Pc not starting after change in fstab options (uuid)

English Install/Boot/Login
1

Hi ;=)

All of a sudden my pc decided no to start anymore.
YOu might be aware of the ide/sata driver problem, well it was the problem.

I reinstalled grub with suse dvd and it went ok.
Pc working properly :slight_smile:

But then i tried to fix this once for all and changed the fstab options from /dev-by-id to uuid (all partitions : swap, /, /home etc …).

Is uuid a definite solution ?
Why is the pc not able to start from there ?

Since i moved the partitions with uuid option in fstab and even after reinstalling grub the pc is not starting anymore …

It gives me the boot menu (linux suse/failsafe) and then a black screen left with no keyboard nor mouse available.
Stuck like that.

Failsafe starts untill the desktop bu then freezes and still no keyboard nor mouse , despite i tried alt + print + R/S/E/I/U/B combinations.

WHen i try to repair with suse dvd i have some partitions said not an ext4 file system , and an offered solution is to erase 4 lines from fstab (swap, /, /home, and /virtualos). Is he mad or something ?

When i go to expert options and enter the partioner i can’t have access to fstab options .
Why so ?
I’d like to put back my partitions in /dev/by-id instead of uuid.

When i enter “start the installed system” i have an error :
modprobe FATAL could not open
/lib/modules/2.6.31.5-0.1-default/initrd/ext4.ko no such file or directory

I have tought of a reinstall only erasing swap and /
There certainly is a way out , isnt’ it ?

Thanks for your ideas :wink:

2

Just boot Parted Magic and edit fstab correctly
Here is how to use Parted Magic Downloads
Using Parted Magic an Introduction - openSUSE Forums

If you get stuck - just post the contents of your fstab, there may also be a backup which is like this ~fstab (which you could just restore)

You are probably best going for entries like this if you want to change fstab
/dev/sda? /home ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 2

3

i changed the fstab back to the /dev/sdx form

then renewed grub install with suse dvd

it still does not boot (boot menu on a black screen then an error some file not found)

i need to change menu.lst :
what is boot and resume ?
/dev/sdb2 and /dev/sdb1 ?
(my root (/) is on dev/sdb2)

4

Please post /etc/fstab and /boot/grub/menu.lst

5

how ?

i changed both but i need to reinstall grub after this ;

suse dvd starts but then the pc freezes while reinstalling grub :expressionless:

6

:wink:

here they are :

etc/fstab :

/dev/sdb1 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/sdb2 / ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 1
/dev/sdb3 /home ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 2
/dev/sdc1 /stockage1 ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 2
/dev/sdd1 /stockage2 ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 2
/dev/sda1 /stockage3 ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 2
/dev/sda2 /osvirtuels ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 2

proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs noauto 0 0
debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs noauto 0 0
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs noauto 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0

/boot/grub/menu.lst :

Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Sun Jan 31 11:19:52 CET 2010

THIS FILE WILL BE PARTIALLY OVERWRITTEN by perl-Bootloader

Configure custom boot parameters for updated kernels in /etc/sysconfig/bootloader

default 0
timeout 8
gfxmenu (hd1,1)/boot/message

###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title SUSE LINUX
root (hd1,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/disk/sda2 resume=/dev/disk/sda1 splash=silent quiet showopts
initrd /boot/initrd

###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe – SUSE LINUX
root (hd1,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb2 showopts apm=off noresume nosmp maxcpus=0 edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 x11failsafe
initrd /boot/initrd

/boot/grub/device.map
(hd1) /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600PD-07FZB1_WD-WMAES3562221
(hd0) /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3320620AS_9QF5PH60

In the device.map :
hd1 is western digital : /dev/sdb, and hd0 is seagate : /dev/sda
i guess i shall change them to the /dev/sdx form (?)

shall i also add here the other 2 disks ? (/dev/sdc and /dev/sdd)
if so with which name shall i give them (in the HDx form) ?

here 's the old device.map :
% cat device.map.old
(hd1) /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600PD-07FZB1_WD-WMAES3562221
(hd3) /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600PD-07FZB1_WD-WMAES3561246
(hd2) /dev/disk/by-id/ata-SAMSUNG_HD103UJ_S13PJ90S208022
(hd0) /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3320620AS_9QF5PH60

i changed the 1st two above and was willing to reinstall grub using suse dvd but the pc freezes before i can complete that.

is ‘#grub-install --root-directory=/boot /dev/sda’ ok ?
from where ?

7

Easiest manual install of grub
Re-Install Grub Quickly with Parted Magic - openSUSE Forums

8

:wink:

parted magic i downloaded and burned but it’s not even booting, mind you suse dvd or syst rescue live cd are not booting all the time either …
the pc is really tiring me today, something like 10 trials to boot one time and test a few settings :frowning:

after many times trying suse dvd allowed me to reinstall grub but booting gives still a black screen with boot menu

then a "file not found " error

with a part of the menu.lst :

"
root (hd1,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/disk/sda2 resume=/dev/disk/sda1 splash=silent quiet showopts
initrd /boot/initrd"

but the error message leaves /dev/by-id for the disks instead of my /dev/sdx changes

9

The system should boot regardless of the mess you seem to have arrived at with your posted info.

Eg: Do you see the problem here:

Your root partition is shown here as: /dev/sdb2 / ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 1

but

Your boot menu is looking as here

###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title SUSE LINUX
root (hd1,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/disk/**sda2 **resume=/dev/disk/sda1 splash=silent quiet showopts
initrd /boot/initrd

To be honest, maybe I’m all wrong and can’t see the wood for the trees. But that you now can’t even boot any install media or Parted, I say, sit back and think, check, think and check again.

10

Yes,
i miswrote it : forgot the version of the kernel and wrote sda instead of sdb.

I corrected this but i still have an error :

“grub loading stage 2, file not found”
then error 15 file not found
same as above +kernel version and right name of disk :
"
root (hd1,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.8-0.1-desktop root=/dev/disk/sdb2 resume=/dev/disk/sdb1 splash=silent quiet showopts
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.31.8-0.1-desktop"

11

So can you still not boot from a CD like Parted and you check in BIOS to have CD as boot device?

12

And do you remember where grub was originally installed? Which HD had grub to the MBR or did you not write to the MBR?

13

:wink:

The dvd/cd player is already the 1st boot device, but the pc is not booting properly.
Sometimes not even lighting the screen (orange->blue), others it does but does not boot the live cd, when it does it can freeze before i can do anything.
I noticed that entering Bios and saving my changes helps the pc : boots by itself and then has a regular boot which boots indeed the live cd.

Where does suse 11.2 install Grub ?
I did a fresh install so i think grub was installed as usual : where Suse 11.2 puts it in a regular install , it should have been there and i guess it’s still there .

I did manage to reinstall grub with suse dvd.

14

uuid will change if you format a filesystem new while disk id will change if you switch HDs Bios order.
You can use blkid to list UUIDs and edit /etc/fstab accordingly.

15

i noticed another error in the menu.lst

i had /dev/disk/sdb2 instaed of /dev/sdb2
willing to change this i started my live cd and mounted /dev/sdb2 on /mnt/sdb2 but then the menu.lst was unchanged (?) : left with /dev/by-id …

I fixed it and saved using vi.

WIlling to reinstall grub i used suse dvd , but tried to boot on the hard disk : and it went untill desktop like a charm rotfl! Well, i opened firefox, kmail, all ok, updated with #zypper ref && zypper up from init 3; back to init 5 .
TO be sure all was ok i reboot, and then i’m back to the above error : black boot menu of grub, with a file not found error :expressionless:

16

The system was ok using /dev/by-id .

I changed in Yast partitioner the fstab options to uuid … and Then came the problems :frowning:

17

Hmm sounds like this machine needs a new battery if the BIOS settings are not holding. Get the hardware right before you try messing with the software.

18

;=)

If you say so because i have problems booting live cds i may add that the mother board is used but not very old.
It can be that the battery is weak but i doubt it impedes the pc to boot.

When i use suse dvd and leave the boot on the hard disk i have access to the desktop .
But when i try to boot normally i have a “no file found error” as mentioned above.