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UNSOLVED - REINSTALLED OS After about 6 months Grub suddenly won't start Kubuntu

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    #1

    UNSOLVED - REINSTALLED OS After about 6 months Grub suddenly won't start Kubuntu

    I have been using Kubuntu (Gutsy) for about 6 months now. I use Kubuntu for most of my Web browsing, so I load it every day. Starting yesterday evening, GRUB will no longer launch Kubuntu.

    Kubuntu is installed on a dual-boot machine on a separate hard drive.

    GRUB boot manager is installed on the Linux drive (which is, of course, the primary boot drive).

    Since yesterday, GRUB loads on power-up, and will launch Win XP (which resides on the other hard drive), but will not launch Kubuntu. When GRUB attempts to start Kubuntu, the screen goes blank and there is no input/output and no HD activity.

    Does anyone have a suggestion?

    Tom Weeks





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    #2
    Re: After about 6 months Grub suddenly won't start Kubuntu

    See if you can boot into Recovery Mode (single user). If this works (you get a command prompt), then type:
    Code:
    df -hTxtmpfs
    On my system, this is the output:
    Filesystem Type Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
    /dev/sda2 ext3 7.9G 2.9G 4.6G 39% /
    /dev/sda6 ext3 20G 3.4G 16G 18% /home
    /dev/sda1 ext3 7.9G 2.9G 4.9G 37% /media/sda1
    /dev/sda3 ext3 7.9G 147M 7.4G 2% /media/sda3
    /dev/sda5 ext3 20G 2.6G 18G 13% /media/sda5
    /dev/sda7 ext3 20G 173M 19G 1% /media/sda7
    What you are concerned about, is the amount of space on your root partition that is in use. If it is being reported as 100% you will not be able to boot into a GUI session. You will need to cleanup (remove) unnecessary files from your system. The easiest way is to run the following command:
    Code:
    sudo apt-get clean
    clean
    clean clears out the local repository of retrieved package files.
    It removes everything but the lock file from
    /var/cache/apt/archives/ and /var/cache/apt/archives/partial/. When
    APT is used as a dselect( 8 ) method, clean is run automatically.
    Those who do not use dselect will likely want to run apt-get clean
    from time to time to free up disk space.
    Windows no longer obstructs my view.
    Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007.
    "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes​
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      #3
      Re: After about 6 months Grub suddenly won't start Kubuntu

      Well, I have a self-made problem. I removed the recovery mode option from the
      GRUB menu . Is it possible to edit GRUB from within GRUB to boot in recovery mode? As it stands now, I can only boot "normally" (a KDE boot?) and that is not working.

      Tom Weeks
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        #4
        Re: After about 6 months Grub suddenly won't start Kubuntu

        If you can boot a Live CD, and then follow the guidance here:

        http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081671.0

        probably it's all fixable, unless a hard drive or controller failed. However, with a recovery boot option, you could have skipped the part about booting a Live CD :P.

        Good luck with it.
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          #5
          New Question --Re: After about 6 months Grub suddenly won't start Kubuntu

          OK, let me pose another question:

          Let's assume Snowhog is correct, and my problem is that my root partition is at 100% usage and I need to run clean to free up some space in order to boot to a GUI session. Question: since GRUB is the only way I can start kubuntu, and GRUB is, in fact, loading on power-up, AND I can edit the GRUB commands from within GRUB itself -- what commands would I use to make GRUB start a "recovery" (command line) session?

          I have (because of ignorance I am sure) been unable to access (mount?) my linux hard drive in a LiveCD session, so at my present level of knowledge I cannot use clean during a LiveCD session. Therefore I want to force GRUB to start a command line (recovery?) session so that I might try to run the clean procedure to see if that will solve my problem.

          Although I cannot access my menu.lst file, GRUB will display and allow editing of the commands it uses to start linux. I am writing this using Win XP, and must restart my machine in order to do so, but I will gladly copy the commands grub is using to try to start a GUI (KDE) session, if anyone thinks that info would be helpful.

          Please forgive the repetitive nature of my post, but I am trying to be thorough in my call for help.

          Tom Weeks

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            #6
            Re: After about 6 months Grub suddenly won't start Kubuntu

            That's a good idea, Tom -- this will work.

            OK, to boot it in recovery mode, on the kernel boot line you want to delete the standard options and instead use only two options: "ro" and "single".

            So, after editing, your boot line will look similar to this one from my own boot menu:

            Code:
            /vmlinuz-2.6.24-12-generic root=UUID=4947d60b-b181-4a7d-9c22-f4782ed7cb0a ro single
            boot that with "b" in the Grub editor and you will go straight to the CLI.



            Code:
            su
            and the root password will log you in as the root user. Then
            Code:
            apt-get autoclean
            and
            Code:
            apt-get autoremove
            will delete the cached and no longer needed remains of installed and removed packages. Beyond that, if you have things in your /home user directory that can be deleted, use the
            Code:
            rm
            command judiciously to get rid of the excess items.
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              #7
              Re: After about 6 months Grub suddenly won't start Kubuntu

              Your kernel boot line may not begin as dibl has shown (/vmlinuz), and if it doesn't, don't change it to look like it. What's key is the single option added to the end of the line, which tells the kernel you are booting into 'single user' mode.
              Windows no longer obstructs my view.
              Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007.
              "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes​
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                #8
                Re: After about 6 months Grub suddenly won't start Kubuntu

                Further development:

                I followed Dibl & Snowhog's advice. Several screens full of text scrolled by. Although I do not know for sure, I think everything was going fine until a snag was hit as evidenced by the last three items (which were followed bu a flashing cursor, flashing numlock and scroll lock LED's on my keyboard, and no input/output.)

                Since I was unable to save or even print what was on the screen, I copied the last three entries by hand (leaving out the root device ID string (UUID=xxxxxxxx).

                392.065688] VFS cannot open root device "UUID=xxxx- etc." or unknown-block (0,0)

                392.065767] Please append correct "root=" boot option: here are the available partitions: (my note: there are no partitions listed)

                392.065845] Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: unable to mount root fs on unknown-block (0,0)

                Does this give anyone a clue as to what is wrong? Incidentally, I did not change the UUID= string in my original GRUB command, all I did was change the options as outlined in Snowhog's post.

                Tom Weeks
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                  #9
                  Re: After about 6 months Grub suddenly won't start Kubuntu

                  Have you checked your UUIDs lately?

                  UUIDs, listing:
                  From Live CD and HD: ls /dev/disk/by-uuid/ -alh
                  From HD: blkid

                  How about running diagnostics on that hard drive (just to rule that out)?



                  An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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                    #10
                    Re: After about 6 months Grub suddenly won't start Kubuntu

                    Also:
                    Also, using the live CD, get into menu.lst and manually re-type the root, kernel, and initrd lines for the Kubuntu boot stanza. (Make a backup of the existing first! Or, simply comment-out the existing by placing the # in front of each existing line => each "old" line will be ignored by GRUB; later, you can "restore" the orginal by deleting the # signs.)

                    You must do the edits as root! Then File>Save and File>Quit.
                    An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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                      #11
                      Gave Up & Reinstalled Re: After about 6 months Grub suddenly won't start Kubuntu

                      I did the following:

                      ran Seagate diagnostics on my linux (Maxtor) drive -- passed all tests
                      Figured out how to mount the drive in a LiveCD session and discovered the entire file system seemed to be as it should be.
                      Checked the UUID for /root via blkid -- it was the same as what was in menu.lst
                      Went ahead and typed in the UUID in GRUB/menu.lst anyway, just in case -- no help
                      Booted to SuperGrub CD and tried to repair GRUB -- no help
                      Booted to SuperGrub CD and tried to start linux "directly" -- no go


                      Finally I just assumed something (the kernel?) on the drive was corrupted or missing, So I bit the bullet and reinstalled Kubuntu 7.10 from the live CD.

                      I lost no data, but I will have to set up my home network again for file and printer sharing, reinstall a dozen or so linux apps and a half-dozen WINE (Windows) apps, and tweak my configuration again. This is a real kick in the teeth for me. Over the years I have had to do numerous clean reinstalls of several versions of Windows. It is a real disappointment to have to do this with linux.

                      I enjoy a challenge as well as the next guy, but I actually work with my computer, and all this fiddling about with linux takes up a lot of time.

                      Many thanks for all the suggestions.

                      Tom Weeks
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