when i try recovery mode and i write into drop shell sript chown root:root /usr/bin/pkexec it gives me error changing ownership of /usr/bin/pkexec:read only file system
@KaliyaMitesh You have to run mount -o remount,rw / first (step 2 in the 6-step procedure in my answer). That remounts the filesystem so it is no longer read-only.
@EliahKagan i run mount -o remount,rw / first.then i try to run chown root:root /usr/bin/pkexec it gives error changing permission of '/usr/bin/pkexec':Read only file system
Do you have the picture you want to attach? Or are you asking how to take a screenshot in recovery mode? (As far as I know, there is no really good way to take a screenshot in recovery mode.)
That text is visible. That's the help for mount. It is shown when mount does not understand the syntax you have given it. Are you sure that you have entered exactly:
mount -o remount,rw /
There must be a space between mount and -o, another between -o and remount, but there must be no spaces in remount,rw.
Then there must be a space between remount,rw and /.
/ should be the last character.
(I cannot verify the exact command you ran by looking at that image, because the output is longer than the screen height.)
Okay. Even though apt is not working, you should still be able to fix pkexec. If that succeeds, then you can boot into the system and fix other things, which should be easier.
Okay. At least the specific error about pkexec not being setuid root should be fixed. Hopefully pkexec will work now. If it does, then you can use it to fix everything else while booted normally into the system. (One of the reasons that will be easier is that you will be able to connect to the Internet, open a web browser, copy and paste text between a terminal and the web browser, etc.)
To test this, leave recovery mode and boot normally. One way to do this is just to run exit, which will let you boot the rest of the way. Another way is to run the reboot command and not select recovery mode when it reboots.
Once you've booted normally, log in, open a Terminal window (Ctrl+Alt+T), and try to run a command with pkexec -- for example:
pkexec echo success
That will print success if pkexec worked, and an error message otherwise.
It will be easier to fix sudo and (if it is broken) APT if you don't have to do everything in recovery mode. So please let me know what happens when you try leaving recovery mode and testing pkexec (or let me know if you're unable to do so).
By the way, now that you're booted into a graphical session on that machine, if you want you can log in to Ask Ubuntu from there. Then you will be able to copy and paste text. Whether or not you prefer that is totally up to you. You can also continue uploading images if that's more convenient.
Okay, since you were able to successfully run apt update with pkexec, now run:
So, it looks like sudo wasn't the only thing that was deleted. It looks like dpkg is gone, too. Before proceeding, it would be a good idea to get a sense of what has happened. Do you know howsudo was deleted?
The reason I'm asking is that, depending on the extent of the damage to your system, it may be faster and easier for you to offload all your documents and important files and reinstall the operating system.
dpkg is harder to fix because you cannot use the package manager to put it back (basically, it is the package manager -- it's what APT uses to install and remove packages). But it's not too hard to put back, you just have to do it manually.
But if the extent of the damage is effectively unlimited, then manually fixing each part of your system that is broken could take a very long time, and you might never be sure that you had gotten it all fixed.
But if you don't know what has happened to the system to break all this stuff in it (or what else might be broken), and your goal is to get a fully working Ubuntu system as soon as possible, then reinstalling may be faster.
So it's up to you.
So, if you want to keep working on it, please tell me: does the Internet connection work in your Ubuntu system?
Do you mean for voice chat? I'm actually not available for that right now -- I am working on other tasks at the same time as I am working with you on this. I also don't have whatsapp. You can friend me on Skype if you like, but I would still not often be available to voice chat. Instant messaging is usually best for me.
Okay good, you have wget.
I was worried way more things in /usr/bin might have been missing. And that might still be the case, but at you have the things you need to reinstall dpkg easily.
If you're on a separate machine right now, you might want to switch to the Ubuntu system, log in to Ask Ubuntu, and join this chat room from there. The next command to run is just:
cd ~/Downloads
But the next command after that, to download the package for dpkg, is:
It would probably be inconvenient for you to type that in exactly, by hand. And, depending on what happens, there may be other commands that are inconvenient to type in, too.
However, if you don't want to switch over to the Ubuntu machine, that is okay. In that case, I can give you a different way to download the file that may be easier than typing that. You can let me know.
You didn't type the full URL. It looks like you stopped before the first _. I don't recommend typing that by hand though. If you cannot chat from the Ubuntu system itself, then it will be easier to find the URL the same way I did.
Are you just talking about the 404 error shown in your most recently attached image? Or something after that?
The 404 error in your most recently attached image appears to be due to an incorrectly typed URL.
You see to have typed something like wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/dpkg, when you really needed wget https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/dpkg_1.18.4ubuntu1.1_amd64.deb.
However, you can just go to Launchpad, find the file, and download it, and then you don't need to run that command at all.
Normally you can install .deb files with dpkg -i, but dpkg is the program you're missing, which is why it is necessary to do this manually.
So, first extract the archive:
ar x dpkg_1.18.4ubuntu1.1_amd64.deb
You can copy and paste that command, or you can type just ar x and press tab. (If there's nothing else in this folder, the shell will automatically complete the command to that filename.)
If the ar command produces no output, it succeeded. In that case, run:
Yes. That's good. When you run tar xf data.tar.gz, it extracts that file.
I am hoping we will not need to install all package file for dpkg, but just the executable itself. (If this works, we will of course tell APT to reinstall dpkg properly afterwards.)
Good. The dpkg executable has been extracted. Now copy it to where it's supposed to be in your system, set its ownership and permissions correctly, and test it (these commands do all that):
Whatever the output is, please copy it from the terminal and paste it into this chat conversation. (If it fails, there should be error messages. If it works, the final command will produce output.)
I had thought you had already switched to the Ubuntu machine and joined this chat.
If you haven't, you would do it the same way as you did it from whatever machine you are using. That is, you would go into a web browser, log in to Ask Ubuntu, and enter chat.
When you log in, you'll be able to find your question on your profile. One way to get to this chat room is to follow the link posted in comments under my answer to your question.
There should be faster ways to get here, too, but I am not sure I would be able to describe them clearly -- they would depend on what notifications you have received.
Basically, however you got here before, you can do the same thing from the Ubuntu machine once you've logged in to Ask Ubuntu.
If your web browser in Ubuntu works, just not for opening up chat, then you should copy all the text from the terminal and paste it at paste.ubuntu.com, then provide the link you are given here.
I will then be able to look at it and see what has happened.
If you post in chat and it seems like I might not be here, you can ping me by including @EliahKagan in your message. This will ensure that I am notified of your message, even if I am absent when it arrives or otherwise don't notice it.
If you restarted it, you are probably no longer in the same directory where you ran tar xf data.tar.gz. That would explain why the copy is not succeeding.
mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:~/Downloads$ pkexec cp -n usr/bin/dpkg /usr/bin /bin/cp: cannot stat 'usr/bin/dpkg': No such file or directory mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:~/Downloads$
Interesting. This is apparently specific to pkexec. Let me figure out why.
pkexec does not automatically work with relative paths as sudo does. I have learned something! Anyway, sorry for the confusion. If you use this command instead, it should work:
mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:~/Downloads$ pkexec cp -n "$(pwd)/usr/bin/dpkg" /usr/bin/ mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:~/Downloads$ pkexec chown root:root /usr/bin/dpkg mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:~/Downloads$ pkexec chmod 755 /usr/bin/dpkg mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:~/Downloads$ dpkg --version Debian 'dpkg' package management program version 1.18.4 (amd64). This is free software; see the GNU General Public License version 2 or later for copying conditions. There is NO warranty. mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:~/Downloads$
mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:~/Downloads$ pkexec apt --reinstall install sudo Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required: linux-headers-4.4.0-31 linux-headers-4.4.0-31-generic linux-image-4.4.0-31-generic linux-image-extra-4.4.0-31-generic Use 'apt autoremove' to remove them. The following additional packages will be installed: apport The following packages will be upgraded:
mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:~$ apt list sudo Listing... Done sudo/xenial-updates,now 1.8.16-0ubuntu1.2 amd64 [installed] N: There is 1 additional version. Please use the '-a' switch to see it mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:~$
mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:~$ pkexec dpkg --configure -a Setting up sudo (1.8.16-0ubuntu1.2) ... Setting up python-mysqldb (1.3.7-1build2) ... Traceback (most recent call last): File "/usr/bin/pycompile", line 35, in <module> from debpython.version import SUPPORTED, debsorted, vrepr, \ File "/usr/share/python/debpython/version.py", line 24, in <module> from ConfigParser import SafeConfigParser ImportError: No module named 'ConfigParser' dpkg: error processing package python-mysqldb (--configure):
itesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:~$ sudo apt -f install Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required: linux-headers-4.4.0-31 linux-headers-4.4.0-31-generic linux-image-4.4.0-31-generic linux-image-extra-4.4.0-31-generic Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them. The following additional packages will be installed: apport The following packages will be upgraded: apport 1 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 20 not upgraded.
Besides the output you've just seen on the terminal, do you have further reason to think Python is corrupted? Is this something you had noticed before?
I am having trouble installing any new packages in Ubuntu because of python.
I tried sudo apt-get install python3 python3-dev but I am getting the following output ::
dpkg: error processing python-lockfile (--configure):
Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should
reinstall it b...
mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:/usr/bin$ sudo dpkg --configure -a Setting up bsdutils (1:2.27.1-6ubuntu3.2) ... Setting up python-mysqldb (1.3.7-1build2) ... dpkg: error processing package apport (--configure): package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should reinstall it before attempting configuration dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of apport-gtk: apport-gtk depends on apport (>= 0.41); however: Package apport is not configured yet.
mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:/usr/bin$ sudo apt --purge --reinstall install apport Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required: linux-headers-4.4.0-31 linux-headers-4.4.0-31-generic linux-image-4.4.0-31-generic linux-image-extra-4.4.0-31-generic Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them. The following packages will be upgraded: apport 1 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 20 not upgraded.
mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:/usr/bin$ sudo apt upgrade Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done Calculating upgrade... Done The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required: linux-headers-4.4.0-31 linux-headers-4.4.0-31-generic linux-image-4.4.0-31-generic linux-image-extra-4.4.0-31-generic Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them. 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:/usr/bin$
thank you so much sir.thanks for giving your valuable time.
mitesh@mitesh-Inspiron-N5010:/usr/bin$ sudo apt autoremove Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following packages will be REMOVED: linux-headers-4.4.0-31 linux-headers-4.4.0-31-generic linux-image-4.4.0-31-generic linux-image-extra-4.4.0-31-generic 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 4 to remove and 0 not upgraded. After this operation, 295 MB disk space will be freed. Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y (Reading database ... 266216 files and directories currently installed.)
However, I still don't know what caused all these problems, so I cannot know whether or not there is still something wrong with it.
I recommend that, as always (even if your system never gave you any trouble), that you keep current backups of all your documents and important files, in case something does go wrong and you have to reinstall on short notice or even lose data.
What you've shown me on your system does not especially look like faulty RAM a failing hard disk or anything, but since I unfortunately have no idea what caused these several different problems, I can't really conclude it's not something like that either.
Anyway, if you have more problems with the system on that machine, feel free to ping me in chat -- though you can of course also post new questions on Ask Ubuntu.
If we haven't talked in this room in several days and you want to contact me, then pinging me in Ask Ubuntu's main chat will be more effective. There's no guarantee that I'll be available to help, but if I am, I will. (To ping me you would write a message that has @EliahKagan in it, or just reply to any of my chat messages.)
I had been hoping that, during the course of working on this, we would discover a root cause of your various problems on that system. I was curious about that. But if the system is working well without further problems, and you have good backups, then I think you are okay.
I have also benefited from this, actually -- this specific approach to fixing a broken dpkg is not one that I have used before and I was quite interested to be able to put it into action, and furthermore, I have filled a gap in my knowledge of pkexec -- I either did not know or had long forgotten that, unlike sudo, pkexec does not run commands in the current directory where pkexec itself is invoked.
Sometime in the next day or so, I'll add a summary of what we've done here to my answer. Once I've added that, if you haven't had any more related problems on the machine, then I suggest accepting my answer by clicking the check mark to the left of it. (You are not obligated to accept my answer, however. You should do so only if you feel it has solved your problem. Either way, if you have more problems on this machine, I'll be interested to hear about it.)
I am having trouble installing any new packages in Ubuntu because of python.
I tried sudo apt-get install python3 python3-dev but I am getting the following output ::
dpkg: error processing python-lockfile (--configure):
Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should
reinstall it b...
Discussion between Eliah Kagan and Ka…
Discussion between Eliah Kagan and Ka…