I'm sorry I'm slow responding! I was busy, and therefore watching email for replies. Then I wondered if email was working, and took a look, and found your many responses! Ooops, I hadn't updated my email profile. Thanks for your comments.
I first ran the "
dpkg --configure -a" command again to see if there was any significant difference (there were differences and similarities), and to clear up the question raised by
bw123:
These msgs come from update-intramfs when it thinks you 'might' need a firmware pkg for a device. Usually the process finishes fine, but it does take awhile. You should let it finish. The dpkg --configure command also shouldn't be interrupted, let it finish. Yeah it might take awhile, but the error msg at the end might give you a hint.
I let it sit for 3 1/2 hours -- that should be enough, shouldn't it? I copied the text from the portion prior to the 14 lines about "Possible missing firmware" that I may list at the end below.
The first comment was:
bigrigdriver wrote:If you have a package upgrade history log (/var/log/apt/history.log, maybe a history.log.gz) of the packages upgraded on Jan. 12, you can use apt-get to downgrade to the previous versions and hopefully fix the problem. The history.log names the package, including version number of the old and upgraded package.
https://askubuntu.com/questions/138284/how-to-down
Yes, I do have that log. It is:
Start-Date: 2018-01-09 09:08:06
Commandline: synaptic
Upgrade: gimp:amd64 (2.8.14-1+deb8u1, 2.8.14-1+deb8u2), libgimp2.0:amd64 (2.8.14-1+deb8u1, 2.8.14-1+deb8u2), libpoppler-glib8:amd64 (0.26.5-2+deb8u1, 0.26.5-2+deb8u2), libpoppler46:amd64 (0.26.5-2+deb8u1, 0.26.5-2+deb8u2), gimp-data:amd64 (2.8.14-1+deb8u1, 2.8.14-1+deb8u2), libpoppler-qt4-4:amd64 (0.26.5-2+deb8u1, 0.26.5-2+deb8u2), poppler-utils:amd64 (0.26.5-2+deb8u1, 0.26.5-2+deb8u2)
End-Date: 2018-01-09 09:08:36
Start-Date: 2018-01-12 09:57:32
Commandline: synaptic
Install: firmware-linux-free:amd64 (3.3, automatic), linux-image-3.16.0-5-amd64:amd64 (3.16.51-3+deb8u1, automatic), ibnuma1:amd64 (2.0.10-1, automatic), irqbalance:amd64 (1.0.6-3+deb8u1, automatic)
Upgrade: linux-image-amd64:amd64 (3.16+63, 3.16+63+deb8u1)
I'm not knowledgeable about this, so you'll have to tell me if I'm right. In the first place, I suppose only the "2018-01-12" info is applicable to this problem. I included both in case I'm wrong. In the "2018-01-12" group, I also assume both "Install" and "Upgrade" groups are suspect. In these two groups, I assume, for examples, that, in "Install", the first "pkg" is "firmware-linux-free:amd64", the existing version is "3.3", and it should be updated to the newest version as indicated by "automatic". In "Upgrade", I assume the first (and only) "pkg" is "linux-image-amd64:amd64", the existing version is "3.16+63", and it should be upgraded to version "3.16+63+deb8u1".
If those are right, then my commands to downgrade these two packages (I understand I have to do this for all pkgs) would be:
"apt-get install «pkg»=«version»" (or)
In Install is: apt-get install firmware-linux-free:amd64=3.3 (and)
In Upgrade is: apt-get install linux-image-amd64:amd64=3.16+63
If all this works, I still have 3 questions: 1. Does doing these commands automatically clear Synaptics mind of the error, and if not, what do I do?; 2. In your link, one person said: "when i type apt-get install pkg=version apt-get offers removing almost half of all installed packages which of course not what i want to do". Do I need to worry about that?; and, 3. The last line of the Syanptic message is "E: _cache->open() failed, please report." says "please report" --- to whom?
Also,
stevepusser » 2018-01-28 01:10 noted:
Try booting a system rescue disk/USB and checking out the health of your hard drive. I'd also look at possible heat related issues. If you have critical data on the disk, make sure you have it backed up.
In my original post I had this comment:
I tried many things, including Debian 8.6 rescue options, live discs, and SystemRescueCD-X86-2.0.0.
Do you have any suggestions for checking out the health of my hard drive?
Finally I will type the output of the "dpkg --configure -a" command that I sort of promised above:
#dpkg --configure -a
Setting up linus-image-3.16.0-5-amd64 (3.16.51-3+deb8u1) ...
Vmlinuz(/boot/vmlinz-3.16.0-5-amd64
) points to /boot/vmlinz-3.16.0-5-amd64
(/boot/vmlinz-3.16.0-amd64)--doing nothing at /var/lib/dpkg/info/liinux-image-3.16.0-5-amd64.postinst line 263.
initrd.img(/boot/initrd.img-3.16.0-5-amd64
) points to /boot/initrd.img-3.16.0-5-amd64
(boot/initrd.img-3,16,0-5-amd64) -- doing nothing at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.16.0-5-amd64.postinst line 263.
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools:
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.16.0-5-amd64
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168-3.fw for module r8169
W: etc There were 13 more lines nearly identical to the above when it hung
I suppose I may have made a typo or 2 in that typing!
Thanks to every one for any further suggestions you may have.