[rpi2] Ubuntu Mate installation failure

[130s]

In #327 I managed to install Ubuntu on RPi2 using Ubuntu Core, after having struggled with Ubuntu Mate. That doesn't mean I'll stick to Core - I'll be still testing it out for a few weeks or even months. That said it'd be nice if I can figure out why Mate failed.

Error I couldn't get rid of using Mate was reported around #327 (comment)

[130s]

Worth trying is a proper fdisk, same as #327 (comment)

• Format /dev/mmcblk0 as FAT32.
• Don't dd (or better ddrescue) into mounted folder. Do it on the device folder? (i.e. mmcblk0).
• Don't forget mkfs.vfat after fdisk.

[130s]

Tried #331 (comment).
Doesn't seem to improve anything better.

Part of errors I'm getting (just copied from #327 (comment))

[FAILED] Failed to start Remount Root and Kernel File Systems.
[FAILED] Failed to start udev Coldplug all Devices.
[FAILED] Failed to start Flush Journal to Persistent Storage.
:
[ (timestamp)] EXt4-fs error (device mmcblk0p2): ext4_find_entry:1450: inode #130312: comm (lymouthd): reading directory lblock 0
[FAILED] Failed to start Show Plymouth Boot Screen
[FAILED] Failed to start Set console font and keymap.
[FAILED] Failed to start LSB: AppArmor initialization.
[FAILED] Failed to start Create olatile Files and Directories
[FAILED] Failed to start Network Time Synchronization.
[FAILED] Failed to start Update UTMP about System Boot/Shutdown.

Al the commands I ran for restoring the SD card with Mate.

$ sudo umount /dev/mmcblk0p1
$ sudo umount /dev/mmcblk0p2
$ lsblk
NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda           8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk
├─sda1        8:1    0     1K  0 part
├─sda2        8:2    0     4G  0 part [SWAP]
└─sda5        8:5    0 461.8G  0 part /
sr0          11:0    1  1024M  0 rom
mmcblk0     179:0    0  14.4G  0 disk
├─mmcblk0p1 179:1    0   128M  0 part
└─mmcblk0p2 179:2    0  14.3G  0 part
$ sudo fdisk /dev/mmcblk0

Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.27.1).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.


Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 14.4 GiB, 15489564672 bytes, 30253056 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x68c4443d

Device         Boot  Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/mmcblk0p1 *      2048   264191   262144  128M  c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/mmcblk0p2      264192 30253055 29988864 14.3G 83 Linux

Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1,2, default 2):

Partition 2 has been deleted.

Command (m for help): d
Selected partition 1
Partition 1 has been deleted.

Command (m for help):


Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 14.4 GiB, 15489564672 bytes, 30253056 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x68c4443d

Command (m for help): n
Partition type
   p   primary (0 primary, 0 extended, 4 free)
      e   extended (container for logical partitions)
      Select (default p):

Using default response p.
Partition number (1-4, default 1):
First sector (2048-30253055, default 2048):
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G,T,P} (2048-30253055, default 30253055):

Created a new partition 1 of type 'Linux' and of size 14.4 GiB.

Command (m for help): t
Selected partition 1
Partition type (type L to list all types): b
Changed type of partition 'Linux' to 'W95 FAT32'.

Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 14.4 GiB, 15489564672 bytes, 30253056 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x68c4443d

Device         Boot Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/mmcblk0p1       2048 30253055 30251008 14.4G  b W95 FAT32

Command (m for help): a
Selected partition 1
The bootable flag on partition 1 is enabled now.

Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.

$ sudo mkfs.vfat /dev/mmcblk0
mkfs.fat 3.0.28 (2015-05-16)

$ sudo ddrescue -D --force ubuntu-mate-16.04.2-desktop-armhf-raspberry-pi.img /dev/mmcblk0
GNU ddrescue 1.19
Press Ctrl-C to interrupt
rescued:     5000 MB,  errsize:       0 B,  current rate:    8778 kB/s
ipos:     4999 MB,   errors:       0,    average rate:   11135 kB/s
opos:     4999 MB, run time:    7.48 m,  successful read:       0 s ago
Finished

[130s]

Core install #332 went well with a branch new SD card. So maybe Mate might work fine with a new card.

[130s]

Not much of interest any more due to success of #330