Checked source.list.d files and source.list file that you specified. I dont think I have http://ppa... or anything link with word boot enabled. But, still your solution worked once and then, I tried to boot in safe mode and repaired the packages. Again, I'm at the same point. unable to boot :( Next, I chrooted and did 'sudo apt-get update' - thinking that this might fix (i think it created a mess) and tried to follow the step "After that, you can downgrade: sudo aptitude install mountall/karmic" The o/p is below: root@ubuntu:/# aptitude install mountall/karmic Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done Reading extended state information Initializing package states... Done The following partially installed packages will be configured: rsyslog ubuntu-minimal virtualbox-ose-source 0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 5 not upgraded. Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 0B will be used. Writing extended state information... Done Setting up rsyslog (4.2.0-2ubuntu5) ... start: Unable to connect to Upstart: Failed to connect to socket /com/ubuntu/upstart: Connection refused invoke-rc.d: initscript rsyslog, action "restart" failed. dpkg: error processing rsyslog (--configure): subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1 dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of ubuntu-minimal: ubuntu-minimal depends on rsyslog; however: Package rsyslog is not configured yet. dpkg: error processing ubuntu-minimal (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured Setting up virtualbox-ose-source (3.0.8-dfsg-1ubuntu1) ... No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure. Adding modules to DKMS build system Doing initial module builds Error! Your kernel source for kernel 2.6.27-7-generic cannot be found at /lib/modules/2.6.27-7-generic/build or /lib/modules/2.6.27-7-generic/source. dpkg: error processing virtualbox-ose-source (--configure): subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1 Errors were encountered while processing: rsyslog ubuntu-minimal virtualbox-ose-source E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) A package failed to install. Trying to recover: Setting up virtualbox-ose-source (3.0.8-dfsg-1ubuntu1) ... Adding modules to DKMS build system Doing initial module builds Error! Your kernel source for kernel 2.6.27-7-generic cannot be found at /lib/modules/2.6.27-7-generic/build or /lib/modules/2.6.27-7-generic/source. dpkg: error processing virtualbox-ose-source (--configure): subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1 Setting up rsyslog (4.2.0-2ubuntu5) ... start: Unable to connect to Upstart: Failed to connect to socket /com/ubuntu/upstart: Connection refused invoke-rc.d: initscript rsyslog, action "restart" failed. dpkg: error processing rsyslog (--configure): subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1 dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of ubuntu-minimal: ubuntu-minimal depends on rsyslog; however: Package rsyslog is not configured yet. dpkg: error processing ubuntu-minimal (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured Errors were encountered while processing: virtualbox-ose-source rsyslog ubuntu-minimal Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done Reading extended state information Initializing package states... Done