[Bug 1080701] Re: After 'Preparing to install Ubuntu' screen, raring installation hangs
codeslinger
codeslinger at compsalot.com
Thu Apr 4 05:25:58 UTC 2013
the follwoing is a follow up to a discussion with cjwatson on #ubuntu-installer
--------------------------------------------
fresh boot from flash drive or DVD
swap is mounted
no other partitions are mounted
partman is not running/hung
Start Install
select English
[continue]
[x] Install this third party software
[continue]
At this point partman is launched.
result: partman.failed.r2.txt
========================
Analysis: Fundamentally there are multiple seperate bugs here, and they all interact to
create the very erratic behavior that has been widely observed.
The primary issue is that if partman fails for any reason, then instead of exiting, it hangs.
When the installer gets run again, it will start a new partman process, the new partman process
will also hang because of the existance of the previously hung partman process. This will occur
even if the original error condition has been cleared.
By starting the installer multiple times, you will get multiple hung partman processes, one for
each invocation. The presence of any hung partman process will cause the new partman process
to hang. This accounts for a lot of the erratic behavior that people are seeing.
Partman has two modes. The first mode is that it requires the partitons to be unmounted.
The second mode is that it will ignore(allow) the fact that partitions are mounted.
When partman is initially invoked, it checks to see if there are any partitions mounted. If it
finds any mounted partitions, it prompts the user to see if they would like to unmount the partitons
or to ignore the fact that the partitions are mounted.
For mode one, partman will attempt to unmount the mounted partitions. If for any reason --
such as a file that is in use -- that partman fails to unmount the partitons, then partman will hang.
Once partman is hung, the behavior is as described above.
For mode two, if the user chooses to continue while allowing the partitons to remain mounted, then partman
will work as expected. This is why users are able to coax partman into working by both having a mounted
partiton and by telling partman to ignore the mounted partitions.
now for the tricky bug... if the swap file is mounted, partman does not prompt the user about the fact
that it is mounted. Neither does partman attempt to unmount the swap partition. Instead partman will
hang when it later realizes that the swap partiton is mounted.
If on the other hand, another partition is mounted, then partman will prompt as above, and if the user
chooses to ignore the mounted partitions, then partman will also ignore the mounted swap partition.
This is the crux of the observed erratic behavior. Once partman decides to ignore the swap it will
function as expected.
Partman will work if the swap partition is not mounted and no other partition is mounted. Partman will
also work if the swap partiton is mounted and at least one other partition is mounted... which causes
partman to prompt about the partitions, AND the user chooses to ignore them. In all other scenarios
partman will fail.
Summary: Partman fails to turn off the swap file. Partman fails to prompt the user about the presence
of the swap file. Partman can fail to unmount a partiton that is in use, after prompting the user. Any
failure will cause partman to hang. Once partman is hung, it stays hung even after quiting the installer.
The presence of a hung partman process will cause subsequent install attempts to also fail. They must
either be killed manually or the computer rebooted.
It may be that under some circuimstances, partman does succeed in turning off the swap file, or for
some other reason the swap file is not activated. When this happens then partman works as expected.
===========================
When partman is hung, it looks like this:
root 8364 0.0 0.0 6436 396 ? S 03:35 0:00 log-output -t ubiquity --pass-stdout sh -c /usr/share/ubiquity/activate-dmraid && /bin/partman
root 8365 0.0 0.0 4440 624 ? S 03:35 0:00 sh -c /usr/share/ubiquity/activate-dmraid && /bin/partman
root 8371 0.0 0.0 4572 892 ? S 03:35 0:00 /bin/sh /bin/partman
root 8496 0.1 0.0 24628 1112 ? S 03:35 0:00 parted_server
root 9485 0.0 0.0 4572 880 ? S 03:35 0:00 /bin/sh /lib/partman/display.d/10initial_auto
root 10634 0.0 0.0 4572 592 ? S 03:36 0:00 /bin/sh /lib/partman/display.d/10initial_auto
root 10730 0.0 0.0 4572 896 ? S 03:36 0:00 /bin/sh /lib/partman/automatically_partition/15reuse/choices
============================
** Attachment added: "partman log of failure when swap file is active"
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/1080701/+attachment/3619695/+files/partman.failed.r2a.txt
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1080701
Title:
After 'Preparing to install Ubuntu' screen, raring installation hangs
Status in “ubiquity” package in Ubuntu:
Confirmed
Status in “ubiquity” source package in Raring:
Confirmed
Bug description:
Raring desktop i386 20121119 installation hangs on dell inspiron, with
ubuntu partman: No matching physical volumes found error message on
the syslog.
The following is the syslog segment that may be of interest
Nov 19 13:22:25 ubuntu partman: No matching physical volumes found
Nov 19 13:22:25 ubuntu partman: Reading all physical volumes. This may take a while...
Nov 19 13:22:25 ubuntu partman: No volume groups found
Nov 19 13:22:25 ubuntu partman-lvm: No volume groups found
Nov 19 13:22:29 ubuntu ntpdate[4662]: adjust time server 91.189.94.4 offset -0.220470 sec
Nov 19 13:22:32 ubuntu ntfsresize: ntfsresize v2012.1.15AR.5 (libntfs-3g)
Nov 19 13:22:32 ubuntu ntfsresize: Device name : /dev/sda3
Nov 19 13:22:32 ubuntu ntfsresize: NTFS volume version: 3.1
Nov 19 13:22:32 ubuntu ntfsresize: Cluster size : 4096 bytes
Nov 19 13:22:32 ubuntu ntfsresize: Current volume size: 149962973696 bytes (149963 MB)
Nov 19 13:22:32 ubuntu ntfsresize: Current device size: 149962980352 bytes (149963 MB)
Nov 19 13:22:32 ubuntu ntfsresize: Checking filesystem consistency ...
Nov 19 13:22:32 ubuntu ntfsresize: Accounting clusters ...
Nov 19 13:22:32 ubuntu ntfsresize: Space in use : 88054 MB (58.7%)
Nov 19 13:22:32 ubuntu ntfsresize: Collecting resizing constraints ...
Nov 19 13:22:32 ubuntu ntfsresize: You might resize at 88053858304 bytes or 88054 MB (freeing 61909 MB).
Nov 19 13:22:32 ubuntu ntfsresize: Please make a test run using both the -n and -s options before real resizing!
Nov 19 13:22:33 ubuntu ubiquity: umount: /tmp/tmp.83KkHQhjEN: not mounted
Nov 19 13:22:33 ubuntu ubiquity: umount: /tmp/tmp.vF1xKWu5Pp: not mounted
Test steps:
1. Boot the machine with usb
2. Enter the wireless password to enable the wifi connection
3. Wait to hear the drums and select 'Install Ubuntu' with English being the language selection
4. Click 'Continue' with the default selections on the 'Preparing to install ubuntu' screen( where it shows the power, available disk space and internet connectivity statu)
5. The installation does not proceed from this point
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04
Package: ubiquity 2.13.3 [modified: lib/partman/automatically_partition/question]
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.7.0-2.8-generic 3.7.0-rc5
Uname: Linux 3.7.0-2-generic i686
ApportVersion: 2.6.2-0ubuntu3
Architecture: i386
CasperVersion: 1.329
Date: Mon Nov 19 13:27:12 2012
InstallCmdLine: file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash -- maybe-ubiquity
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Alpha i386 (20121119)
MarkForUpload: True
ProcEnviron:
TERM=xterm
PATH=(custom, no user)
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
SourcePackage: ubiquity
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
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