Ubuntu System on USB Drive Breaks with Updates Requiring Restarts
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
linux (Ubuntu) |
Confirmed
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned | ||
update-manager (Ubuntu) |
New
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned |
Bug Description
First, please forgive me if I do not report this issue correctly. I'm new here and don't generally live in the Launchpad world. (I've tried this at askUbuntu.com, and it was suggested I come here.)
In brief: I have a 2006 Dell Inspiron (32 bit) with a (slow) 40 GB hard drive running Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. Having the system exactly the way I want it, I used the application "Systemback" to install the system on a (fast) 128 GB USB drive, which, being bootable, worked exactly the same as if I booted from the hard drive. So I started using the faster 128 USB drive exclusively.
Now typically, Software Updater, if not requiring a restart, updated the running USB drive just fine. But one day, after Software Updater did an update that required a restart, this happened:
the GRUB 2 bootloader the USB drive that was booted from, AND ALSO the GRUB 2 bootloader on the laptop's hard drive got broken, to the point where neither was bootable, taking me to the dreaded "grub rescue" command line when trying to boot either one. (Thankfully, I had a second USB drive with my Ubuntu system on it, and was able to install it from there to both the laptop's hard drive and the other now-ruined USB drive to bring them back to a pre-broken, normal existence.)
With that background, I ask: Can Ubuntu's updates that require restarts merely work with the drive that was booted from, and not any affect any others (including an unmounted hard drive that was not booted from) ?
If so, then anyone could get a Linux the way they want that they can take anywhere, bootable from any computer, AND update-able from any computer, bypassing all need for hard drives of any sort. No longer would people need to even buy laptops with hard drives or even operating systems. They could simply buy a smaller, cheaper, hard-drive-less and OS-less device that runs merely by plugging an Ubuntu Linux USB drive into it as "the system".
Thank you very much for your time!
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: linux-image-
ProcVersionSign
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-165-generic i686
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.29
Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Fri Feb 8 12:12:35 2019
HibernationDevice: RESUME=
InstallationDate: Installed on 2018-12-31 (39 days ago)
InstallationMedia:
IwConfig:
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
MachineType: Dell Inc. ME051
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=
RelatedPackageV
linux-
linux-
linux-firmware 1.127.24
RfKill:
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2018-12-31 (39 days ago)
WifiSyslog:
dmi.bios.date: 12/22/2005
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A04
dmi.board.name: 0TD535
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.
dmi.product.name: ME051
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.
This change was made by a bot.