I am running Ubuntu Mate 16 Desktop on an Acer laptop (Aspire ES 17). Note that Secure Boot is disabled in the BIOS.
Running “sudo apt-get dist-upgrade” crashed on the following step:
“Setting up secureboot-db (1.4~ubuntu0.16.04.1) …”
At this point the machine was completely frozen and I had to hit the power button.
On reboot I had to continue the update using “sudo dpkg —configure -a” but the system froze again (immediately).
It seems that the dpkg process isn’t even getting the chance to log anything. The last items in /var/log/dpkg.log are from the first time I started off the update process:
2018-11-23 19:49:46 status unpacked linux-firmware:all 1.157.21
2018-11-23 19:49:47 status half-configured linux-firmware:all 1.157.21
The log in /var/log/apt/term.log is also not getting anything added to it, with the last items being:
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.15.0-34-generic
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_guc_ver9_14.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/bxt_guc_ver8_7.bin for module i915
The only thing I found that was even remotely similar was this question – Routinue secureboot-db update just failed, should I be concerned?, but there the installation of secureboot-db is completing (albeit unsuccessfully). It’s not freezing the machine.
I am suspecting that this is related to the way the OS was installed on the machine in the first place. These Acer laptops are hostile to anything that is not Windows but I managed to install Ubuntu 16, a few months back, using one of the answers given here – Unable to install Ubuntu on Acer Aspire ES1-533. The solution I had followed was the one starting with the words “The problem can be solved as follows:”
I am suspecting that some code must have been introduced in the latest Ubuntu update that has made this solution redundant, at least if you want to keep the system updated properly.
Does anyone have any tips on where I can go next with this, please?
Best Answer
I had the same problem crop up a couple of weeks ago - I eventually solved it today by simply cancelling the update for that package (based on this answer). Probably not the 'correct' answer/solution, but it allowed me to update other stuff after...