Kubuntu manual install crashed during bootloader configuration on an XFS partition

[Andrew McDonnell]

Reported error was "ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: '' " - a very old Ubiquity bug 42774 has same message but stack trace was completely different at a different point.

Cause:

1. Start Kubuntu CD, select 'Install' from the CD menu
2. Do a manual partition. Drive has NTFS XP at sda2 with a rescue NTFS at sda1 and 40GB free space
3. Added 12G XFS partition at sda5 and swap at sda6
4. Set to install bootloader to sda5
5. Installer progressed and copied files then died with the following stack trace on the 'Configuring Bootloader' screen

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/bin/ubiquity", line 524, in <module>
    main(oem_config)
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/bin/ubiquity", line 511, in main
    install(query=options.query)
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/bin/ubiquity", line 242, in install
    ret = wizard.run()
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/ubiquity/frontend/kde_ui.py", line 460, in run
    self.progress_loop()
  File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/ubiquity/frontend/kde_ui.py", line 863, in progress_loop
    (ret, realtb))
RuntimeError: Install failed with exit code 1
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/share/ubiquity/install.py", line 2566, in <module>
    install.run()
  File "/usr/share/ubiquity/install.py", line 418, in run
    self.configure_bootloader()
  File "/usr/share/ubiquity/install.py", line 1681, in configure_bootloader
    self.db.input('critical', bootdev)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/debconf.py", line 65, in <lambda>
    lambda *args, **kw: self.command(command, *args, **kw))
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/debconf.py", line 86, in command
    status = int(status)
ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: ''

Digression: I should have made /boot at sda3 primary partition which would have allowed me to copy the first 512 bytes of sda3 to a bin file to chain from the XP bootloader.

[Andrew McDonnell (andymc73)]

This is against Lucid 10.04.4 (I was doing LTS ISO testing)

[Andrew McDonnell (andymc73)]

output from fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xa0a504ce

   Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 784 6297448+ 12 Compaq diagnostics
/dev/sda2 * 785 14267 108295168 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 14267 15969 13670401 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 14267 15726 11717632 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 15726 15969 1951744 82 Linux swap / Solaris

[Ubuntu QA Website (ubuntuqa)]

This bug has been reported on the Ubuntu ISO testing tracker.

A list of all reports related to this bug can be found here:
http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/reports/bugs/933433

[Andrew McDonnell (andymc73)]

I just had a look inside syslog, and you learn something new every day it seems:

It would appear that installing grub onto an XFS logical partition is disallowed, and this is the underlying cause of the Python stack trace?
I believe bug is still valid however; the installer should catch the failure and not crash with the integer error message.

Feb 16 22:33:51 ubuntu grub-installer: info: Installing grub on '/dev/sda5'
Feb 16 22:33:51 ubuntu grub-installer: info: grub-install supports --no-floppy
Feb 16 22:33:51 ubuntu grub-installer: info: Running chroot /target grub-install --no-floppy --force "/dev/sda5"
Feb 16 22:33:53 ubuntu grub-installer: /usr/sbin/grub-setup: error: hd0,5 appears to contain a xfs filesystem which isn't known to reserve space for DOS-style boot. Installing GRUB there could result in FILESYSTEM DESTRUCTION if valuable data is overwritten by grub-setup (--skip-fs-probe disables this check, use at your own risk).
Feb 16 22:33:53 ubuntu grub-installer: error: Running 'grub-install --no-floppy --force "/dev/sda5"' failed.
Feb 16 22:36:08 ubuntu python: log-output -t ubiquity umount /target/cdrom
Feb 16 22:36:08 ubuntu finish-install: Disabling CD in sources.list
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: Exception during installation:
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: Traceback (most recent call last):
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: File "/usr/share/ubiquity/install.py", line 2566, in <module>
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: install.run()
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: File "/usr/share/ubiquity/install.py", line 418, in run
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: self.configure_bootloader()
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: File "/usr/share/ubiquity/install.py", line 1681, in configure_bootloader
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: self.db.input('critical', bootdev)
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: File "/usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/debconf.py", line 65, in <lambda>
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: lambda *args, **kw: self.command(command, *args, **kw))
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: File "/usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/debconf.py", line 86, in command
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: status = int(status)
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: ''

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

Exception during installation:
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: Traceback (most recent call last):
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: File "/usr/share/ubiquity/install.py", line 2566, in <module>
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: install.run()
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: File "/usr/share/ubiquity/install.py", line 418, in run
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: self.configure_bootloader()
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: File "/usr/share/ubiquity/install.py", line 1681, in configure_bootloader
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: self.db.input('critical', bootdev)
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: File "/usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/debconf.py", line 65, in <lambda>
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: lambda *args, **kw: self.command(command, *args, **kw))
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: File "/usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/debconf.py", line 86, in command
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: status = int(status)
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python: ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: ''
Feb 16 22:36:09 ubuntu python:

[Barry Warsaw (barry)]

I tried this with the precise-desktop ISO and the behavior is a bit different. Here's what I did, please verify that it's a useful/accurate reproduction of your issue.

When I got to the erase/something else screen, I chose the latter (essentially, manual partitioning). I created a new partition table, and then an 8GB root partition on /dev/vda1, which I made an XFS file system. Then I put the remaining 500MB or so on /dev/vda2. I told the partitioner to install the boot loader on /dev/vda1. At the end of the installation, I got a popup window saying:

Executing 'grub-install /dev/vda1' failed.
This is a fatal error.

All you can do at this point is click OK. Note that /var/log/syslog has the grub-installer warning mentioned in comment #6, but no Python traceback.

I'm inclined to say that this specific bug is no longer valid, so I'm going to close it. However, if you can still reproduce it with the latest 12.04 live CD, please re-open this bug and provide addition information (e.g. recipe for reproduction, log entries, etc.). The fact that you are even given the opportunity to install grub on an unsupported file system like XFS will be fixed as part of bug 959724.