Preface: I took over a few Slackware 13.0 servers this year and am a complete newb at Linux administration.


So I decided that with the release of 14.0 I would upgrade from 13.0. I did this first (thank god) on a server used only for one thing, which I have been able to move off and run elsewhere while I fume at this box.

I used slackpkg and followed the instructions here: http://webgnuru.com/linux/slackpkg_howto.php. Basically set up a mirror to a current-version, update all, install-new, upgrade-all. The machine was fine until reboot when I could not use the keyboard at the machine and it was no longer connecting to the network. It is a Dell PowerEdge T105 with two NIC's if that matters.

Now, I also installed and did the same as above but have NOT restarted on a much more important server. This machine is still running fine, but I am certain it will be DOA on reboot as well because when I plug a keyboard into it now there is no response (NIC remains fine).

On start-up of the machine I get udevadm errors stating that /lib/libblkid.sp1./iversion BLKID_2.18 not found dependency errors, which is what I assume is causing the problem. It then stop at starting the HAL daemon for 2-3 minutes before coming to login, but of course, with no keyboard and no SSH nothing is possible.

I currently have the machine up with a 13.1 boot CD and have the hard drive mounted to work on it. If anyone could point me in the right direction of how to repair the drivers/installation I would greatly appreciate it!

I suggest you read this article on the Slackware Documentation Wiki, which by the way is now the place where to go for all your documentation needs about Slackware.

Long story short: upgrading is only recommended to the very next Slackware version, so backing up all you need to keep then reinstalling from scratch will certainly be easier and faster.

Yes, if you want to go from 13.0 to 14.0, either clean install and reconfigure or upgrade as follows 13.0 -> 13.1 -> 13.17 -> 14.0. You also need to read and follow the official documentation at each step, e.g. the UPGRADE.TXT and CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT for each of the releases. Jumping from 13.0 straight to 14.0 is not supported.

Do you have a backup of this machine? If so it may be faster to restore it to a good working state and do the incremental upgrade through each release. Or if you really want to jump that many releases at least read each of the UPGRADE.TXT and CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT files so you can better understand what changes are happening and perhaps account for them.

Didier did you mean http://docs.slackware.com/howtos:sla...ystemupgrade?s[]=upgrade ? And I am certain reinstalling the OS would be faster at this point, considering I spent 8+ hours on it already trying to fix it/get data off/migrate services to another box. However I was hoping for a learning experience on these shenanigans.

ruario, I understand and appreciate your input as well and at this point a re-install is certainly the quickest fix. Is there no way to troubleshoot / install packages now to get these needed libs? Next time I will make sure not to blindly assume slackpkg can just update my system.


Maybe what I should be asking now is: Is there a way I can roll-back the other machine which I have not restarted yet? I will dive into slackpkg/slackware documentation in the mean time.

I guess you can change the mirror line in /etc/slackpkg/mirrors back to a 13.0 mirror and get your computer back to the old OS level.
Then probably you should reboot to verify that it still work.
Then, you should consider going through the steps documented at http://docs.slackware.com/howtos:sla...:systemupgrade twice - once to upgrade to 13.37 and then again, to upgrade to 14.0. Don't forget to reboot after each upgrade to verify that your system still works correctly.

Eric

Yes, the link I provided is now corrected, I am sorry for that mistake; hopefully, as we say « Le lecteur avait rétabli de lui-même. »