[Bug 1312586] Re: Default 14.04 server installation fails with error 'busybox-intramfs cannot be installed'

[Otto Kekäläinen]

I tested installing Ubuntu server 14.04.2 on a new machine with a new
USB stick, and every time it still failed. This time I managed to track
down the root cause: the ubuntu-14.04.2-server-amd64.iso contains
symbolic links, and these links are lost when the iso image is written
to a bootable USB disk as the FAT32 filesystem does not support POSIX
links.

The links in question are these (browsing from a loop mounted iso
image):

install/netboot$ ll
yhteensä 7
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 2048 tammi 22 14:56 ./
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 2048 helmi 18 21:46 ../
lr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   33 tammi 22 14:56 pxelinux.0 -> ubuntu-installer/amd64/pxelinux.0
lr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   35 tammi 22 14:56 pxelinux.cfg -> ubuntu-installer/amd64/pxelinux.cfg/
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 2048 tammi 22 14:56 ubuntu-installer/
-r--r--r-- 1 root root   58 tammi 22 14:56 version.info
otto at XPS-L322X:~/Lataukset/mnt/install/netboot$ ll ubuntu-installer/amd64/
yhteensä 27792
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root     2048 tammi 22 14:56 ./
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root     2048 tammi 22 14:56 ../
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root     4096 tammi 22 14:56 boot-screens/
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 22073953 tammi 22 14:56 initrd.gz
-r--r--r-- 2 root root  6347032 tammi 22 14:56 linux
-r--r--r-- 1 root root    26720 tammi 22 14:56 pxelinux.0
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root     2048 tammi 22 14:56 pxelinux.cfg/
otto at XPS-L322X:~/Lataukset/mnt/install/netboot$ ll ubuntu-installer/amd64/pxelinux.cfg/
yhteensä 4
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 2048 tammi 22 14:56 ./
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 2048 tammi 22 14:56 ../
lr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   28 tammi 22 14:56 default -> ../boot-screens/syslinux.cfg


I fixed it now by copying manually all files that didin't exist due to broken links:

cd /media/04A1-26A8/install/netboot/
cp ubuntu-installer/amd64/pxelinux.0 .
mkdir pxelinux.cfg
cp ubuntu-installer/amd64/boot-screens/syslinux.cfg pxelinux.cfg/default

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Foundations Bugs, which is subscribed to debian-installer in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1312586

Title:
  Default 14.04 server installation fails with error 'busybox-intramfs
  cannot be installed'

Status in debian-installer package in Ubuntu:
  Incomplete

Bug description:
  I tried to install using the official Ubuntu 14.04 server installation
  image. In the installation I selected as partition layout LVM with
  automatic partitioning. User details and other input didn't have
  anything special. At the end to the copying files to disk -stage the
  process stopped with the error message "Package busybox-intramfs
  cannot be installed".

  I've attached real screenshots of the error message and the output on
  console 4, which indicate that the root cause was in the base-install
  or in-target stages.

  I rebooted the machine and started the installation from scratch, and
  it stopped in the same result. Thus this seems like a repeatable bug
  and worth filing.

  As I was unable to get the installation done using the server image I
  installed Lubuntu. Using Lubuntu I also selected as partition layout
  LVM with automatic partitioning. Lubuntu installation finished
  successfully, so this bug does not affect Ubiquity or other parts of
  LVM nor did it have anything to do with hardware or other parts of
  Ubuntu. I've also checked the MD5 on the installation image that it
  was not corrupt.

  I'd love to help but unfortunately I cannot re-install this machine or
  access it's logs again, so I can't do more debugging.

  Bug #1117292 seems similar, but in my case the installation failed
  out-of-the-box, installation was not preseeded and it was not random
  but repeatable.

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/debian-installer/+bug/1312586/+subscriptions