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[Bug 1966774] Re: btrfs partioning with calamares results in unbootable system

 

This bug was fixed in the package calamares-settings-ubuntu -
1:22.04.4.1

---------------
calamares-settings-ubuntu (1:22.04.4.1) jammy; urgency=medium

  * Fixed BTRFS installation bug (LP: #1966774).

 -- Aaron Rainbolt <arraybolt3@xxxxxxxxx>  Sun, 24 Jul 2022 14:37:49
-0500

** Changed in: calamares-settings-ubuntu (Ubuntu Jammy)
       Status: Fix Committed => Fix Released

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1966774

Title:
  btrfs partioning with calamares results in unbootable system

Status in calamares-settings-ubuntu package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in calamares-settings-ubuntu source package in Jammy:
  Fix Released
Status in calamares-settings-ubuntu source package in Kinetic:
  Fix Released

Bug description:
  [Impact]

   * It is currently difficult to install Lubuntu 22.04 or Ubuntu
     Studio 22.04 with a BTRFS partition as the root partition. The
     installation will appear to succeed initially, but the system will be
     unable to boot successfully when attempting to reboot into the
     installed system. This is due to an obsolete "space_cache" option
     being set on the root filesystem in /etc/fstab during installation.

   * As BTRFS is a rather popular filesystem, enabling users to use it
     without having to use a special workaround would be quite useful.
     Since Ubuntu 22.04 is an LTS release, we must either release an SRU
     fix for this issue, or require users to wait for approximately a year
     and nine months before being able to use BTRFS on Lubuntu and Ubuntu
     Studio without problems.

   * This upload resolves the problem by removing the Calamares
     configuration option that results in "space_cache" being added to
     fstab during installation.

  [Test Plan]

   * First, create a virtual machine, and use the Lubuntu 22.04 or Ubuntu
     Studio 22.04 ISO as the installation media. I used GNOME Boxes as my
     virtualization software, and provided the VM 20 GB of disk space and
     2 GB of RAM for Lubuntu, or 4 GB for Ubuntu Studio. EFI was left
     disabled.

   * Upon bootup, double click the installation shortcut on the desktop.

   * Accept all the default options until you get to the "Partitions"
     screen. Note that it is acceptable to set the time zone to be
     accurate first, in the event your timezone is set wrong.

   * When you reach the "Partitions" screen, select "Manual
  Partitioning".

   * Create a new partition table, and select "Master Boot Record".

   * Create a single primary partition, containing all of the space on the
     disk. Set the file system to "btrfs", set the mount point to "/", and
     enable the "boot" flag. Then click "OK".

   * Finish the rest of the installation steps, and allow the installation
     to begin.

   * When the installation is finished, allow the VM to reboot. The VM
     will fail to boot and display multiple alarming "FAILED" messages
     during the attempted boot process.

   * Install the calamares-settings-ubuntu-common package from this SRU
     into the VM.

   * Install either the calamares-settings-lubuntu or
     calamares-settings-ubuntustudio package from this SRU into the VM,
     depending on which flavour your are testing.

   * Repeat the steps to reproduce the bug. This time, when the VM is
     rebooted, it will boot into the newly installed OS successfully.

  [Where problems could occur]

   * Since the installation process currently results in space_cache=v2
     being enabled on the BTRFS filesystem, it is theoretically possible
     that applications could break in the event that they relied on the
     space_cache=v1 or space_cache=none. It seems likely to me that such
     an application would either be outside of Ubuntu's scope (perhaps a
     BTRFS driver for another OS like WinBtrfs), or would be a disk
     utility that directly accessed the filesystem without benefit of a
     BTRFS driver. A user of such a utility will likely be technically
     savvy enough to change the space_cache option themselves (or go find
     software that supports modern BTRFS features).

  [Other info]

   * There is an alternate solution to this bug, which is to clear the
     space cache and then set space_cache=v1 by using the `mount` command.
     This would avoid the use of space_cache=v2 if it was necessary, however
     since it avoids a scenario that is mostly hypothetical and easily
     circumvented, I feel it would be a needless waste of performance to
     take this route.

  ---

  Original bug report:

  Testing Lubuntu Jammy daily ISO 27.03.2022

  Test machine AWOW NY41 Int.cel 4125

  Selected manual partitioning at install to create btrfs custom
  partition

  All went well with the install but after rebooting the system failed
  to boot

  Received errors "Failed to start Snap Daemon" #Failed to Load Kernel
  Module drm" and others - see attached screen shot for this machine.

  Performed other tests - xfs partitioning and also erase disk full
  installs with no errors

  Also tested 3 other machines - all same failures if btrfs was used.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 22.04
  Package: calamares 3.2.41.1-0ubuntu3
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.15.0-23.23-generic 5.15.27
  Uname: Linux 5.15.0-23-generic x86_64
  .etc.calamares.modules.finished.conf:
   ---
   restartNowMode: user-checked
   restartNowCommand: "systemctl -i reboot"
  .etc.calamares.modules.shellprocess_logs.conf:
   ---
   dontChroot: true
   timeout: 30
   script:
       - calamares-logs-helper @@ROOT@@
  .etc.calamares.modules.unpackfs.conf:
   ---
   unpack:
       -   source: "/cdrom/casper/filesystem.squashfs"
           sourcefs: "squashfs"
           destination: ""
  ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu79
  Architecture: amd64
  CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
  CasperVersion: 1.467
  CurrentDesktop: LXQt
  Date: Mon Mar 28 14:46:10 2022
  LiveMediaBuild: Lubuntu 22.04 LTS "Jammy Jellyfish" - Alpha amd64 (20220327)
  RelatedPackageVersions:
   calamares-settings-ubuntu-common 1:22.04.4
   calamares-settings-lubuntu       1:22.04.4
   xfsprogs                         5.13.0-1ubuntu2
   btrfs-progs                      5.16.2-1
  SourcePackage: calamares
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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References