Cannot Boot Suse 11.1

English Install/Boot/Login
#1

Ok, I am suddenly having a major problem. Fired up my laptop this morning only to find a grey screen. Something about tab only command. I did not understand it.

So I tried repairing it. When it comes to “Boot Loader” it tells me there are errors. Then I click “repair”, and it goes through the sequence. However each time, it says error again. Each time it says the new boot loader is installed, but then when I try to reboot I get an error message over and over.

I then checked The “Boot Installed System” option in repair toolbox. It said there was " No Linux root partition found". So what does this mean? Obviously yesterday it was installed, as it has been working for months. Now suddenly nothing. As you can tell, I am not a computer expert. So I am baffled.

Help me, someone! Please>:(

#2

OK here I go again. Tried to repair the boot loader agai. Got this error message.
/sbin/fsck.ext2: Device or resource busy while trying to open /dev/sda2 Filesystem mounted or opened exclusively by another program.

How could it be opened by another program?

Now it is telling me:
The Ext3 file system of the partition /dev/sda2 is corrupted. To repair the file system, press Repair.

So here we go again! :’(

#3

OK

This is what happens when I try to boot from the Hard Disk

I get this message:
GNU GRUB version 0.97 ( 631k lowr/ 1832448k upper memory )
[Minimal Bash-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB lists possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists the possible completions of a device/filename. ]

I tried “Rescue” from he install disk, but it requested a login and I have no idea which login I am supposed to type in. I tried my user name, and my root password but it just kept repeating the request. So obviously my normal root login was not what it wanted.

I just want to try and get my files back that were on my hard disk. This is my notebook. I was just in the hospital, and had planned to backup everything today. Now it looks like everything may be lost. This is not helping my physical state at all. I really wish someone could give me a word of advice. This happened after installing updates last night. Could I have been hacked?

#4

First things first do you have a livecd handy, if so get it booted see if you can see the partitions and get the info you need off it.

If not then it may be able to solve it, I’m guessing that it maybe related to the initrd. One option would be to try to boot in(May need chrooting) but I would first get the info off. If possible…

#5

Ok here I try with my question again.

I have been using Suse 11.1 since last year, first on my old PC and then on my Acer Extensa 4420 Laptop. Amd 64x2 Athlon Dual-core processor (1.9Ghz, 2x256KB L2 cache )2GB DDR2 160GB HDD

Ok last night before signing off, I installed the latest updates. Today when I tried to fire up my PC I got the message:

“GNU GRUB version 0.97 ( 631k lowr/ 1832448k upper memory )
[Minimal Bash-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB lists possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists the possible completions of a device/filename. ]”

I had no idea what this meant, other than it wouldn’t boot.

I tried to “repair” the instaled system, without luck. Every time it came to “install new boot loader” it went through the process, told me it was installed. Then when I tried to restart I got a red warning that it had not installed. This happens over and over.

Now let me give a little more detail about the original install. I had no problems with the original 32 bit version on my old pc. However when I tried installing it( 64 bit version ) on my Vista partitioned laptop, it failed over and over. Finally I chose the " use entire disk" option, and it installed. It has worked since January with no problems up until now.

Whe I tried to use the " repair installed kernel’ option in the repair tools. I got first a message that it was being used by another program, then after closing that box. I got yet another message saying that " No Linux Root Kernel is Installed"

I am totally confused and frustrated. Is there any way to repair this, and get back into my PC? Or is it all somehow erased?

#6

On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:56:01 +0000, Kenny1948 wrote:

(I’m pulling this from your second thread).

> Ok here I try with my question again.

Please bear in mind that a “forum” is not a real-time chat tool. As
such, waiting less than 3 hours before reposting your question isn’t
really a good idea. A good expectation to have is that it may take 24
hours (sometimes longer) before someone replies.

Think of a forum as being more like e-mail, rather than an instant
messenger client.

> I have been using Suse 11.1 since last year, first on my old PC and then
> on my Acer Extensa 4420 Laptop. Amd 64x2 Athlon Dual-core processor
> (1.9Ghz, 2x256KB L2 cache )2GB DDR2 160GB HDD
>
> Ok last night before signing off, I installed the latest updates. Today
> when I tried to fire up my PC I got the message:
>
> “GNU GRUB version 0.97 ( 631k lowr/ 1832448k upper memory ) [Minimal
> Bash-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB lists
> possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists the possible
> completions of a device/filename. ]”
>
> I had no idea what this meant, other than it wouldn’t boot.

It sounds like what’s happened is that the boot partition either isn’t
being seen, or the menu.lst file is missing from there (which tells the
system what options to display on the menu).

Start the system from the install disc in rescue mode. When the rescue
system has loaded, press CTRL-ALT-F2. That should get you to a command
prompt. Type “fdisk -l” and tell us what is returned.

That will help us identify what the partition layout is on the disk, from
which we can feed commands into the grub boot loader page to get the
system to boot again. Once it’s booted, we can probably reinstall the
boot loader so you don’t have to do it by hand, or pull the data off the
drive if you wish to reinstall.

First rule of troubleshooting: Don’t panic. It’s very likely that your
data is still there, and the boot loader can be fixed so the system will
boot again.

Jim

–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Moderator

#7

Can you boot into openSUSE using the installation DVD – here’s the method:

Boot from your installation DVD. On the first menu screen, select Installation. Proceed past the Licence screen to the Installation Mode screen. The Installation Mode screen has these options:

• New Installation
• Update
• Repair Installed System

Select Repair Installed System and Next to the Repair Method screen. Select Expert Tools. You will be presented with the Repair Tool Box screen. Select to Boot Installed System. If there are multiple installations on the drive you might be presented with a list of partitions (so select one), otherwise the system should auto-boot.

If that doesn’t work, you could try one of the other methods outlined here:
Five ways to boot openSUSE when Grub is broken

If you can get in, you might be able to repair the bootloader using Yast and the method outlined in the Appendix of that tutorial.

#8

I have merged the two threads so we don’t get too confused as to who what where and how.

#9

OK I tried using the “rescue” option. However when it loads it asks for a login. I tried my Root name and password but it keeps rejecting them. So is there a different login that is required?

The problem with the forum is the “live” aspect. I realize this is an e’mail forum. I also realize that many people are in a different time zone. I am on Eastern Time (USA) it’s just difficult getting things done when you are using a different computer to look up information. I have to go back and forth. :wink:

I will keep checking back for suggestions. Thanks for answering my post.

#10

Is this the live CD? I think the root login is “root” and <enter> is the password. I think the user account on the live CD is “linux” and either <enter> or “linux” is the password.

#11

Im not really sure what people mean by the Live CD. It is one I downloaded and burned to disk. It gives you the options of Run from Hard Disk,install, repair installed system, and Rescue. It is the one I originally installed Suse from. It’s on a DVD not a CD.

#12

OpenSUSE-11.1 is packaged (by Novell/SuSE-GmbH) in these formats:

  • 32-bit and 64-bit installation DVD
  • 32-bit KDE-4.1.3 live CD (that is installable)
  • 64-bit KDE-4.1.3 live CD (that is installable)
  • 32-bit Gnome live CD (that is installable)
  • 64-bit Gnome live CD (that is installable)

and then there are many more live CDs of openSUSE-11.1 from the openSUSE community

  • 32-bit KDE-3.5.10 live CD (that is installable)
  • 64-bit KDE-3.5.10 live CD (that is installable)
  • 32-bit KDE-4.3 live CD (that is installable)
  • 64-bit KDE-4.3 live CD (that is installable)
  • 32-bit Enlightenment live CD (SOAD)

Plus there are cutting edge Gnome and cutting edge KDE live CDs of openSUSE-11.1.

A live CD allows one to run openSUSE-11.1 without writing anything to the hard drive. Its useful to test a distribution, a desktop, window manager, and various applications, without installing anything. And then if the liveCD has an install option, one can simply go ahead and install.

But back to the DVD, did <ENTER> work as the password on the DVD ?

#13

Ok that got me in.

Then a list of help items that I do not understand.

-p Automatic repair ( no questions )
-n Make no changes to the filesystem
-y Assume “yes” to all questions
-c check for bd blocks and add them to the badblock list
-f Force checking even if filesystem is marked clean
-v Be verbose
-b superblock Use alternative superblock
-B blocksize Force blicksize when looking for superblock
-j external-journal Set location of the external journal
-l bad_blocks_file Add to badblocks list
-L Bad_blocks_file Set badblocks list

I used l and got this
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 120 Aug 22 21:55 ./
drwxr-xr-x 19 root root 400 Aug 22 21:55 …/
-rw------- 1 root root 0 Dec 7 2008 .bash history
-rw-r–r-- 1 root root 1332 Nov 23 2005 .exrc
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 40 Dec 3 2008 .gnupg/
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 40 Dec 3 2008 bin/

I don’t know what any of this means, or if it is important. Do you have any idea if these Help categories are actual commands? I am going to try -p and see what happens.

#14

Well, I followed the instructions on booting from the DVD. It worked!

I proceeded with install, through the language setup until the menu appeared for “repair existing system” and this time it worked. I had been trying to repair from the main menu.

I honestly do not understand why it would not boot that first way, but did it when I went through the actual install process.

I simply want to thank all of you who told me things to try. Luckily the first suggestion was the one that worked. I will backup my important files tonight, before turning off my computer. Just in case.

Thanks again!:slight_smile:

#15

This is a duplicate to the last post I made on the other thread.

Thank you all, for your help.

I was able to boot, using the DVD by going through the installation process. I was a little worried that somehow I wouldn’t see that menu. However after going through the first three steps, there it was. When I clicked on “repair existing system” it whirred into action. I was surprised when the laptop actually then booted. I will make sure to backup my important files before turning it off again.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! These forums have been a real blessing to me. Having gotten me out of a few scrapes. Bytw I have been on here, longer than it shows. I recently changed isp’s and was unable to login. So therefore re-registered. I have actually been using the Suse Forums since last year.

Thanks again,
Ken in Florida:)

#16

Well,
That worked last night. Then I was unable to copy my files to disk. It simply said that “CD Creator has encountered an error” It did not say what the error was. I also tried Brasero, and likewise it was unable to burn my files to disk. I have an external Hard Drive, so I will free up some space on that, and transfer the files as I have done before. Since it is almost full, I will have to sacrifice some of my saved files.

Today, when I tried to boot, I had the same problem. I had to do the install disk route, again. What could be causing this problem, and how do I attempt to fix it. If nothing else I will try a new install. If I remember, when I first installed it, the first four tries were failures. Then I chose the option to “use whole disk” and it installed. However I do remember that as it was going though the install process, something was highlited in red as FAILED and I do believe it said “Install Boot Loader”
If that is the case, that would mean the boot loader was not installed, and this could be the culprit. Am I correct in assuming this?:expressionless:

#17

I checked to see why I could not burn my files to disk. It was because the permissions were changed on some of them. I changed those, and was the able to burn them to a CD. This solved that problem. When I am finished I will attempt a re-install. However, I won’t do that until I am sure that I am doing it correctly!

I do remember vaguely that when I originally installed, when it said “installing boot loader” Failed was hi-lited in Red. So that was perhaps the problem. Recently I have had other problems also. My keyboard kept changing by itself. ( I had three keyboards English, German, and Czech installed ) it kept switching back and forth on its’ own. I also had problems typing in script. Sometimes whole lines would delete, or suddenly appear somewhere else. I don’t know if these weird problems had anything to do with the sudden failure to boot or not. I do think a clean install, would help things.:\

#18

Why are you going to attempt a re-install?

Is it because you are unhappy with your grub boot manager ability to boot?

Do you have a backup of your /boot/grub/menu.lst from before you had the problems?

Assuming you have a backup, why don’t you restore your backup, and if you can not boot from that, go into YaST > System > Boot Loader and save from there a new grub setup.

#19

I also don’t know why you’re going to reinstall. I too think you should try to repair the bootloader.

Did you try to repair the bootloader using the method I suggested? (the method in the appendix of the tutorial I linked in for you)

#20

Kenny1948 adjusted his/her AFDB on Sunday 23 Aug 2009 18:46 to write:

>
> Well,
> That worked last night. Then I was unable to copy my files to disk. It
> simply said that “CD Creator has encountered an error” It did not say
> what the error was. I also tried Brasero, and likewise it was unable to
> burn my files to disk. I have an external Hard Drive, so I will free up
> some space on that, and transfer the files as I have done before. Since
> it is almost full, I will have to sacrifice some of my saved files.
>
> Today, when I tried to boot, I had the same problem. I had to do the
> install disk route, again. What could be causing this problem, and how
> do I attempt to fix it. If nothing else I will try a new install. If I
> remember, when I first installed it, the first four tries were failures.
> Then I chose the option to “use whole disk” and it installed. However I
> do remember that as it was going though the install process, something
> was highlited in red as FAILED and I do believe it said “Install Boot
> Loader”
> If that is the case, that would mean the boot loader was not installed,
> and this could be the culprit. Am I correct in assuming this?:expressionless:
>
>

Just a thought here kenny, if you do have to re-install or do the repair
again in the bootloader section have a look at where it is trying to put the
loader.

I have noticed that it tries to put it on (IIRC) the root partition, if this
is the only OS select the mbr and see if that makes any difference.

HTH

Mark
Caveat emptor
Nullus in verba
Nil illegitimi carborundum