Ubuntu

UBUNTU 14.04LTS upgrade fails

Asked by David K. C. Cole

I am using a HP G72 laptop. Prior to yesterday, April 24, 2014, I was running dual operating systems: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit and Ubuntu 13.10 64bit. Recently I incrementally upgraded the Ubuntu operating system to where I was using Ubuntu 13.10 successfully as of yesterday.

Yesterday, Ubuntu told me that Ubuntu 14.04LTS was available and asked me if I would like to upgrade to 14.04. I said yes and the installation process began. All processes on the visible checklist were completed. All new programs were downloaded. All configuration was completed. All obsolete programs were deleted. The process took about 3 hours. I was asked to Restart the computer. I did so and my problems began.

When I restart the computer, the "Windows Boot Manager" appears asking me whether I want to use Windows 7 or Unbuntu? If I select Windows 7, it boots fine. But if I select Ubuntu, the computer will begin the bootup process. Unfortunately, Ubuntu 14.04LTS cannot get past the bootup procedure. The computer is locked up. The following information shows up on my screen :

    BusyBox v1.21.1 (Ubuntu 1:1.21.0-1ubuntu1) built-in shell (ash)
    initramfs:

I do not know what can be typed in to complete the BootUp.

I have Ubuntu 14.04 burnt to a DVD and can Boot it up on the problem PC. I can also boot up an earlier version of Ubuntu on a 2nd PC to facilitate Internet communications with anyone who can help me.

This problem is similar to Question #247265, but is not the same.

I am a novice at Ubuntu, but I can follow precise instructions very well. Can anyone help me complete the BootUp of my upgraded ubuntu 14.04LTS? Alternatively, can someone help me recover a small text file from my desktop of my 13.10 that was upgraded to 14.04?

David Cole
davidcole3 (<email address hidden>)

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actionparsnip
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Best actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

If you hold SHIFT at boot do you see Grub? If so then select an older kernel. Does it boot?

If not then OMGUbuntu has a guide named "sticking it to Grub" and you can chroot to the installed OS using liveCD desktop and reinstate Grub to the MBR of the drive.

Revision history for this message
Warren Hill (warren-hill) said : 		#2

The link is here
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/09/live-usb-sticking-grub-2-video

Revision history for this message
David K. C. Cole (davidcole3) said : 		#3

Thanks for the prompt reply, Warren
Before I try your solution, 1) please explain to me what the commands (below) described in the video are going to do, change or fix.
 and 2) can I type them in at the "initramfs" prompt that I get when I reboot?

Commands used in this video:
sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt? *****Using the linux installation on your hard drive instead of /dev/sda5
sudo mount -bind /dev /mnt/dev
sudo mount -bind /proc /mnt/proc
sudo mount -bind /sys /mnt/sys
sudo chroot /mnt
grub-install /dev/sda?*****Using your boot device instead of /dev/sda
CTRL-D
sudo umount /mnt/dev
sudo umount /mnt/proc
sudo umount /mnt/sys
sudo umount /mnt

David Cole

---- Original Message ----
From: Warren Hill &lt;<email address hidden>&gt;
To: davidcole3 &lt;<email address hidden>&gt;
Sent: Fri, Apr 25, 2014 4:02 am
Subject: Re: [Question #247616]: UBUNTU 14.04LTS upgrade fails

Your question #247616 on Ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/247616

Warren Hill proposed the following answer:
The link is here
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/09/live-usb-sticking-grub-2-video

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Revision history for this message
David K. C. Cole (davidcole3) said : 		#4

Thanks, actionparsnip

By holding down the shift key, I was able to select a different older version of ubuntu to reboot. To my surprise, it booted up version 14.04 which seems to work fine. This is a very acceptable workaround. I was able to retrieve the file that I thought I had lost.

Now I can try to fix the boot problem, at my leisure.

Thanks again, andrew-woodhead666.

This problem has been solved. (I will post the less severe normal-boot problem at a later date)

Dave

Revision history for this message
David K. C. Cole (davidcole3) said : 		#5

Thanks actionparsnip, that solved my question.