[Bug 875343] Re: Stuck at "Saving installed packages..." when using a custom /var

[Sergio Benjamim]

** Description changed:

  The installer hangs forever at message "Saving installed packages" under certain conditions. Steps to reproduce:
  - Start gparted, create GPT partition table and create big enough partitions as follows:
  - /dev/sda1 formatted as ext4
  - /dev/sda2 formatted as ext4
  - Start Ubiquity
  - Use default options until you reach "Installation Type"
  - Choose "Something else"
  - Choose usage of partitions and mount points as follows (do NOT format!)
  -- /dev/sda1 on /
  -- /dev/sda2 on /var
  - Hit "Install now" (ignore the warning)
  => Installer will then hang forever. Last message it displays is: "Saving installed packages"
  
- I have tried this with 11.10 live CDs on a physical machine and VMs and
- it always shows this behaviour.
+ I have tried this with 14.04 live CDs (daily build) on a physical
+ machine and VMs and it always shows this behaviour.
  
  Some notes:
  - You can avoid the problem, if you mark / or /var (or both) for formatting
  - It only seems to happen with a separate /var partition. If only /usr is different, everything works as expected
- - The problem did not exist in previous installers
+ - The problem did not exist in previous installers (before Ubuntu 11.10)
  
  The reason why I do not want to format with Ubiquity is because I have
  pre-formatted my partitions with special parameters which I cannot set
  in Ubiquity.
  
  ProblemType: Bug
- DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
- Package: ubiquity 2.8.7
- ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.20-generic 3.0.4
- Uname: Linux 3.0.0-12-generic x86_64
- ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu3
+ DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
+ Package: ubiquity 2.17.1
+ ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.12.0-7.15-generic 3.12.4
+ Uname: Linux 3.12.0-7-generic x86_64
+ ApportVersion: 2.12.7-0ubuntu2
  Architecture: amd64
- CasperVersion: 1.287
- Date: Sat Oct 15 21:01:41 2011
- LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release amd64 (20111012)
+ CasperVersion: 1.336ubuntu1
+ Date: Tue Dec 17 01:55:05 2013
+ LiveMediaBuild: Xubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Alpha amd64 (20131216)
  ProcEnviron:
+  LANGUAGE=en_US
+  TERM=xterm
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: ubiquity
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
- --- 
- ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu3
- Architecture: amd64
- CasperVersion: 1.287
- DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
- LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release amd64 (20111012)
- Package: ubiquity 2.8.7
- PackageArchitecture: amd64
- ProcEnviron:
-  PATH=(custom, no user)
-  LANG=en_US.UTF-8
-  SHELL=/bin/bash
- ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.20-generic 3.0.4
- Tags:  oneiric ubiquity-2.8.7
- Uname: Linux 3.0.0-12-generic x86_64
- UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
- UserGroups:

** Attachment added: "ubuntu-bug collected information from trusty"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/875343/+attachment/3930713/+files/ubiquity-var-problem.txt

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/875343

Title:
  Stuck at "Saving installed packages..." when using a custom /var

Status in “ubiquity” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  The installer hangs forever at message "Saving installed packages" under certain conditions. Steps to reproduce:
  - Start gparted, create GPT partition table and create big enough partitions as follows:
  - /dev/sda1 formatted as ext4
  - /dev/sda2 formatted as ext4
  - Start Ubiquity
  - Use default options until you reach "Installation Type"
  - Choose "Something else"
  - Choose usage of partitions and mount points as follows (do NOT format!)
  -- /dev/sda1 on /
  -- /dev/sda2 on /var
  - Hit "Install now" (ignore the warning)
  => Installer will then hang forever. Last message it displays is: "Saving installed packages"

  I have tried this with 14.04 live CDs (daily build) on a physical
  machine and VMs and it always shows this behaviour.

  Some notes:
  - You can avoid the problem, if you mark / or /var (or both) for formatting
  - It only seems to happen with a separate /var partition. If only /usr is different, everything works as expected
  - The problem did not exist in previous installers (before Ubuntu 11.10)

  The reason why I do not want to format with Ubiquity is because I have
  pre-formatted my partitions with special parameters which I cannot set
  in Ubiquity.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
  Package: ubiquity 2.17.1
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.12.0-7.15-generic 3.12.4
  Uname: Linux 3.12.0-7-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.12.7-0ubuntu2
  Architecture: amd64
  CasperVersion: 1.336ubuntu1
  Date: Tue Dec 17 01:55:05 2013
  LiveMediaBuild: Xubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Alpha amd64 (20131216)
  ProcEnviron:
   LANGUAGE=en_US
   TERM=xterm
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: ubiquity
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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