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[philo]

Thanks for all the help on getting my Brother printer setup on my Ubuntu
22.04 machine.
As mentioned, I had to do a custom setup.
I upgraded an old installation to 24.04 and when I went to install the
printer...I'll be darned , the Brother recommended setup worked
fine...but now I have another problem


The drive I had used as a backup upgraded fine to 24.04 but I had to
upgrade from 22.04 to 23.10 first.

My problem was that when I did that with my most recent drive,
the upgrade failed as it got to the end. The machine did boot to 23.10
but there are broken dependencies which I cannot resolve as the Internet
was lost in the process.


I need to know how to proceed from here.

I can download the 23.10 and burn the .iso to USB stick
but how to I add it as source to software & updates?

I can't fix dependencies without pointing the repair process somewhere
other than on-line

The option for external source says to insert CD or DVD

The ISO is too large. Their dialog is obsolete.

Synaptic does have an option to add packages but where would I point
that within the ISO



Even though I do have one working installation, I do want to get the
other one going as a backup without a complete fresh install


Thanks

[Gordon]

Post by philo
Thanks for all the help on getting my Brother printer setup on my Ubuntu
22.04 machine.
As mentioned, I had to do a custom setup.
I upgraded an old installation to 24.04 and when I went to install the
printer...I'll be darned , the Brother recommended setup worked
fine...but now I have another problem
The drive I had used as a backup upgraded fine to 24.04 but I had to
upgrade from 22.04 to 23.10 first.

That is normal as you can only upgrade a certain number of steps/versions.

Post by philo
My problem was that when I did that with my most recent drive,
the upgrade failed as it got to the end. The machine did boot to 23.10
but there are broken dependencies which I cannot resolve as the Internet
was lost in the process.

This is where I get a bit lost. What is the backup drive, is it a copy of
the other/main drive? Which is a spare incase the main drive fails? Where is
the backup drive, on the main machine, or on the shelf in case it is needed?

If you just want a copy of the main drive, which you have working then may I
suugest an image of the main drive is what you want/need.

Rescuezilla, https://rescuezilla.com/ is a more friendly front end to
Clonezilla (GUI).

Post by philo
I need to know how to proceed from here.
I can download the 23.10 and burn the .iso to USB stick
but how to I add it as source to software & updates?
I can't fix dependencies without pointing the repair process somewhere
other than on-line
The option for external source says to insert CD or DVD

Once you have the iso on the USB you might be able to point to the USB. (I
have not tried this)

Post by philo
The ISO is too large. Their dialog is obsolete.
Synaptic does have an option to add packages but where would I point
that within the ISO
Even though I do have one working installation, I do want to get the
other one going as a backup without a complete fresh install

This is what (imaging) rescuezilla does. Spend some time on the learning
curve and it will be worth any donation you give.

[philo]

Post by Gordon

Post by philo
Thanks for all the help on getting my Brother printer setup on my Ubuntu
22.04 machine.
As mentioned, I had to do a custom setup.
I upgraded an old installation to 24.04 and when I went to install the
printer...I'll be darned , the Brother recommended setup worked
fine...but now I have another problem
The drive I had used as a backup upgraded fine to 24.04 but I had to
upgrade from 22.04 to 23.10 first.

That is normal as you can only upgrade a certain number of steps/versions.

Post by philo
My problem was that when I did that with my most recent drive,
the upgrade failed as it got to the end. The machine did boot to 23.10
but there are broken dependencies which I cannot resolve as the Internet
was lost in the process.

This is where I get a bit lost. What is the backup drive, is it a copy of
the other/main drive? Which is a spare incase the main drive fails? Where is
the backup drive, on the main machine, or on the shelf in case it is needed?
If you just want a copy of the main drive, which you have working then may I
suugest an image of the main drive is what you want/need.
Rescuezilla, https://rescuezilla.com/ is a more friendly front end to
Clonezilla (GUI).

Post by philo
I need to know how to proceed from here.
I can download the 23.10 and burn the .iso to USB stick
but how to I add it as source to software & updates?
I can't fix dependencies without pointing the repair process somewhere
other than on-line
The option for external source says to insert CD or DVD

Once you have the iso on the USB you might be able to point to the USB. (I
have not tried this)

Post by philo
The ISO is too large. Their dialog is obsolete.
Synaptic does have an option to add packages but where would I point
that within the ISO
Even though I do have one working installation, I do want to get the
other one going as a backup without a complete fresh install

This is what (imaging) rescuezilla does. Spend some time on the learning
curve and it will be worth any donation you give.

The working installation was a drive that had been kept in reserve so
all I have to do is restore some data and I'll be set.
Not a major big deal...a lot of the accumulated data I can dump.

The problem is with the drive I had been using daily.

If I want to run the repair, since I have no Internet, the repair fails

My resolve.conf is not working or not existent.


There is no way I can direct the file search to the USB stick where I
have the distribution downloaded.

The only option is to add the cd/dvd

Completely outdated and useless

[rbowman]

Post by Gordon

Post by philo
Thanks for all the help on getting my Brother printer setup on my
Ubuntu 22.04 machine.
As mentioned, I had to do a custom setup.
I upgraded an old installation to 24.04 and when I went to install the
printer...I'll be darned , the Brother recommended setup worked
fine...but now I have another problem
The drive I had used as a backup upgraded fine to 24.04 but I had to
upgrade from 22.04 to 23.10 first.

That is normal as you can only upgrade a certain number of
steps/versions.

As I understand it 22.04 can be upgraded to 24.04 after August 15th. I'm
not impatient.

[philo]

I needed a project so I went with it.

My backup drive had 20.04 and I had to go to 22.04 and then 24.04

Can't recall what I started out with.
Probably 14.04 or 16.04

[Paul]

Thanks for all the help on getting my Brother printer setup on my Ubuntu 22.04 machine.
As mentioned, I had to do a custom setup.
I upgraded an old installation to 24.04 and when I went to install the printer...I'll be darned , the Brother recommended setup worked fine...but now I have another problem
The drive I had used as a backup upgraded fine to 24.04 but I had to upgrade from 22.04 to 23.10 first.
My problem was that when I did that with my most recent drive,
the upgrade failed as it got to the end. The machine did boot to 23.10 but there are broken dependencies which I cannot resolve as the Internet was lost in the process.
I need to know how to proceed from here.
I can download the 23.10 and burn the .iso to USB stick
but how to I add it as  source to software & updates?
I can't fix dependencies without pointing the repair process somewhere other than on-line
The option for external source says to insert CD or DVD
The ISO is too large. Their dialog is obsolete.
Synaptic does have an option to add packages but where would I point that within the ISO
Even though I do have one working installation, I do want to get the other one going as a backup without a complete fresh install
Thanks

There isn't a lot of meat here, but a suggestion to try to get networking running.
Then the uphill battle begins.

https://koen.vervloesem.eu/blog/fixing-a-failed-upgrade-to-ubuntu-2204-lts-in-recovery-mode/

"First reboot your computer and start Ubuntu in recovery mode:

Hold the Shift key while booting the PC.

In the GRUB boot menu that appears, choose the advanced options and then recovery mode.

In the recovery menu that appears, enable networking first and then choose the option to open a root shell.

Because the installation has been aborted, I tried fixing a broken install:

# apt --fix-broken install
...
"

I would not expect miracles, except if you'd tried this recipe before
(the shift key). It does not always work. Can't get into GRUB, that
can happen.

Like you, I brought up an install (in a VM here), up two levels.
One reason I could do that, is I hadn't messed with the packaging
setup all that much (not a lot of customization), so there was
less material to trip over. There are some customizations you
have to reverse, to make forward progress. For example, if you
had set up a TMPFS for /tmp, you have to remove that and go back
to having /tmp being on the HDD slash.

Fixing the network, used to be a chore, but once you went through
the usual steps, it worked. Now, you have the Network Manager as
an additional layer of broken-ness :-) The networking might
actually be working, at some level, but "only a working Network
Manager results in a working network".

Sometimes, the issue is your hardware is too crusty, in a physical
install, and you're not meeting some "requirement". I don't know
if these installers today, verify SSE2 is present on the CPU
or other such stuff. Maybe some DKMS related material, prevents
forward progress (kernel is too new for something you've done
to be handled via DKMS).

One of the reasons I've changed my virtual machine handling practices
is "for the free backups". Before a VM run, I copy the container
to my RAMdrive. If the session achieves nothing of importance, the
container is thrown away. If the session, say, succeeds at a version
upgrade, I save-back the container to main storage. This means
most of the time, if I was not too lazy, I'm just a "chuck away"
from fixing stuff :-) It's harder on physical hardware installs,
to always have that backup ready to go for a restoration. Sometimes
you're doing a dist upgrade when you least expected it :-)

Paul

[philo]

Post by Paul

Thanks for all the help on getting my Brother printer setup on my Ubuntu 22.04 machine.
As mentioned, I had to do a custom setup.
I upgraded an old installation to 24.04 and when I went to install the printer...I'll be darned , the Brother recommended setup worked fine...but now I have another problem
The drive I had used as a backup upgraded fine to 24.04 but I had to upgrade from 22.04 to 23.10 first.
My problem was that when I did that with my most recent drive,
the upgrade failed as it got to the end. The machine did boot to 23.10 but there are broken dependencies which I cannot resolve as the Internet was lost in the process.
I need to know how to proceed from here.
I can download the 23.10 and burn the .iso to USB stick
but how to I add it as  source to software & updates?
I can't fix dependencies without pointing the repair process somewhere other than on-line
The option for external source says to insert CD or DVD
The ISO is too large. Their dialog is obsolete.
Synaptic does have an option to add packages but where would I point that within the ISO
Even though I do have one working installation, I do want to get the other one going as a backup without a complete fresh install
Thanks

There isn't a lot of meat here, but a suggestion to try to get networking running.
Then the uphill battle begins.
https://koen.vervloesem.eu/blog/fixing-a-failed-upgrade-to-ubuntu-2204-lts-in-recovery-mode/
Hold the Shift key while booting the PC.
In the GRUB boot menu that appears, choose the advanced options and then recovery mode.
In the recovery menu that appears, enable networking first and then choose the option to open a root shell.
# apt --fix-broken install
...
"

problem is, I have no internet connection so when it goes on line to fix
it, it fails.

I need to point the file search to my USB stick


Again, if I have to dump the installation , not the end of the world as
I've now done a fresh install on ssd. Should have had this on an ssd anyway

So now I have what I've wanted. One installation and a spare installation

Still I'd like to see if I can fix the one with no internet connectivity
due to a failed or non existent resolve.conf

Post by Paul
I would not expect miracles, except if you'd tried this recipe before
(the shift key). It does not always work. Can't get into GRUB, that
can happen.
Like you, I brought up an install (in a VM here), up two levels.
One reason I could do that, is I hadn't messed with the packaging
setup all that much (not a lot of customization), so there was
less material to trip over. There are some customizations you
have to reverse, to make forward progress. For example, if you
had set up a TMPFS for /tmp, you have to remove that and go back
to having /tmp being on the HDD slash.
Fixing the network, used to be a chore, but once you went through
the usual steps, it worked. Now, you have the Network Manager as
an additional layer of broken-ness :-) The networking might
actually be working, at some level, but "only a working Network
Manager results in a working network".
Sometimes, the issue is your hardware is too crusty, in a physical
install, and you're not meeting some "requirement". I don't know
if these installers today, verify SSE2 is present on the CPU
or other such stuff. Maybe some DKMS related material, prevents
forward progress (kernel is too new for something you've done
to be handled via DKMS).
One of the reasons I've changed my virtual machine handling practices
is "for the free backups". Before a VM run, I copy the container
to my RAMdrive. If the session achieves nothing of importance, the
container is thrown away. If the session, say, succeeds at a version
upgrade, I save-back the container to main storage. This means
most of the time, if I was not too lazy, I'm just a "chuck away"
from fixing stuff :-) It's harder on physical hardware installs,
to always have that backup ready to go for a restoration. Sometimes
you're doing a dist upgrade when you least expected it :-)
Paul

[Paul]

problem is, I have no internet connection so when it goes on line to fix it, it fails.
I need to point the file search to my USB stick
Again, if I have to dump the installation , not the end of the world as I've now done a fresh install on ssd. Should have had this on an ssd anyway
So now I have what I've wanted. One installation and a spare installation
Still I'd like to see if I can fix the one with no internet connectivity due to a failed or non existent resolve.conf

It's a bit messy.

https://askubuntu.com/questions/134121/how-to-restore-recreate-etc-resolv-conf-files

It is supposed to be linked to here.

/run/resolvconf/resolv.conf

Paul

[philo]

Post by Paul

problem is, I have no internet connection so when it goes on line to fix it, it fails.
I need to point the file search to my USB stick
Again, if I have to dump the installation , not the end of the world as I've now done a fresh install on ssd. Should have had this on an ssd anyway
So now I have what I've wanted. One installation and a spare installation
Still I'd like to see if I can fix the one with no internet connectivity due to a failed or non existent resolve.conf

It's a bit messy.
https://askubuntu.com/questions/134121/how-to-restore-recreate-etc-resolv-conf-files
It is supposed to be linked to here.
/run/resolvconf/resolv.conf
Paul

If I don't get it fixed, it may just be easier to clone the working
drive so I can have a backup.

LOL, the fresh install on the ssd is not working so well, it's locked up
several times

[Paul]

Post by Paul

problem is, I have no internet connection so when it goes on line to fix it, it fails.
I need to point the file search to my USB stick
Again, if I have to dump the installation , not the end of the world as I've now done a fresh install on ssd. Should have had this on an ssd anyway
So now I have what I've wanted. One installation and a spare installation
Still I'd like to see if I can fix the one with no internet connectivity due to a failed or non existent resolve.conf

It's a bit messy.
https://askubuntu.com/questions/134121/how-to-restore-recreate-etc-resolv-conf-files
It is supposed to be linked to here.
    /run/resolvconf/resolv.conf
   Paul

If I don't get it fixed, it may just be easier to clone the working drive so I can have a backup.
LOL, the fresh install on the ssd is not working so well, it's locked up several times

I fired up my VMs. I had a backup, so I have two to compare. I didn't keep any more than that.

DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 24.04 LTS" (from /etc/lsb-release which shows the release number)

***@SUPERFLY:/etc$ ls -al resolv*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 39 Apr 18 2023 resolv.conf -> ../run/systemd/resolve/stub-resolv.conf

*******

DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 23.04"

***@SUPERFLY:/run$ ls -al /etc/resolv.conf
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 39 Apr 18 2023 /etc/resolv.conf -> ../run/systemd/resolve/stub-resolv.conf

***@SUPERFLY:/run/systemd/resolve$ ls -al
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 3 systemd-resolve systemd-resolve 140 May 26 12:13 .
drwxr-xr-x 23 root root 580 May 26 12:13 ..
srw-rw-rw- 1 systemd-resolve systemd-resolve 0 May 26 12:13 io.systemd.Resolve
srw------- 1 systemd-resolve systemd-resolve 0 May 26 12:13 io.systemd.Resolve.Monitor
drwx------ 2 systemd-resolve systemd-resolve 60 May 26 12:13 netif
-rw-r--r-- 1 systemd-resolve systemd-resolve 786 May 26 12:13 resolv.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 systemd-resolve systemd-resolve 920 May 26 12:13 stub-resolv.conf

cat resolv.conf
# This is /run/systemd/resolve/resolv.conf managed by man:systemd-resolved(8).
# Do not edit.
#
# This file might be symlinked as /etc/resolv.conf. If you're looking at
# /etc/resolv.conf and seeing this text, you have followed the symlink.
#
# This is a dynamic resolv.conf file for connecting local clients directly to
# all known uplink DNS servers. This file lists all configured search domains.
#
# Third party programs should typically not access this file directly, but only
# through the symlink at /etc/resolv.conf. To manage man:resolv.conf(5) in a
# different way, replace this symlink by a static file or a different symlink.
#
# See man:systemd-resolved.service(8) for details about the supported modes of
# operation for /etc/resolv.conf.

nameserver 192.168.2.1
search .

cat stub-resolv.conf
# This is /run/systemd/resolve/stub-resolv.conf managed by man:systemd-resolved(8).
# Do not edit.
#
# This file might be symlinked as /etc/resolv.conf. If you're looking at
# /etc/resolv.conf and seeing this text, you have followed the symlink.
#
# This is a dynamic resolv.conf file for connecting local clients to the
# internal DNS stub resolver of systemd-resolved. This file lists all
# configured search domains.
#
# Run "resolvectl status" to see details about the uplink DNS servers
# currently in use.
#
# Third party programs should typically not access this file directly, but only
# through the symlink at /etc/resolv.conf. To manage man:resolv.conf(5) in a
# different way, replace this symlink by a static file or a different symlink.
#
# See man:systemd-resolved.service(8) for details about the supported modes of
# operation for /etc/resolv.conf.

nameserver 127.0.0.53
options edns0 trust-ad
search .

***********************************************************************************

It's likely changed just a bit, since systemd came along.

Paul

[philo]

Post by Paul

Post by Paul

problem is, I have no internet connection so when it goes on line to fix it, it fails.
I need to point the file search to my USB stick
Again, if I have to dump the installation , not the end of the world as I've now done a fresh install on ssd. Should have had this on an ssd anyway
So now I have what I've wanted. One installation and a spare installation
Still I'd like to see if I can fix the one with no internet connectivity due to a failed or non existent resolve.conf

It's a bit messy.
https://askubuntu.com/questions/134121/how-to-restore-recreate-etc-resolv-conf-files
It is supposed to be linked to here.
    /run/resolvconf/resolv.conf
   Paul

If I don't get it fixed, it may just be easier to clone the working drive so I can have a backup.
LOL, the fresh install on the ssd is not working so well, it's locked up several times

I fired up my VMs. I had a backup, so I have two to compare. I didn't keep any more than that.
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 24.04 LTS" (from /etc/lsb-release which shows the release number)
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 39 Apr 18 2023 resolv.conf -> ../run/systemd/resolve/stub-resolv.conf
*******
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 23.04"
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 39 Apr 18 2023 /etc/resolv.conf -> ../run/systemd/resolve/stub-resolv.conf
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 3 systemd-resolve systemd-resolve 140 May 26 12:13 .
drwxr-xr-x 23 root root 580 May 26 12:13 ..
srw-rw-rw- 1 systemd-resolve systemd-resolve 0 May 26 12:13 io.systemd.Resolve
srw------- 1 systemd-resolve systemd-resolve 0 May 26 12:13 io.systemd.Resolve.Monitor
drwx------ 2 systemd-resolve systemd-resolve 60 May 26 12:13 netif
-rw-r--r-- 1 systemd-resolve systemd-resolve 786 May 26 12:13 resolv.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 systemd-resolve systemd-resolve 920 May 26 12:13 stub-resolv.conf
cat resolv.conf
# This is /run/systemd/resolve/resolv.conf managed by man:systemd-resolved(8).
# Do not edit.
#
# This file might be symlinked as /etc/resolv.conf. If you're looking at
# /etc/resolv.conf and seeing this text, you have followed the symlink.
#
# This is a dynamic resolv.conf file for connecting local clients directly to
# all known uplink DNS servers. This file lists all configured search domains.
#
# Third party programs should typically not access this file directly, but only
# through the symlink at /etc/resolv.conf. To manage man:resolv.conf(5) in a
# different way, replace this symlink by a static file or a different symlink.
#
# See man:systemd-resolved.service(8) for details about the supported modes of
# operation for /etc/resolv.conf.
nameserver 192.168.2.1
search .
cat stub-resolv.conf
# This is /run/systemd/resolve/stub-resolv.conf managed by man:systemd-resolved(8).
# Do not edit.
#
# This file might be symlinked as /etc/resolv.conf. If you're looking at
# /etc/resolv.conf and seeing this text, you have followed the symlink.
#
# This is a dynamic resolv.conf file for connecting local clients to the
# internal DNS stub resolver of systemd-resolved. This file lists all
# configured search domains.
#
# Run "resolvectl status" to see details about the uplink DNS servers
# currently in use.
#
# Third party programs should typically not access this file directly, but only
# through the symlink at /etc/resolv.conf. To manage man:resolv.conf(5) in a
# different way, replace this symlink by a static file or a different symlink.
#
# See man:systemd-resolved.service(8) for details about the supported modes of
# operation for /etc/resolv.conf.
nameserver 127.0.0.53
options edns0 trust-ad
search .
***********************************************************************************
It's likely changed just a bit, since systemd came along.
Paul

Thanks Paul.

Now that I have any new data all backed up, I'm going to just delete the
corrupted installation and clone the good one to that drive.

I don't think I'll be able to repair it.

I always try to find something positive when I screw up.

In this case, getting rid of data I no longer need,,,
Plus cleaning up the list of passwords that I have written down on
scraps of paper.

Tossing a lot of them that are for sites that no longer exist >>>LOL


Not only that, my machine is dual booting with Mint Linux, so I have
plenty of backup.


OH>>>BTW: The printer no longer works using Brother's install routine, I
had to do my manual installation which for sure I have notes on!

[philo]

Post by philo
Thanks for all the help on getting my Brother printer setup on my Ubuntu
22.04 machine.
As mentioned, I had to do a custom setup.
I upgraded an old installation to 24.04 and when I went to install the
printer...I'll be darned , the Brother recommended setup worked
fine...but now I have another problem
The drive I had used as a backup upgraded fine to 24.04 but I had to
upgrade from 22.04 to 23.10 first.
My problem was that when I did that with my most recent drive,
the upgrade failed as it got to the end. The machine did boot to 23.10
but there are broken dependencies which I cannot resolve as the Internet
was lost in the process.
I need to know how to proceed from here.
I can download the 23.10 and burn the .iso to USB stick
but how to I add it as  source to software & updates?
I can't fix dependencies without pointing the repair process somewhere
other than on-line
The option for external source says to insert CD or DVD
The ISO is too large. Their dialog is obsolete.
Synaptic does have an option to add packages but where would I point
that within the ISO
Even though I do have one working installation, I do want to get the
other one going as a backup without a complete fresh install
Thanks

Backed all my data up one more time, than thanks to Clonezilla, cloned
my good installation onto the drive that had the failed upgrade.

Whew. Now I can put the drive away knowing I have a backup installation.

While that was going on, I decided to upgrade my Mint 20.3 to version 21

LOL, as it got to the end, the upgrade failed.
The system booted by had problems>

One nice thing about Mint at least is it took a nice snapshot and I was
able to roll everything back.

Now I put a not on the machine NOT to upgrade the Mint install.

[Paul]

Thanks for all the help on getting my Brother printer setup on my Ubuntu 22.04 machine.
As mentioned, I had to do a custom setup.
I upgraded an old installation to 24.04 and when I went to install the printer...I'll be darned , the Brother recommended setup worked fine...but now I have another problem
The drive I had used as a backup upgraded fine to 24.04 but I had to upgrade from 22.04 to 23.10 first.
My problem was that when I did that with my most recent drive,
the upgrade failed as it got to the end. The machine did boot to 23.10 but there are broken dependencies which I cannot resolve as the Internet was lost in the process.
I need to know how to proceed from here.
I can download the 23.10 and burn the .iso to USB stick
but how to I add it as  source to software & updates?
I can't fix dependencies without pointing the repair process somewhere other than on-line
The option for external source says to insert CD or DVD
The ISO is too large. Their dialog is obsolete.
Synaptic does have an option to add packages but where would I point that within the ISO
Even though I do have one working installation, I do want to get the other one going as a backup without a complete fresh install
Thanks

Backed all my data up one more time, than thanks to Clonezilla, cloned my good installation onto the drive that had the failed upgrade.
Whew. Now I can put the drive away knowing I have a backup installation.
While that was going on, I decided to upgrade my Mint 20.3 to version 21
LOL, as it got to the end, the upgrade failed.
The system booted by had problems>
One nice thing about Mint at least is it took a nice snapshot and I was able to roll everything back.
Now I put a not on the machine NOT to upgrade the Mint install.

I think I see a pattern emerging here.

*******

Just for the record, when the new kernel tips over,
you select an alternate kernel from the GRUB menu.
Or at least, that is what worked in previous years.

Maybe your machine likes 5.15 but does not like 6.x .

During the installation, there may be an option to clean up
or not. And not cleaning up, may leave more options. During
software updates, I like to leave the machine littered with
old kernels, just for fun.

It's too bad there wasn't an "advisor" you could run,
which would notify you that one or more items on the
machine is going to cause problems. Windows has an advisor,
but when installing an OS, it did not recognize the graphics
were too crusty, and it wasted time for nothing by getting
part way through an upgrade and then rolling back. And because
it did not print any info on the screen, I had to "guess"
it was the graphics that did it. Sticking in my HD6450
graphics card, allowed that upgrade to go ahead. You have to
keep a lot of hardware history in your head, at times like this.

Even when there are log files, there is no guarantee you'll
catch the line that offers a hint. I guess this is all part of
the fun.

Part of the reason for wanting to fix busted upgrades, is
to develop your own set of rules for "pre-conditions for Upgrade".
For example, if my /tmp was mounted as a TMPFS, that is verboten.
Before Upgrade, I have to put /tmp back on / , "like Linus wants it" :-)
You also have a gander at your .ppa collection, and remove some
of those. On a virtual machine, you might do a "remove" on the
"virtual machine additions" -- things work better without it.

You have the option, of moving a disk drive to a more capable
machine, doing the Upgrade there, then moving the disk drive
back to Mr.Crusty for a test boot. It can still bomb, but then
you may have gathered evidence the thing actually works on
your "good" machine.

Paul

[philo]

Post by Paul

Thanks for all the help on getting my Brother printer setup on my Ubuntu 22.04 machine.
As mentioned, I had to do a custom setup.
I upgraded an old installation to 24.04 and when I went to install the printer...I'll be darned , the Brother recommended setup worked fine...but now I have another problem
The drive I had used as a backup upgraded fine to 24.04 but I had to upgrade from 22.04 to 23.10 first.
My problem was that when I did that with my most recent drive,
the upgrade failed as it got to the end. The machine did boot to 23.10 but there are broken dependencies which I cannot resolve as the Internet was lost in the process.
I need to know how to proceed from here.
I can download the 23.10 and burn the .iso to USB stick
but how to I add it as  source to software & updates?
I can't fix dependencies without pointing the repair process somewhere other than on-line
The option for external source says to insert CD or DVD
The ISO is too large. Their dialog is obsolete.
Synaptic does have an option to add packages but where would I point that within the ISO
Even though I do have one working installation, I do want to get the other one going as a backup without a complete fresh install
Thanks

Backed all my data up one more time, than thanks to Clonezilla, cloned my good installation onto the drive that had the failed upgrade.
Whew. Now I can put the drive away knowing I have a backup installation.
While that was going on, I decided to upgrade my Mint 20.3 to version 21
LOL, as it got to the end, the upgrade failed.
The system booted by had problems>
One nice thing about Mint at least is it took a nice snapshot and I was able to roll everything back.
Now I put a not on the machine NOT to upgrade the Mint install.

I think I see a pattern emerging here.
*******
Just for the record, when the new kernel tips over,
you select an alternate kernel from the GRUB menu.
Or at least, that is what worked in previous years.
Maybe your machine likes 5.15 but does not like 6.x .
During the installation, there may be an option to clean up
or not. And not cleaning up, may leave more options. During
software updates, I like to leave the machine littered with
old kernels, just for fun.
It's too bad there wasn't an "advisor" you could run,
which would notify you that one or more items on the
machine is going to cause problems. Windows has an advisor,
but when installing an OS, it did not recognize the graphics
were too crusty, and it wasted time for nothing by getting
part way through an upgrade and then rolling back. And because
it did not print any info on the screen, I had to "guess"
it was the graphics that did it. Sticking in my HD6450
graphics card, allowed that upgrade to go ahead. You have to
keep a lot of hardware history in your head, at times like this.
Even when there are log files, there is no guarantee you'll
catch the line that offers a hint. I guess this is all part of
the fun.
Part of the reason for wanting to fix busted upgrades, is
to develop your own set of rules for "pre-conditions for Upgrade".
For example, if my /tmp was mounted as a TMPFS, that is verboten.
Before Upgrade, I have to put /tmp back on / , "like Linus wants it" :-)
You also have a gander at your .ppa collection, and remove some
of those. On a virtual machine, you might do a "remove" on the
"virtual machine additions" -- things work better without it.
You have the option, of moving a disk drive to a more capable
machine, doing the Upgrade there, then moving the disk drive
back to Mr.Crusty for a test boot. It can still bomb, but then
you may have gathered evidence the thing actually works on
your "good" machine.
Paul

The reason I have Mint is simply one can never have too many spare
operating systems.

There was an advisor which kept removing packages that could potentially
lead to trouble. All seemed fine until the very end.

Since I always have my data backed up numerous times, the OS itself is
not terribly important to me.

Anyway, I'm all set now.

It's been a while since I've spent a few days in a row doing computer work.