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/128-re-install-grub2-dvd-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
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 "
mount /dev/sdX# /mnt
Let the installed system be aware of the available hardware
mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
Change root to the installed system, mount /proc and /sys to make it complete
chroot /mnt
mount /proc
mount /sys
Now you can start Yast, zypper, or whatever is needed to repair your system.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
