security upgrade rewrites partition table and leaves machine unbootable

[Robert Persson]

An automatic security upgrade today left my machine unbootable. (hd0,5) became (hd0,4), but /boot/grub/menu.lst wasn't changed accordingly. Naturally all the UUIDs are completely messed up as well.

I know I have reported similar occurrences a number of times in the past, although I am having trouble finding my previous bug reports. However I don't remember being notified of any follow ups to these reports, so obviously this problem is not being taken seriously.

Basically if there is a kernel upgrade chances are that some problem like this will occur. So long as I am around then at least there is someone who knows how to edit grub entries and get the machine booting. Otherwise the family computer suddenly becomes useless and nobody knows what to do about it. Since I am going to be away from home for long periods in the near future we will have no alternative but to ditch Linux and use a Mac. If you do not think this is a critical issue then what is?

The log for the latest upgrades is as follows:

Log started: 2007-12-17 20:09:12
(Reading database ... 199029 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing xserver-xgl ...
Log ended: 2007-12-17 20:09:26

Log started: 2007-12-19 09:28:12
(Reading database ... 199011 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace linux-image-2.6.22-14-386 2.6.22-14.46 (using .../linux-image-2.6.22-14-386_2.6.22-14.47_i386.deb) ...
Done.
Unpacking replacement linux-image-2.6.22-14-386 ...
Running postrm hook script /sbin/update-grub.
Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Searching for default file ... found: /boot/grub/default
Testing for an existing GRUB menu.lst file ... found: /boot/grub/menu.lst
Searching for splash image ... none found, skipping ...
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-386
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-rt
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-lowlatency
Found kernel: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done

Preparing to replace linux-image-2.6.22-14-generic 2.6.22-14.46 (using .../linux-image-2.6.22-14-generic_2.6.22-14.47_i386.deb) ...
Done.
Unpacking replacement linux-image-2.6.22-14-generic ...
Running postrm hook script /sbin/update-grub.
Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Searching for default file ... found: /boot/grub/default
Testing for an existing GRUB menu.lst file ... found: /boot/grub/menu.lst
Searching for splash image ... none found, skipping ...
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-386
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-rt
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-lowlatency
Found kernel: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done

Preparing to replace linux-image-2.6.22-14-rt 2.6.22-14.46 (using .../linux-image-2.6.22-14-rt_2.6.22-14.47_i386.deb) ...
Done.
Unpacking replacement linux-image-2.6.22-14-rt ...
Running postrm hook script /sbin/update-grub.
Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Searching for default file ... found: /boot/grub/default
Testing for an existing GRUB menu.lst file ... found: /boot/grub/menu.lst
Searching for splash image ... none found, skipping ...
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-386
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-rt
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-lowlatency
Found kernel: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done

Preparing to replace linux-headers-2.6.22-14 2.6.22-14.46 (using .../linux-headers-2.6.22-14_2.6.22-14.47_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement linux-headers-2.6.22-14 ...
Preparing to replace linux-headers-2.6.22-14-generic 2.6.22-14.46 (using .../linux-headers-2.6.22-14-generic_2.6.22-14.47_i386.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement linux-headers-2.6.22-14-generic ...
Preparing to replace linux-libc-dev 2.6.22-14.46 (using .../linux-libc-dev_2.6.22-14.47_i386.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement linux-libc-dev ...
Preparing to replace smbfs 3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.2 (using .../smbfs_3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.3_i386.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement smbfs ...
Preparing to replace smbclient 3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.2 (using .../smbclient_3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.3_i386.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement smbclient ...
Preparing to replace samba 3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.2 (using .../samba_3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.3_i386.deb) ...
 * Stopping Samba daemons... [ OK ]
Unpacking replacement samba ...
Preparing to replace samba-common 3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.2 (using .../samba-common_3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.3_i386.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement samba-common ...
Preparing to replace libsmbclient 3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.2 (using .../libsmbclient_3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.3_i386.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement libsmbclient ...
Setting up linux-image-2.6.22-14-386 (2.6.22-14.47) ...
Running depmod.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-386
Not updating initrd symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Not updating image symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Running postinst hook script /sbin/update-grub.
Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Searching for default file ... found: /boot/grub/default
Testing for an existing GRUB menu.lst file ... found: /boot/grub/menu.lst
Searching for splash image ... none found, skipping ...
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-386
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-rt
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-lowlatency
Found kernel: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done

Setting up linux-image-2.6.22-14-generic (2.6.22-14.47) ...
Running depmod.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
Not updating initrd symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Not updating image symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Running postinst hook script /sbin/update-grub.
Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Searching for default file ... found: /boot/grub/default
Testing for an existing GRUB menu.lst file ... found: /boot/grub/menu.lst
Searching for splash image ... none found, skipping ...
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-386
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-rt
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-lowlatency
Found kernel: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done

Setting up linux-image-2.6.22-14-rt (2.6.22-14.47) ...
Running depmod.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-rt
Not updating initrd symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Not updating image symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.22-14.46 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Running postinst hook script /sbin/update-grub.
Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Searching for default file ... found: /boot/grub/default
Testing for an existing GRUB menu.lst file ... found: /boot/grub/menu.lst
Searching for splash image ... none found, skipping ...
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-386
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-rt
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-lowlatency
Found kernel: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done

Setting up linux-headers-2.6.22-14 (2.6.22-14.47) ...
Setting up linux-headers-2.6.22-14-generic (2.6.22-14.47) ...

Setting up linux-libc-dev (2.6.22-14.47) ...
Setting up samba-common (3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.3) ...

Setting up smbfs (3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.3) ...
Setting up smbclient (3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.3) ...
Setting up samba (3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.3) ...
 * Starting Samba daemons [ OK ]

Setting up libsmbclient (3.0.26a-1ubuntu2.3) ...

Processing triggers for libc6 ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
Log ended: 2007-12-19 09:37:57
root@brian:/var/log/apt#

[Russell Wing (wingfamily)]

I was affected by this too. hd(0,0) became hd(1,0). Bad news if you are not familiar with grub....I also want to avoid a Mac if I can help it :-)

[Jouni Mettala (jouni-mettala)]

Thanks for your report. Other bugs related are bug #158560 and bug #145753. You can see your bugs in https://bugs.launchpad.net/~insert_your_username

[Jouni Mettala (jouni-mettala)]

Is this duplicate of bug #103297 ?

[Robert Persson (ireneshusband)]

Unfortunately this one is a lot more serious than #103297. The issue with #103297 is not that the individual menu.lst entries are incorrect. It is simply that the wrong one is chosen to be the default option.