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On the live-CD session, I tried installing Lubuntu double clicking on the install button on the desktop. Here, the CD starts running but then stops running and nothing happens.

Next, I rebooted and tried installing Lubuntu directly from the boot menu screen using forcepae again. After a while, I receive the following error message:

The installer encountered an unrecoverable error. A desktop session will now be run so that you may investigate the problem or try installing again.

Hitting Enter brings me to the desktop. For what errors should I search? And how?

Thanks for some hints!

On Lubuntu 12.04:

uname -a
Linux humboldt 3.2.0-67-generic #101-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jul 15 17:45:51 UTC 2014 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS
Release:    12.04
Codename:   precise

upowerd appears to hang:

Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920272] INFO: task upowerd:3002 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920288]       Tainted: G S       C   3.13.0-32-generic #57-Ubuntu
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920294] "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920300] upowerd         D e21f9da0     0  3002      1 0x00000000
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920314]  e21f9dfc 00000086 f5ef7094 e21f9da0 c1050272 c1a8d540 c1920a00 00000000
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920333]  c1a8d540 c1920a00 d9e44da0 f5ef6540 c1129061 00000002 000001c1 0001c37b
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920351]  00000000 00000002 00000000 e2276240 00000000 00000040 c12b0ec5 c19975a8
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920368] Call Trace:
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920389]  [<c1050272>] ? kmap_atomic_prot+0x42/0x100
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920404]  [<c1129061>] ? get_page_from_freelist+0x2a1/0x600
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920417]  [<c12b0ec5>] ? process_measurement+0x65/0x240
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920432]  [<c1654c73>] schedule_preempt_disabled+0x23/0x60
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920443]  [<c16565bd>] __mutex_lock_slowpath+0x10d/0x171
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920454]  [<c1655aec>] mutex_lock+0x1c/0x28
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920478]  [<f857223a>] acpi_smbus_transaction+0x48/0x210 [sbshc]
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920489]  [<c11858e1>] ? do_last+0x1b1/0xf60
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920504]  [<f857242f>] acpi_smbus_read+0x2d/0x33 [sbshc]
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920520]  [<f881e0f1>] acpi_battery_get_state+0x74/0x8b [sbs]
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920535]  [<f881e8a9>] acpi_sbs_battery_get_property+0x2a/0x233 [sbs]
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920549]  [<c14fa61f>] power_supply_show_property+0x3f/0x240
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920561]  [<c114664f>] ? handle_mm_fault+0x64f/0x8d0
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920573]  [<c14fa5e0>] ? power_supply_store_property+0x60/0x60
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920586]  [<c1407d20>] ? dev_uevent_name+0x30/0x30
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920597]  [<c1407d38>] dev_attr_show+0x18/0x40
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920608]  [<c11dad15>] sysfs_seq_show+0xe5/0x1c0
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920621]  [<c119846e>] seq_read+0xce/0x370
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920633]  [<c11983a0>] ? seq_hlist_next_percpu+0x90/0x90
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920644]  [<c1179238>] vfs_read+0x78/0x140
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920654]  [<c11799a9>] SyS_read+0x49/0x90
Aug 25 10:53:28 lubuntu kernel: [  367.920667]  [<c165efcd>] sysenter_do_call+0x12/0x28

/var/log/installer/debug shows upower related error:

Ubiquity 2.18.8
Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "overlay-scrollbar"
Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "overlay-scrollbar"
ERROR:dbus.proxies:Introspect error on :1.23:/org/freedesktop/UPower: dbus.exceptions.DBusException: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NoReply: Did not receive a reply. Possible causes include: the remote application did not send a reply, the message bus security policy blocked the reply, the reply timeout expired, or the network connection was broken.
Exception in GTK frontend (invoking crash handler):
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/bin/ubiquity", line 636, in <module>
    main(oem_config)
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/bin/ubiquity", line 622, in main
    install(query=options.query)
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/bin/ubiquity", line 260, in install
    wizard = ui.Wizard(distro)
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/ubiquity/frontend/gtk_ui.py", line 290, in __init__
    mod.ui = mod.ui_class(mod.controller)
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/plugins/ubi-prepare.py", line 93, in __init__
    upower.setup_power_watch(self.prepare_power_source)
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/ubiquity/upower.py", line 21, in setup_power_watch
    power_state_changed()
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/ubiquity/upower.py", line 18, in power_state_changed
    not misc.get_prop(upower, UPOWER_PATH, 'OnBattery'))
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/ubiquity/misc.py", line 809, in get_prop
    return obj.Get(iface, prop, dbus_interface=dbus.PROPERTIES_IFACE)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/proxies.py", line 70, in __call__
    return self._proxy_method(*args, **keywords)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/proxies.py", line 145, in __call__
    **keywords)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/connection.py", line 651, in call_blocking
    message, timeout)
bain
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Rantanplan
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  • Are you trying to install a 32 bit operating system on a system with more than 4 GB of RAM? If so, try it with the 64 bit Lubuntu – Mitch Aug 14 '14 at 12:52
  • It has around 1 GB RAM and I tried to install the 32 bit version of Lubuntu. I also repeated Check disc for defects; no errors. – Rantanplan Aug 14 '14 at 13:41
  • Do you happen to know what processor you're using? Adding the output of cat /proc/cpuinfo would be useful – Mitch Aug 14 '14 at 13:50
  • Also see: http://askubuntu.com/questions/463440/installed-14-04-beta-on-a-non-pae-pentium-m-but-now-i-cant-update?rq=1 – Mitch Aug 14 '14 at 13:50
  • So the root of the problem is that your processor doesn't support PAE, but the kernel requires it. This link might be helpful for you: It's for 12.04 but with some minor adaptations it should work for 14.04. http://www.webupd8.org/2012/05/how-to-install-ubuntu-1204-on-non-pae.html – Mitch Aug 15 '14 at 13:09
  • As I understand it, the Pentium M processor should work with the PAE kernel and installation of Lubuntu 14.04 should be straightforward with the forcepae option. I am simply wondering how to find out why the installation fails. What should I search for once I am in the desktop session opened by the installer? – Rantanplan Aug 18 '14 at 09:05
  • @musher That is not the problem. If the CPU really is not capable of PAE then the kernel will not even boot. The fact that the kernel boots here indicates that the problem is not PAE. Although forcepae enables Ubuntu to boot on a Pentium M, these laptops are old and not well tested, and there may be other problems that are completely independent of PAE. – bain Aug 25 '14 at 11:00

2 Answers2

0

Installation with the alternate installer for Lubuntu 14.04.1 and the forcepae option worked.

First, the problem seemed to have been a badly partitioned hard drive (with an unallocated space between two partitions). In contrast to the normal installer, the alternate installer did not fail at the beginning, so one could manually ask the installer not to mount the existing partitions and to use the whole disk for Lubuntu.

However, now, two other problems came up: the newly installed system cannot be shut-down probably (see Lubuntu: neither shut-down nor restart works) and does not recognise USB sticks (same problem as in USB recognized but not available?). Both problems did not occur using the installation CD as live CD.

Therefore, I wanted to try the "normal" installation CD again, but it fails with the same error message as it did before:

The installer encountered an unrecoverable error. A desktop session will now be run so that you may investigate the problem or try installing again.

Once being in that desktop session, tail -n 800 -F /var/log/kern.log lists the following (sorry for being long; I do not know what might be important): see https://www.dropbox.com/s/uohd7vmq1ws9oep/Output.txt?dl=0

The content of /var/log/installer from...

  1. ...installation with alternate installer: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qv7o8w6t5s31xzk/AADmkNP1KP1IaMKOxRfsclRAa?dl=0
  2. ...unsuccessful installation with usual installer: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dhon6asbz1swms5/AACc3WtvvpIH34_WqA3u3p18a?dl=0
Community
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Rantanplan
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  • I doubt that re-installing will fix your problems. Regardless of whether you use the alternate installer, or desktop installer, you end up with the same packages installed on your system. – bain Aug 25 '14 at 11:02
  • I added output of tail -n 800 -F /var/log/kern.log above. Perhaps that can give some indications why the installer encountered an error, what that error is and how it could be solved. Thanks! – Rantanplan Aug 25 '14 at 11:16
  • The installer logs are in /var/log/installer – bain Aug 25 '14 at 12:41
  • I will copy the content of /var/log/installer and put a link to them in the post above. Thanks! – Rantanplan Aug 25 '14 at 13:21
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This looks like a bug, upowerd is hanging for some reason. There is a similar but unanswered report on the Ubuntu forums here and Mint forums here (the suggested reason there is something to do with reporting the battery status: "at present my system will not show me charge status")

I would suggest reporting the bug on Launchpad and possibly on the upower mailing list. It does seem a rare bug though, so there may be no solution unless you are willing to debug it yourself.

You might be able to workaround the problem by sudo to root and then edit /usr/lib/ubiquity/ubiquity/upower.py and change the has_battery function to:

def has_battery():
    return False

That should force ubiquity to ignore the battery power and carry on with the installation.

bain
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  • At what stage should I edit /usr/lib/ubiquity/ubiquity/upower.py? Right after the message "The installer encountered an unrecoverable error..." when I arrive in the desktop session or shall I run a live-CD session, make changes and try the "install" button on the desktop? Or is there another way? Thanks! – Rantanplan Aug 25 '14 at 15:55
  • Do you think this is also related to one of the two problems that I have working on the system after installation with the alternate installer: (i) shut-down not working http://askubuntu.com/q/515512/288322 (ii) usb sticks not recognised http://askubuntu.com/q/26259/288322 ? – Rantanplan Aug 25 '14 at 15:59
  • upower.py is part of the installer, so edit it and save before you click "install" to start the installer. The upower problem could be related to shutdown not working, I wouldn't have thought it would affect usb sticks being recognised, but it is possible. The potential workaround is just going to skip the bit of the installer that checks battery power, it isn't going to make upowerd actually work on your system - for that you might like to try upgrading the kernel, also make sure you haev the latest version of your BIOS installed. – bain Aug 25 '14 at 16:55
  • Regarding BIOS update: the laptop uses an older version than available (http://www.acer.de/ac/de/DE/content/drivers/-;LXT510604143400DB6EM01;- --> choose "BIOS" --> choose "Alle"; currently version 3A06 is used). I cannot find any changelog and according to http://wiki.ubuntuusers.de/BIOS_aktualisieren, I would need to run Windows for installation because it seems to support Windows only. However, that would not be a problem. I am more worried because the risk something goes wrong. dmidecode output: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xuba20edqpz9lld/dmidecode.txt?dl=0 Do I need to update BIOS? – Rantanplan Aug 26 '14 at 09:35
  • A hint how to make a kernel update using the live-CD session would be great, thanks! – Rantanplan Aug 26 '14 at 09:43
  • A BIOS update might help, it might not, it is impossible to know. You can't update the kernel on the livecd (at least, not easily). But if you have an already installed system, you just need to download the latest kernel from the mainline kernel PPA and install it with dpkg -i, see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/MainlineBuilds – bain Aug 26 '14 at 11:35