I just used Yast to install virtual box, and though Yast never said anything about replacing my kernel, on reboot this appears to be the case. Whats worse is that the kernel it installed no longer recognizes the file system on my root partition.
To me this seems a grievous fault in the installation process for Virtual Box and thought I would post a warning here.
Also I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions how I might fix things?
silenuz adjusted his/her AFDB on Wednesday 19 Aug 2009 13:46 to write:
>
> I just used Yast to install virtual box, and though Yast never said
> anything about replacing my kernel, on reboot this appears to be the
> case. Whats worse is that the kernel it installed no longer recognizes
> the file system on my root partition.
> To me this seems a grievous fault in the installation process for
> Virtual Box and thought I would post a warning here.
> Also I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions how I might fix
> things?
>
>
Little bit more info.
What SuSE?
What kernel did it go from and what did it go to
What files system can it not recognise?
And anything else that might give us a hint please.
–
Mark
Caveat emptor
Nullus in verba
Nil illegitimi carborundum
Yast always always displays a list of dependencies that go with a selected application. Also, after a new kernel is installed, a dialog appears that says “Reboot to activate your new kernel!” or something along those lines. So the only way a new kernel can get installed without your knowledge is if you click through everything that comes up without a thought. Nothing wrong with that, we all do it sometimes, but the blame doesn’t lie with yast.
Now, to get your system back up, as baskitcaise says, what’s the error?
You can usually get back into your system by using the Boot Installed System option on the install disk. If you can dig up your install disk, boot from it, select New Installation and click through as if you were going to do a new install. Keep an eye out for the option to Boot Installed System. The location of this option will vary depending on the install disk you have. On some of the newer opensuse releases, you have to Abort the install to get dropped into the ncurses display, then select Install from that screen before you can find the option. You can try to fix your kernel after the system boots.
“Yast always always displays a list of dependencies that go with a selected application.”
So your saying I have to check each individual dependency to ensure I don’t hose my system in the future, that sounds highly complex and unmanageable.
Also, after a new kernel is installed, a dialog appears that says “Reboot to activate your new kernel!” or something along those lines. So the only way a new kernel can get installed without your knowledge is if you click through everything that comes up without a thought. Nothing wrong with that, we all do it sometimes, but the blame doesn’t lie with yast."
Well when it tells you after the fact, yes it is a problem, because by then it’s too late to do anything about it. Thats how windows works replacing things willy nilly with no thought to the consequences. Especially if your installing a single package.
"Now, to get your system back up, as baskitcaise says, what’s the error? "
It can’t mount the /, it says filesystem not recognized. It’s ext3.
“You can usually get back into your system by using the Boot Installed System option on the install disk. If you can dig up your install disk, boot from it, select New Installation and click through as if you were going to do a new install. Keep an eye out for the option to Boot Installed System. The location of this option will vary depending on the install disk you have. On some of the newer opensuse releases, you have to Abort the install to get dropped into the ncurses display, then select Install from that screen before you can find the option. You can try to fix your kernel after the system boots.”
Again obviously there are some deficiencies with Yast here as well, as if I choose boot installed system it says I have no valid root partition and to rescan, however if I choose install new boot loader it lists 2 possible root partitions which is what it should be.
Boot the install dvd. Proceed as for install.
Then at this page choose repair: Installation/11.1 DVD Install - openSUSE
Probably use automatic, might be best.
silenuz adjusted his/her AFDB on Thursday 20 Aug 2009 06:26 to write:
> Again obviously there are some deficiencies with Yast here as well, as
> if I choose boot installed system it says I have no valid root partition
> and to rescan, however if I choose install new boot loader it lists 2
> possible root partitions which is what it should be.
>
>
But you still have not given any of the info we asked for.
We still do not know which version of SuSE you have!
Is this 11.1, 11.2 or even 9.1?
64bit, 32bit, PPC, sparc?
What version kernel where you running and what version does it say yo have
now?
To get the version you have now just look at the grub boot screen it will
tell you there.
Unless you have enabled the factory, or other Beta repos then all the normal
kernels support ext3 by default.
So unless you tell us we have no idea where you got the kernel from.
So help us to help you and stop blaming the system till you know what has
caused the problem.
HTH
–
Mark
Caveat emptor
Nullus in verba
Nil illegitimi carborundum
11.1 ( Not sure why this matters, a sthe problem is withn the kernel and not installed software) 64 bit - Kernel was 2.6.27.25-0.1.1
“So unless you tell us we have no idea where you got the kernel from.”
I installed some virtual boix packages that was it, when I rebooted it froze after loading USB stuff saying it could not recognize file system on / which is ext3.
“So help us to help you and stop blaming the system till you know what has
caused the problem.”
Well lets see I only installed one package and now can’t boot, gee guess it was my fault.
Or I guess one choice on the rescue disk finding two root partitions ( install boot loader), while choosing automatic scan or expert and trying to boot the install it says there are no root folders, is also my fault.
I’ve been a SuSe user on and off since well before Applixware was included in the distribution, and though I have used Gentoo for the last two years or so I thought it would be nice to check out Suse again, but much to my chagrin it is no longer the solid distribution it once was.
One thing is for sure: VirtualBox does not replace your kernel. During install a module is built and attached to the existing kernel (hope this is a bit more layman’s talk then the technical explanation).
For now it’s important that you get your system back up. So follow Caf’s advice and perform a repair through booting from the install media.
And yes, if you get a warning from Yast, that packages are going to be removed, it’s a good thing to check what it’s going to remove. Like you’ve learned to avoid things in OS’s from Redmond, you’ll get this fast enough.
silenuz adjusted his/her AFDB on Thursday 20 Aug 2009 13:26 to write:
>
> 11.1 ( Not sure why this matters, a sthe problem is withn the kernel and
> not installed software) 64 bit - Kernel was 2.6.27.25-0.1.1
Well it tells us that you have not enabled any “off distro” kernels that do
not support the ext3 fs.
Is that the pae kernel or the default or the real time?
Now you say that it hangs after looking at the USB, do you have a separate
/boot?
If you do not then it must be reading the kernel from an ext3 partition so
to me I think the fs is not the problem.
Have you got anything plugged into the USB like a stick or HDD?
Where is your / fs, is it on a stick or USB HDD?
If not unplug all USB stuff you might have added.
Can you post the exact error message or what you see on screen?
If you have been in linux long enough then you know the more info you give
the more chance for us to find out what is wrong.
HTH
–
Mark
Caveat emptor
Nullus in verba
Nil illegitimi carborundum
“Now you say that it hangs after looking at the USB, do you have a separate
/boot?”
yes. However I managed to fix it, and according to the startup log it does indeed mount / right after checking the USB. The excat message was “mounting / failed, unrecognized filesystem ‘ext3’”
The suse rescue disk did not work well, so I tried using my gentoo kernel to boot SuSe however that left me with some non functioning hardware due to being unable to load modules. Finally I ended up using systemRescueCd and managed to fix things.
Thanks for the help.
silenuz adjusted his/her AFDB on Friday 21 Aug 2009 14:26 to write:
>
> “Now you say that it hangs after looking at the USB, do you have a
> separate
> /boot?”
>
> yes. However I managed to fix it, and according to the startup log it
> does indeed mount / right after checking the USB. The excat message was
> “mounting / failed, unrecognized filesystem ‘ext3’”
>
> The suse rescue disk did not work well, so I tried using my gentoo
> kernel to boot SuSe however that left me with some non functioning
> hardware due to being unable to load modules. Finally I ended up using
> ‘systemRescueCd’ (http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page) and managed to fix
> things.
>
> Thanks for the help.
>
>
Just for the record do you know what exactly happened and why?
I ask because you are the only person who has had a problem with this kernel
not reading an ext3 fs and that version has been out for quite some time.
Just so something can be done, also just in case anyone else has a similar
problem then posting the fix in detail would help.
Thanks
–
Mark
Caveat emptor
Nullus in verba
Nil illegitimi carborundum
Still not sure what happened. All I had installed was VB and next boot, had the error message.
the fix was easy, once I was able to get into the system with network access I just used Yast to reinstall my kernel packages. On reboot everything was fine except I no longer have a splash screen, which is easy enough to fix, but I prefer the verbose output anyway.
silenuz adjusted his/her AFDB on Saturday 22 Aug 2009 00:16 to write:
>
> Still not sure what happened. All I had installed was VB and next boot,
> had the error message.
>
> the fix was easy, once I was able to get into the system with network
> access I just used Yast to reinstall my kernel packages. On reboot
> everything was fine except I no longer have a splash screen, which is
> easy enough to fix, but I prefer the verbose output anyway.
>
>
Thanks for the reply.
I have lost my boot screen on one machine but that is down to the fact that
the kernel install did not include the “theme” no probs as I do not use the
themes anyway preferring, like you, a more verbose boot up.
That saying as my machines only reboot on a kernel change or for dust bunny
clearance I don`t see them very often 
The only reason I can think is that possibly the selection of VB included a
kernel module for a different kernel which pulled in said kernel as a dep,
but it still should have had ext3 included by default, I change my kernels
quite a lot and have not seen one in the last couple of years that has not
had ext3 support included.
Maybe it pulled a dev kernel by accident that should never have been there,
note this is pure speculation as it is the only think I can think of.
I would recommend however that if you want VB get it from the VB website,
they do the packages and all you need is the normal kernel and usual dev
apps ( make, gcc and kernel headers or source ) this is a lot easier and has
the added advantage of being a lot more up to date than the ones supplied by
the repos.
It only takes a couple of minutes to install and only needs doing again if
there is a kernel update/change.
Also you can check for newer versions of VB in the app itself.
Take care, but most of all enjoy.
HTH
Mark
Caveat emptor
Nullus in verba
Nil illegitimi carborundum