X not starting after failed attempt to upgrade to 16.04

[SteveTaylor]

I started an upgrade to 16.04 last night. After a couple hours I came back to the computer and it said that there was a failure and that it restored the computer back to the previous version. Then it would not shut down and I had to use the power button which caused it to shut down gracefully, at least I hoped so. This morning it booted but just to a console. I can log in but cannot run startx. I have tried running apt-get but it gives errors and says it can't find us.archive.ubuntu.com. It did upgrade a bunch of stuff but didn't get through everything that it thought it needed. The computer was running 15.10 and was working fine. It also is a dual boot with Zorin 7 and that is working fine. I just need help in getting X running again. I don't know what to do next.
Thanks,
Steve

[oshunluvr]

I'm assuming you're booting into the terminal OK?

Try:

sudo apt -f install

If you get errors relating to lock files, seek them out and delete them and try again. If it fails for another reason, try:

sudo dpkg --configure -a

[oshunluvr]

If either of those work, run the upgrade again from the CLI:
sudo do-release-upgrade

[SteveTaylor]

sudo apt-get -f install took about 20 minutes and then finished. At that point I tried "startx" and the 16.04 desktop came up. It said that I needed to reboot the system to complete all the changes so I tried that. Now it comes up to the Kubuntu splash screen and hangs. I pressed F1 and it says that it failed to start the Light Display Manager and it was waiting counting off the seconds but it says there is no limit so I guess it will just hang there forever. I rebooted to a CLI and ran "dpkg --configure -a" and the prompt came back immediately seeming to have done nothing. I did "startx" again got to the desktop and it said that I had 751 files to update but when I tried to do the update, it was acting like I didn't have an Internet connection. I have not tried the "sudo do-release-upgrade" from the CLI yet. I guess I should try that next.

[SteveTaylor]

I have now tried "sudo do-release-upgrade" and it comes back with "no new release found."
If I try "sudo apt-get update" it says "cannot resolve us.archive.unbuntu.com" on several lines.
Thanks,
Steve

[jglen490]

The errors seem to indicate a lack of network - especially with failed re-boots

If it seems like your network does not have a connection, your try to ping a known address, or you can run:

 service network-manager status

If your network is actually not running you could run:

 service network-manager start

You could use "restart" in stead of "start". Hopefully, that should start your network so you work from the CLI.

[oshunluvr]

You have no network connection and something else is wrong: 16.04 doesn't use Light Display Manager and neither did 15.10 by default. They use SDDM (Simple Desktop Display Manager). Clearly, something didn't get installed properly. Hindsight being 20/20: this is why I don't do upgrades.

At this point, you either have to get your network connection working and hope the package updates that are needed fix the other issues, or you have to give up on the upgrade and do a new fresh install.

For the network connection, start with ifconfig which will show you if your network device is even up. If it shows an IP address, it's working but you still may not have an internet connection. The command route will show if you connected to your router.

I'm guessing you use wifi, which means you're generally screwed (in for a difficult time) because wifi launches in userspace after you log in. If you have a wired connection available, use it. If not, start searching the web for how to bring it up manually.

[SteveTaylor]

Yes, I am learning about doing upgrades. I have done them in the past and for the most part they have worked. I even upgraded my Win 7 computer to Win 10 and it went smoothly. They sent a survey about my upgrade experience and I told them that it worked very well, as good as my past experiences with upgrading my Kubuntu systems. Maybe I spoke too soon.

Anyway, I have a wired connection but when I do "service network-manager start" it says file not found or some such error and I indeed do not have a network connection running.
I'll get back to this later today.

[oshunluvr]

Try this command instead:

sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager.service

[oshunluvr]

oops

[SteveTaylor]

sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager.service came back with an error "failed to start NetworkManager service: Unit NetworkManager.service not found."

I'm beginning to think I am going to have to do a clean install of 16.04 from scratch.

Thanks,
Steve

[jglen490]

sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager.service came back with an error "failed to start NetworkManager service: Unit NetworkManager.service not found."

I'm beginning to think I am going to have to do a clean install of 16.04 from scratch.

Thanks,
Steve

That's the way that Kubuntu seems to be going. I've found that in recent times a clean install has worked out better for Kubuntu. Upgrades used to work pretty well - not so much anymore.

[SteveTaylor]

I had a spare 750G drive so I put that in the computer and did a fresh install. Then I spent the rest of the day reinstalling all the software I had on the computer and then copied all my original data from the old hard drive over to the new one. I am back in business and so far it seems as though everything is working.