[Hardy]setting up linux-ubuntu-modules fails with WARNING: /boot is ro mounted

[sibidiba]

Binary package hint: linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-10-generic

When installing linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-10-generic, the following error occurs:

$ sudo aptitude reinstall linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-10-generic
(...)
Setting up linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-10-generic (2.6.24-10.14) ...
WARNING: /boot is ro mounted.
update-initramfs: Not updating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-10-generic

/boot is an ext3 partition, mounted rw for sure, with free space available.

[sibidiba (sibidiba)]

More worse, the kernel doesn't boot up, I opened a separate bug report for that:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/197480

[Daniel Hahler (blueyed)]

Assigning the bug to update-initramfs, which appears to be the root of the problem here.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Hi Gabor,

You had mentioned that bug 197480 is resolved for you with 2.6.24-11. Just curious if this bug is also resolved? Thanks.

[sibidiba (sibidiba)]

No it didn't:

$ sudo aptitude reinstall linux-image-2.6.24-11-generic
[sudo] password for czigola:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Building tag database... Done
The following packages will be REINSTALLED:
  linux-image-2.6.24-11-generic
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B/19,9MB of archives. After unpacking 0B will be used.
Writing extended state information... Done
(Reading database ... 200045 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace linux-image-2.6.24-11-generic 2.6.24-11.17 (using .../linux-image-2.6.24-11-generic_2.6.24-11.17_i386.deb) ...
Done.
Unpacking replacement linux-image-2.6.24-11-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: /vmlinuz-2.6.24-11-generic
Found kernel: /vmlinuz-2.6.24-8-generic
Found kernel: /memtest86+.bin
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done
Setting up linux-image-2.6.24-11-generic (2.6.24-11.17) ...
Running depmod.

WARNING: /boot is ro mounted.
update-initramfs: Not updating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-11-generic

Not updating initrd symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.24-11.17 was configured last, according to dpkg)
Not updating image symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled
(2.6.24-11.17 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: /vmlinuz-2.6.24-11-generic
Found kernel: /vmlinuz-2.6.24-8-generic
Found kernel: /memtest86+.bin
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Building tag database... Done

Indeed /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-11-generic is present, but was not touched.

I moved /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-11-generic to /tmp , and tried to reinstall the package again, now I got an error:
Preparing to replace linux-image-2.6.24-11-generic 2.6.24-11.17 (using .../linux-image-2.6.24-11-generic_2.6.24-11.17_i386.deb) ...
Done.
Unpacking replacement linux-image-2.6.24-11-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: /vmlinuz-2.6.24-11-generic
Found kernel: /vmlinuz-2.6.24-8-generic
Found kernel: /memtest86+.bin
Replacing config file /va...

[sibidiba (sibidiba)]

The warning message comes from the postinst script (line 836 for linux-image-2.6.24-11-generic).
The script would execute: update-initramfs -u -k 2.6.24-11-generic

And
$ sudo update-initramfs -u -k `uname -r`
WARNING: /boot is ro mounted.
update-initramfs: Not updating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-11-generic

$ sudo strace -f -o /tmp/strace.update-initramfs update-initramfs -u -k `uname -r`
reveals the source of the problem:

98 13113 open("/proc/mounts", O_RDONLY) = 3
99 13113 ioctl(3, SNDCTL_TMR_TIMEBASE or TCGETS, 0xbf8551b8) = -1 ENOTTY (Inappropriate ioctl for device)
100 13113 read(3, "rootfs / rootfs rw 0 0\nnone /sys"..., 4096) = 1016
101 13113 read(3, "", 3080) = 0
102 13113 fstat64(1, {st_mode=S_IFIFO|0600, st_size=0, ...}) = 0
103 13113 mmap2(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0xb7f6b000
104 13113 close(3) = 0
105 13113 write(1, "ro\n", 3 <unfinished ...>
106 13112 <... read resumed> "ro\n", 128) = 3
107 13113 <... write resumed> ) = 3
108 13112 read(3, <unfinished ...>
109 13113 close(1 <unfinished ...>
110 13112 <... read resumed> "", 128) = 0
111 13113 <... close resumed> ) = 0
112 13112 close(3 <unfinished ...>
113 13113 munmap(0xb7f6b000, 4096 <unfinished ...>
114 13112 <... close resumed> ) = 0
115 13113 <... munmap resumed> ) = 0
116 13112 wait4(-1, <unfinished ...>
117 13113 close(2) = 0
118 13113 exit_group(0) = ?
119 13112 <... wait4 resumed> [{WIFEXITED(s) && WEXITSTATUS(s) == 0}], 0, NULL) = 13113
120 13112 --- SIGCHLD (Child exited) @ 0 (0) ---
121 13112 write(1, "WARNING: /boot is ro mounted.\n", 30) = 30
122 13112 write(1, "update-initramfs: Not updating /"..., 66) = 66

Whereby the corresponding line of /proc/mounts is:
/dev/sda1 /boot ext3 rw,noatime,errors=remount-ro,data=ordered 0 0

There is a matching ro in the line.
If I remounted /boot without the errors=remount-ro option, the bug was gone!

update-initramfs does not match correctly for 'ro' in /proc/mounts

[sibidiba (sibidiba)]

fix attached

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package initramfs-tools - 0.85eubuntu30

---------------
initramfs-tools (0.85eubuntu30) hardy; urgency=low

  * Fix check for "ro" on /boot
    - LP: #197470

 -- Ben Collins <email address hidden> Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:41:15 -0400