On Sat, 11 Oct 2014 21:44:53 -0600 David Zundel <davidzun...@gmail.com> wrote: > Attempted re-installation of linux-image-3.16-2-amd64 generates an error > report: > Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 3.16-2-amd64 > (x86_64) > Consult /var/lib/dkms/open-vm-tools/2012.05.21/build/make.log for more > information.
I've seen this problem while upgrading a Debian 7 machine to Debian 8 (don't ask...): update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated) Paramétrage de linux-image-3.16.0-6-amd64 (3.16.56-1+deb8u1) ... /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms: Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 3.16.0-6-amd64 (x86_64) Consult /var/lib/dkms/open-vm-tools/2012.05.21/build/make.log for more information. /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools: update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.16.0-6-amd64 /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub: GRUB >= 2.00 has been unpacked but not yet configured. grub-mkconfig will not work until the upgrade is complete. It should run later as part of configuring the new GRUB packages. Turns out that the compilation failure happens because dkms is trying to compile the Debian 7 version of open-vm-tools (2012.05.21) with Debian 8 kernel (3.16.0-6). dkms shows that both versions of open-vm-tools are present: $ sudo dkms status open-vm-tools, 2012.05.21, 3.2.0-6-amd64, x86_64: installed open-vm-tools, 9.4.6, 3.16.0-6-amd64, x86_64: installed I don't know if there's a bug with dkms or open-vm-tools which trigger a compilation of old open-vm-tools with newer kernel, but removing the old open-vm-tools from dkms does solve this issue: $ sudo dkms remove -m open-vm-tools -v 2012.05.21 --all -------- Uninstall Beginning -------- Module: open-vm-tools Version: 2012.05.21 Kernel: 3.2.0-6-amd64 (x86_64) ------------------------------------- [...] $ sudo dkms status open-vm-tools, 9.4.6, 3.16.0-6-amd64, x86_64: installed At this point, the following command finishes the module compilation without problem: $sudo dpkg-reconfigure linux-image-3.16.0-6-amd64 /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools: [...] HTH
