Ubuntu – How recover from a bad update and no /sbin/init

bootgrub2

How do I get /sbin/init to install?

my boot started failing indicating no /sbin/init after an update.
lots of playing around with gparted, grub, supergrub2 …
So I created a bootable gparted disk
mounted my '/' and found it to be intact, /sbin is present but missing /sbin/init
stumbled on No /sbin/init after upgrading to ubuntu 15
found How to restore a system after accidentally removing all kernels?
went thru the mount , chroot procedure outlined in restore procedure
The procedure is for an upgrade to 15.04 from 14.04, but I want stay with 14.04, so I am using a reinstall. Its failing and I don't know where to go from here.
Aslo tried to reinstall upstart as per Restoring /sbin/init from Live CD, failed with a dpkg error processing fontconfig (see below)

root@debian:/# apt-get install --reinstall linux-image-generic linux-image-3.13.0.96-generic
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Note, selecting 'linux-image-3.13.0-96-generic' for regex 'linux-image-3.13.0.96-generic'
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 2 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 98 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0 B/15.3 MB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
(Reading database ... 532316 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../linux-image-3.13.0-96-generic_3.13.0-96.143_amd64.deb ...
Done.
Unpacking linux-image-3.13.0-96-generic (3.13.0-96.143) over (3.13.0-96.143) ...
Examining /etc/kernel/postrm.d .
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools 3.13.0-96-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-96-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub 3.13.0-96-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-96-generic
Preparing to unpack .../linux-image-generic_3.13.0.96.104_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking linux-image-generic (3.13.0.96.104) over (3.13.0.96.104) ...
Setting up fontconfig (2.11.1-0ubuntu6) ...
Regenerating fonts cache... failed.
See /var/log/fontconfig.log for more information.
dpkg: error processing package fontconfig (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Setting up linux-image-3.13.0-96-generic (3.13.0-96.143) ...
Running depmod.
update-initramfs: deferring update (hook will be called later)
Not updating initrd symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled 
(3.13.0-96.143 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Not updating image symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled 
(3.13.0-96.143 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Examining /etc/kernel/postinst.d.
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/apt-auto-removal 3.13.0-96-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-96-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms 3.13.0-96-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-96-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools 3.13.0-96-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-96-generic
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-96-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/pm-utils 3.13.0-96-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-96-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/update-notifier 3.13.0-96-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-96-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub 3.13.0-96-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-96-generic
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-96-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-96-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-95-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-95-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-91-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-91-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-86-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-86-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-74-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-74-generic
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.elf
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
  No volume groups found
done
Setting up linux-image-generic (3.13.0.96.104) ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 fontconfig
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

oot@debian:/# apt-get install --reinstall upstart
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 98 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0 B/399 kB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
(Reading database ... 532316 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../upstart_1.13.2-0ubuntu13_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking upstart (1.13.2-0ubuntu13) over (1.13.2-0ubuntu13) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.6.7.1-1ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...
Setting up fontconfig (2.11.1-0ubuntu6) ...
Regenerating fonts cache... failed.
See /var/log/fontconfig.log for more information.
dpkg: error processing package fontconfig (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Setting up upstart (1.13.2-0ubuntu13) ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 fontconfig
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
root@debian:/# ls -al /sbin/init
ls: cannot access /sbin/init: No such file or directory

/dev/sda3 /
/dev/sda5 /home
/dev/sda1 bios_grub
/dev/sda2 swap

user@debian:~$ sudo parted -l
Model: ATA WDC WD30EZRX-00M (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 3001GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    File system     Name      Flags
 1      17.4kB  1000MB  1000MB                  boot      bios_grub
 2      1000MB  13.0GB  12.0GB  linux-swap(v1)  swap
 4      513GB   713GB   200GB                   reserve1  msftdata
 5      713GB   1013GB  300GB   ext4            home      msftdata
 6      1013GB  1213GB  200GB                             msftdata
 3      1213GB  2000GB  787GB   ext4                      msftdata


Warning: Unable to open /dev/sr0 read-write (Read-only file system).  /dev/sr0
has been opened read-only.
Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!
Ignore/Cancel? ignore
Model: PLDS DVD+-RW DH-16ABS (scsi)
Disk /dev/sr0: 279MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 2048B/2048B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 2      1082MB  1095MB  12.8MB  primary               esp

Best Answer

Never lose your hopes!

I've also faced a crash after apt-get install has installed some new packages... and at next reboot BANG! /sbin/init: No such file or directory. Also said /etc/init: Permission denied. Also said /bin/sh: 0: can't access tty; job control turned off.

Filesystem remained untouched at /dev/vda1 and fsck.ext4 returned: clean!

After a loooong research session, this worked for me: +1 to hill - a user from launchpad.

boot your droplet with a Recovery ISO - TigerShark

Network must be configured, either manually or via TigerShark script.

mount -rw -o remount /dev/vda1 /mnt

chroot /mnt

unlink /etc/resolv.conf && echo "nameserver 8.8.8.8" > /etc/resolv.conf

apt-get install init

update-initramfs -u

After reboot your system. It will work fine. Enjoy!

References:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubuntu-release-upgrader/+bug/1652462 https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SystemdForUpstartUsers

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – New to Linux, I’m getting this recurring error “ERROR ”update-grub“ returned an error: exit status 1 ” please advise

I recently had the exact same issue with Kubuntu 20.04. The problem is that the /boot partition has run out of spare space to update the kernel properly. Hence it repeatedly fails on each retry (i.e. sudo apt upgrade). You can check this by running df-H and if the Avail space is low (say under 100MB) for the /boot mount then you may run into the issue you are seeing. First try sudo apt clean and sudo apt autoremove then sudo apt upgrade to see if it automatically clears up space to fix the error. If not, see my solution below.

To fix it you need to free up the space on your /boot. How I did it:

Run sudo dpkg --list | egrep -i --color 'linux-image|linux-headers' to give you a list of installed kernels and kernel-headers in your /boot.
Now you need to uninstall all of the ones you dont want EXCEPT the current kernel (find out current kernel by running uname -r). You probably should KEEP any kernel newer than the current kernel too.

Uninstall each kernel and kernel-header you dont want using:

sudo apt purge {kernel-package-name}

For example I ran:

sudo apt purge linux-image-5.4.0-26-generic
...
sudo apt purge linux-headers-5.4.0-26-generic
...
sudo apt purge linux-image-5.4.0-33-generic
...
sudo apt purge linux-headers-5.4.0-33-generic
...
And so on...

Once you have removed enough kernels to free up space, restart your PC then try sudo apt update and sudo apt upgrade again and see if it succeeds and the error message goes away.

In future when it fills up again you may have to repeat this. I always thought the old kernels should get removed automatically or by using sudo apt clean and/or sudo apt autoremove but it seems not the case on some installs.

If anyone knows how to auto-remove old kernels please share

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – New to Linux, I’m getting this recurring error “ERROR ”update-grub“ returned an error: exit status 1 ” please advise

Related Question