[Bug 1385719] [NEW] No information provided about why upgrade cannot complete

[hackel]

Public bug reported:

When I run Software Updater to upgrade from 14.04 to 14.10, I get an
error message:

"Could not determine the upgrade

An unresolvable problem occurred while calculating the upgrade.

 This can be caused by:
 * Upgrading to a pre-release version of Ubuntu
 * Running the current pre-release version of Ubuntu
 * Unofficial software packages not provided by Ubuntu

If none of this applies, then please report this bug using the command
'ubuntu-bug ubuntu-release-upgrader-core' in a terminal."

Okay, fair enough, I've installed several packages from PPAs that could
potentially cause a conflict.  My problem is, this error message gives
no useful information to target the problem.  The "Terminal" arrow in
the Distribution Upgrade window is greyed out, so I cannot see the
output to find out what packages might be conflicting.  I finally found
the file /var/log/dist-upgrade/apt.log by looking at the lsof output,
something no regular desktop user should be expected to do, which lead
me to the problem.

This error message needs to provide the user with some useful
information to solve the problem, at the very *least* pointing them to
the apt.log file.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: ubuntu-release-upgrader-core 1:0.220.5
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-37.64-generic 3.13.11.7
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-37-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.5
Architecture: amd64
CrashDB: ubuntu
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Sat Oct 25 12:53:37 2014
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-08-03 (82 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: ubuntu-release-upgrader
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2014-10-25 (0 days ago)
VarLogDistupgradeTermlog:
 
mtime.conffile..etc.update.manager.release.upgrades: 2014-08-03T23:18:10.888639

** Affects: ubuntu-release-upgrader (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: amd64 apport-bug dist-upgrade trusty

** Attachment added: "apt log of broken upgrade attempt"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1385719/+attachment/4244786/+files/apt.log

** Attachment removed: "apt log of broken upgrade attempt"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubuntu-release-upgrader/+bug/1385719/+attachment/4244786/+files/apt.log

-- 
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Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1385719

Title:
  No information provided about why upgrade cannot complete

Status in “ubuntu-release-upgrader” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  When I run Software Updater to upgrade from 14.04 to 14.10, I get an
  error message:

  "Could not determine the upgrade

  An unresolvable problem occurred while calculating the upgrade.

   This can be caused by:
   * Upgrading to a pre-release version of Ubuntu
   * Running the current pre-release version of Ubuntu
   * Unofficial software packages not provided by Ubuntu

  If none of this applies, then please report this bug using the command
  'ubuntu-bug ubuntu-release-upgrader-core' in a terminal."

  Okay, fair enough, I've installed several packages from PPAs that
  could potentially cause a conflict.  My problem is, this error message
  gives no useful information to target the problem.  The "Terminal"
  arrow in the Distribution Upgrade window is greyed out, so I cannot
  see the output to find out what packages might be conflicting.  I
  finally found the file /var/log/dist-upgrade/apt.log by looking at the
  lsof output, something no regular desktop user should be expected to
  do, which lead me to the problem.

  This error message needs to provide the user with some useful
  information to solve the problem, at the very *least* pointing them to
  the apt.log file.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
  Package: ubuntu-release-upgrader-core 1:0.220.5
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-37.64-generic 3.13.11.7
  Uname: Linux 3.13.0-37-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.5
  Architecture: amd64
  CrashDB: ubuntu
  CurrentDesktop: Unity
  Date: Sat Oct 25 12:53:37 2014
  EcryptfsInUse: Yes
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-08-03 (82 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2)
  PackageArchitecture: all
  SourcePackage: ubuntu-release-upgrader
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2014-10-25 (0 days ago)
  VarLogDistupgradeTermlog:
   
  mtime.conffile..etc.update.manager.release.upgrades: 2014-08-03T23:18:10.888639

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