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Old 02-07-2009, 06:01 PM   #1
duval_jay
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Boot error on removable hard drive


Hey all,

I have a removable hard drive that has fedora 10 installed on it. When I boot it up in my home computer, after POST and all the system checks I get the following messages:

Quote:
Reading all physical volumes. This may take a while...
Volume group "main" was not found.
Unable to access resume device (/dev/main/swap)
Mount: error mounting /dev/root on /sysroot as ext3: No such file or directory.
Anyone have any suggestions or reasons why this is happening?



My system specs are:

EVGA nvidia nforce 790i FTW Ultra
Intel Core2Quad Q9550
EVGA nvidia GeForce GTX 280 Superclocked ed.
Corsair DDR3 1333mhz 4GB RAM
Corsair TX750 Watt
Windows Vista Business 64 bit
 
Old 02-07-2009, 06:25 PM   #2
yancek
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How are you trying to boot the external? Is it set first in boot priority?
Did you install Grub to the mbr of the external drive? Are you booting from an OS on the internal drive? What is on the internal? Do you have an entry in the internal bootloader to the external?
 
Old 02-08-2009, 01:22 PM   #3
raskin
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Do you get a shell prompt after that? Looks like you have LVM (more likely LVM2) and it fails to recognize partitions on you drive. Maybe you don't have proper drivers in initrd..
 
Old 02-09-2009, 03:23 PM   #4
duval_jay
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I get some sort of prompt yes. But I'm not sure if it's shell. It allows me to type but there's no field like "bob@home /root/home/bobshome ~" type thing. It's just blank.

I'm using an external hard drive which I use in the computers at school. But at home that error occurs. Is there something I can install on my home computer or on my external hard drive that will make it bootable at home?

Thanks for all your replies
 
Old 02-09-2009, 03:46 PM   #5
raskin
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What USB dirvers do you have in initrd?
 
Old 02-28-2009, 08:26 AM   #6
duval_jay
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is there anyway I could restore the grub loader to fix this problem?...say with the fedora 10 live cd...or the fedora 10 installation dvd?
 
Old 02-28-2009, 08:30 AM   #7
raskin
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Your problem is probably not the bootloader. More like wrong initrd. If you think it is a problem with GRUB, press 'e' when GRUB screen comes up and press 'e' once more to edit 'kernel' line. What 'root=' is passed? What root does previous 'root' line claim?
 
Old 02-28-2009, 12:02 PM   #8
duval_jay
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raskin View Post
What root does previous 'root' line claim?
It says:

</main/root rhbg quiet

Thanks for the help by the way
 
Old 02-28-2009, 12:06 PM   #9
raskin
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Erm. You can scroll it. There is a 'root (something, something)' line and a 'kernel ...' line. In the middle of 'kernel ...' line there should be 'root=' line. What is it?
 
Old 02-28-2009, 12:10 PM   #10
duval_jay
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Ah, it says:

root=/dev/main/root
 
Old 02-28-2009, 12:16 PM   #11
duval_jay
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At the first GRUB screen, there's 3 lines:

Fedora (2.6.27.15-170.2.24.fc10.i686)
Fedora (2.6.27.12-170.2.5.fc10.i686)
Fedora (2.6.27.5-117.fc10.i686)

I've been looking that the kernel line with the first entry. The kernel line is the same for the second entry..

But on the third entry, for kernel. It says:

root=UUID=8594efde-d695-4261-9b50-fa11a6886b73
 
Old 02-28-2009, 12:20 PM   #12
raskin
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You may be able to boot the third option.. Do you know whether LVM should be being used on your removable HDD?
 
Old 02-28-2009, 12:32 PM   #13
duval_jay
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raskin View Post
You may be able to boot the third option.. Do you know whether LVM should be being used on your removable HDD?
I tried to boot the third option, it tries to load fedora but it says the same error that I got before, except it says "cannot establish stabilization. Waiting 10 seconds..."

Then I get the error I got originally with the first boot option.

The current configuration works fine on the removable HDD at school...any other suggestions?

I asked my prof if I could do this at home and he said I might have to change the hd0,0?

Said it has something to do with what SATA port the removable HDD caddy is plugged into?

When I boot I believe it says my removable hard dive is in SATA port #4.
 
Old 02-28-2009, 12:36 PM   #14
raskin
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Just to be sure - does your desktop at home have any GNU/Linux installed? Does the computer in the school have its own HDD except this removable? If yes, does it have /dev/main/root when booted without removable HDD?
 
Old 02-28-2009, 12:42 PM   #15
duval_jay
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raskin View Post
Just to be sure - does your desktop at home have any GNU/Linux installed? Does the computer in the school have its own HDD except this removable? If yes, does it have /dev/main/root when booted without removable HDD?
Naw, my desktop at home only has one other hard drive which isn't removable, and it has only one installation, which is windows vista x64 business.

The computers at school also have their own HDD, which isn't removable. The HDD can boot linux, xp or vista. There is a switch in the computer that can be changed to 1 of 4 positions. Position 1 is internal, position 4 is external (for removable HDD caddy). I use the same caddy the school uses.

To be honest I'm not sure what is booted when there's no removable hard drive. Would this even matter since they have the switch thing I mentioned above?
 
  


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