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Created attachment 492436 [details] screenshot of "Cannot Upgrade" message Description of problem: After several reinstalls onto a VM disk image, the installer is now reporting "Cannot Upgrade" (attached screenshot). I was doing low-memory testing, which resulted in install failures. The message appeared for the first time when I was attempting to install an x86_64 system over an i386 system. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): F15-Beta-Final Fedora-15-Beta-i386-DVD.iso Fedora-15-Beta-x86_64-DVD.iso anaconda 15.27 How reproducible: Reproducible with the disk image. Not yet sure how it got into this state. Steps to Reproduce: 1. $ qemu-kvm -m 1024 -cdrom Fedora-15-Beta-x86_64-DVD.iso -hda ../f15-test1.img -boot menu=on 2. Choose "Basic Storage Devices". Actual results: After examining disks, the install fails with "Cannot Upgrade". Expected results: Installer formats the disk image no matter what is on it. Additional info: Logs to follow.
This warning pops up when you have something previously installed on the disks you are using for installation, but it's something that is too old for anaconda to upgrade. The rationale is that without some sort of warning, you could get very far into the installation process (perhaps even through partitioning) when you actually meant to upgrade, but something that anaconda won't allow. So essentially, it's a check against you accidentally destroying a previous installation.
(In reply to comment #1) > This warning pops up when you have something previously installed on the disks > you are using for installation, but it's something that is too old for anaconda > to upgrade. The rationale is that without some sort of warning, you could get > very far into the installation process (perhaps even through partitioning) when > you actually meant to upgrade, but something that anaconda won't allow. So > essentially, it's a check against you accidentally destroying a previous > installation. Reopening: F15-Beta-Final is not "too old". The installer simply cannot correctly figure out what is on the disk. I am attempting to get the logs together, but the DVD does not have networking.
Upgrading from one test release to another isn't supported anyway. Regardless, the point of the warning still stands.
Created attachment 492458 [details] log files OK, but here are the log files anyway ...
The install is not failing. It is showing you a warning which you can click through to perform an install (not upgrade).
(In reply to comment #5) > The install is not failing. It is showing you a warning which you can click > through to perform an install (not upgrade). Thanks for pointing that out. I just noticed the "Continue" button and could proceed to format the disk, which is what I wanted to do anyway. There is a problem here, but it is either a GUI design problem or a problem with the wording of the message. The message says I have to upgrade through previous releases, but I already had an F15-Beta-Final on the disk image, so there is nothing to upgrade to. Another issue is that this suddenly started appearing. I am guessing that a failed install left the disk in an inconsistent state. If you cannot figure it from the attached logs, I can give you the whole image.
Is the x86_64 installer interpreting an i386 image as an older release?
I have a reproducer, FWIW. With 928MB the installer hangs early in the package installation process, presumably because of OOM: $ qemu-kvm -m 928 -cdrom Fedora-15-Beta-i386-DVD.iso -hda ../f15-test1.img -boot menu=on (The hang occurs in various packages, e.g. glibc-common, poppler-data, or iso-codes) Restarting with 1024MB results in the message being displayed: $ qemu-kvm -m 1024 -cdrom Fedora-15-Beta-i386-DVD.iso -hda ../f15-test1.img -boot menu=on (Restarting with 928MB also results in the message.) The disk image was formatted as one ext4 root partition and no swap using the custom layout dialog. NB: These are both i386 installs, so my conjecture in Comment 7 is ruled out. F15-Beta-Final
Reopening and retitling with a reproducer that does not rely on OOM. Start with: $ qemu-kvm -m 1024 -cdrom Fedora-15-Beta-i386-DVD.iso -hda ../f15-test1.img -boot menu=on Choose the default full-disk configuration and default desktop install. When packages are being installed close the QEMU window by clicking on the close box. Restart the install with the same command. The "Cannot Update" message is displayed after examining devices. F15-Beta-Final
I think the problem is that /etc/fedora-release did not get installed, because the install was cancelled. Steps: 1. Do a clean minimal install with default partitioning. 2. Reboot into the installed system and # mv /etc/fedora-release /etc/fedora-release.ORIG 3. Reboot off the DVD and step through the installer dialogs until you get to examining devices. 4. The "Cannot Upgrade" message appears. I tried changing the release number to "1" in fedora-release and the installer proceeded to upgrade anyway (screenshot to follow). I also tried doing a clean F12 install and upgrading to F15. That proceeded too. $ qemu-kvm -m 1024 -cdrom Fedora-15-Beta-i386-DVD.iso -hda ../f15-test1.img -boot menu=on So a message may be appropriate, but the "Cannot Upgrade" message is severely misleading and confusing in this situation. Another problem is that it appears even though I have not selected Fresh vs. Upgrade. This appears to be a GUI design problem. A better design would be to display the install type dialog with the Upgrade button deselected and put an informative and accurate message below it explaining why an Upgrade cannot be done. BTW, the F14 Installation Guide has this to say: "If the contents of your /etc/fedora-release file have been changed from the default, your Fedora installation may not be found when attempting an upgrade to Fedora 14." http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/14/html-single/Installation_Guide/index.html#ch-upgrade-x86
Created attachment 492621 [details] screenshot showing installer offering to upgrade from "Fedora 1"
(In reply to comment #10) ... > BTW, the F14 Installation Guide has this to say: > "If the contents of your /etc/fedora-release file have been changed from the > default, your Fedora installation may not be found when attempting an upgrade > to Fedora 14." > http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/14/html-single/Installation_Guide/index.html#ch-upgrade-x86 Relying on fedora-release doesn't seem very robust. How can the installer reliably detect that it has changed? The file doesn't even have a checksum.
(In reply to comment #12) > (In reply to comment #10) > ... > > BTW, the F14 Installation Guide has this to say: > > "If the contents of your /etc/fedora-release file have been changed from the > > default, your Fedora installation may not be found when attempting an upgrade > > to Fedora 14." > > http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/14/html-single/Installation_Guide/index.html#ch-upgrade-x86 > > Relying on fedora-release doesn't seem very robust. How can the installer > reliably detect that it has changed? The file doesn't even have a checksum. But the RPM package database does have checksums: $ rpm -V fedora-release
We are not making any changes here.
(In reply to comment #14) > We are not making any changes here. I like to work weekends too ... ;-) Máirín Duffy Fedora FUDcon Tempe: Meet the Anaconda Team http://mairin.wordpress.com/2011/01/29/fedora-fudcon-tempe-meet-the-anaconda-team/
(In reply to comment #10) ... > I also tried doing a clean F12 install and upgrading to F15. That proceeded > too. ... Is this NOTABUG or not? The "Cannot Upgrade" dialog says "previous two release" (sic), so that would be F13 and F14.