I installed the latest kernel update ,I think is (2.6.27.42-0.1) that’s the one when i go uname -r. Anyway i realized after awhile that the computer froze and i had to hard booted from the power bar. I booted this morning and it doesn’t find some partitions so it cannot be booted. I decided to change the battery since i had some time problems and I tought that that would be the case but no luck. I have two drives on the machine which have multiple partitions some of them for XP which are just there and used as space by Suse and then the Suse partitions and the XP(Until i get rid completely of it, just too lazy to do it). From the XP i can see both harddisks and all the XP partitions, but when try to boot Suse it doesn’t get to far. It tries to get to the partitions where it has the home and it complains that it cannot find them and then it is exiting to /bin/sh
Being here i don’t know what should i do to debug as it has a limited number of commands which i can see to get to the next stage.
I cannot find the file /var/log/messages as it doesn’t exist(or maybe i don’t have rights? or maybe because I’m not logged in as admin or user?)
I have the bin,boot,etc,config,lib,root,var,usr,sys i think all the the directories but I do not know how to move further or debug.
I’m running Suse 11.1 on a 64 bit with kde 4.1.2? don’t remember exactly the version. I don’t run wireless on this machine, as I’ve see some posts with people having problem with that.
Any help would be appreciated.
Chances are, since you replaced the BIOS battery, the drive order changed. Go into BIOS and check to see if you have the right order. If that does not do it, boot from your openSUSE disc and try repair.
well i get to grub as before so i don’t think that’s the issue and i can login to XP with no issue from grub. wouldn’t that be another error? in fact the drives are clearly defined and they cannot be switched from the bios unless the cables are changed, just checked the bios. after grup starts correctly and i choose the default suse it gets to:
Boot loging started on /dev/tty1(/dev/console) at …
Trying manual resume from /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A_…part5
resume device /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A…part5 not found (ignoring)
Trying manual resume from /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A…part5
resume device /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A…part5 not found (ignoring)
Wiating for device /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A…part6 to appear:…
Could not find /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A…part6
Want me to fall back to /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A…_part6? (Y/n)
if i answer yes it fails to get to …part6. if i said no it goes to /bin/sh
anyone has any ideea?
If you get to Grub boot selection type 3 into the boot options line and than push enter to boot to run level 3. If you get a prompt, log on as user give password than su folowed by root password. now
** fdisk -l** (push enter)
and post the results.
You are not quite clear in describing what happened here, for Eg: you say…
- “I installed the latest kernel update”
- “I think is (2.6.27.42-0.1) that’s the one when i go uname -r”
- “Anyway i realized after awhile that the computer froze and i had to hard booted from the power bar.”
- “I booted this morning and it doesn’t find some partitions”
The way I read it (reading between the lines), you have never successfully booted the machine since the kernel update?!
There is a hint to me there that your system froze during the update and you might have rebooted during it, before it actually completed?!
More clarity required please.
hi caf4926. I will try to articulate clearly my problem.
as you read between the lines, I updated the kernel and it asked the machine to be rebooted. I postponed it for later on and then i had to do something else. I noticed later on that it was completely frozen. i did a hard reboot and was never able to start again. having problems with restart i tought that maybe the problem i have with my bios battery is the culprit so i change it. That didn’t make any change in the status of the machine.
i get the grub selection and i was able to go to the XP partition and see all the drives which are spread over 2 harddisks.
I tried the suggestion from MattBClassic but it is not able to get to this level(3). and the messages bellow pop up:
Boot loging started on /dev/tty1(/dev/console) at …
Trying manual resume from /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A_…part5
resume device /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A…part5 not found (ignoring)
Trying manual resume from /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A…part5
resume device /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A…part5 not found (ignoring)
Wiating for device /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A…part6 to appear:…
Could not find /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A…part6
Want me to fall back to /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A…_part6? (Y/n)
if i answer yes it fails to get to …part6. if i said no it goes to /bin/sh
fdisk command is not recognized(i think because it doesn’t know where to find it and neither do I)
i have a limited access at thi point and not sure what could i do? thanks for support
First try this.
Change the HD boot order in BIOS, so whatever is currently 1st, change it so your other HD is first.
Just on the off chance that you messed that up. As already mentioned, your changing the battery could do this and it is still possible you would get grub. And windows would boot, but Linux wouldn’t.
If you are sure you have exhausted this possibility do the following:
Please get Parted Magic
Downloads
Using Parted Magic an Introduction - openSUSE Forums
get me
fdisk -l
Mount your root partition and get me the contents of
/boot/grub/menu.lst
so with partedmagic in failsafe mode i get this when run fdisk -l:
Disk /dev/hda
device boot start end blocks id system
/dev/hda1 1 1869 15012711 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda2 1870 15893 112647780 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda3 * 15927 19457 28362757+ f W95 Ext’d (LBA)
/dev/hda5 15927 16118 1542208+ 82 Linuxswap/Solaris
/dev/hda6 16119 17478 10924168+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda7 17479 19457 15896286 83 Linux
Disk /dev/hdb
device boot start end blocks id system
/dev/hdb1 1 6375 51207156 83 Linux
/dev/hdb2 6376 12750 51207187 f W95 Ext’d (LBA)
/dev/hdb3 12751 19125 51207187+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hdb4 19126 24321 41736870 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hdb5 6376 6567 1542208+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hdb6 6568 9053 19968763+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hdb7 9054 12750 29696121 7 HPFS/NTFS
the next instruction was mount your root partition:
I tried mount /dev/hda5 ( which i was thinking that is the root partition) an get this message;
mount: can’t find /dev/hda5 in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab
then i tried mount /dev/sda6 and it was successfull
not sure how to get this info:
/boot/grub/menu.lst
Parted magic has a mounter on the desktop see this pic
thanks caf here is the grub:
Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Sat Jan 16 12:51:18 EST 2010
default 0
timeout 8
##YaST - generic_mbr
gfxmenu (hd0,5)/boot/message
##YaST - activate
###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.42-0.1 (default)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27.42-0.1-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A_5LS9HFWV-part6 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A_5LS9HFWV-part5 splash=silent
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.27.42-0.1-default
###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe – openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.42-0.1
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27.42-0.1-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A_5LS9HFWV-part6 showopts ide=nodma apm=off noresume edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 x11failsafe vga=0x31a
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.27.42-0.1-default
###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title Debug – openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.42-0.1
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27.42-0.1-debug root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A_5LS9HFWV-part6 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A_5LS9HFWV-part5 splash=silent
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.27.42-0.1-debug
###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: windows 1###
title XP
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
in the list of mounted devices i cannot see these:
/dev/hda3 * 15927 19457 28362757+ f W95 Ext’d (LBA)
/dev/hda5 15927 16118 1542208+ 82 Linuxswap/Solaris
/dev/hdb2 6376 12750 51207187 f W95 Ext’d (LBA)
What worries me is this /dev/hda5
in the list of mounted devices i cannot see these:
/dev/hda3 * 15927 19457 28362757+ f W95 Ext’d (LBA)
/dev/hda5 15927 16118 1542208+ 82 Linuxswap/Solaris
/dev/hdb2 6376 12750 51207187 f W95 Ext’d (LBA)
What worries me is this /dev/hda5
Don’t worry about these hda3 and hdb2 are extended partitions, they are just containers for other partitions (logical partitions)
Do not confuse hda5 with the error info you quote (part5 not found) It is not the same at all.
It does seem to me now that there may be more of a problem here than I first thought. In all cases, whatever you do, think and think again and don’t be rash.
I’m inclined to suggest you boot with the install DVD. Did you use a DVD??
Answer me first, then I’ll explain the next step.
yes i did install with a dvd and i have it. i was able with partmagic to find my home directory. Is there a way to save it somewhere else? just in case i need to install i don’t want to loose that info. but i will wait for your reply, trying to play cool, no panic attack.
Boot from it and proceed as if to install until you get here:
http://public.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p_ZD-5-8-1qZzuK_OnhR-LTzM4jeHgJE_zFxi52lqMwtg_Q3PWAmo3UP_FIeyZrP-FUSRfB_XuQAr1FKWg0f0_A/pic5-select%20New%20Install.png
From this part select ‘Repair Installed System’ (ignore the added text)
There a several options as I recall. Automatic, Guided and Expert.
You may be best using Automatic, see how you feel once in there.
well it repaired the swap partition(sda5) and then it warned me about some packages which are not the same(cups,kernel,and few more) and is skipped, but now it said something about bootloader and got into it. it doesn’t put the xp partition in the boot loader( not that i need it that much but i have some files which i need to moveout before i get rid of it completely) what do i do? i could add it manually but not sure what info it needs.which partition is XP under (sda1?) i will wait for your reply.
thanks
Don’t worry about XP for now, we can add it later, it will not delete anything in the windows partition. It’s just the menu entry.
it completed everything but still not able to log in. i will try to repair again.
What about the error message
How do you mean not able to login? More info
exactly the same messages as i got when i opened the thread.
i tried to repair again and it says that the bootloader has errors. i try to repair it but here are the details inside:
optional kernel line parameter:
repair=1 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST…-part5 splash=silent showopts
kernel image
/boot/vmlinuz
initial ram disk
/boot/initrd
root device
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST…-**part6 **
is this correct?
part5 is the swap partition which it complains at the beginning of the repair that is needed, and it finds it.
I have an idea.
Trouble is I have to crash now. In about 6hrs from now I will be back. I plan an edit to the menu.lst file
something like
**#Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: none
title 11.1
root (hd0,5)
kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda6 ro quiet splash
initrd /initrd.img
**
You need to boot parted Magic, make a backup of /boot/grub/menu.lst
and change the first entry you quoted earlier:
###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.42-0.1 (default)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27.42-0.1-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A_5LS9HFWV-part6 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160812A_5LS9HFWV-part5 splash=silent
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.27.42-0.1-default
to the one above in bold
I think I got it right
tried what you suggested(made a copy of menu.lst) and changed as per your instructions with the only difference that title is not commented(#)
i get this at boot now:
root (hd0,5)
Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
kernel /vmlinuz root=dev/hda6 ro quiet splash
Error 15: File not found
Press any key to continue