Problems with Updates and Mirrors {Solved}

[Mystery_Penguin]

Hi there, I had a problem today and I did a bit of research before making an account and making this thread... so here we go.
I'm not sure if there is a bug with my machine or if it a problem somewhere else, hopefully I can get this figured out by asking all of you.

Log in this morning as usual (main tower Mint Xia 22.1 64-bit) I do my usual news and memes then do an update via update manager and then (after more internet) shutdown and do my business for the day. I come home and boot up and my monitor shows black screen. I can't see anything, no mouse cursor nor blinking text cursor, or LM logo. IDK what up so i suffocate and try to boot again, same thing. But I know how to work the system so i attempt to open terminal (alt+ctrl+t) and try to run "sudo shutdown -h 0"... still get no response. So i'm pretty sure it didn't even boot to the desktop (thought it was a monitor or graphics card issue). Nope

I pull out another monitor and boot into a live usb to see if the system files are still there, Yes. I could backup everything from there and do a fresh install but I did a new install recently and didn't want to do it again this soon. I keep regular backups of important files so this wouldn't have been a big deal and nothing major would have been lost.
I continue searching the forums and troubleshooting when i find a way to use timeshift --restore THROUGH a live usb. Took me a while to get it to work but it finally did and my system is now functional again... EXCEPT

Now I cant update. I have changed mirrors for both Main and Base and I keep getting the same error message. From Kernal Update to Browser Update... Not even Lang_pack updates are getting through. Even when trying to update the files one by one. Each one fails, same message.

I don't know how to use the tools for block quotes... yet, but these are the Error messages I keep getting.
"""Failed to download package files
Check you internet connection
Failed to fetch https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/lin...efox/firefox_141.0.3+linuxmint1+xia_amd64.deb Could not open file /var/cache/apt/archives/partial/firefox_141.0.3+linuxmint1+xia_amd64.deb - open (2: No such file or directory) [IP: 142.0.200.124 443]
Failed to fetch https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/lin...ox-locale-en_141.0.3+linuxmint1+xia_amd64.deb Could not open file /var/cache/apt/archives/partial/firefox-locale-en_141.0.3+linuxmint1+xia_amd64.deb - open (2: No such file or directory) [IP: 142.0.200.124 443]
""" (this was for firefox browser update)

I've changed mirrors for both a couple times and am getting the same issue, even after rebooting and trying again with new mirrors.

If there is any info I can provide to help the troubleshooting, I will provide. Im not a noob, only new to the forums.
Should i just do another Backup and fresh install?
Will check in a few times/day for the next few days. Thanks for anyone who can help. I cant update right now at all.

 

[Mystery_Penguin]

forgot screenshot

 

[Brickwizard]

First thing I would try is, when you switch on , you get the grub screen with several options, one of these is Mint advanced options scroll down and open, this will open another page with a list of the last few Kernels, you have 2 options to try, first you could roll back by choosing the previous kernel that worked, or you can select recovery mode on the current [top of the list] kernel and run that to see if it can self-heal the problem
instead of using the software manager, I usually run my updates from the terminal

sudo apt update && apt upgrade -y

 

[Mystery_Penguin]

Thank you Brickwizard for your reply
I will try this tomorrow, I have to get the other monitor out again as my regular one has a display issue that shift everything left so I can't see properly.(edit this only happens during boot and GRUB menus, works fine when booted to desktop) I will back everything up and do as you suggested. I hope I don't have to do a full "fresh install" but if your suggestion works I won't have to.

I will update after I complete the steps you mentioned.

Just as an aside, when I ran timeshift --restore I went back about 4 days, which was well before the update I did yesterday (with the kernel update). When I did the timeshift... wouldn't that have already put me on the older kernel version? If yes, why would then the update manager be not able to work?

 

[Condobloke]

wouldn't that have already put me on the older kernel version? If

quite possibly it would have....but the manual change/inspection of which kernel is in fact running the show will be worthwhile.....even if only to rule that possibility out.

I did a new install recently and didn't want to do it again

Maybe if you grab a copy of your /home folder, it may serve to save you some configuration time if you do need to reinstall

The fact that you booted to a black screen....zero....is telling. ....and yet Timeshift doing its thing negates those thoughts....or most of them. Do you run a graphics card?.....what is the driver>...downloaded from the graphics card maker or the default?

Not opening/cannot find error....do you have some other package manager open?....synaptic package manager?...
Make sure only the update manager is open and run it again
If still an error, reboot, ... then set the mirrors to default, then reload the cache (button at bottom of mirrors screen)

Any luck ?

 

[CaffeineAddict]

Sounds like faulty drive to me, so the system is mounted in read only mode so required files can't created to modify system (updates modify it)

To test this I would boot live USB and manually mount the FS to see if it mounts in RW mode, maybe also run SMART test.

 

[Mystery_Penguin]

Hello again, Sorry it took so long for the update. I was super busy last week but long story short, I wasn't able to fix the problem.
I tried what Brickwizard suggested but when i was booted into the older Kernel versions (i tried the 2nd & 3rd old kernels) I went to update the machine and it still had the network failure problem and wount update the whole list of updates.

I had to do a full backup and fresh re-install of the OS, and that happened today. System running fine again. Sorry if this thread was a waste. I appreciate the assistance and the suggestions. shrug sometimes a re-install is the easiest fix.

thanks also to condobloke and caffieneaddict

ps. do i edit the thread title to show it wasn't resolved but not a problem anymore?

 

[Mystery_Penguin]

pictures to hopefully answer condoblokes question

 

[Condobloke]

Sorry if this thread was a waste.

No thread is a waste. They are informative in their own way. Thanks for posting your concerns and eventual outcome/fix

it leaves the question hanging to some degree...What was the actual cause of this problem?

In your case we will never know. It is of interest to note that I have not experienced anything even close to this with LM22.1 ....nor in LM21.3

However, at least now, you know to keep a lookout for any small changes/behaviours etc which may or may not lead to this occurrence.

Dont approach your pc differently, continue on in your usual approach.

Let us know of anything you encounter or are suspicious of etc etc.

We will stay 'attached' to this thread, and wiull see anything you add....regardless of how much time elapses

 

[Mystery_Penguin]

all good, and thanks again
I'm familiar with forums so I know they usually end when the topic is resolved fixed or not.
I do have another problem that's been re-occurring and is highly irregular from my experience with Linux has been. I started dabbling in HS and am now in my mid-30s.

quick explanation
while watching videos online (usually youtube) the screen flickers, a video will play for a while then stop and buffer, if the video ends normally I cant close the tab. Window crashes. try to go to menu to and hit shutdown. (A) The small window to shutdown pops up, green countdown bar is ok and working, all the places where a letter should be are blank rectangles suspend, restart cancel, shutdown are all [][][][][][][]...[][][][][][][]...[][][][][][] etc..
(B) whole machine crash, black screen, blank Text Cursor _ Blinking top left.
Only way to solve is suffocate and reboot.
/new problem

Ill probably start a new thread in the coming months if this problem persists. No common pattern that ive noticed for why it occurs. Also, yesterday... when i tried brickwizards suggestion... I got home from work and this new problem was SEVERLY prominent. I couldn't go 5 minutes doing anything on my system without it crashing in A or B way. The kernel reversion and system update attempt (which half-failed) """Solved""" the New Crash issue until today when i could do a full backup properly. again... shrug. If new problem continues to occur i would like to know a way I could get info in a crash log or something to show the forums to help fix that permanently. (new problem has only happened on this tower I'm using now, bought around 2018-19) all other machines that I own, that run linux, DON'T have this same new problem.
Thanks again...

 

[Alexzee]

You can mark your thread solved if you like.

Just go to post #1 and click the edit button and at the end of the name of your thread type the word {Solved}.

 

[Condobloke]

Ill probably start a new thread in the coming months if this problem persists

That is a good idea

In the meantime, how are you watching youtube.....browser, vlc ??...

If the initial problem is only happening on one particular pc....it would point at graphics card imo

To test my theory, click on menu and type in Driver Manager....allow it to scan.

It will likely recommend your graphics card. Where di the drivers for that graphics card come from ?....are they automatically supplied by the Linux Mint kernel ?....did you perhaps download drivers from the card's site for it...??.....
It may also show a "onboard" graphics eg, Intel HD Graphics.....this is a graphics chip built into the motherboard...drivers are unnecessary to worry about. They are already in the kernel.

If you are currently using a separate graphics card, try the onboard chip.....simply by selecting it in the result of the scan by Driver Manager.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Just go to post #1 and click the edit button and at the end of the name of your thread type the word {Solved}.

That is so ... the thread will still remain open should you have a need to revisit it. We keep most threads open.

Wizard

 

[theLegionWithin]

while watching videos online (usually youtube) the screen flickers, a video will play for a while then stop and buffer, if the video ends normally I cant close the tab. Window crashes. try to go to menu to and hit shutdown. (A) The small window to shutdown pops up, green countdown bar is ok and working, all the places where a letter should be are blank rectangles suspend, restart cancel, shutdown are all [][][][][][][]...[][][][][][][]...[][][][][][] etc..
(B) whole machine crash, black screen, blank Text Cursor _ Blinking top left.
Only way to solve is suffocate and reboot.

with the previous issue resolved by flatten/reload (so unlikely to be the storage media) and now this new issue I'd say maybe use memtest86+ to check for ram failure --> https://www.memtest.org/ - set it to run through several full passes - like 5x

could also be the gpu failing as @Condobloke mentioned