[Ubuntu Chicago] upgrade failure ubuntu 14.04 LTS

[Randy Wilson]

Deke,
Basically, on a typical Ubuntu install a 250-ish MB partition is made to
store kernels, the boot partition. It is mounted on /boot. Over time, as
security updates install new kernels, old kernels don't get removed. I
think if you reboot, then the next time updates are run, it can remove
them, but I'm not sure. Anyway, the safe thing I'd try first is:
sudo apt-get --purge autoremove

Do that from a terminal window. That command removes installed packages
that are no longer needed.

If that removes some kernels, you may be good to go. Try your update again.

If you update succeeds, reboot and do the "sudo apt-get --purge autoremove"
again.

However, the above might not work at all. In that case, I end up manually
deleting kernels from the boot partition. This is very dangerous. You must
be VERY careful not to delete the kernel that the system will use on the
next boot. What I do is determine the current running kernel, then I only
delete kernels that are OLDER (have a lower version number) than the
currently running kernel.

Do determine the current kernel: uname -a
Kernels are located in /boot

Since the second method is very dangerous, I would google for a better
answer or wait and see if anyone on this list has a better answer for you.
-Randy


On Sun, Aug 17, 2014 at 12:04 PM, Deacon Solomon <dekesolomon at fastmail.fm>
wrote:

> You guys might as well know you got a newbie on this list -- and it's
> me.
>
> My name is Deke Solomon. I live in Iowa -- in a tiny, unincorporated
> farming community near Cedar Rapids. I'm an off-duty Marine (Vietnam
> Era) now 65 years old -- a fact which, I guess, means I'm a senior
> citizen as well.
>
> Over the years I got an MA in magazine journalism from the University
> of Missouri-Columbia (worked as a technical writer thereafter) and a BA
> from Coe College, in Cedar Rapids. I USED to be a Windoze geek, having
> used DOS and Windows (until DOS went away) and every version of Windows
> since 3.1. I was EVEN a 'Microsoft Certified Expert' at one time (it's a
> meaningless and worthless credential, but I didn't know that when I
> forked over the money for the classes).
>
> But Windoze 8 is the end for me. I built a new machine and used it to
> tinker with various Linux distros a year ago. I very soon learned that
> Ubuntu is the only civilized distro on the planet at this moment, so
> I've installed that on a little Gateway box that I picked up for a song
> at TigerDirect. I've been using installed Ubuntu LTS a year ago. I've
> been using it for everything for more than a year now. I moved my
> Windows 7 (the best Windows ever built) box off my desk and set it
> aside. Now I do everything with Ubuntu.
>
> I had small problems with the system, most of which I figured out for
> myself. Now I've got a different problem and I don't know what to do. My
> machine updates itself once a week. Never a problem with that until now.
> Yesterday it found some updates it wants but tells me I can't install
> them. The problem seems to be partition size (storage space). The error
> message says:
>
> NOT ENOUGH FREE DISK SPACE -- The upgrade needs a total of 63.0 M free
> space on disk '/boot'. Please free at least an additional 21.9 M of disk
> space on '/boot'. Empty your trash and remove temporary packages of
> former installations using 'sudo apt-get clean'.
>
> I opened a terminal window and ran 'sudo apt-get clean' (sans quotes),
> then tried the upgrade again. It didn't work. I get the same
> message every time I try it.
>
> So: because sudo apt-get clean doesn't help, can somebody here steer me
> through another way out of this? Free pint of delicious homemade Hummus
> to the person who helps me out and comes to Iowa to get his/her hummus.
>
> Thanks, fellers/gals. I know one of you can help.
>
> Deacon
>
>
> --
> Ubuntu-us-chicago mailing list
> Ubuntu-us-chicago at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-us-chicago
>



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