Re: File corrupt during Jessie installation - I have ot do something tonight, even use another distro. :-((
On Tuesday 15 March 2016 22:20:42 David Christensen wrote:
> On 03/15/2016 11:59 AM, Lisi Reisz wrote:
> > My husband's computer died today.
>
> First:
>
> 1. Back up everything on all of the drives in the old computer.
>
> 2. Take an image of the system drive in the old computer.
>
> 3. Copy the above to another device and put the copy off-site.
>
>
> What is the make and model of the computer?
>
>
> What failed?
>
>
> What do you need to do tonight? E.g. what software do you need? What
> version? Do you have data files created with a particular version that
> you need to open?
>
> > We rushed out and got another, cheap,
> > temporary one while his main one is being repaired. I said that I could
> > get it up and running quickly. Famous last words.
>
> What is the make and model of the new computer?
>
> > I downloaded the most recent Jessie Net-install + firmware, didn't
> > checksum it because of the enormous problems I have getting the checksums
> > (could we not please, please just have a hyperlink? I am not the only
> > partially sighted person in the world). Yes, risk. But this is
> > temporary, and no-one has been yowling about corrupt files on the Debian
> > website.
>
> What image file did you download (please provide URL)?
>
>
> Please verify the checksum of the file you downloaded.
>
> > I started the installation, and just after partitioning and the beginning
> > of files downloading got the following message:
> >
> > Warning: file:///cdrom/pool/main/g/gnupg/gnupg_1.4.18-7_amd64.deb was
> > corrupt
>
> Did you put the image file onto an optical disc or a USB flash drive?
> What make and model?
>
>
> Please verify the checksum of the burned media.
>
> > So I aborted the installation and went back to my 8.02 disk which I have
> > used before.
> >
> > It did exactly the same. Got past partitioning (rather too fast???) and
> > started to install the software, then stopped with the same warning.
>
> If you put the image on an optical disc, perhaps your optical drive is
> having problems (?).
>
> > I then tried 8.0.0. Double checked the md5sum.
>
> Good.
>
> > The firmware was too old.
>
> Firmware for what device? Is the device required for what you need to
> do tonight?
>
> > So I broke open a new USB external optical drive, used the 8.0.2 and EFI
> > (which I had been avoiding) and tried again. I hit the same problem at
> > the same point. So this time I said "continue". File after file was
> > said to be corrupt, but it appeared to be complaining that the files it
> > was *downloading* were corrupt.
>
> One failure can cause a domino effect, even if the later stuff is
> otherwise okay.
>
> > Help!! Am I reduced to using Ubuntu (<ouch>), or has anyone got any
> > constructive ideas?
>
> Your idea, below, is valid.
>
>
> Another idea is to pull the HDD(s)/SSD(s) in the broken computer and put
> them into the new computer.
>
> > As I wrote that I thought of DVD1. I have never used it. Perhaps I
> > should??
>
> Transient errors with FOSS project infrastructure servers are all too
> common. A corollary to Murphy's Law, the likelihood of a failure is
> directly proportional to the urgency of the need. ;-)
>
>
> If you want to use netinst ISO's, you need a local package caching
> server with at least one valid package for all needed packages. I've
> used approx in the past, and it seemed to work. I hope it rejects/
> isolates downloaded packages with bad checksums and/or signatures, but I
> have not confirmed this.
>
>
> Downloading installer images and/or supplemental images to obtain all
> the packages you need is another way to protect against mirror server
> failures, and the only way I know of to install onto air-walled machines
> (burn to optical disc, as USB keys can be rooted). If you select a
> mirror during installation and the mirror is having issues, you can
> exit, pull the Ethernet cable, start over, select no mirror, and the
> installer will be forced to only use the packages on the installation
> and/or supplemental media.
>
>
> I don't know if you need software that is only available on Jessie. I
> tried Jessie (8.2) a while back, and found it had issues. I currently
> run Wheezy with Xfce, and install from this image:
>
>
> http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/archive/7.9.0/amd64/iso-cd/debian-7.9.0-a
>md64-xfce-CD-1.iso
>
> Or, to conserve bandwidth:
>
>
> http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/archive/7.9.0/amd64/jigdo-cd/debian-7.9.0
>-amd64-xfce-CD-1.jigdo
>
> On 03/15/2016 12:06 PM, Lisi Reisz wrote:
> > I tried another two and the second one the error message changed to
> > "Couldn't download package".
> >
> > Is there a problem on the Debian site? Or with whatever mirror it is
> > helping itself to??
>
> It is possible that the Debian mirrors are having issues, and/or the
> caching servers between you and the Debian mirrors. I don't know how to
> check.
>
> On 03/15/2016 12:37 PM, Andrew M.A. Cater wrote:
> > I'm not sure that there's a problem with all the Debian mirrors:
> > retry the downloads - instead of usingftp.uk.debian.org change it,
> > perhaps toftp.de.debian.org to check.
>
> Good idea.
>
> On 03/15/2016 01:22 PM, Lisi Reisz wrote:
> > In the meantime I had downloaded the CD1, burnt it and tried with
> > that - and had the same problem,
>
> Further clues that something is wrong with the Debian servers and/or the
> caching servers between you and the Debian servers.
>
> > and still trying to do a net install,
> > although on every occasion I had told it to re-partition and format.
>
> Once you partition a disk correctly, you shouldn't need to partition it
> again. That said, partitioning (correctly) won't hurt.
>
>
> Even if I use existing partitions, I usually erase dm-crypt containers
> and format the file system.
>
> > So I am trying to use Gparted on Knoppix to wipe the disk thoroughly
> > and I'll try in order (with a good Gparted wipe in between) Net
> > install 8.02, CD1 8.03, net install 8.0.0 for a minimum install.
>
> If you're using MBR partition tables, you only need to wipe the first
> megabyte of the system drive. If you're using GPT, I believe you should
> also wipe the last megabyte. (The Wheezy installer seems to use MBR; I
> haven't experimented with switching my motherboard to UEFI and seeing if
> I can get GPT with Wheezy and/or Jessie.)
>
> > Then, if I am still remotely, vaguely sane, I'll report back.
>
> I find that taking good notes helps preserve my sanity when I'm under
> pressure. Capturing console sessions with cut/paste or 'script' is
> ideal, as it eliminates typographic errors. And, good notes become even
> more valuable latter.
>
> On 03/15/2016 01:50 PM, doug wrote:
> > While you have GParted running, why not make the partitions you want
> > using that, and format them to ext4.
>
> On Wheezy, I use:
>
> 1. ext4 for /boot -- GRUB doesn't seem to understand btrfs.
>
> 2. btrfs for everything else -- to detect bit rot.
>
>
> David
Thank you, David. It is now running so well that I am fussing over the
desktop background image! Crisis over for now. But I shall study this in
some detail in the morning (it is after midnight here and I still have to get
an urgent grocery order in) for future reference!
Lisi
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