SuSE wont boot and I can't recover my user files.
 

Can anyone Help,

SuSE wont boot and I can't recover my user files.

SuSE support has not bean helpful.

I'm using the same SuSE linux version on 2 machines.

Machine #1 is hung in run level 5, with a "spawning
too fast" loop during boot. I can not access the
system via consol, terminal, or GUI, with any boot
option, the CD, or the YaST2-generated boot disk.

I must recover my user files from machine #1, so I
put the hard drive in machine #2 and successfully did
a "mount /dev/hdb1 /opt2". It seems all machine
#1's data is visible, except /home; my (user files)
remain invisible.

Why is machine #1's /home (user files) empty when
mounted on machine #2 as a slave drive?

Can anyone help me access machine #1's /home (user
files), or properly mount the slave drive's /home
directory?

Roger Ruhle
Fullerton, CA.

Machine specific info:

Machine #1 - 20GB ExcelStor - boot failure -
STD Install - KDE with Office - 3 User login
4 Linux partitions
1 SWAP
3 ReiserFS - /, USER, OPT

Machine #2 - 20GB WD200 - works fine -
Dual boot machine - Win98 / SuSE 8.0
Active partition is FAT16 with Lilo in MBR
STD Install - KDE with Office - 1 User login
3 Linux partitions
1 SWAP
2 ReiserFS - /, USER
hdb1 mounted to hda1 /opt2, but hdb1 /home directory
and user files are invisable.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Church endeared spirit, but forced early coming
of age into shame.
Military service endeared tuition assistance, but
broke all spirit and thoroughly corrupted comming of
age. College forced debt and made no promises, but
was my legion for a well adjusted comming of age.
-- Roger Ruhle at CSU Fullerton, 1994

I'm not positive, but in RH runlevel 5 is boot into X, try switching it into run level 3, I can't remember how to do this but i'm sure if you search on google you'll find it. (3 is boot into console, at least it is in Redhat)

Can you read your original fstab?

Did you crypt your /home directory?

SuSE wont boot and I can't recover my user files.
 

Thanks for the help guys..

pilot1: I will look for any HotKeys that divert the SuSE boot process to the console or runlevel 3. Thx

mcleodnine: Nothing sould be crypted. I declined the only crypting choice the SuSE install allowed, which was for the partitions.

From reading threads on network setups and /home (user files), I began to suspect the procedure for mounting user files from another source may require more than just mounting the device.

I discovered the "-t" option for mounting specific directories is not recognized, neither is the command "mount /device :home /home" In an attempt to add the slave's users to machine #2's log in.

SuSE must have some special syntax or procedure for mounting user files from other sources (slaves). If so, I could recover my user files from machine #1 --regardless if it boots--, but I-dun-know what that procedure is yet.

Thx

Roger


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"I require three things from a man. He must be handson, ruthless, and stupid."
-- Dorothy Parker

Hi
about your hotkeys search, if you boot using lilo;
in suse i remember you only have to hit space
then enter the bootlabel and the runlevel like;
linux runlevel 3 (or suse runlevel 3 depends on label)
(in redhat ctrl+x ,in mandrake esc)
for grub read this;
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/...ing-single.html
but type; runlevel 3 instead of single
good luck

SuSE wont boot and I can't recover my user files.
 

Following up on mcleodnine's idea, I examined the slave drive's /etc/fstab file and discovered a problem.

While nothing was encrypted, there was one line I did not expect.

/dev/hda4 /home reiserfs defaults 1 2

I thought the slave drive partitions were: SWAP, /, /user, /opt
fstab revealed those partitions were: SWAP, /, /home, /opt

If /home (user files) did not exist on the root "/" partition, that would explain why /home was empty after mounting the slave's root, or "mount /dev/hdb1 /opt2"

Executing from machine #2 "mount /dev/hdb4 /home2" with machine #1's drive attached as a slave, properly revealed the user files from the slave, regardless of it's boot failure.

I finally recovered my user files. YaaaOsss My Friends, your contributions went to a good cause!

Note: Machine #1's Boot failure syntax

Early in the boot process, just after the file system mounted root, and before most devices were detected, this error occured.

Init: Entering runlevel 5
INIT: Id "1" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
INIT: Id "2" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
INIT: Id "3" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
INIT: Id "4" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
INIT: Id "5" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
INIT: Id "6" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes

The above sequence looped every 5 minutes. Except for the POWER SWITCH, no "Hotkey(s)" or boot option interupted this inevitable error sequence.

My homework led me to believe Machine #1's boot failure may be fixable while mounted as a slave, by searching for error messages in its /var/log/messages, /var/log/news or /var/log/mail, and perhaps hours of experimental tweaking of its /etc/X11/XF86Config, or "/etc/inittab.

However, I believe, the amount of disk-drive jumper switching from slave to master required to manually test such tweaks, just to get it in runlevel 3, is beyond my threshold for pain.

Unlike Jeffrey below, the luxury of a Silo prompt or runlevel 3 eludes me and perhaps SuSE 8.0.

One clue found with www.google.com
Re: [suse-sparc] Netra problem with login
From: Jeffrey Young (jyoung82@carolina.rr.com)
Date: Sun May 20 2001 - 16:52:19 PDT

Since, I now have the user data I need,
I now believe,
YaaaOsss My Friends, with God as my witness,
I will format that SOB

Thanks to all yall, for helping me recover my user files.

Roger R.
Fullerton, CA

'
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"..those who suffer for others do more damage to humanity than those who enjoy themselves." Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/99mar/eatwell.htm

I've had problems with Excelstor drives the severity of which seems to depend on the motherboard type.

ASUS A7V233 is a nightmare with these drives and goes tit's up at every oppurtunity I've even had the respawn loop you report.

The only way I cured it was by appending ide=nodma to lilo.conf. The only problem there is whether you can get to lilo.conf or not.

If you have a boot disk or if the SuSE cds have a rescue option try booting on the command line with:

linux ide=nodma

and see if this works.

All the best,


Jools