Bootloader install failure on Acer Aspire E 11 ES1 eMMC based Celeron N2840 laptop

[Ricardo Bánffy]

It doesn' t seem possible at all to install Ubuntu on this machine, which is too bad because I thoroughly destroyed the Windows install it came with :-(

It may be related to the RPMB partition issues (mmcblk0rpmb r/w command timeouts).

The kernel people will have loads of fun. Since this laptop is effectively bricked unless I boot it off a live stick, I am open to try new images. I'll give today's Vivid a spin in about 12 hours to see how far I can go.

If it helps, it's the ES1-111M-C40S, Celeron N2840.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.10
Package: ubiquity 2.20.0
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.16.0-23.31-generic 3.16.4
Uname: Linux 3.16.0-23-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.14.7-0ubuntu8
Architecture: amd64
CasperVersion: 1.345
Date: Thu Feb 19 07:12:01 2015
InstallCmdLine: noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true persistent file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash -- maybe-ubiquity
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 14.10 "Utopic Unicorn" - Release amd64 (20141022.1)
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=linux
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
SourcePackage: ubiquity
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

Exception during installation:
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py: Traceback (most recent call last):
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py: File "/usr/share/ubiquity/plugininstall.py", line 1770, in <module>
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py: install.run()
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py: File "/usr/share/ubiquity/plugininstall.py", line 78, in wrapper
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py: func(self)
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py: File "/usr/share/ubiquity/plugininstall.py", line 252, in run
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py: self.remove_extras()
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py: File "/usr/share/ubiquity/plugininstall.py", line 1455, in remove_extras
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py: cache = Cache()
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py: File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apt/cache.py", line 107, in __init__
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py: self.open(progress)
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py: File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apt/cache.py", line 151, in open
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py: self._cache = apt_pkg.Cache(progress)
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py: SystemError: W:Unable to read /target/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ - DirectoryExists (2: No such file or directory), W:Unable to read /target/etc/apt/sources.list - RealFileExists (2: No such file or directory), E:Could not open file /target/var/lib/dpkg/status - open (2: No such file or directory), E:The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
Feb 19 07:11:13 ubuntu /plugininstall.py:

[Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre (cyphermox)]

Could there be some problem with the iso image in use? Have you verified that it's MD5SUM was good?

Also, this may actually be issues with the memory failing; does a recent vivid image behave the same way?

[Ricardo Bánffy (rbanffy)]

Thanks, Mathieu. Vivid daily (from Friday and Saturday) does not
successfully boot on this machine. It would seem it was designed with
Microsoft's help to be Linux-proof ;-)

MD5 of the image I used to create the stick is
08494b448aa5b1de963731c21344f803, but if there was any data loss while
creating the image, I can't tell.

On Mon, Feb 23, 2015 at 7:34 PM, Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre <
<email address hidden>> wrote:

> Could there be some problem with the iso image in use? Have you verified
> that it's MD5SUM was good?
>
> Also, this may actually be issues with the memory failing; does a recent
> vivid image behave the same way?
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1423526
>
> Title:
> Bootloader install failure on Acer Aspire E 11 ES1 eMMC based Celeron
> N2840 laptop
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/1423526/+subscriptions
>

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Alberto Salvia Novella (es20490446e)]

There's an unconfirmed patch: http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel.mmc/28281

[Alberto Salvia Novella (es20490446e)]

Please:
- Report to <https://bugzilla.kernel.org/>.
- Paste the new report URL here.
- Set this bug status back to "confirmed".

Thank you.

[ak (akadyshevich)]

I have ubuntu 14.04.1 installed on ES1-111M-C9VZ (C9VZ model listed only on acer canada), Celeron N2840.
It is the same model as other ES1-111M, with 32gb eMMC as the only storage.

Ubuntu 14.04.1 boots from USB and EVERYTHING works (wifi, video,suspend) right away.

I installed 14.04 as the only OS (efi), as trying to install as dual boot with Win 8.1 made Win non-bootable.

There is a problem with boot, when (appears to be) eMMC is not ready, but second reboot and a minute or so wait end up with successful boot (with some initial errors).

It is a great machine, no fan, runs very cold.

[Ricardo Bánffy (rbanffy)]

15.04 also boots correctly and I don't see the eMMC timeout errors anymore (or, at least, they don't hold the boot process. I'd suggest we close this one since 14.04 and 15.04 seem to work.

[Rolf Leggewie (r0lf)]

utopic has seen the end of its life and is no longer receiving any updates. Marking the utopic task for this ticket as "Won't Fix".