kernel upgrade failed on a USB live system created by usb-creator

I think casper needs to arrange for grub not to be updated on kernel upgrades. I could have sworn we'd done this already, but obviously not.

(Of course, this does still leave the question of what to do if grub2 is upgraded.)

Workaround: remove /etc/kernel/*/zz-update-grub before touching kernel packages in the live session.

Duplicate of bug 860238 ?

This issue is still affecting the latest daily build of precise 12.04. Any update on progress?

I can confirm that Colin Watson's workaround worked. I just did "sudo rm /etc/kernel/*/zz-update-grub" and "sudo apt-get dist-upgrade" worked with a couple of warnings about missing scripts!

The current grub in quantal doesn't appear to complain nearly as much as it used to. A kernel update now applies just fine.

Bug still exists in quantal (Ubuntu Desktop i386 USB live). Ececuting "sudo apt-get dist-upgrade" wanted to upgrade from preinstalled package linux-image-3.5.0-17-generic (3.5.0-17.28) to linux-image-3.5.0-18-generic (3.5.0-18.29).
Errror message:
linux-image-3.5.0-18-generic (3.5.0-18.29) wird eingerichtet ...
Running depmod.
update-initramfs: deferring update (hook will be called later)
The link /vmlinuz is a dangling linkto /boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-17-generic
Examining /etc/kernel/postinst.d.
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools 3.5.0-18-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-18-generic
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.5.0-18-generic
cryptsetup: WARNING: failed to detect canonical device of overlayfs
cryptsetup: WARNING: could not determine root device from /etc/fstab
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/pm-utils 3.5.0-18-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-18-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/update-notifier 3.5.0-18-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-18-generic
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub 3.5.0-18-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-18-generic
/usr/sbin/grub-probe: Fehler: Kanonischer Pfad von »/cow« konnte nicht ermittelt werden.
run-parts: /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub exited with return code 1
Failed to process /etc/kernel/postinst.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.5.0-18-generic.postinst line 1010.
dpkg: Fehler beim Bearbeiten von linux-image-3.5.0-18-generic (--configure):
 Unterprozess installiertes post-installation-Skript gab den Fehlerwert 2 zurück
Es wurde kein Apport-Bericht verfasst, da das Limit MaxReports bereits erreicht ist

Colin Watson's workaround (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/casper/+bug/932663/comments/3) worked in quantal, too. I just did "sudo rm /etc/kernel/*/zz-update-grub" and "sudo apt-get dist-upgrade" worked.

I'm not sure why this says Fix Released - it is still happening for me on a 12.10 Live USB + persistence set up.

In fact, I got it trying to apt-get install mdadm - so it seems possible it occurs any time update-initramfs runs rather than just on a kernel update.

I suppose it is possible that if you can get the first update done using Colin Watson's workaround that future updates will work, but install from the 12.10 release Desktop iso doesn't.

It seems that this bug hasn't been fixed after all...

What I want to know is, if/when this is fixed, will it enable us to fix an existing liveUSB via a simple package update?
If not, will the Ubuntu 12.04.2 image at least include a fix?

when you are testing compatibility/working of a new kernel update, it is quite important to be able to *boot* under it. Nominating for Precise.

I'm attempting to reproduce the bug by downgrading the kernel from the Raring Ringtail daily snapshot (2013-01-07) liveUSB.

Downloaded kernel image package from: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/raring/i386/linux-image-3.7.0-6-generic/3.7.0-6.14

The actual commands are:
   wget http://launchpadlibrarian.net/125442988/linux-image-3.7.0-6-generic_3.7.0-6.14_i386.deb
   sudo dpkg -i linux-image-3.7.0-6-generic_3.7.0-6.14_i386.deb
(apologies if there are any typos)

The installation seems to have frozen early on in the process.
I'll have to try again tomorrow.

P.S. Running "sudo update-initramfs -u" produces the same symptoms for this installation as for 12.04.
That is, it displays the following two warning messages:
   cryptsetup: WARNING: failed to detect canonical device of overlayfs
   cryptsetup: WARNING: could not determine root device from /etc/fstab
and then seems to lock up (I needed to Ctrl+C out of it, although I suppose it's possible that it was doing something, only really slowly).

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

See also: Related bug #984276.

Colin Watson (cjwatson): I have followed his advice concerning the workaround w/ this apparent bug! I was stunned that this has not been corrected at this late date of 03-19-2013! Fortunately for me I am just using a live USB which is never being installed on my laptop! I feel forunate to have found these posted messages!

Please note the following webpage:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/casper-----Can anyone comment which fix is the right package to download for the 11.10 liveUSB?

I have this problem with 14.04.1
I partition a USB stick with a 1GB partition (fat32) and 31GB partition (ext4)
I create the live system with the Startup Disk Creator
I name the other partition casper-rw
I edit txt.cfg and syslinux.cfg, adding `persistant`
After booting, I perform a dist-upgrade.
There's some warnings from cryptsetup and after it's complete the system will not boot.
cjwatson's workaround no longer works.

Yes the same bug as mr neave.

Fresh install of ubuntu live 14.10 on USB stick (unetbootin), mdadm (sw raid RAID utility + postfix) install triggered:

cryptsetup: WARNING: failed to detect canonical device of overlayfs
cryptsetup: WARNING: could not determine root device from /etc/fstab

so not ony kernel update is triggering these messages.

It doesn't seem like this was fixed, or maybe it has regressed, but I'm having the same issue with 14.10, when a security update takes the kernel from 3.16.0-23.24 to 3.16.0-31.43.

I happened to use Universal-USB-Installer to create my persistent live USB copy of Lubuntu, then I used gparted to make a larger casper-rw ext2 partition than the 4GB FAT32 file limit, but that probably doesn't matter.

I get the cryptsetup warnings like everyone else, but that's only a canary in a coalmine, as you can simply remove cryptsetup, and the OS *still* won't boot after installing the updates that cause this.

I also tried Colin Watson's workaround before running the update, and this did *not* help.

So, to reproduce the bug, all I have to do in Software Updater is put a check, under security updates, next to "Generic Linux Kernel Image" and then run the update -- also, any other update that *depends* on the kernel image being updated also causes the issue.

On restart, I get ""(initramfs) Unable to find a medium containing a live file system", and it won't boot into Lubuntu.

The Precise Pangolin has reached end of life, so this bug will not be fixed for that release