Kubuntu no longer boots properly (FS check failed)

[spiffytech]

Since installing Fedora 7, Kubuntu doesn't boot properly. I get a "File system check failed" error message, and I get dropped to a Root prompt. If I hit Control-D (as the error message says), I can proceed to boot. If I try to use the prompt, many of the typical commands (Vi, etc) don't work. What should I do to fix this and not get dropped to the prompt anymore?

[penguin.ch]

Re: Kubuntu no longer boots properly (FS check failed)

First of all, on the unmounted parititon I'd conduct a manual, full-fledged file system check to find out why Linux is feeling bad about this specific part of the disk(s).

[spiffytech]

Re: Kubuntu no longer boots properly (FS check failed)

What command should I use? I've tried a simple "fsck /dev/sda4", but all I get is a block count.

[penguin.ch]

Re: Kubuntu no longer boots properly (FS check failed)

http://www.die.net/doc/linux/man/man8/fsck.8.html

[spiffytech]

Re: Kubuntu no longer boots properly (FS check failed)

None of the parameters listed there look like they will make fsck do anything more than give me the block cound I already have.

[penguin.ch]

Re: Kubuntu no longer boots properly (FS check failed)

Mumble, mumble ... back to square one then: what's the file system of /dev/sda4 at present?

[dibl]

Re: Kubuntu no longer boots properly (FS check failed)

Did the Fedora installation write a new boot menu? Is it possible that it goofed up the ID of the directory where the Kubuntu root is located? I'd take a look at the new menu.lst file (in the Fedora system), on the line that specifies the Kubuntu root, as compared to Kubuntu's fstab, and see if it matches completely. Just guessing here, but you never know ....

[spiffytech]

Re: Kubuntu no longer boots properly (FS check failed)

@UnicornRider- ext3

@dibl- Fedora did goof the bootloader, but I've already replaced it's configuration for booting Kubuntu with the config from the old bootloader Kubuntu wrote.

[penguin.ch]

Re: Kubuntu no longer boots properly (FS check failed)

ext3

For starters: e2fsck -fnv /dev/sda4 (man fsck.ext3).

[spiffytech]

Re: Kubuntu no longer boots properly (FS check failed)

====
>>> e2fsck -fnv /dev/sda4
e2fsck 1.39 (29-May-2006)
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information

139247 inodes used (2.09%)
3171 non-contiguous inodes (2.3%)
# of inodes with ind/dind/tind blocks: 8350/1144/0
9085067 blocks used (68.25%)
0 bad blocks
3 large files

117822 regular files
15039 directories
133 character device files
27 block device files
2 fifos
355 links
6212 symbolic links (5582 fast symbolic links)
3 sockets
--------
139593 files
====

I still get the error upon boot.

[penguin.ch]

Re: Kubuntu no longer boots properly (FS check failed)

That's just been the "dry run"; fsck -n is not supposed to actually repair anything - that's fsck -p (or the like).

[sxeptomaniac]

Re: Kubuntu no longer boots properly (FS check failed)

I've pulled a similar move. I think the UUID of the partition Fedora installed to has changed, but Kubuntu is still looking for it based on the old one. Basically, Kubuntu is looking for the old partition, when it's been overwritten and given a new ID. Here's how they got me to fix it.

When you start up Kubuntu, take not of which partition is giving you trouble. In my case, it was /dev/hdb2. You might also see a reference to a UUID right after you continue the boot process, so you might want to note the first section of it if you can.

once you've skipped the error message and started Kubuntu, enter the following in a terminal

blkid

It will list your partitions along with the current UUID codes.

I then started a second terminal and ran

sudo kate /etc/fstab

the page that comes up should look something like this:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>  <type> <options>    <dump> <pass>
proc      /proc      proc  defaults    0    0
# /dev/hda1
UUID=8b80cd0c-cff7-467c-b262-ef5304b4689d / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /dev/hda5
UUID=bc4b4501-ee3a-44c9-8b42-57a3c74ca3f4 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/cdrom    /media/cdrom0  udf,iso9660 user,noauto   0    0
/dev/fd0    /media/floppy0 auto  rw,user,noauto 0    0

Find the section with the partition causing the problem, and replace the UUID that came up in the startup error message with the one you got from blkid for the same partition. Save it, and that should solve the error message when you restart.

Make sense? I have had to do this process a couple of times, but I'm hardly an expert.

[spiffytech]

Re: Kubuntu no longer boots properly (FS check failed)

That did the trick. Thanks!