I added "set -x" to the start of /usr/share/initramfs-tools/hook- functions::dep_add_modules_mount() and after it failed I grabbed the output from /var/log/apt/term.log:
The link /initrd.img is a dangling linkto /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-21-generic vmlinuz(/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-21-generic ) points to /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-21-generic (/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-21-generic) -- doing nothing at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-4.4.0-21-generic.postinst line 491. Examining /etc/kernel/postinst.d. run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/apt-auto-removal 4.4.0-21-generic /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-21-generic run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools 4.4.0-21-generic /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-21-generic update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-21-generic + local dir dev_node FSTYPE + local modules= + dir=/ + [ ! -d /sys/devices/ ] + read dev mp fs opts rest + [ / = / ] + [ ext4 != rootfs ] + printf dev_node=/dev/sda3\nFSTYPE=ext4 + break + eval dev_node=/dev/sda3 FSTYPE=ext4 + dev_node=/dev/sda3 + FSTYPE=ext4 + [ / != / ] + [ ext4 = ubifs ] + [ / = / ] + [ /dev/sda3 = /dev/root ] + [ -z /dev/sda3 ] + readlink -f /dev/sda3 + dev_node=/dev/sda3 + [ -b /dev/sda3 ] + echo mkinitramfs: failed to determine device for / mkinitramfs: failed to determine device for / + echo mkinitramfs: workaround is MODULES=most, check: mkinitramfs: workaround is MODULES=most, check: + echo grep -r MODULES /etc/initramfs-tools/ grep -r MODULES /etc/initramfs-tools/ + echo + echo Error please report bug on initramfs-tools Error please report bug on initramfs-tools + echo Include the output of 'mount' and 'cat /proc/mounts' Include the output of 'mount' and 'cat /proc/mounts' + exit 1 update-initramfs: failed for /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-21-generic with 1. run-parts: /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools exited with return code 1 Failed to process /etc/kernel/postinst.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-4.4.0-21-generic.postinst line 1052. The bug looks to be a missing $ symbol to denote the dev_node variable in the second test: # recheck device if [ -z "$dev_node" ] || ! dev_node="$(readlink -f ${dev_node})" \ || ! [ -b "$dev_node" ]; then ! dev_node="$(readlink -f ${dev_node})" should, I think, be: ! $dev_node="$(readlink -f ${dev_node})" ** Also affects: initramfs-tools (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: New -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Touch seeded packages, which is subscribed to initramfs-tools in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1582899 Title: in-target: mkinitramfs: failed to determine device for / Status in base-installer package in Ubuntu: New Status in initramfs-tools package in Ubuntu: New Bug description: Sysadmin reported in #ubuntu (later #ubuntu-kernel) the 16.04 ubuntu- server failed due to being unable to configure linux- image-4.4.0-21-generic. Lots of diagnostics and one SSH remote session later we seem to have narrowed it down to the installer. The cause of the error message appears to be that the symlink names in /dev/disk/by-uuid/ haven't been updated after the partitioning stage if there were pre-existing partitions and file-systems on the install device, *and* the sysadmin chose to format the existing partitions when selecting mountpoints. In this case a hardware RAID device presents: /dev/sda1 (/boot/) /dev/sda2 (swap) /dev/sda3 (/) From the shell I noticed: root@tmpstorage:/# ll /dev/disk/by-uuid/ total 0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 17 19:39 130e4419-4bfd-46d2-87f9-62e5379bf591 -> ../../sda1 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 17 19:39 127d3fa1-c07c-48e4-9e26-1b926d37625c -> ../../sda3 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 May 17 19:39 78b88456-2b0b-4265-9ed2-5db61522d887 -> ../../sda2 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 May 17 19:39 2016-04-20-22-45-29-00 -> ../../sr1 drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 120 May 17 19:39 .. drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 120 May 17 19:39 . root@tmpstorage:/# blkid /dev/sda* /dev/sda: PTUUID="a84e60fd" PTTYPE="dos" /dev/sda1: UUID="61365714-8ff7-47a2-8035-8aed9e3191a6" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="a84e60fd-01" /dev/sda2: UUID="78b88456-2b0b-4265-9ed2-5db61522d887" TYPE="swap" PARTUUID="a84e60fd-02" /dev/sda3: UUID="75f68451-9472-47c7-9efc-ed032bfa9987" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="a84e60fd-03" More details to follow. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/base-installer/+bug/1582899/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages Post to : touch-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp