Alternative Install CD (gutsy beta, gutsy rc) Installer fails with "Debootstrap-warning: Failure trying to run: chroot /target dpkg --force-depends --install var/cache/apt/archives/ ..."

Bug #152229 reported by Philip Goodfellow
6
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
debian-installer (Ubuntu)
New
Undecided
Unassigned
Nominated for Hardy by Jochen Schneider

Bug Description

Binary package hint: debian-installer

Outline:
Initial install of gutsy beta to raid 1 array worked with no problems.

Attempt to install Gutsy rc to same machine fails with:
Debootstrap warning. Warning: Failure trying to run: chroot /target dpkg --force-depends -- install var/cache/apt/archives/base-files_4.0.0ubuntu5_i386.deb var/cache/apt/archives/base-passwd_3.5.11build1_386.deb

Atempt to re-install gutsy beta from same previously working media now fails with similar error as above.

Details - from gutsy rc failure:
main menu[3545]: INFO Menu item 'base-installer' selected
apt-install: chroot: cannot execute apt-get
apt-install: : No such file or directory
debootstrap: dpkg: syntax error: unknown user 'hplip' in statoverride file

Revision history for this message
Philip Goodfellow (mail-philipgoodfellow) wrote :

Is this perhaps related to grub not using the correct device mapping for the raid devices for the new install?

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Philip Goodfellow (mail-philipgoodfellow) wrote :
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Philip Goodfellow (mail-philipgoodfellow) wrote :

Error persists with gutsy-release alternative install CD.

(I see no-one is picking up this, or my linked question. If I am in the wrong place, please can someone advise!)

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Philip Goodfellow (mail-philipgoodfellow) wrote :

I have wiped the MBR:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1

(the sda is because I have SATA drives, I assume it would be hda if ide drives)

**The install has now proceeded without an error.**
Would I be right in suggesting this confirms some of my theory above?

Is this an installer bug or a feature? I would certainly floor any "newbie" - as you can see it caused hassle to this "not quite a newbie anymore" for quite a long time.

I still haven't got the RAID 1 array re-established.

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Philip Goodfellow (mail-philipgoodfellow) wrote :

I think this might be a duplicate of
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/debian-installer/+bug/33649

Perhaps someone more expert can confirm?

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bcourts (courtschapman) wrote :

WARNING! THIS MAY WIPE OUT YOUR HARD DRIVE!

Phillip Goodfellow wrote:
    I have wiped the MBR:
    dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1

I was having this "debootstrap warning" problem while trying to install Ubuntu 7.10.

I decided to try the above "wipe the MBR" method. I was surprised that it also (apparently) wiped out the partition table on the hard table, making the entire drive appear empty. Luckily, there was nothing important on the drive, so I continued with the installation, which did work.

If you have files on your hard drive that you want to save, you may want to avoid this method.

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Jochen Schneider (panama-joe) wrote : [hardy-alpha5] Re: Alternative Install CD (gutsy beta, gutsy rc) Installer fails with "Debootstrap warning" Warning: Failure to run: chroot /target dpkg ...

Bug still occurs with Hardy Alpha 5.

I have a system drive (using lvm ) with two logical volumes for linux installations.
The first contains gutsy, upgraded from an initial feisty install.
The second volume is still empty, I tried to install hardy alpha 5 when the sam error occured.
Additionaly, I have a raid5 physical volume for data.

Revision history for this message
G. Prager (g-prager) wrote : Re: Alternative Install CD (gutsy beta, gutsy rc) Installer fails with "Debootstrap warning" Warning: Failure to run: charoot /target dpkg ...

I get an error report on installing Ubuntu 8.10 via ubuntu-8.10-alternate-i386.iso (got it as well before with the rc). I tried on a primary partition (second one) on a Toshiba Portege M700 (Sata 2.5" HD).
The fault appears if I try to install on a pre-existing partition or a newly created one by Ubuntu installer CD.

It tells me:

Debootstrap-warning: Failure trying to run: chroot /target dpkg --force-depends --install var/cache/apt/archives/libc6_2.8~20080505-0ubuntu7_i386.deb

On Screen 4 it tells me about:

debootstrap:
Package libc6 is not installed.
dpkg depends on coreutils (>=5.93-1); however: Package coreutils is not installed
dpkg depends on lzma; however: Package lzma is not installed
Setting up dpkg (1.14.20ubuntu6) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libc6.
(Reading database ... 336 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking libc6 (from .../libc6_2.8~20080505-0ubuntu7_i386.deb) ...
dpkg: libc6: dependency problems, but configuring anyway as you request:
libc6 depends on libgcc1; however:
Package libgcc1 is not installed.
libc6 depends on findutils (>=4.4.0-2ubuntu2); however:
Package findutils is not installed.
Setting up libc6 (2.8~20080505-0ubuntu7) ...
debconf: Problem setting up the database definde by stanza 4 of /etc/debconf.conf.
Undefined subroutine &Debconf::DbDriver::lc called at /usr/share/perl5/Debconf/Dbdriver.pm line 30, <DEBCOF_CONFIG> chunk 4
dpkg: error processing libc6 (--install):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 25
Errors were encountered while processing: libc6

Can anyone give me a hint besides wiping the partition table since on primary partition 1 is my Windows installation.

I consider this to be a bug in hardware detection.

Revision history for this message
xteejx (xteejx-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This particular bug has already been reported and is a duplicate of bug 65281, so it is being marked as such. Please look at the other bug report to see if there is any missing information that you can provide, or to see if there is a workaround for the bug. Additionally, any further discussion regarding the bug should occur in the other report. Feel free to continue to report any other bugs you may find.

summary: Alternative Install CD (gutsy beta, gutsy rc) Installer fails with
- "Debootstrap warning" Warning: Failure to run: charoot /target dpkg ...
+ "Debootstrap-warning: Failure trying to run: chroot /target dpkg
+ --force-depends --install var/cache/apt/archives/ ..."
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