• Using a LiveCD to take over / repair an installed system

    by
    Knurpht
    Rate this article
    Published on 18-Jan-2013 14:01      Number of Views: 18071  
    5 Comments Comments
    The Repair function seems to have disappeared from the install media. It could be used to repair a lot of options on an (unbootable) installed system, to get it back in a (bootable and) working state.

    This short article shows how to use a LiveCD to take over / repair an installed system. It can be used the same way as described in https://forums.opensuse.org/content/...vd-rescue.html , The procedure will: Boot from LiveCD, allow you to mount your existing openSUSE installation that does not work and execute fixes on it as if it was the active system.

    - Download a LiveCD and burn it to disc or USB medium. Note: if you run 32bit openSUSE, use a 32bit LiveCD, if you run 64bit openSUSE, use a 64bit LIveCD.
    - Boot the system from the CD / USB disk
    - Open a terminal window, and invoke the following commands
    Code:
    su -
    You need root permissions, the root user on the LiveCD images has no password.

    Next, mount the root partition, replace X by the character, # by the numeric of your the device entry that holds your root partition ( example " /dev/sda2 "
    Code:
    mount /dev/sdX# /mnt
    Let the installed system be aware of the available hardware
    Code:
    mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
    Change root to the installed system, mount /proc and /sys to make it complete
    Code:
    chroot /mnt
mount /proc
mount /sys
    - Now you can start Yast, zypper, or whatever is needed to repair your system.

    See also https://forums.opensuse.org/content/...vd-rescue.html
    1. User Type:
    2. 1-Beginner,
    3. 2-Intermediate
    Comments 5 Comments
    1. nrickert's Avatar
      nrickert - 19-Jan-2013, 14:55
      Quote Originally Posted by Knurpht View Post
      You can view the page at https://forums.opensuse.org/content/...ed-system.html
      If I might suggest --

      The live CD needs to be the same architecture as the system being repaired.

      In particular, don't try to repair a 64 bit system with a 32bit liveCD. Some repairs might work, but others will depend on the repair system running a kernel that is compatible with the installed system.
    1. jdmcdaniel3's Avatar
      jdmcdaniel3 - 19-Jan-2013, 16:07
      That sounds like a good suggestion nrickert and Knurpht could make a mention of this in the article. I will say that I just don't download anything 32 bit any more. However, A lot of magazine articles with disks often include only 32 bit versions, so a mix could happen.

      Thank You,
    1. keellambert's Avatar
      keellambert - 23-Jan-2013, 04:35
      FWIW

      Its safer if you disable the network first before attaining root privileges,
      unless you need the network to re-install something.

      Instead of cmd su -, you can also logout then login as root ...
      then access to both hdd /root and /home can be achieved with one click in Dolphin,
      also boot files can be changed in kwrite without running into permission problems.

      Cheers
    1. susewarthog's Avatar
      susewarthog - 02-Nov-2014, 10:45
      Hello knurpht,

      i ran in trouble with mount of sys and proc:
      'no such file or directory'
      Root partition is mountet and the directories are visible. Commands like yast2 are in list of suggestions but by use I get this:
      'If you are running in a chroot environment, bind-mount missing file systems.'

      I'm using suse 13.1 with only little shell experience :-)

      cheers
    1. jarome's Avatar
      jarome - 24-Mar-2015, 14:39
      This fails for me on 13.2. I get past the mount --bind step, and there is nothing in /proc or /sys. /bin is populated.
      My system is on /sda7 for sure
      At this point, /mnt is empty. I just reinstalled 13.2, so these directories should be populated.