[SOLVED] can't boot into debian

Mystified · 02-04-2017, 12:00 PM

I can't boot into debian. I checked the log file but couldn;t find anything.The only error I get at boot has to do with my wireless connection.l
Kde doesn't load. I get a screen for login but I get the following

Code:

cannot enter home directory.  Using /

I don't log in as /. It's not even allowed.

I don't want to reinstall.

thanks

Hungry ghost · 02-04-2017, 12:20 PM

Could you give more details about your setup? Is this a new install or was it working before? Do you have /home in a separate partition?

Judging from the error there seems to be some problem with your home directory and/or partition. You can press ctrl-alt-F1 and log in to the virtual terminal to check /var/log/messages, dmesg, etc. Also, if your /home/<user> directory is accessible, you can check your .xsession-errors file (inside your /home/<user> directory).

Mystified · 02-04-2017, 12:48 PM

I have a fresh install done by the company I bought it from. It has a separate /home but I must have done something wrong because I didn;t have my home. I did mkdir and it loaded. Thanks so much. Now to find the subdirectories.

Hungry ghost · 02-04-2017, 12:53 PM

I just read your other thread about editing your /etc/fstab file; the problem with your /home partition probably had to do with it.

Mystified · 02-04-2017, 01:13 PM

I thought of that. I shouldn't have marked this solved.
when I got into kde it wouldn;t let me do anything because it said I had logged in as root. I rebooted and now I;m getting a message

Code:

call to lnusertemp failed.  (temorary directories full?)  check your installation

I checked tmp but there's hardly anything there.

I'm missing all the subdirectories in home. I've googled but no luck. is there a temp in home?

Hungry ghost · 02-04-2017, 01:35 PM

I believe you can mark the thread as not solved again in the "thread tools" button above.

Maybe your /home partition is still not being mounted for some reason (probably your fstab file is messed up). Please, post the outputs of the following commands:

Code:

blkid

Code:

df -h

Code:

cat /etc/fstab

Mystified · 02-04-2017, 02:14 PM

I wish I could but I can only get so far. I did get a look at fstab. Looked fine. I did mount /home and it said it was already mounted. I know that's not much help. Sorry

Hungry ghost · 02-04-2017, 02:22 PM

Try to access a virtual terminal by pressing ctrl-atl-F1 on the login screen (the screen where you enter your username and password). Then log in as root and execute the following commands:

Code:

blkid > /root/blkid.txt
df -h > /root/df.txt
cat /etc/fstab > /root/fstab.txt

These commands will copy the outputs of them in *.txt files inside /root. Then you can copy their contents here using a live cd so we can take a look.

Mystified · 02-04-2017, 02:26 PM

I'm there right now. I have an appt now but I'll do it when I can.

Mystified · 02-05-2017, 06:32 AM

OK problem my cd-rom drive doesn't work in my windows laptop. I have a chromebook but I can't find my external drive for it. I downloaded debian live and put it on a usb stitck and followed the steps I found but it wouldn't mount. I'm thinking it has to be in /etc/fstab. I know I can burn using cli but it's been too lomg since I've done it. I have command line in debian. Suggestions.

edit. I was able to create a mount point and mounted the usb. Now I;m googling to see how to use.

Mystified · 02-05-2017, 12:28 PM

didn't work from live cd. time to reinstall

thanks

Hungry ghost · 02-06-2017, 12:56 PM

I was busy yesterday, so I could not come back to you. I would have suggested to check for a /etc/fstab backup first and/or try to figure out what was going on with /home before reinstalling.

Mystified · 02-06-2017, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odiseo77

I was busy yesterday, so I could not come back to you. I would have suggested to check for a /etc/fstab backup first and/or try to figure out what was going on with /home before reinstalling.

To be honest sine I'be been away from linux so long I decided to go to Kubuntu. I bought this laptop new with debian installed and had nothing but problems. kubuntu had everything working out of the box. I still want to install debian on my blank partition but I ran into a problem which i will address in another post.

Thanks

Hungry ghost · 02-06-2017, 02:01 PM

Good to know Kubuntu is working for you.

Cheers.

ardvark71 · 02-06-2017, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mystified

To be honest sine I'be been away from linux so long I decided to go to Kubuntu. I bought this laptop new with debian installed and had nothing but problems. kubuntu had everything working out of the box. I still want to install debian on my blank partition but I ran into a problem which i will address in another post.

Hi...

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