Re: Update Debian 9 to 10
On Thu 09 Dec 2021 at 19:22:17 (+0200), Thanos Katsiolis wrote:
> Indeed, in order to update I opened the terminal and started the procedure
> described in Release notes (terminal was the only running program).
> It is the first time I update a Linux system and from your answer I
> understand that this is done differently.
Actually, the paragraph I referred to in §4.1.5, but did not quote,
is missing from buster (but was in stretch):
"4.1.5 Prepare a safe environment for the upgrade
"The distribution upgrade should be done either locally from a
textmode virtual console (or a directly connected serial terminal),
or remotely via an ssh link."
I don't use a DM of DE, so I just don't start X. I don't know the
correct way for DEs etc.
> Ctrl-Alt-F2 moves me to the graphical interface to login, although
> something like a constant refresh doesn't let me insert the root password.
> Pressing Ctrl-Alt-F1, I return to the same message with the black
> background that I described in my OP.
> Ctrl-Alt-F3 opens the tty3 and prompts for login (this must be the "textual
> VC" you mentioned in your answer).
>
> Which is the best option to proceed and how can I continue? The message
> does not indicate a problem (at least I didn't recognize it).
I would check the Release Notes for any relevant advice you might have
missed, like uninstalling 3rd party packages (if practical) and so on.
Then you could login as root, and try carrying on with the update and
upgrade commands that you used previously. You'll quickly find out
whether there's a problem with the previous commands, say, holding a
lockfile. If so, my understanding is that killing them (ps ax
to discover their PIDs) should then make the locks appear stale
as far as your new commands are concerned. It's tricky to be precise
and hold your hand as I've never put myself in this situation.
BTW I see people advising dpkg --audit to list broken packages,
so that's another command to try in addition to the two already
given (quoted below). No output is good.
> On Thu, Dec 9, 2021 at 5:37 PM David Wright wrote:
> > On Thu 09 Dec 2021 at 16:39:52 (+0200), Thanos Katsiolis wrote:
> >
> > > I followed the Release notes
> > > <https://www.debian.org/releases/buster/amd64/release-notes.en.pdf> for
> > > Debian 10, in order to update from Debian 9 to Debian 10. After running
> > >
> > > apt-get upgrade
> > >
> > > I ran
> > >
> > > apt full-upgrade
> > >
> > > to complete the update to Debian 10. While the command was running on
> > > terminal, it switched to black background and displayed
> > >
> > > /dev/sda5: clean, xxxxxxx/xxxxxx files, xxxxxxx/xxxxxx blocks
> > > [ xxxxxx] kvm: disabled by bios
> > > [ xxxxxx] kvm: disabled by bios
> > > [ xxxxxx] kvm: disabled by bios
> > > [ xxxxxx] kvm: disabled by bios
> > > [ OK ] Started Daily apt upgrade and clean activities.
> > >
> > > with a blinking underscore, and the upgrade is interrupted. What is this
> > > about, and how can I proceed?
> >
> > That sounds as if you might have been in X while upgrading, and
> > dropped out into a console that was displaying the original startup
> > messages (which look very much like my own). See §4.1.5.
> >
> > If you can't find a shell prompt (eg, try Ctrl-Alt-F2 etc for possible
> > VCs) so you can carry on, it may be necessary to close down as
> > gracefully as you are able to, and then login as root to a textual VC
> > to carry on with the upgrade. APT is pretty clever and picking up
> > where it left off, though you might benefit from running commands
> > such as:
> >
> > # apt-get -f install
> > # dpkg --configure --pending
> >
> > if things have got somewhat wedged. (See §4.5.3 and the sections
> > around there.)
Cheers,
David.
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