrub_all.service is a disabled..." something.

  • Selecting newer kernel gives "end kernel panic: not syncing vfs unable to mount root fs on unknown block (0,0)"...

  • Selecting older kernel recovery mode and selecting resume normal boot continues to get stuck on some blinking underscore forever.

  • When pressing E on Ubuntu in GRUB to edit configuration, I don't see the last line of initrd which I saw in many solutions.

  • selecting a kernel in non-recovery mode showed some line below ubuntu logo that said something like "WARNING: option 'size' missing in crypttab for plan dm-crypt..."

Edit: My laptop is HP with EUFI dual boot with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 20.04

I have posted all of the things I've tried... Please help me in the right direction.

Rahul Pakhare
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1 Answers1

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The middle of a release-update is the worst possible time to lose power. This is precisely why the release-upgrade tools advise you to plug in your system before proceeding.

Sometimes it's recoverable. However, your description seems to indicate an incompatible, unbootable mix of old and new packages and incomplete configs.

Advice: Wipe your system and reinstall.

  1. Create a new 20.04 LiveUSB Installer on a different, working system.
  2. Use the "Try Ubuntu" environment to backup your data to some other media.
  3. Clean-install 20.04
  4. Restore your data from the backup

Doing this correctly can take a full afternoon (instead of the 40 minutes-or-so for a normal release-upgrade). That's the price you must pay for neglecting to plug in.

user535733
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  • I had dual booted Ubuntu alongside Windows 10. Is there a way I can access my Ubuntu files from Windows? – Rahul Pakhare Oct 18 '20 at 06:04
  • Try this question access Ubuntu files from Windows: https://askubuntu.com/questions/9933/how-to-read-ext4-partitions-in-windows – user535733 Oct 18 '20 at 11:33
  • Or boot a live CD, mount the partition which had /home on it and start making a backup to another USB drive. You're mainly interested in the /home directory and everything in it - the system's config will have to be redone. Once you have a good backup, start the re-install. If /home is on a seperate partition, you may be able to just install 20.04 and have you computer back to work. – Adriaan Oct 18 '20 at 12:29
  • I created a new Ubuntu 20.04 Live USB and booted with it. Clicked on Try Ubuntu. Now when I open the files I see my home directory is empty. The data I wanted to backup was in home directory... How can I get it now? Is there some way? – Rahul Pakhare Oct 24 '20 at 10:21
  • Yes I'm not talking about home directory of LiveUSB. I'm meant the home directory of the hard drive partition that had Ubuntu installed earlier (/dev/sda6). That's empty too. I had so many folders in my home directory. Specially my Android project code. I wanted that. Also, I have an external SSD which I will be copying my files to. Please help – Rahul Pakhare Oct 24 '20 at 10:36
  • Did you look for hidden files (starting with a dot .filename)? A mere poweroff doesn't delete your entire /home dir. Are you absolutely sure you are looking at the correct partition? sdX names are unreliable; they can change every boot. – user535733 Oct 24 '20 at 10:39
  • Yes I am 100% sure I'm looking at the correct partition. When I had dual booted my laptop I had given 750GB to Ubuntu and 250GB to Windows. Now when I'm in Try Ubuntu mode I opened Files application and clicked on "+ Other Locations". There I found 3 partitions. "Computer" which is 4.1GB (this is the LiveUSB I suppose). Second is named "Windows" with 250GB (/dev/sda3) and the third is named "713 GB Volume" which is 701.3 GB space (/dev/sda6). – Rahul Pakhare Oct 24 '20 at 11:00
  • And I'm searching for home directory in this third partition and the home directory has a folder named with my username. And inside that folder there is a .cache folder, Acces-Your-Private-Data.desktop, README.txt, .ecryptfs and .Private files. Nothing else. No folders and files that I had earlier – Rahul Pakhare Oct 24 '20 at 11:00
  • There you are: You found your files. You encrypted them. How to decrypt them is a separate question. – user535733 Oct 24 '20 at 11:06
  • Ah that's a great relief! One last question... Should I copy these files to SSD and decrypt them from Windows or I'll have to decrypt them from within Ubuntu? Also, if you can direct me to some tutorial on decrypting my files, that'll be greatly appreciated... Thanks a lot mate... You saved my 2 years of effort... – Rahul Pakhare Oct 24 '20 at 11:47
  • That's not a small question. Use the "Search" box -- it's been asked before. If you really can't find it, open a new question. – user535733 Oct 24 '20 at 14:08