Thanks Michka
I had tried the boot-repair option, to no avail.
But this time I made sure I had the latest version (I do) by completely
removing boot-repair and reinstalling, including repository, and tried
'advanced' option. 'Successful' but didn't solve the problem.
Then I tried default version of boot-repair. Likewise, 'successful', but
didn't solve the problem.
I don't have a dual-boot system since I long ago removed Windows. But it is
a UEFI machine and I have a separate sda1 FAT 32 boot partition, then a
main sda2 ext4 partition, then a swap partition.
I'm wondering if I should remove the sda1 efi FAT 32 partition, which may
be causing the difficulty (even though in boot-repair 'advanced' option I
had ensured that grub would be 'additionally' be reinstalled in sda1)?
I'm a 'fiddler' rather than an expert so I'm reluctant to risk doing that
as I do have a working system right now, even though it is slightly
compromised at boot since the upgrade to 16.10.
What do you think?
By the way, Alex N's solution also did not work for me. Though I have not
tried simply using /dev/sda rather than sda1 or sda2.
Best
David

On 18 October 2016 at 21:11, Michka Popoff <email address hidden>
wrote:

> I had the same problem. Updating from 16.04 to 16.10 in place.
>
> I ran boot-repair, but the tool had not been updated during the
> migration (the update 16.10 removed the boot-repair ppa from the
> sources.list). Running the repair completely botched my grub.cfg files
> (update-grub was complaining about syntax errors). After a (painful)
> manual restart through the grub command line, I was able to boot.
>
> The I did:
> sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
> sudo apt-get update
> sudo apt-get upgrade
>
> Using the new boot-repair (version 4ppa38, instead of the old 4ppa35), I
> ran the repair tool, setup grub again, rebooted, and the "error: no
> symbol table. Press any key to continue..." was gone.
>
> People looking for a solution may update boot-repair to 4ppa38, run it,
> and see if it fixes it. Make sure to backup your data first, it worked
> for me but I can't guarantee that it will work for you.
>
> I am attaching the boot-repair report done with 4ppa35, which may be of
> interest for people trying to debug this.
>
> ** Attachment added: "boot-repair output"
>    https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/
> 1633839/+attachment/4763425/+files/Boot-info.txt
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1633839
>
> Title:
>   No symbol table. Press any key to continue
>
> Status in linux package in Ubuntu:
>   Confirmed
>
> Bug description:
>   Ubuntu 16.10. shows "error: no symbol table. Press any key to
>   continue..." after Kernel boot and before login screen. After pressing
>   a key or waiting a few seconds, the boot process continues and login
>   screen appears.
>
>   ProblemType: Bug
>   DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.10
>   Package: linux-image-4.8.0-22-generic 4.8.0-22.24
>   ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.8.0-22.24-generic 4.8.0
>   Uname: Linux 4.8.0-22-generic x86_64
>   ApportVersion: 2.20.3-0ubuntu8
>   Architecture: amd64
>   AudioDevicesInUse:
>    USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
>    /dev/snd/controlC0:  xxxx       7722 F.... pulseaudio
>   CurrentDesktop: Unity
>   Date: Sun Oct 16 13:25:22 2016
>   EcryptfsInUse: Yes
>   HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=9d3bac9d-90f6-4fb6-ba39-e08ea2c3aa19
>   InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-10-28 (1083 days ago)
>   InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.10 "Saucy Salamander" - Release amd64
> (20131016.1)
>   MachineType: LENOVO 23255B2
>   ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
>   ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.8.0-22-generic
> root=UUID=3b21f524-fe80-4ab0-8b84-c03e44abcd8b ro elevator=deadline
>   RelatedPackageVersions:
>    linux-restricted-modules-4.8.0-22-generic N/A
>    linux-backports-modules-4.8.0-22-generic  N/A
>    linux-firmware                            1.161
>   SourcePackage: linux
>   UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to yakkety on 2016-10-16 (0 days ago)
>   dmi.bios.date: 03/03/2016
>   dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
>   dmi.bios.version: G2ETA6WW (2.66 )
>   dmi.board.asset.tag: Not Available
>   dmi.board.name: 23255B2
>   dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
>   dmi.board.version: Not Defined
>   dmi.chassis.asset.tag: CS0000023589
>   dmi.chassis.type: 10
>   dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
>   dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
>   dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvrG2ETA6WW(2.66):bd03/03/2016:svnLENOVO:
> pn23255B2:pvrThinkPadX230:rvnLENOVO:rn23255B2:
> rvrNotDefined:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
>   dmi.product.name: 23255B2
>   dmi.product.version: ThinkPad X230
>   dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/
> 1633839/+subscriptions
>