kernel 2.6.30 can't find /dev/hda1

jdkaye · 09-11-2009, 04:58 AM

Hi all,
I'm runny Debian Testing (Squeeze) and have been for years. Since linux-image-2.6.30-686 has now trickled down to Squeeze, I thought it was time to upgrade from 2.6.26. I installed linux-image-2.6.30-1-686 (keeping my old kernel of course

) and rebooted. The new kernel will not boot and complains about not finding /dev/hda1 . Checking /boot/grub/menu.lst I see that the entries for both kernel (2.6.30 and 2.6.26) are configured identically. 2.6.26 boots with no problems and instantly finds /dev/hda1 (my hard drive) as did every kernel going back to the 2.4 days. This is the first time I've had this problem and as I said, 2.6.26 still boots flawlessly so it's not a hardware issue. Has there been a change in how to configure the kernel entries in grub or anything else which would account for this problem?
TIA,
jdk

j1alu · 09-11-2009, 06:05 AM

i`d try /dev/sda1
or by id (/dev/disk/by-id), but i dont know the exact syntax atm.

knudfl · 09-11-2009, 06:26 AM

Googling .. debian squeeze sda hda ..
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=542912

... just guessing for sda like @j1alu ...
You may have to edit grub.conf (menu.list ) or lilo.conf .
And rerun # lilo , if lilo is the boot loader..

And ... of course edit /etc/fstab ...
may be an extra line is to prefer ..
... easier then to use the old kernel.
.....

jdkaye · 09-11-2009, 08:06 AM

Thanks to both of you but no joy. I changed the entry in /boot/grub/menu.list from

Code:

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.30-1-686
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.30-1-686 root=/dev/hda1 ro 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.30-1-686

to

Code:

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.30-1-686
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.30-1-686 root=/dev/sda1 ro 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.30-1-686

and rebooted. No errors until it got to looking for the root filesystem and it just hung there. I can't seem to find either /dev/sda1 or /dev/hda1.
cheers,
jdk

jdkaye · 09-11-2009, 08:48 AM

More information:
Bootup hangs for a while at Begin: Waiting for root file system. Eventually that times out and it takes me into a Busybox shell.

Code:

cat /proc/cmdline

yields the correct result

Code:

root=/dev/sda1 ro

If I do

Code:

ls /dev

it shows no /dev/hd* and no /dev/sd* at all. Not even my 2 CD/DVD drives show up. There are a whole bunch of usb.xxx devices but nothing that has a filesystem on it. At this point my guess is that it's a udev problem in 2.6.30
I have no idea what to do now other than file a bug report.
cheers,
jdk

knudfl · 09-11-2009, 08:52 AM

*
Did you add a line to /etc/fstab ?

jdkaye · 09-11-2009, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knudfl

*
Did you add a line to /etc/fstab ?

Yes, but it never gets that far. When I modified fstab changing /dev/hda1 to /dev/sda1 and ditto for hda5 (the swap partition) it hung up where mentioned above. I then rebooted normally into 2.6.26 and /etc/fstab was left as is. In spite of this the boot proceeded normally. My conclusion is that what is in fstab is not crucial to this problem.

Interestingly, after bootup I got a popup window saying that a device /dev/sda1 (based on fstab from the 2.6.30 attempt) had been found and what did I want to do. I would guess that in 2.6.26 I could use either /dev/sda1 or /dev/hda1 (what I do use) without any problems.
cheers,
jdk

the trooper · 09-11-2009, 10:00 AM

Hello Jdk,

Instead of using /dev/hda or /dev/sda you could try using uuid.
If you run blkid as root this will give you the relevant info.
Here's an example from mine:

Code:

Pc1:~# blkid
/dev/sda1: UUID="E8206BEE206BC264" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sda2: UUID="3e5dfaa5-8752-432f-873e-33870bcf7630" TYPE="ext2" 
/dev/sda3: UUID="e06bb33d-80f1-4859-9a52-b0b728cbcbfe" TYPE="ext3" 
/dev/sda5: UUID="9bbd18df-44e6-46ef-b42f-0761d7d79ccc" TYPE="ext3" 
/dev/sda6: TYPE="swap"

So change the entry for the root filesystem in /boot/grub/menu.lst from:

Code:

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.30-1-amd64
root		(hd0,1)
kernel		/vmlinuz-2.6.30-1-amd64 root=/dev/sda3 ro iommu=noaperture
initrd		/initrd.img-2.6.30-1-amd64

So it now shows:

Code:

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.30-1-amd64
root		(hd0,1)
kernel		/vmlinuz-2.6.30-1-amd64 root=UUID=e06bb33d-80f1-4859-9a52-b0b728cbcbfe ro iommu=noaperture
initrd		/initrd.img-2.6.30-1-amd64

It's a bit of long shot,but it cant hurt to try.
Obviously make sure you have a copy of the original menu.lst file before modifying it.

jdkaye · 09-11-2009, 10:24 AM

OK, I'll give it a try and report back.
cheers,
jdk

jdkaye · 09-11-2009, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Instead of using /dev/hda or /dev/sda you could try using uuid.
If you run blkid as root this will give you the relevant info.
Here's an example from mine:

aarrgghh! Disaster! It didn't like that at all. Kernel Panic!
Contents of blkid:

Code:

dev/hda1: UUID="27569688-0e33-41be-90f9-f92103c9bbe4" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/hda5: TYPE="swap"

Item from menu.lst
Changed this:

Code:

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.30-1-686
root		(hd0,0)
kernel	        /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.30-1-686 root=/dev/sda1 ro 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.30-1-686

to this:

Code:

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.30-1-686
root		(hd0,0)
# kernel	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.30-1-686 root=/dev/sda1 ro 
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.30-1-686 root=27569688-0e33-41be-90f9-f92103c9bbe4 ro 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.30-1-686

Result?
/init: line 196 syntax error 0x27569...9bbe4
Kernel Panic not syncing Attempted to kill init!
or words to that effect.
Back to the drawing board

thanks though,
jdk

j1alu · 09-11-2009, 11:09 AM

Code:

kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.30-1-686 root=27569688-0e33-41be-90f9-f92103c9bbe4 ro

should be somehow like this:

Code:

kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.30-1-686 root=UUID=27569688-0e33-41be-90f9-f92103c9bbe4 ro

?
as said: im not too sure bout the syntax... looks like voodoo to me, so you might run in the next kernel-panic.
I searched for the exact syntax, but for the life of me i cant find it no-where. The way above (root=UUID=verylongnumber) is from my fresh squeeze install (with a 30-kernel). Im not sure its by-id or by-whatever.

good luck and greetings

jdkaye · 09-11-2009, 11:31 AM

Thanks all,
Someone (on another forum) suggested I try booting from a Sidux 2009-2 live CD. It uses the 2.6.30 kernel. If it boots ok, then I can copy the configuration onto my Squeeze box. (no pun intended).

Some suggestions have involved editing the fstab file. I'm a bit worried about that. If getting it wrong can result in the inability to boot, then if I modify it and I still can't get 2.6.30 to boot, how do I get back to my (currently) working 2.6.26 system?
thanks,
jdk

j1alu · 09-11-2009, 11:35 AM

whenever i edit such files i first copy them over to my users home-directory, top-level, so i`m able to find it. If things bork i simpy copy them back to /etc and all is as bad as it has been before. Same procedure again. :-)

besides that i copied the complete /etc/ over to /root
(its only a few MB).

(i dont think taking the sidux-fstab will work, but its worth a try and wont hurt).

greetings

replica9000 · 09-11-2009, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdkaye

Thanks all,
Someone (on another forum) suggested I try booting from a Sidux 2009-2 live CD. It uses the 2.6.30 kernel. If it boots ok, then I can copy the configuration onto my Squeeze box. (no pun intended).

Some suggestions have involved editing the fstab file. I'm a bit worried about that. If getting it wrong can result in the inability to boot, then if I modify it and I still can't get 2.6.30 to boot, how do I get back to my (currently) working 2.6.26 system?
thanks,
jdk

I know Sidux and Ubuntu kernels have been using SDA instead of HDA for a while, and it seems the Debian kernel has started doing this recently too. I would think changing the fstab and grub from HDA to SDA should fix your problem.

If you still can't boot into 2.6.30 grub should still have an entry for your 2.6.26 kernel.

This is my current /boot/grub/menu.lst

Code:

title           Debian GNU/Linux "SID" [kernel 2.6.30-1-amd64]
root            (hd0,5)
kernel          /vmlinuz-2.6.30-1-amd64 root=/dev/sda7 ro quiet vga=791
initrd          /initrd.img-2.6.30-1-amd64

and my /etc/fstab

Code:

# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
/dev/sda7       /               ext3    errors=remount-ro 0       1
/dev/sda6       /boot           ext3    defaults        0       2
/dev/sda8       /var/cache/apt/archives ext3    defaults        0       2
/dev/sda5       none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/scd0       /media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto     0       0
/dev/sda9       /home/replica/sda9 ext3 auto,user,users,rw,exec 0 0

the trooper · 09-11-2009, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j1alu

Code:

kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.30-1-686 root=27569688-0e33-41be-90f9-f92103c9bbe4 ro

should be somehow like this:

Code:

kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.30-1-686 root=UUID=27569688-0e33-41be-90f9-f92103c9bbe4 ro

?
as said: im not too sure bout the syntax... looks like voodoo to me, so you might run in the next kernel-panic.
I searched for the exact syntax, but for the life of me i cant find it no-where. The way above (root=UUID=verylongnumber) is from my fresh squeeze install (with a 30-kernel). Im not sure its by-id or by-whatever.

good luck and greetings

That's right.
My fault for giving the wrong info.
I'd definitely try the way j1alu has shown.

Edit:Better modify my original post also!.