kstartupconfig unable to run

[xt828]

Hello

I've been running Kubuntu 8.04 AMD64 since it was released, and today when i rebooted it after installing a new HDD it refused to let me log in, giving me an error box talking about lstartupconfig being unable to run. I asked for help in the Kubuntu IRC channel, and the people I spoke to there thought it to be a permissions issue.

I attempted to go in in recovery mode to run startx and check the user manager settings, but when I entered the command startx I was told that /usr/bin couldn't be found. I then, after further consultation in IRC, went in to recovery mode and entered the command chown -R xt828:users /home/xt828 but was told that /home/xt828 couldn't be found.

I dual boot this machine with a Ubuntu AMD64 install, and have a seperate drive for /home/xt828 that is used by both Kubuntu and Ubuntu. There are presently five physical disks attached to the system, following the configuration noted here.

I am at a loss as to what is wrong, and my knowledge of Linux is quite limited - any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[toad]

Re: kstartupconfig unable to run

It sounds as though your drives are mixed up. You need to run a live CD and 1) check your drives and nomenclature. Next 2) check your /etc/fstab to see that everything is mounted in the right place.

That is the short description of what you have to do. It is not complicated - boot the live CD, open a root shell and type

fdisk -l

Post the output in this thread so you/we can refer to it later (or print it out or whatever).

The ouptut should tell you which is / of your original kubuntu installation (if you've assigned it a label). If you don't know which one it might be, run a

ls

against each partition. The one with the directories /bin, /proc, /usr, /boot, /etc, /tmp, /media and what have you is the one.

Once you have established that it is time to look at 2) Open the /etc/fstab file in that partition and post the contents here (or sort it yourself )

[xt828]

Re: kstartupconfig unable to run

I did fdisk -l from within Ubuntu, and got the following:

Disk /dev/sda: 640.1 GB, 640135028736 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 77825 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/sda doesn't contain a valid partition table

Disk /dev/sdb: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xadb7adb7

  Device Boot   Start     End   Blocks  Id System
/dev/sdb1        1     498   4000153+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb2  *     499    2988  20000925  83 Linux
/dev/sdb3      2989    9729  54147082+ 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdc: 300.0 GB, 300090728448 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 36483 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xf4cfd55e

  Device Boot   Start     End   Blocks  Id System
/dev/sdc1        1    9121  73264401  7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdc2      9122    18242  73264432+  7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdc3      18243    27363  73264432+  7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdc4      27364    36483  73256400  7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdd: 320.0 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xed364f84

  Device Boot   Start     End   Blocks  Id System
/dev/sdd1        1    9728  78140128+  7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdd2      18444    18567   996030  82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdd3  *    9729    18443  70003237+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdd4      18568    38913  163429245  7 HPFS/NTFS

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sde: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0008871c

  Device Boot   Start     End   Blocks  Id System
/dev/sde1        1    9729  78148161  83 Linux

It looks like sdb2 is my Kubuntu partition and sdd3 my Ubuntu.

The contents of /etc/fstab from that partition are as follows:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>  <type> <options>    <dump> <pass>
proc      /proc      proc  defaults    0    0
# /dev/sda2
UUID=9350d291-f62b-4b0f-a103-1d72a9091ca1 /        ext3  relatime,errors=remount-ro 0    1
# /dev/sdd1
UUID=dc155671-426a-4dd8-bda3-cbcaa519dd43 /home      ext3  relatime    0    2
# /dev/sdb1
UUID=B6AC1ED8AC1E92CB /media/sdb1   ntfs  defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0    1
# /dev/sdb2
UUID=84C03BB2C03BA976 /media/sdb2   ntfs  defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0    1
# /dev/sdb3
UUID=4A54E31854E30593 /media/sdb3   ntfs  defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0    1
# /dev/sdb4
UUID=70601AF2601ABEB2 /media/sdb4   ntfs  defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0    1
# /dev/sdc1
UUID=1A587DE1587DBBD7 /media/sdc1   ntfs  defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0    1
# /dev/sdc3
UUID=8f9ef4d7-78e1-4a00-b49a-3681841b0a3e /media/sdc3   ext3  relatime    0    2
# /dev/sdc4
UUID=24B09A7FB09A56E0 /media/sdc4   ntfs  defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0    1
# /dev/sda1
UUID=3313cbf7-2f6c-481c-bc7c-cc782c8cd175 none      swap  sw       0    0
# /dev/sdc2
UUID=d49bc249-ab4a-4def-8261-3f768c5ba7cc none      swap  sw       0    0
/dev/scd0    /media/cdrom0  udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0    0
/dev/scd1    /media/cdrom1  udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0    0
/dev/fd0    /media/floppy0 auto  rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0    0

It looks to me as though the new drive has been labelled sda, and pushed all the others down one letter - does that sound right? How do I fix the fstab from here? Or, do I really need to have done this from the livecd of Kubuntu rather than an existing install?

[toad]

Re: kstartupconfig unable to run

Your diagnosis is correct You can fix it from ANY functioning system, be it a live CD or another install.

To make sure that UUIDs have stayed the same you may want to run

sudo blkid

[xt828]

Re: kstartupconfig unable to run

My UUIDs appear to match, so what areas in fstab do I need to alter? From what I can see it looks as though the drives are mounted based on UUID rather than on their name.

[toad]

Re: kstartupconfig unable to run

Doh - if the UUIDs match then drive order doesn't matter, you are right. Having said that, you may have to chroot into your kubuntu and do the blkid command from there.

However, there is another possibility where the system may get confused, GRUB.

Make sure the kubuntu entry in your /boot/grub/menu.lst points to the correct partition. If it does, then I'd take the chroot route...

[xt828]

Re: kstartupconfig unable to run

I checked in GRUB, and it's using the UUID rather than the name, too.

What is chroot, and how do I do it?

Also, when I checking in GRUB I booted Kubuntu, and it dropped me to a command prompt rather than taking me to the login screen. I entered startx, and was told that the command couldn't be run because /usr/bin wasn't a defined path or something along those lines. Entering reboot gave me the GUI login screen, and the same error as before.

[toad]

Re: kstartupconfig unable to run

To chroot:
1 - boot live CD or running system
2 - mount partition with target system (kubuntu in your case)
3 - open a root shell and type

chroot /path/to/targetsystem

4 - you have become root in your target system

Re GRUB - the UUID may be the same, but I reckon the "root (hdx,x)" line is incorrect. Please make sure that it reads "root (hd1,1)", this being GRUB convention for sdb2.

[xt828]

Re: kstartupconfig unable to run

I did the chroot by doing the command as sudo chroot /media/disk, and when I did blkid is gave me no information.

Do I need to do a command before I close that terminal window?

[toad]

Re: kstartupconfig unable to run

It should be

chroot /media/sdb2

, this being where your kubuntu root is mounted to. To get out of chroot simply type

exit

You checked the GRUB entry yet?

[xt828]

Re: kstartupconfig unable to run

In Ubuntu, which is the other install on the same system that I'm using, the partitions all have names, and the one Kubuntu is on is listed as /media/disk.

I checked GRUB, and currently the Kubuntu entry has root set to (hd0,1). When I changed it to (hd1,1) and tried to boot, I got the response Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition.

[xt828]

Re: kstartupconfig unable to run

I ended up installing windows on the new drive, and then reinstalling Kubuntu in its old partition - sorted out GRUB via a fresh install

[toad]

Re: kstartupconfig unable to run

Well done. I read elsewhere that K/Ubuntu has had problems in the past with pata and sata drives. My mixture is ide and sata and I've never had a problem. So there...

[dibl]

Re: kstartupconfig unable to run

I read elsewhere that K/Ubuntu has had problems in the past with pata and sata drives.

Yep, I could tell you stories ....

But it is also related to the BIOS and motherboard chipset, and how they "report" the drive configuration, sequence, etc. So there are multiple factors to deal with when resolving these kinds of issues.

[toad]

Re: kstartupconfig unable to run

Hm, so how did you manage to get it fixed apart from the reinstall? How do your drives look at the mo? Do fstab, menu.lst and fdisk -l all agree? If so (cos they didn't beforehand and the system still booted!!!), did you do anything to the BIOS?