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after having ignored the new Ubuntu version for a while now I finally decided to upgrade my 14.04 to 16.04 using the automatic system update. Unfortunately during the update I got to a point where I was asked to agree to an EULA from Microsoft (!?), but regardless of my actions it was not possible to either agree to the statement (no key or anything would work) nor to abort the update. After an hours wait I decided to try and restart ubuntu, however again nothing happened for a while (nor was it possible to do anything else at this point) so eventually I had to pull the switch manually. Unfortunately now I can't start ubuntu any longer, instead the boot process is followed by a command centre in which I can log myself in using my username and password. I tried the most common commands apt-get update and apt-upgrade to get ubuntu running again but not a single command works. Instead I'm being told I need root access. Is there anyway I can get my system running again? Thanks for any kind of help.

Nik
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    Have you tried running apt-get as root, i. e. with sudo (that would make it sudo apt-get ...)? – David Foerster Sep 29 '16 at 14:23
  • You had to use the Tab key to accept the EULA of the Microsoft core fonts package that you installed in the past. – Andrea Lazzarotto Sep 30 '16 at 11:29
  • Could it be that your user is not part of the group with sudo rights? By default the root user and users that are in the group sudo can execute any command. Check in which group your user is by executing groups. If you are not in the sudo group you will need to boot from a USB drive and fix this. – torusJKL Sep 25 '16 at 16:21

1 Answers1

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  1. The EULA from Microsoft pertains to the package ttf-mscorefonts-installer (installer for MS TrueType fonts) that you may have installed as part of ubuntu-restricted-extras or standalone.

You need to accept it otherwise the fonts won't be installed (or reinstalled). In order to navigate the options use TAB and cursor keys to select and ENTER to confirm.

  1. You need to be root indeed to install software or perform other changes in the OS. The Debian/Ubuntu way is using sudo.

The commands you tried need to be:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

However, since you already started and aborted a release upgrade, this may not have any effect, depending on how far the process was when aborted. Go a step further and do:

sudo apt-get install -f
sudo dpkg --configure -a
  1. Last resort: If everything else fails, boot from a Ubuntu 16.04 live media media and proceed to install as usual up to the point of selecting how and where to install. Press "something else" and make sure to select all your (Ubuntu) partitions for use - at least / and swap - but do not tick "Format".

This preserves all your user files and settings but not the software you installed before.

  • I had a similar issue and hadn't discovered karel answer to http://askubuntu.com/questions/463754/how-to-make-ttf-mscorefonts-installer-package-download-fonts-after-it-says-it-i yet - I used option 3 it worked for me. – Elder Geek Sep 27 '16 at 12:38