[SOLVED] Can't access partition on hard disk with linux OS installed

Higgsboson · 01-06-2015, 02:20 PM

Hello everyone.

I have an IDE hard disk which has been formatted into ext4 file format.
I then installed a debian OS onto a partition on the hard disk using the debootstrap program. I did this using debian live USB (which doesn't have debian installer).

The debian OS installed onto the hard disk - but not properly. The gnome shell isn't working and I don't have network access.
GRUB bootloader opens up and boots the debian OS. But then I get a simple command line interface - like it was a server.

To remedy the problem, I want to add files to the installed OS so the gnome shell will open and I'll have network access.
But I'm having trouble accessing the partition.

Firstly, the partition doesn't automatically mount when I boot my live USB.
So I then mount the partition. But I still can't access the filesystem on the partition.

The GUI on the live USB only shows unmounted partitions on the hard disk.
Also, I can't access the partition's filesystem through the terminal:

Code:

root@debian:/media# ls -a
.  ..  BCC04A84C04A44BC  BIE786610

The above shows a SATA drive and cd-rom.
But not the mounted partition of my IDE drive (which has the installed OS).
Where am I going wrong?

syg00 · 01-06-2015, 06:24 PM

These days IDE disks show as /dev/sd?. What does this give ?

Code:

lsblk

igadoter · 01-06-2015, 07:05 PM

First thing coming into my mind is before doing anything else to try

Code:

# fdisk -l

# fsck.ext4    /dev/sda1

/dev/sda1 is only example here

Code:

# mount -t auto  /dev/sda1    /mnt

if everything seems to be ok

Code:

# mount

which should show all mounted devices, if not

Code:

# dmesg | tail

to see for reason why mounting failed

colorpurple21859 · 01-06-2015, 08:09 PM

You got several threads going about this install using debootstrap. Since you already have the base system installed maybe this will help. This is assuming you have an internet connection with live-usb
to unmount sda1 if already mounted.

Code:

umount /dev/sda1

Then to mount so things will work

Code:

mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev
mount -o bind /proc /mnt/proc
mount -o bind /sys /mnt/sys

next copy resolv.conf from host so as to not have resolve errors when running apt-get

Code:

cp /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/etc/resolv.conf

Then chroot

Code:

chroot /mnt /bin/bash

Then

Code:

editor /etc/apt/sources.list

to look similar to this so as to install firmware
http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian wheezy main non-free

Code:

apt-get update
apt-cache search firmware
apt-get install firmware-linux-nonfree

to see what firmware packages are available for your hardware and install.

Code:

tasksel --list-tasks

(List the tasks available on a system.)

Code:

tasksel install gnome-desktop --new-install

Quote:

(The option --new-install ensure we end-up with what DebianInstaller would have installed)

Higgsboson · 01-07-2015, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00

These days IDE disks show as /dev/sd?. What does this give ?

Code:

lsblk

This seems a better human-readable command to 'mount'. The output I get is:

Code:

root@debian:/home/user# lsblk
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda      8:0    0 149.1G  0 disk 
├─sda1   8:1    0  39.1G  0 part 
├─sda2   8:2    0  39.1G  0 part 
├─sda3   8:3    0  39.1G  0 part 
├─sda4   8:4    0     1K  0 part 
└─sda5   8:5    0  29.3G  0 part 
sdb      8:16   0 931.5G  0 disk 
└─sdb1   8:17   0 931.5G  0 part 
sr0     11:0    1   2.4G  0 rom  /media/BIE786610
sdg      8:96   0  29.8G  0 disk 
├─sdg1   8:97   0  29.8G  0 part /lib/live/mount/medium
└─sdg3   8:99   0   1.3M  0 part 
loop0    7:0    0     1G  1 loop /lib/live/mount/rootfs/filesystem.squashfs

Oddly, my SCSI (sdb) and IDE (sda) drives aren't automatically mounted.
However, when I use the desktop file manager under 'Places' it lists the SCSI drive and automatically mounts it if I click on it.
The sda1 partition which has debian installed on it is actually now showing up under 'Places'! So I can access it. I've just installed more files onto the debian OS in sda1.
I think the problem must've been I didn't originally install all the files correctly onto sda1.

Higgsboson · 01-07-2015, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igadoter

Code:

# fsck.ext4    /dev/sda1

The output is:

Code:

root@debian:/home/user# fsck.ext4 /dev/sda1
e2fsck 1.42.5 (29-Jul-2012)
primus: clean, 131822/2564096 files, 1160902/10240000 blocks

So thankfully the partition doesn't have any errors.

Quote:

/dev/sda1 is only example here

Code:

# mount -t auto  /dev/sda1    /mnt

This has mounted the partition. Thank you!

Higgsboson · 01-07-2015, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colorpurple21859

You got several threads going about this install using debootstrap. Since you already have the base system installed maybe this will help. This is assuming you have an internet connection with live-usb

I've done as you've said and it worked!
Debian opens up to the desktop and now I have a fully working linux OS on my hard drive! So debootloader cuts out the need for burning cds!

So this must mean the 'cp /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/etc/resolv.conf' command will work if a live USB is being used to install an OS onto hdd via debootloader.

The install wasn't entirely successful though. It couldn't find 'firmware-linux-nonfree':

Code:

root@debian:/# apt-get install firmware-linux-nonfree
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package firmware-linux-nonfree

Also, the 'tasksel' command gave an error message:

Code:

root@debian:/# tasksel --list-tasks
perl: warning: Setting locale failed.
perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings:
	LANGUAGE = (unset),
	LC_ALL = (unset),
	LANG = "en_US.UTF-8"
    are supported and installed on your system.

So just like my live USB, the gnome shell and debian-installer fails to load, and I have no sound.
But at least I have debian on hard disk with persistence! Thanks so much dude!

colorpurple21859 · 01-07-2015, 08:45 AM

install locales with

Code:

apt-get install locales

for the firmware did you edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file and do a apt-cache search firmware for the correct pkg name? Also did you setup you timezone and add a user?

replica9000 · 01-07-2015, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Higgsboson

I've done as you've said and it worked!
Debian opens up to the desktop and now I have a fully working linux OS on my hard drive! So debootloader cuts out the need for burning cds!

So this must mean the 'cp /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/etc/resolv.conf' command will work if a live USB is being used to install an OS onto hdd via debootloader.

The install wasn't entirely successful though. It couldn't find 'firmware-linux-nonfree':

Code:

root@debian:/# apt-get install firmware-linux-nonfree
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package firmware-linux-nonfree

Also, the 'tasksel' command gave an error message:

Code:

root@debian:/# tasksel --list-tasks
perl: warning: Setting locale failed.
perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings:
	LANGUAGE = (unset),
	LC_ALL = (unset),
	LANG = "en_US.UTF-8"
    are supported and installed on your system.

So just like my live USB, the gnome shell and debian-installer fails to load, and I have no sound.
But at least I have debian on hard disk with persistence! Thanks so much dude!

Make sure your /etc/apt/sources.list file has this entry:

Code:

deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main non-free contrib

Then you need to run apt-get update so apt will get a list of the new packages available.

Higgsboson · 01-07-2015, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colorpurple21859

install locales with

Code:

apt-get install locales

I have now done this and I think it worked ok.
The time and date on the desktop is correct.

Quote:

for the firmware did you edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file

I forgot about that.
I've gone to /etc/apt/sources.list as root and manually added 'non-free' and 'contrib' to the website.
I also changed it from 'US' to 'UK' hoping that a closer mirror will be better for me.

Quote:

and do a apt-cache search firmware for the correct pkg name?

I did apt-get update and then apt-cache search firmware.
I got a long list. So I installed alsa-firmware-loaders and firmware-linux-nonfree. The latter pkg had the following error message:

Code:

update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-4-amd64
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168f-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168f-1.fw for module r8169

So I'm not sure what that means?
There is still no sound and an error message at boot seems to point to my radeon HDMI connection. I think that's preventing me from getting sound and loading gm3.

Quote:

Also did you setup you timezone and add a user?

Yes! That happened when I booted up after the additional installs.

Higgsboson · 01-07-2015, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by replica9000

Make sure your /etc/apt/sources.list file has this entry:

Code:

deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main non-free contrib

Then you need to run apt-get update so apt will get a list of the new packages available.

I have now done this. I've additionally installed firmware-realtek because I think I have something to do with that on my pc. Also lshw-gtk and lshw (information about hardware configuration)

I've done a reboot after all that, but still no sound. Is there a way of fixing on which hardware is the issue?

Higgsboson · 01-07-2015, 01:48 PM

Woah, the gnome shell is now working! It's looking like a cool desktop!
Should I start a new thread about the sound problem?

colorpurple21859 · 01-07-2015, 03:23 PM

This might help.
https://wiki.debian.org/SoundConfiguration https://wiki.debian.org/SoundFAQ

Higgsboson · 01-07-2015, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colorpurple21859

This might help.
https://wiki.debian.org/SoundConfiguration https://wiki.debian.org/SoundFAQ

Thanks dude. This is a good place to start!