EDIT 1: While kubuntu 22.04 dropped in April of 2022, many of us didn't have access to it via apt upgrade until only very recently. While even more recent versions have since dropped, it's the 22.04 LTS upgrade being referred to here, 'General Availability' specifically.
EDIT 2: "Latest" here simply means "most recently available via the repositories". I am uncertain as to how far behind that makes anything. No back port channels were involved.
EDIT 3: In my case, no encryption was involved.
I was trying to upgrade my OS to the latest, finally-available-in-the-repositories-for-*buntu version of Kubuntu 22.04 (though I get the sense that this has been known to happen at many major transition events or variations of what I am encountering).
A short while ago, I received two identical gui system notifications (appearing one above the other in the same notification box) provided I believe via Software Update utility. I clicked on one to begin the upgrade process, which cleared one of the notifications. Doing so ended up turning into a non-starter with a classic "Upgrade failed with the following output:" error accompanied by an empty message box. Same result on the first try using a live usb stick with the appropriate ISO made using Startup Disc Creator. At this point, I've already shut down and rebooted once, and after this failed attempt will make it two reboots.
On the third try, I used the System Update utility gui a second time (clearing the second notification), just to see if coming back after reboots had changed anything. It actually worked! The process got underway as it was meant to. However, one at a time, more and more failures started cropping up along the way. It started with:
Could not install 'python3'
The upgrade will continue but the 'python3' package may not be in a working state. Please consider submitting a bug report about it.
installed paython3 package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 4
and
Could not install the upgrades
The upgrade has aborted. Your system could be in an unusable state. A recovery will run now (dpkg -- configure -a).
and with the concluding info window saying:
Upgrade complete
The upgrade had completed but there were errors during the upgrade process.
followed by yet another empty "Upgrade failed with the following output:" message.
Now I can't boot into any Kubuntu. When I try to do so, I get a
Kernel Panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)
and also a
Please append a correct "root=" boot option.
This came along with the Kernel panic message:
Kernel Offset: 0x27400000 from 0xffffffff81000000 (relocation range: 0xffffffff80000000-0xffffffffbfffffff)
I don't know what to do with this information, what commands I should/need to run in order to suss out more relevant info, or anything. I have looked around and found that this issue has appeared for many people at various times (even going back as far as pre-2016), with various nuances, and with numerous proposed solutions that typically have been either ineffective, impossible (such as trying to access "Advanced Options" which doesn't appear for me in the GRUB startup menu), or too vague ("simply this and then that" explained in anything but simple terms)/too technically beyond me, leaving me frustrated with how little I know even after years of tinkering. I recognize the irony; I am not being particularly clear either, but I'm not a dev, I'm just a regular person with probable ADHD who dislikes Windows but loves KDE's take on Ubuntu. I can't keep track of everything I have tried so far.
Everything was as up-to-date as is possible through Software Update/sudo apt update, including python3.
I made a backup of my Kubuntu 20.04 system files using timeshift, but
(a) I no longer have a recognized, bootable, mountable root partition to restore anything back to using Timeshift, and
(b) I don't have a recent-enough backup of some of my home files.
What I want is to:
- fix this Kernel panic issue
- restore my original Kubuntu 20.04 OS
- rescue a handful of files I stupidly was not expecting to lose because of a botched upgrade attempt prompted and guided by the OS itself
- try to upgrade again, successfully this time
The machine in question is a Lenovo Thinkpad 440T running the most recent Kernel and KDE Frameworks version available for Kubuntu 20.04 available through apt update as of less than a few weeks ago.
I have a live USB stick with Kubuntu 22.04 on it made, as mentioned, using Startup Disc Creator. I have successfully installed Kubuntu 22.04 on another machine using it. Will I need a live USB stick with Kubuntu 20.04 to restore my lost OS? If so, when I boot into "Try or Install Kubuntu" from the live USB, what will I need to do then? Or is there a different order of operations I should follow instead?
I think I just need a way to realign my boot partition ("just").
Honestly, for all the related issues and proposed solutions I've encountered (here and elsewhere), I need someone to hold my hand, because anything less will, at one step or another, end up being beyond me.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any and all useful help or suggestions.
(because I don't have any cred here yet for all the relevant tags):
#kubuntu #upgrade #botched-upgrade #kernel #kernel-panic #boot #mount #root #mount-root
