kernel 2.6.30 can't find /dev/hda1

jdkaye · 09-11-2009, 12:03 PM

As I mentioned above, changing to sda1 was the first thing I tried and it did not work. I'll try the blkid with the correct syntax and then use the Sidux live cd I just burned.
cheers to all.
jdk

the trooper · 09-11-2009, 12:09 PM

Sorry for the earlier typo jdk,that's what happens when i try to do things from memory!.
Fingers crossed it works for you.

Phiebie · 09-11-2009, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdkaye

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.

I've struggeld and sweated quite a lot of hours as updating squeeze on an x86_64 on 31/8 made my parallel-port absolutely invisible. So no printing possible.
At last I discovered the culprit: module-init-tools! The one or the other !+)(!@-developer had decided, that in the new version of "his" program, /etc/modprobe.d had to be reorganized. All commands and aliases for loading kernel-modules had to be given in an *.conf file therein. Bluntly stating in the debian.changelog.gz
[ ]
Removed the architecture-specific aliases. If your platform needs one
you will have to fix the kernel instead.
[ ]

Well, you go ahead and find out, what you have to do.

The Debian-maintainer is GOD and acts whatever seems in his mind to be the right way. Next release, next surprise to the stupid users.

jdkaye · 09-11-2009, 12:58 PM

Ok, so I tried two things and both had the same problem as everything else. It can't find the root file system and drops me into the busybox shell.
(1) I tried the UUID method, this time with the correct syntax.
Good news: no more kernel panic
Bad news: still can't find the root file system.
(2) I boot up from Sidux 2009-2 which uses 2.6.30.
Good news: it boots up perfectly, mounts my HD as /dev/sda1.
Bad news: I change my menu.lst 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=UUID=27569688-0e33-41be-90f9-f92103c9bbe4 ro                                                                                    
initrd          /boot/initrd.img-2.6.30-1-686

and change my /etc/fstab to this:

Code:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
/dev/sda1       /               ext3    defaults,errors=remount-ro 0       1
/dev/sda5       none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/hdc        /media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto     0       0
/dev/hdd        /media/cdrom1   udf,iso9660 user,noauto     0       0
/dev/fd0        /media/floppy0  auto    rw,user,noauto  0       0

Then I reboot. Same result: can't find the root file system.
aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhh.
I'll live with 2.6.26

thanks to all for trying.
BTW, 2.6.26 is perfectly happy with this version of fstab: changing from hda1 to sda1 doesn't seem to have any effect on it (no on 2.6.30 for that matter)
jdk

the trooper · 09-11-2009, 01:06 PM

Quote:

(2) I boot up from Sidux 2009-2 which uses 2.6.30.
Good news: it boots up perfectly, mounts my HD as /dev/sda1.
Bad news: I change my menu.lst to this:

So what entries do you have for the Sidux version?,and if they work why change them?

jdkaye · 09-11-2009, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the trooper

So what entries do you have for the Sidux version?,and if they work why change them?

Oh, I wasn't clear. Sorry about that. I don't want to run Sidux. It's great but I'm quite happy following Debian Testing. I just copied over Sidux's working settings to Squeeze and poof, stopped working. Phiebie has just suggested something and I'll look into that. I didn't change the Sidux settings. I just copied them over, as is, to Squeeze. But it didn't work.
cheers,
jdk

j1alu · 09-11-2009, 02:09 PM

as you say you wanna give up: i got a shot in the dark.
check with ls /boot how the kernel is called and run

Code:

update-initramfs -c -k 2.6.30-1-686

(with 2.6.30-1-686 fitting the way its called in /boot).
after that try it again with sda (or the uuid thingy).
(nother thing would be to reinstall the kernel after purging him).

sorry for your bad luck and greetings

the trooper · 09-11-2009, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Oh, I wasn't clear. Sorry about that. I don't want to run Sidux. It's great but I'm quite happy following Debian Testing. I just copied over Sidux's working settings to Squeeze and poof, stopped working.

Ok,now i understand.
Glad to hear you are sticking with Testing
Keep us posted.

jdkaye · 09-12-2009, 01:51 AM

This morning I tried the UUID approach and entered the UUID info in both the menu.lst entry and /etc/fstab, verified the syntax of both and rebooted. Same result.

There is some crucial difference in my Squeeze setup and the Sidux live CD setup that permits that latter but not the former to boot correctly identifying my root partition as /dev/sda1. When I try the same parameters with Squeeze or substitute the UUID as stated above, Squeeze will not find the root partition. I'm out of ideas other than to use 2.6.26 and as the packages trickle down from Sid, try 2.6.30 from time to time. Eventually it's going to work, right?
Thanks to everyone for your time and patience.
jdk

replica9000 · 09-12-2009, 11:28 AM

You could add the Sidux repo to your sources.list

Code:

deb http://ftp-mirror.internap.com/pub/sidux/debian/ sid main fix.main non-free contrib firmware fix.non-free fix.contrib

and use the Sidux kernel (currently 2.6.31-0.slh.1-sidux-686)
You might have better luck with that, or at least see if it's only kernel 2.6.30 that's giving you the issue.

jdkaye · 09-13-2009, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by replica9000

You could add the Sidux repo to your sources.list

Code:

deb http://ftp-mirror.internap.com/pub/sidux/debian/ sid main fix.main non-free contrib firmware fix.non-free fix.contrib

and use the Sidux kernel (currently 2.6.31-0.slh.1-sidux-686)
You might have better luck with that, or at least see if it's only kernel 2.6.30 that's giving you the issue.

Thanks Replica,
As I mentioned above, I tried Sidux's live CD with the 2.6.30 kernel (2009-2) and it worked perfectly. At this point I think my best option is to wait for a few more Squeeze upgrades and try again. I'll also submit a bug report and see if that brings any enlightenment.
Cheers,
jdk

jdkaye · 09-24-2009, 06:46 AM

Sent in bug report. I'll report anything interesting that I find out.
cheers,
jdk