Running depmod, getting "Hmm. initrd.img is a directory, which I did not expect . . "

[Bob St. John]

On Fri, 2009-06-12 at 18:07 +0000, Bill Marcum wrote:
> On 2009-06-12, Bob St. John <bob-at-ubuntu-desktop at comcast.net> wrote:
> > Folks,
> >
> > When doing:
> >
> > sudo apt-get upgrade
> >
> > I get:
> >
> > Hmm. initrd.img is a directory, which I did not expect.  I am trying to
> > create a symbolic link with that name linked to / . Since a directory
> > exists here, my assumptions are way off, and I am aborting.
> >
> > I've done diligent research without success. Can someone help me
> > understand and fix the problem?
> >
> Isn't it obvious? initrd.img is supposed to be a file.  Delete it or 
> rename it, and try the apt-get upgrade again. Your system won't boot if 
> initrd.img is corrupt.

Well, it wasn't obvious to me, and I'm hesitant to play with the "heart"
of the system. Also, the system was booting fine even with the problem.

But your advice worked . . . I removed the problematic initrd.img
directory (at "/" for some reason), then ran depmod, and everything
seems fine.

Thanks . . .

> 
> 
> > Here is additional detail:
> >
> > bob at bob-ubuntu-desktop:~$ sudo apt-get upgrade
> > Reading package lists... Done
> > Building dependency tree       
> > Reading state information... Done
> > The following packages have been kept back:
> >   brasero
> > The following packages will be upgraded:
> >   google-chrome-unstable hal libhal-storage1 libhal1 screen-profiles
> > 5 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
> > 5 not fully installed or removed.
> > Need to get 13.4MB of archives.
> > After this operation, 360kB of additional disk space will be used.
> > Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
> >   .
> >   .
> >   snip
> >   .
> >   .
> > Setting up linux-image-2.6.28-11-generic (2.6.28-11.42) ...
> > Running depmod.
> > update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
> > Hmm. initrd.img is a directory, which I did not expect.  I am
> > trying to create a symbolic link with that name linked to 
> > / . Since a directory exists here, my assumptions 
> > are way off, and I am aborting.
> > dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6.28-11-generic (--configure):
> >  subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 2
> > dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of
> > linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-11-generic:
> >  linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-11-generic depends on
> > linux-image-2.6.28-11-generic; however:
> >   Package linux-image-2.6.28-11-generic is not configured yet.
> > dpkg: error processing linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-11-generic
> > (--configure):
> >  dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
> > dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-generic:
> >  linux-image-generic depends on linux-image-2.6.28-11-generic; however:
> >   Package linux-image-2.6.28-11-generic is not configured yet.
> > dpkg: error processing linux-image-generic (--configure):
> >  dependency problems - leaviNo apport report written because the error
> > message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
> >                                                       No apport report
> > written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a
> > previous failure.
> > No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
> >                                                               No apport
> > report written because MaxReports is reached already
> >                                             ng unconfigured
> > dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of
> > linux-restricted-modules-generic:
> >  linux-restricted-modules-generic depends on
> > linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-11-generic; however:
> >   Package linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-11-generic is not configured
> > yet.
> > dpkg: error processing linux-restricted-modules-generic (--configure):
> >  dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
> > dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-generic:
> >  linux-generic depends on linux-image-generic (= 2.6.28.11.15); however:
> >   Package linux-image-generic is not configured yet.
> >  linux-generic depends on linux-restricted-modules-generic (=
> > 2.6.28.11.15); however:
> >   Package linux-restricted-modules-generic is not configured yet.
> > dpkg: error processing linux-generic (--configure):
> >  dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
> > Setting up google-chrome-unstable (3.0.187.0-r18043) ...
> >
> > Setting up libhal1 (0.5.12~rc1+git20090403-0ubuntu2) ...
> >
> > Setting up libhal-storage1 (0.5.12~rc1+git20090403-0ubuntu2) ...
> >
> > Setting up hal (0.5.12~rc1+git20090403-0ubuntu2) ...
> >  * Reloading system message bus config...
> > [ OK ] 
> >  * Starting Hardware abstraction layer hald
> > [ OK ] 
> >
> > Setting up screen-profiles (1.44-0ubuntu1.2) ...
> > Processing triggers for menu ...
> > Processing triggers for libc6 ...
> > ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
> > Errors were encountered while processing:
> >  linux-image-2.6.28-11-generic
> >  linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-11-generic
> >  linux-image-generic
> >  linux-restricted-modules-generic
> >  linux-generic
> > E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
> > bob at bob-ubuntu-desktop:~$ 
> >
> >
> > Thanks . . .
> >
> > Bob St. John
> >
> >
> 
> 
>