[Ubuntu Chicago] upgrade failure ubuntu 14.04 LTS

[Deacon Solomon]

On Sun, 2014-08-17 at 16:41 -0500, Deacon Solomon wrote:
> On Sun, 2014-08-17 at 13:38 -0500, Randy Wilson wrote:
> > 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
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > -- 
> > Reclaim The Web!
> > http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox
> > 
> > Reclaim Your Inbox!
> > http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird
> 
> Thanks, Randy, for your help:
> 
> So I rebooted and ran this:
> 
> >deacon at deacon-SX:~$ sudo apt-get -autoremove
> >[sudo] password for deacon: 
> >E: Command line option 'a' [from -autoremove] is not known.
> 
> please note that I DID give the password as requested.
> That didn't work, so I tried this:
> 
> >deacon at deacon-SX:~$ sudo apt-get autoremove
> 
> and got this response
> 
> >Reading package lists... Done
> >Building dependency tree       
> >Reading state information... Done
> >0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 38 not upgraded.
> >deacon at deacon-SX:~$
> 
> I'm afraid I don't know if I accomplished anything or not.
> 
> Deke
> 
> 
> 
> 

Randy et al. --
I just rebooted and tried to update again.
I got the same 'insufficient space' error we started with.
We gotta find a better hammer.

Deke