I've had this problem for a while now and can't figure out how to fix this as I'm relatively new to Linux. Whenever I try to install something through the terminal I end up with these lines towards the end:
Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done wget is already the newest version (1.20.3-1ubuntu1). wget set to manually installed. build-essential is already the newest version (12.8ubuntu1.1). build-essential set to manually installed. libssl-dev is already the newest version (1.1.1f-1ubuntu2.4). libssl-dev set to manually installed. The following package was automatically installed and is no longer required: linux-modules-5.8.0-49-generic Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove it. The following additional packages will be installed: libncurses-dev libnspr4-dev Suggested packages: ncurses-doc readline-doc The following packages will be REMOVED: linux-image-5.8.0-49-generic The following NEW packages will be installed: libffi-dev libgdbm-dev libncurses-dev libncurses5-dev libnspr4-dev libnss3-dev libreadline-dev zlib1g-dev 0 upgraded, 8 newly installed, 1 to remove and 7 not upgraded. 3 not fully installed or removed. Need to get 1.214 kB of archives. After this operation, 2.901 kB disk space will be freed. Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 libgdbm-dev amd64 1.18.1-5 [83,4 kB] Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 libncurses-dev amd64 6.2-0ubuntu2 [339 kB] Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 libncurses5-dev amd64 6.2-0ubuntu2 [976 B] Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 libnspr4-dev amd64 2:4.25-1 [206 kB] Get:5 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 libnss3-dev amd64 2:3.49.1-1ubuntu1.5 [231 kB] Get:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 libreadline-dev amd64 8.0-4 [141 kB] Get:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 zlib1g-dev amd64 1:1.2.11.dfsg-2ubuntu1.2 [155 kB] Get:8 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 libffi-dev amd64 3.3-4 [57,0 kB] Fetched 1.214 kB in 0s (2.750 kB/s) (Reading database ... 290766 files and directories currently installed.) Removing linux-image-5.8.0-49-generic (5.8.0-49.55~20.04.1) ... /etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools: update-initramfs: Deleting /boot/initrd.img-5.8.0-49-generic /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub: Sourcing file `/etc/default/grub' Sourcing file `/etc/default/grub.d/init-select.cfg' Generating grub configuration file ... Script `/boot/grub/grub.cfg.new' contains no commands and will do nothing Syntax errors are detected in generated GRUB config file. Ensure that there are no errors in /etc/default/grub and /etc/grub.d/* files or please file a bug report with /boot/grub/grub.cfg.new file attached. run-parts: /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub exited with return code 1 dpkg: error processing package linux-image-5.8.0-49-generic (--remove): installed linux-image-5.8.0-49-generic package post-removal script subprocess returned error exit status 1 dpkg: too many errors, stopping Errors were encountered while processing: linux-image-5.8.0-49-generic Processing was halted because there were too many errors. E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) Unfortunately it won't tell me the error line number, so I don't know what to even look for.
This is the content of my /etc/default/grub:
GNU nano 4.8 /etc/default/grub # If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update # /boot/grub/grub.cfg. # For full documentation of the options in this file, see: # info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration' GRUB_DEFAULT=0 GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden GRUB_TIMEOUT=0 GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian` GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash" GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="" # Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs # This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains # the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...) #GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef" # Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only) #GRUB_TERMINAL=console # The resolution used on graphical terminal # note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE # you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo' #GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480 # Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux #GRUB_DISABLGNU nano 4.8 /etc/default/grub # If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update # /boot/grub/grub.cfg. # For full documentation of the options in this file, see: # info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration' GRUB_DEFAULT=0 GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden GRUB_TIMEOUT=0 GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian` GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash" GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="" # Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs # This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains # the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...) #GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef" # Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only) #GRUB_TERMINAL=console # The resolution used on graphical terminal # note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE # you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo' #GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480 # Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux #GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true # Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries #GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true" # Uncomment to get a beep at grub start #GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"E_LINUX_UUID=true # Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries #GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true" # Uncomment to get a beep at grub start #GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1" I don't know if this helps but just in case... When I run:
sudo nano /etc/grub.d/* nano opens up and gives this message at the bottom:
[ Directory '/etc/grub.d' does not exist ] And `dpkg -C`: The following packages are only half configured, probably due to problems configuring them the first time. The configuration should be retried using dpkg --configure <package> or the configure menu option in dselect: grub-pc GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 (PC/BIOS version) linux-image-5.8.0-53-generic Signed kernel image generic The following packages are only half installed, due to problems during installation. The installation can probably be completed by retrying it; the packages can be removed using dselect or dpkg --remove: linux-image-5.8.0-49-generic Signed kernel image generic Running the commands dpkg --configure for grub-pc and linux-image, as suggested in the above output, gives:
$ sudo dpkg --configure grub-pc [sudo] password for reagan: Setting up grub-pc (2.04-1ubuntu26.11) ... Sourcing file `/etc/default/grub' Sourcing file `/etc/default/grub.d/init-select.cfg' Generating grub configuration file ... Script `/boot/grub/grub.cfg.new' contains no commands and will do nothing Syntax errors are detected in generated GRUB config file. Ensure that there are no errors in /etc/default/grub and /etc/grub.d/* files or please file a bug report with /boot/grub/grub.cfg.new file attached. dpkg: error processing package grub-pc (--configure): installed grub-pc package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1 Errors were encountered while processing: grub-pc $ sudo dpkg --configure linux-image-5.8.0-53-generic Setting up linux-image-5.8.0-53-generic (5.8.0-53.60~20.04.1) ... Processing triggers for linux-image-5.8.0-53-generic (5.8.0-53.60~20.04.1) ... /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms: * dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 5.8.0-53-generic ...done. /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools: update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-5.8.0-53-generic /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub: Sourcing file `/etc/default/grub' Sourcing file `/etc/default/grub.d/init-select.cfg' Generating grub configuration file ... Script `/boot/grub/grub.cfg.new' contains no commands and will do nothing Syntax errors are detected in generated GRUB config file. Ensure that there are no errors in /etc/default/grub and /etc/grub.d/* files or please file a bug report with /boot/grub/grub.cfg.new file attached. run-parts: /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub exited with return code 1 dpkg: error processing package linux-image-5.8.0-53-generic (--configure): installed linux-image-5.8.0-53-generic package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1 Errors were encountered while processing: linux-image-5.8.0-53-generic When running nano /boot/grub/grub.cfg.new:
# # DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE # # It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates # from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub # [ File '/boot/grub/grub.cfg.new' is unwritable ] Running nano /boot/grub/grub.cfg is the same thing plus a big list of if...else statements.
