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Crash report handling

Many Ubiquity bugs arrive in the form of cut-and-pastes from its crash helper dialog. In simple cases, these are often enough to completely diagnose the bug and allow a developer to fix it, which is why the crash dialog exists. However, if the crash occurs in install.py (the component of Ubiquity that actually constructs and configures the newly-installed system), then in Dapper a combination of technical awkwardness and lack of developer time (which should be resolved for Edgy) means that the traceback from the crash dialog often ends like this:

RuntimeError: Install failed with exit code 1; see /var/log/installer/syslog and /var/log/syslog

This traceback is moderately useless on its own, and you must not mark bugs as duplicates on the basis that they both contain a traceback such as this. The real error is hidden in /var/log/installer/syslog, so if the reporter didn't attach that, ask for it, and for /var/log/syslog and /var/log/partman as well for good measure. Look for the traceback from the crash dialog in /var/log/installer/syslog and then trace up a little bit; the real error should be there, often in the form of a subprocess exiting non-zero.

Standard text for asking for log files:

Could you please attach /var/log/installer/syslog, /var/log/syslog, and /var/log/partman to this bug, using the "Add Attachment" link on the bug's web page? Thanks in advance.

Specific known issues in Dapper

• Crash if /boot is on XFS: [https://launchpad.net/bugs/47848 #47848]

  This can be recognised by grub-installer exiting 10 or 30, and /var/log/partman or /var/log/installer/syslog (look for "mountpoints:" in the latter) indicating that / is on XFS and there is no non-XFS /boot filesystem. Feel free to mark such bugs as duplicates of #47848, with text such as:

  Thanks for your report. Due to some reliability problems with GRUB and XFS, you need to use a non-XFS root filesystem or create a non-XFS /boot filesystem. Bug 47848 is filed to note that the partitioner should warn you about this up-front.

• Crash if system partitions are not reformatted: [https://launchpad.net/bugs/47046 #47046]

  This can be recognised by an OSError exception being thrown from the copy_all function, usually "File exists" or similar, and a "mountpoints:" line in /var/log/installer/syslog that includes a tuple with a standard filesystem (e.g. /, /boot, /usr, or /var; not /home or /media/*) as the first item and False as the second item. Feel free to mark such bugs as duplicates of #47046, with text such as:

  Thanks for your report. At present, you must reformat system partitions (e.g. /, /boot, /usr, or /var) during installation; bug 47046 is filed to note that the partitioner should warn you about this up-front. If you are upgrading an existing installation, then please see http://wiki.ubuntu.com/DapperUpgrades rather than using this installer.

• Crash if some packages on running live session are unconfigured: [https://launchpad.net/bugs/47859 #47859]

  This can be recognised by a dpkg error in /var/log/installer/syslog while installing language packs, and a crash in the install_language_packs function. Feel free to mark such bugs as duplicates of #47859, with text such as:

  Thanks for your report. This is also bug 47859, and can be worked around by not installing [substitute the package that broke here] in the live session before running the installer.

  If one of the packages that broke was ntp, then use the following text:

  Thanks for your report. This is also bug 47859, and can be worked around by not choosing to install NTP support while running the installer. It can be installed after rebooting into the newly-installed system by right-clicking on the date/time applet and selecting "Adjust Date & Time".

• Crash when installing in Chinese but with a non-Chinese-speaking country: [https://launchpad.net/bugs/47687 #47687]

  This can be recognised by Chinese characters scattered through /var/log/installer/syslog and:

  ubiquity: ['sh', '-c', '/usr/lib/ubiquity/localechooser/post-base-installer && /usr/lib/ubiquity/localechooser/prebaseconfig'] exited with code 1

  Feel free to mark such bugs as duplicates of #47687, with text such as:

  Thanks for your report. This is also bug 47687, and occurs when you select a Chinese language (either Simplified or Traditional) but then select a non-Chinese-speaking country on the timezone/country selection page. At present, I'm afraid the workaround is to select a Chinese-speaking country.

• Crash when autopartitioning and disk is too small: [https://launchpad.net/bugs/48355 #48355]

  This can be recognised by IOError: [Errno 28] No space left on device being thrown inside the copy_all function, and stepPartAdvanced not appearing in /var/log/installer/syslog; also check the end of /var/log/partman to make sure that the size of the disk is smaller than about 2.5GB (I'm not sure of the exact figure). Feel free to mark such bugs as duplicates of #48355, with text such as:

  Thanks for your report. I'm afraid that your disk seems to be too small to complete an Ubuntu desktop installation successfully. Bug 48355 notes that the partitioner should have warned you about this.

See also DapperReleaseNotes/UbiquityKnownIssues.