Bug #10347: Troubleshooting for automatic upgrades that fail to restart

Bug #10347

Troubleshooting for automatic upgrades that fail to restart

Added by emmapeel 2015-10-07 07:10:49 . Updated 2019-09-28 00:55:07 .

Status:

Resolved

Priority:

Normal

Assignee:

Category:

Installation

Target version:

Tails_4.0

Start date:

2015-10-07

Due date:

% Done:

Feature Branch:

doc/10347-broken-after-automatic-upgrade

Type of work:

End-user documentation

Blueprint:

Starter:

Affected tool:

Deliverable for:

Description

When users cannot boot after an automatic upgrade, they are directed to the page

https://tails.boum.org/doc/upgrade/error/install/

In this page there are some commands to run, but this commands are meant for a booting Tails:

the output of the five following commands, run in a Terminal:

   ls -l /lib/live/mount/medium/live
   cat /lib/live/mount/medium/live/Tails.module
   mount
   df -h
   free -m

The user cannot run the broken Tails, so the instructions should be more:

- Start another Tails

- Mount the Tails partition with Disk Utility (not TailsData)
- Report a bug with the output of the five following commands, run in a Terminal:

ls -lh /lib/live/mount/medium/live
cat /lib/live/mount/medium/live/Tails.module
mount
df -h
free -m

or something like that.

Subtasks

Related issues

Related to Tails - ~~Bug #10239~~: Tails Upgrader sometimes make device unbootable	Resolved	2015-09-23
Related to Tails - Feature #15130: Restructure our support page and content	Confirmed	2013-09-28
Related to Tails - ~~Bug #15557~~: Document workaround for partially applied automatic upgrade	Resolved	2018-04-30
Blocks Tails - ~~Feature #16711~~: Core work 2019Q3 → 2019Q4: Technical writing	Resolved	2016-01-08

History

#1 Updated by emmapeel 2015-10-07 07:24:11

Subject changed from Debugging steps in 'update error' documentation must be adjusted to Debugging steps in 'upgrade error' documentation must be adjusted

#2 Updated by emmapeel 2015-10-10 00:42:01

Description updated

#3 Updated by intrigeri 2015-10-10 02:53:22

emmapeel wrote:
> When users cannot boot after an automatic upgrade, they are directed to the page
>
> https://tails.boum.org/doc/upgrade/error/install/

Just to clarify: is that true in general, or only when we explicitly and manually ask them to provide the same information as the instructions on that page would produce?

#4 Updated by emmapeel 2015-10-10 03:04:53

Well, I think it that the page says ‘might be unable to start’, so maybe we can add a note for this case specifically, like: “If you cannot start then you need to mount it from another Tails”

Tails partition is not mounted automatically, and I think users new to Linux could not provide us with the debugging info during the problems with Tails 1.6 because of this little detail.

#5 Updated by intrigeri 2016-01-11 15:35:35

related to ~~Bug #10239~~: Tails Upgrader sometimes make device unbootable added

#6 Updated by sajolida 2016-02-08 16:33:00

Subject changed from Debugging steps in 'upgrade error' documentation must be adjusted to Troubleshooting for automatic upgrades that fail to restart
QA Check changed from Dev Needed to Info Needed

The page “/upgrade/error/install” reads “The upgrade could not be installed. Your Tails device needs to be repaired and might be unable to restart.” and this page is pointed to from “/doc/first_steps/upgrade” with the label “If an error occurs while installing the upgrade”.

So this page correctly corresponds to an automatic upgrade that fails while Tails is still running.

What you are referring to is the lack of troubleshooting information if the automatic upgrade succeeds but it’s impossible to restart on the device.

I think this should be treated as a different case from “/upgrade/error/install”. Maybe as “/upgrade/error/restart”. Renaming this ticket accordingly.

emmapeel: do you agree? do you want to work on this?