Input/output error on updates

[jshare]

Hi
I installed 4.8 last week. It was a fresh install, I was earlier on 3.6.

Trying to install updates via the UI, I was getting what seemed like connectivity errors such as "couldn't fetch the package cache information lists" even though I'm connected to the internet and can surf without a problem (via wifi).

So I went over to a terminal window to try a good 'ol apt-get update and then upgrade, and this is what I get:

Code:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
5 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Setting up initramfs-tools (0.130ubuntu3.9) ...
update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated)
Setting up linux-image-4.15.0-99-generic (4.15.0-99.100) ...
Setting up linux-firmware (1.173.18) ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.15.0-74-generic
cp: error reading '/sbin/hwclock': Input/output error
E: /usr/share/initramfs-tools/hooks/fixrtc failed with return 1.
update-initramfs: failed for /boot/initrd.img-4.15.0-74-generic with 1.
dpkg: error processing package linux-firmware (--configure):
installed linux-firmware package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-generic:
linux-image-generic depends on linux-firmware; however:
  Package linux-firmware is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package linux-image-generic (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-generic:
linux-generic depends on linux-image-generic (= 4.15.0.99.89); however:
  Package linux-image-generic is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package linux-generic (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
                          No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
                                                    Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.130ubuntu3.9) ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.15.0-74-generic
cp: error reading '/sbin/hwclock': Input/output error
E: /usr/share/initramfs-tools/hooks/fixrtc failed with return 1.
update-initramfs: failed for /boot/initrd.img-4.15.0-74-generic with 1.
dpkg: error processing package initramfs-tools (--configure):
installed initramfs-tools package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
                                                              Processing triggers for linux-image-4.15.0-99-generic (4.15.0-99.100) ...
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms:
* dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 4.15.0-99-generic
   ...done.
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools:
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.15.0-99-generic
cp: error reading '/sbin/hwclock': Input/output error
E: /usr/share/initramfs-tools/hooks/fixrtc failed with return 1.
update-initramfs: failed for /boot/initrd.img-4.15.0-99-generic with 1.
run-parts: /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools exited with return code 1
dpkg: error processing package linux-image-4.15.0-99-generic (--configure):
installed linux-image-4.15.0-99-generic package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
                                                              Errors were encountered while processing:
linux-firmware
linux-image-generic
linux-generic
initramfs-tools
linux-image-4.15.0-99-generic
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Any suggestions how to handle this?

Thanks

Jacob

[minesheep]

Try

Code:

sudo dd if=/dev/sdx of=/dev/null bs=4M status=progress

to check if your hdd have bad sector causing Input/output errors. Replace x with the actual device where OS is installed. For an example /dev/sda This is read only test and will not overwrite any existing data. (remember that failing hdds are failing ones so if the drive fails for this read only check dont blame on me). Make backup of important data especially if you dont already have.

Tip for propessional users:if you have dedicated /home partition and you know what you are doing you just need to check the "/" partition. That may be a bit faster but is NOT necessary (for updates) because the hard disk includes the / patition