Moving from three hard drives to one big one

[OneSalientOversigh]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

I didn't solve it

Well, I did manage to copy the partitions - no problem there. But I have yet to successfully boot from the disk. The problem is

Error 21: Selected Disk does not exist

I think there may be a problem in menu.lst, which is as follows

title		Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic
root		(hd1,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=04c95748-a0ef-4f0d-a713-ccc1ff83f2b9 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
quiet

title		Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic (recovery mode)
root		(hd1,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=04c95748-a0ef-4f0d-a713-ccc1ff83f2b9 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic

title		Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.20-16-generic
root		(hd1,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-generic root=UUID=04c95748-a0ef-4f0d-a713-ccc1ff83f2b9 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-16-generic
quiet

title		Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.20-16-generic (recovery mode)
root		(hd1,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-generic root=UUID=04c95748-a0ef-4f0d-a713-ccc1ff83f2b9 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-16-generic

title		Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.17-11-generic
root		(hd1,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.17-11-generic root=UUID=04c95748-a0ef-4f0d-a713-ccc1ff83f2b9 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.17-11-generic
quiet

title		Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.17-11-generic (recovery mode)
root		(hd1,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.17-11-generic root=UUID=04c95748-a0ef-4f0d-a713-ccc1ff83f2b9 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.17-11-generic

title		Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.17-10-generic
root		(hd1,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.17-10-generic root=UUID=04c95748-a0ef-4f0d-a713-ccc1ff83f2b9 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.17-10-generic
quiet

title		Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.17-10-generic (recovery mode)
root		(hd1,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.17-10-generic root=UUID=04c95748-a0ef-4f0d-a713-ccc1ff83f2b9 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.17-10-generic

title		Ubuntu 7.10, memtest86+
root		(hd1,0)
kernel		/boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

I think the problem is that I need to change (hd1,0) to (hd0,0). But that poses a problem because (sigh) I still can't modify files in the root directory of the Hard Drive while using a liveCD

fstab probably needs to change too:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options>   <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# /dev/hdb1
UUID=04c95748-a0ef-4f0d-a713-ccc1ff83f2b9 / ext3 nouser,defaults,errors=remount-ro,atime,auto,rw,dev,exec,suid 0 1
# /dev/hda3
UUID=17693f6f-55e7-45eb-9fba-d7a885cf268b /home ext3 nouser,defaults,atime,noauto,rw,dev,exec,suid 0 2
# /dev/sda1
UUID=7e6a585d-73cf-44fc-9bf1-50ad1f040f86 /media/sda1 ext3 nouser,defaults,atime,auto,rw,dev,exec,suid 0 3
# /dev/hda1
# /dev/hdb2
/dev/sdb2 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 auto nouser,atime,noauto,rw,nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
/dev/scd1 /media/cdrom1 auto nouser,atime,noauto,rw,nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
/dev/ /media/floppy0 auto user,atime,noauto,rw,dev,exec,suid 0 0

/dev/sdc1 /NewRoot ext3 nouser,atime,auto,rw,nodev,exec,nosuid 0 0
<device> <mount\040point> auto nouser,atime,noauto,rw,nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
<device> <mount\040point> auto nouser,atime,noauto,rw,nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
<device> <mount\040point> ext3 nouser,loop,atime,noauto,rw,nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
/dev/sdc2 <mount\040point> swap noauto 0 0
/dev/sdc3 /home auto nouser,atime,noauto,rw,nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0

All I have now is the DVD-RW drive and the 320gb HDD, which is /dev/hda1 (root) /dev/hda2 (swap) and /dev/hda3 (home). But how to change it? I still can't modify things on the root directory.

In order to change fstab and menu.lst, I may have to go into a console to do it (under sudo -s). I can't open kate under sudo (it dies for some reason and can't be resurrected without rebooting). If I open Konqueror under sudo I'm still unable to modify files.

Is there a way of doing this via going into GRUB in the console?

[SheeEttin]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

I'd first make sure that you're using the right UUID.
If that's OK, then I'd try changing (hd1,0) to (hd0,0), like you said. If you can't do it in the LiveCD, when Grub loads, hit escape to show the menu, select the kernel you want, hit E, select the "root" line, hit E again, and change it there. (It won't save this change, though.)

Also:
Use kdesu for apps like Konqueror or Kate, not sudo.
Try removing (or commenting out) those <device> <mount\040point> lines in the fstab.

[OneSalientOversigh]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

Okay, I've now worked out how to access/modify files in the root directory on a hard drive whilst using a LiveCD.

While in Konqueror, right click on the file you wish to modify, then go:

Actions --> Edit as Root

Future LiveCD editions should have a help feature that pops up automatically that tells you how to do this.

[OneSalientOversigh]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

Okay I think I need to modify the UUID stuff. How do I find out what it is and what to change?

Check the previous post of mine from November 04, 2007, 11:55:17 pm where I list the contents of fstab and menu.lst

Menu.lst has now changed to read (hd0,0) and I have removed the mount\040point lines from fstab.

But other than that, the UUID in both fstab and menu.lst remains as they are. Are the UUID lines supposed to be the same in both?

BTW, I did try to boot after modifying GRUB as you directed. I ended up with an error saying "fsck unable to resolve UUID=17693....". I thus think it might be a UUID problem.

[SheeEttin]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

Mmm.
If you know how your drives are being assigned, you can just change them to /dev/hd* and /dev/sd*. If not, try looking in /dev/disk/by-uuid and /dev/disk/by-label to resolve them (look at where the links point).
If that doesn't work... try playing with the commands blkid and findfs. Actually, you may want to try these first.

[silvagroup]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

If you do a find /vmlinuz from your grub console it will return the partition assignment. However remember that the grub designation is different than the linux partition assignment. For example Grub (hd0,0) would be Linux /dev/hda1, Grub (hd0,8) would be Linux /dev/hda9, or sdxx.
As SheeEttin mention you don't need to use the uuid you can just designate the /dev.

[dibl]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

Okay I think I need to modify the UUID stuff. How do I find out what it is and what to change?

blkid

is the console command to see how the partitions and UUIDs line up.

[OneSalientOversigh]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

The Story so far...

First of all sorry guys that I haven't responded sooner, there were some family issues plus I was trying a few different solutions.

Sufficed to say that I have achieved the following:

1. Copying my original 7.10 root directory onto my current 320gb hard drive.
2. Being able to get through GRUB successfully without any problems.

Unfortunately, when I get to the username and password prompt, I have a problem. Once I type my password in, the system looks like it is about to boot up kde but then pops up this window:

Could not start kstartupconfig.
Check your installation

This might be the result of a failed attempt to move root and /home previous to my later success but I'm not certain. The reason is that before I came here to the forums for help I had managed to stuff up booting from kde from my original 3x40gb hdd configuration.

If you enter in "kstartupconfig" in the search bar you'll see that a number of people have had this problem. I have yet to find a solution.

One thing I tried was to rename (via Livecd) .kde to .badkde, under the assumption that kde would create a new .kde folder as it booted. It didn't, and when I restored .badkde back to .kde the same problem occurred. I even copied and pasted the .kde folder from my Livecd but it didn't work either. So whatever is going wrong it has nothing (I assume) to do with the .kde folder.

When I stuffed up the original kde boot, the thing I was doing immediately prior to it was to play around with system settings -> File and Disksystems where I was playing around (as administrator) with the various partitions and trying to use it to rename partitions as root and /home.

It seems that one simple solution would be to uninstall kde and then reinstall it again (but still keeping .kde untouched in my home directory). Is there some way this can be achieved by using the command line?

[OneSalientOversigh]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

*Sigh* I may have isolated the problem but I'm still not sure. I think I may have stuffed up fstab.

I was reading through one of the "Could not start kstartupconfig" posts here at the forum and I noticed that someone suggested the following code:

sudo chown -Rv neil.neil /home/neil

Of course that is how I typed it in since that's the username.

It didn't work. It couldn't go through with the procedure. It complained that /home/neil doesn't exist. So, still in the command prompt, I type in cd /home and then dir. No "neil" folder is there.

Which of course is silly because, well, it IS there whenever I am using LiveCD. My /home directory does actually exist on a partition but when I'm using the command prompt when booting from the hard drive it doesn't seem to be there.

So, I have two possible issues.

The first is that somehow fstab is not recognising the /home partition. This would mean that it was not mounting properly and thus preventing kde from booting and coming up with the "Could not start kstartupconfig" complaint. I've been playing around with fstab and I may have stuffed it up a bit. Here is my current fstab:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>  <type> <options>    <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hda1 / auto noauto,atime,rw,dev,exec,suid,nouser 0 0
/dev/hda2 swap swap 0 0
/dev/hda3 /home ext2 noauto,atime,rw,dev,exec,suid,nouser 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 auto nouser,atime,noauto,rw,nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
/dev/scd1 /media/cdrom1 auto nouser,atime,noauto,rw,nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
/dev/ /media/floppy0 auto user,atime,noauto,rw,dev,exec,suid 0 0

The second would be that, while /home is (theoretically) mounted, /home/neil may have become locked after being copied over from the previous hard drive. How would I change the permissions? (using either the command line or LiveCD)

[SheeEttin]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

Are you sure you're using the same drive?

Also, the chown syntax is "chown [OPTION]... [OWNER][:[GROUP]] FILE...", i.e. with a colon separating the user and group, not a period. Because of what you said, this shouldn't make a difference, but you never know...

[OneSalientOversigh]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

Are you sure you're using the same drive?

Absolutely certain. I opened the case and unplugged all the other hard drives. The only hard drive plugged in is the 320gb with the three partitions (root, swap and home). When I go into bios, only one hard drive is present.

Does my fstab look okay?

THx re: chown. I'll check it soon.

[SheeEttin]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

I didn't look too closely at it, but now I see that /home is a separate partition. Are you also sure that's being mounted?
(Also, you might want to change your floppy line so that it points to /dev/fd0, rather than just /dev/...)

[OneSalientOversigh]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

Sick as I am of having to fix the problem I decided today to just reinstall Kubuntu.

Of course, the only Kubuntu release I have on disk is the 5.10 LiveCD, so I begin to install it.

Naturally, I just want to install root on the root directory. But even after erasing the partition it doesn't work.

So I go in and bitterly decide to get rid of all the data on the disk by doing a full install, to erase all the partitions and start again.

No luck.

Then I get this horrible warning as I boot up again:

Primary master hard disk fail

Methinks my new 320gb hard drive has died. Is there any way to confirm this by using the livecd?

The hard drive is recognised in bios. No problems there. But as soon as POST begins the warning flashes up.

RIP Hard drive? Or is there some way out of this?

[SheeEttin]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

First thing to do is to check the cabling.
Also, make sure that if it needs jumpers set, they are set correctly.

If you can boot into the LiveCD and want to reformat the drive, just go ahead and nuke it.

[dibl]

Re: Moving from three hard drives to one big one

RIP Hard drive? Or is there some way out of this?

Probably it's a goner. But I agree with SheeEttin that it's worth checking the cables and jumpers, and probably worth formatting it one time just to be certain.