[Bug 875343] Re: Stuck at "Saving installed packages..." when using a custom /var

[Murithi]

This is not a permanent solution but just a workaround for anyone wishing to upgrade without formatting target partition.
 
I was trying to set up 12.04 Beta 1 without formatting my /-mounted partition and got stuck at this.
My 11.10 setup was going to be a pain to upgrade anyway - had troublesome upgrade earlier when using .

I booted with an alternate cd and removed everything I did not need (/var /lib /opt e.t.c) except /home.
For good measure, I also renamed /home and then installed 12.04 beta 1 without formatting target partition - went smoothly.

Hope this is useful.

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Foundations Bugs, which is subscribed to ubiquity in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/875343

Title:
  Stuck at "Saving installed packages..." when using a custom /var

Status in “ubiquity” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  The installer hangs forever at message "Saving installed packages" under certain conditions. Steps to reproduce:
  - Start gparted, create GPT partition table and create big enough partitions as follows:
  - /dev/sda1 formatted as ext4
  - /dev/sda2 formatted as ext4
  - Start Ubiquity
  - Use default options until you reach "Installation Type"
  - Choose "Something else"
  - Choose usage of partitions and mount points as follows (do NOT format!)
  -- /dev/sda1 on /
  -- /dev/sda2 on /var
  - Hit "Install now" (ignore the warning)
  => Installer will then hang forever. Last message it displays is: "Saving installed packages"

  I have tried this with 11.10 live CDs on a physical machine and VMs
  and it always shows this behaviour.

  Some notes:
  - You can avoid the problem, if you mark / or /var (or both) for formatting
  - It only seems to happen with a separate /var partition. If only /usr is different, everything works as expected
  - The problem did not exist in previous installers

  The reason why I do not want to format with Ubiquity is because I have
  pre-formatted my partitions with special parameters which I cannot set
  in Ubiquity.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
  Package: ubiquity 2.8.7
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.20-generic 3.0.4
  Uname: Linux 3.0.0-12-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu3
  Architecture: amd64
  CasperVersion: 1.287
  Date: Sat Oct 15 21:01:41 2011
  LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release amd64 (20111012)
  ProcEnviron:
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: ubiquity
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
  --- 
  ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu3
  Architecture: amd64
  CasperVersion: 1.287
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
  LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release amd64 (20111012)
  Package: ubiquity 2.8.7
  PackageArchitecture: amd64
  ProcEnviron:
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.20-generic 3.0.4
  Tags:  oneiric ubiquity-2.8.7
  Uname: Linux 3.0.0-12-generic x86_64
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
  UserGroups:

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/875343/+subscriptions