[resolved] Update killed file system

[doctordruidphd]

I'm starting a new thread on this because, although related to another topic, it seems this may require a different solution.

I did the update before reading the thread warning about it, and the problem I have is a little different. I cannot boot into the file system. The kernel and init seem to load OK, but it dies when trying to mount the file system:

(This is the best I can read my scribbled notes)
init: mountall (illegible) process (1427) terminated with status 1
rm: cannot remove '/forcefsck' - read only file system
init: mountall (illegible) process (1426) terminated with status 1
General error mounting file systems.
A maintenance shell will now be started.
root@(none):

Now if I type 'mount' at the root prompt, it shows the filesystems mounted!

Not quite sure how to proceed here; I can't get to a network prompt to update.

[personman]

Re: Update killed file system

Hmm maybe it is mounting it read only for fsck sake?...(heh)

Does anything good happen when you try to run a fsck?

Does seem a little different than my problem so this may not help you.

-Andy

[dibl]

Re: Update killed file system

Do you have a Kubuntu (or other) Live CD that you can boot? Probably you can fsck the filesystem and it will be OK to boot. The exact command depends upon your filesystem type.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Update killed file system

I can boot into jaunty, and I can also run fsck from the karmic console, which I did.
fsck -f reports everything clean.
The system is acting like it can't mount the disks, but the disks are actually mounted.
I did see an error message about udev somewhere in the bootup chain the first time I tried rebooting, but not since then. Also an error about /dev/pts not being mounted.

[personman]

Re: Update killed file system

Maybe once the updates hit the repos, you could grab the packages from ftp in jaunty, put em on a disk or USB key, and install them from a console with dpkg -i ?

Maybe check if your upstart and mountall packages are current, they seemed to fix some issues for me.

Just some ideas to throw around.

Edit: On my machine that is back booting again, I AM still holding older versions of initscripts and sysv-rc...Just FYI.

Edit 2: On the ubuntu board, someone went through the trouble of manually building and installing the software, and reported that they were able to fix their problems.

-Andy

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Update killed file system

I just discovered that I can successfully chroot into that system from jaunty.
Question: Will apt-get update and dist-upgrade work while chroot'ed into a system, if I do them from the chroot'ed shell? (I don't have much experience with chroot)
Thought I had better ask before doing...

[dibl]

Re: Update killed file system

Question: Will apt-get update and dist-upgrade work while chroot'ed into a system, if I do them from the chroot'ed shell?

Man that sounds WAY dangerous! I'm not experienced with chroot, either, but I know that it changes the root filesystem path, so that does NOT sound like it would run updates correctly to the Karmic filesystem. Matter of fact, if you tried it from Jaunty, you might end up polluting your Jaunty system with update files intended for Karmic.

Since we're in a testing phase of Karmic, I would advise just hanging tight for a day or two, and let's see what the fix or update turns out to be. Worst case you'll never be able to boot it and you'll have to download a daily build in a couple of days when whatever is wrong is corrected.

This is relevant: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1267044

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Update killed file system

Well, I just loaded a backup of karmic from last weekend onto a spare partition, so I'm alive, but seriously ignoring the update message...
I still would like to fix the broken system. I guess I need to start looking at init.d; since mountall.sh is partially working, maybe there's a way to manually get around it.

[dibl]

Re: Update killed file system

When it says "a maintenance shell will be started" is that a root prompt (#) or a busybox shell?

[personman]

Re: Update killed file system

On an unrelated note, who is that in your avatar doc?

Looks like a drawing of Leo Tolstoy, I'm curious. Did you draw it?

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Update killed file system

When it says "a maintenance shell will be started" is that a root prompt (#) or a busybox shell?

It's an unusual root prompt -- root@(none):

But if I chroot into that partition, I get the 'normal' root prompt -- root@Wolfenstein

On an unrelated note, who is that in your avatar doc?

It's a picture I dug up somewhere of a neanderthal. I grabbed it because I can't figure out how a guy from that time got that haircut...

[dibl]

Re: Update killed file system

That is a strange prompt. If you issue "pwd", what directory does it show? If it acts like there is a filesystem of some kind, you might try issuing (with or without the "sudo"):

sudo start dbus
sudo start hal
sudo start network-manager
sudo start kdm


If it really is a "root" user prompt, you should not need the "sudo", but it may not be the true root user of your system.

I found that here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...6&postcount=24

Apparently you are not alone.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Update killed file system

sudo start dbus
sudo start hal
sudo start network-manager
sudo start kdm

Tried that; no success. Messages about can't start the job.
I recall reading something somewhere about this update causing trouble with upstart -- makes sense in this context, but no solution found.
I was able to get the system up, sort of, by cd'ing into /etc/init.d, and manually running the above commands. All went well except for network-manager. I can do some things --pinging a system by name (so dns must be working) works, but I can't connect to any of the ubuntu repositories. Everything is behaving weird, with frequent messages saying it can't open /var/log files. I know that's not very helpful, but there are too many errors to document.
Basically, looks like upstart is hosed. I will try manually downloading and reinstalling upstart.

Edit: oh yeah, pwd shows /root, and I can cd anywhere.

[dibl]

Re: Update killed file system

OK.

The full path for those commands might help. And maybe network-manager is just for Gnome. Try:

sudo /etc/init.d/dbus
sudo /etc/init.d/hal
sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
sudo /etc/init.d/kdm start

Feels like you're getting closer to something that can be updated.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Update killed file system

I tried running those things directly from /etc/init.d/
networking won't run, it says it has been converted to an upstart job, and trying to start it via 'start' pulls a 'cannot start job' message.
Another problem -- I downloaded upstart, then booted the sick system. I find that I can cd anywhere, and read anything, but if I try to write anything, I get a "Read only file system" error. I tried mount -a and sudo mount -a, no help there.
Trying a couple more experiments.

Edit: I can't open anything for writing, anywhere, period.
I will tinker a little longer, but I think I may call this one and restore from backup.