11.4 KDE 64bit - Yast suggested a kernel update. I agreed. When finished, I rebooted but the boot failed with "Could not find /dev/disk/by-id/…Part2, which is my boot partition. Finally it dropped to a “$” prompt without fdisk available to check anything. Not under /bin. I find it difficult to believe that my HD would fail at the exact time of a kernel change. Besides, where did the prompt come from if not from the HD? What is the best way to resolve this problem?
Thanks
On 2012-01-27 21:26, ionmich wrote:
>
> 11.4 KDE 64bit - Yast suggested a kernel update. I agreed. When
> finished, I rebooted but the boot failed with "Could not find
> /dev/disk/by-id/…Part2, which is my boot partition. Finally it
> dropped to a “$” prompt without fdisk available to check anything. Not
> under /bin. I find it difficult to believe that my HD would fail at the
> exact time of a kernel change. Besides, where did the prompt come from
> if not from the HD? What is the best way to resolve this problem?
Grub console?
Linux emergency mode?
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)
This is not a grub problem. The entries in the new menu.lst are exactly the same as the old menu.lst except for the different kernel versions. I managed to copy my old backed up /boot to my hard drive and I can boot again EXCEPT that it doesn’t find the old /lib/modules/2.6.37.6-0.9 files which Yast in its wisdom deleted. I do not have a backup of those files. Is there a way to recreate them?
What is “linux emergency mode”? I am not familiar with it.
On 2012-01-27 23:46, ionmich wrote:
> This is not a grub problem. The entries in the new menu.lst are
> exactly the same as the old menu.lst except for the different kernel
> versions. I managed to copy my old backed up /boot to my hard drive and
> I can boot again EXCEPT that it doesn’t find the old
> /lib/modules/2.6.37.6-0.9 files which Yast in its wisdom deleted.
No, you deleted them by not telling yast to keep the old version. >:-)
Hint: activate “multiversion” in /etc/zypp/zypp.conf.
> I do
> not have a backup of those files. Is there a way to recreate them?
Yes, in yast you can select any older version to install. If it runs.
> What is “linux emergency mode”? I am not familiar with it.
It says so in the text.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)
Unfortunately Yast can no longer connect to the internet from that boot.
I’m sorry, I must be taking stupidity medication, because I cannot find any reference to “linux emergency mode” anywhere during bootup. Of course that may be because I am assuming that “in the text” means on the bootup console screen. I have never seen that message on any 11.x boot. Please elucidate.
It is possible that I was careless when Yast asked me if I wanted to keep the old kernel available. I don’t recall that it asked. But why would Yast suggest a kernel change that fails without a serious warning of the consequences? If I ever recover from this problem I will follow the hint you gave me.
Thanks.
For YaST, did you try the command: sudo /sbin/yast and run the terminal version?
Yes, it is possible to keep both your old and new kernels. You need to change how YaST Software Management works with kernel updates, to allow you to maintain both the old kernel and the newer kernel.
edit the file /etc/zypp/zypp.conf to say:
##
## Packages which can be installed in different versions at the same time.
##
## Packages are selected either by name, or by provides. In the later case
## the string must start with "provides:" immediately followed by the capability.
##
## Example:
## kernel - just packages with name 'kernel'
## provides:multiversion(kernel) - all packages providing 'multiversion(kernel)'
## (kernel and kmp packages should do this)
## Valid values:
## Comma separated list of packages.
##
## Default value:
## empty
##
# multiversion = provides:multiversion(kernel)
multiversion = kernel-desktop
If you loaded the terminal tools, you can use mc, for Midnight Commander, a file manager with a text editor built-in.
If you can get a script file to this computer from another, you can compile a new kernel using sakc, a kernel you can get from The Linux Kernel Archives. You could try a command like this to get a source file:
wget http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v3.0/linux-3.2.2.tar.bz2
And the following command to fetch sakc:
rm ~/bin/sakc ; wget -nc http://paste.opensuse.org/view/download/42098098 -O ~/bin/sakc ; chmod +x ~/bin/sakc
Just a few suggestions to consider. When YaST downloads a new kernel, it is shown in the download list and you are asked to reboot to load the new kernel, which means you know it was loaded.
Thank You,
Thank you all for the quick response and help. When I booted with the new /boot directory I could not get to Yast as it never went as far as level 3. When I booted with the old /boot, I could get to level 5 BUT could not connect to the internet so that Yast could download anything. The “old” /lib/modules/2.6…were missing having been deleted by Yast.
The solution was actually simpler than I expected. I downloaded the “old” kernel rpm (which I knew worked) using another computer and a USB stick and installed it using Yast. Once completed I rebooted, got an internet connection and used Yast to update to the “new” kernel. It works. I am still puzzled as to why it didn’t work the first time. But my ISP has been problematic today so perhaps that caused it.
So, now that you are back in business, consider enabling multiple kernels and/or using SAKC to install a spare. I keep at least two usable kernels on every computer because you never know when the newest one loaded might fail.
Thank You,
On 2012-01-28 00:56, ionmich wrote:
>
> robin_listas;2434793 Wrote:
> Unfortunately Yast can no longer connect to the internet from that
> boot.
You can install the one in the install DVD. Or as you did, using another
machine.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)
On 2012-01-28 02:36, jdmcdaniel3 wrote:
> # multiversion = provides:multiversion(kernel)
>
> multiversion = kernel-desktop
I prefer to simply comment out the first line. It works for any type of kernel.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)
Good advice. I’ve done it.
On 2012-01-28 01:56, ionmich wrote:
>>> What is “linux emergency mode”? I am not familiar with it.
>>
>> It says so in the text.
>>
> I’m sorry, I must be taking stupidity medication, because I cannot find
> any reference to “linux emergency mode” anywhere during bootup. Of
> course that may be because I am assuming that “in the text” means on the
> bootup console screen. I have never seen that message on any 11.x boot.
> Please elucidate.
Then you are not in that mode… as simple as that 
View this thread: http://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php?t=471667
The second post, the user is in that mode with systemd.
....
> Welcome to emergency mode. Use "systemctl default" or ^D to activate default mode.
> Give root password for login;
The booting failed (the init sequence), it aborts, and dumps you in that
mode so that you can correct the problem.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)