LinuxQuestions.org
Help answer threads with 0 replies.
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Newbie
User Name
Password
Linux - Newbie This Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question? If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 04-17-2011, 01:35 PM   #1
Joshuamonkey
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Apr 2011
Location: USA
Distribution: Ubuntu
Posts: 1

Rep: Reputation: 0
Ubuntu booting problem: Can't find /sbin/init


I have an Acer netbook with the netbook version of Ubuntu and Windows 7. When I try to boot on Ubuntu I get a terminal that says "Target filesystem doesn't have /sbin/init. No init found. Try passing init= bootarg." I've found questions about this, but I get lost at "after booting from livecd." I put ubuntu-10.10-netbook-i386 on a flash card, but I don't know how to boot from it; I think that's my main problem.
 
Old 04-17-2011, 03:00 PM   #2
Snark1994
Senior Member
 
Registered: Sep 2010
Distribution: Debian
Posts: 1,632
Blog Entries: 3

Rep: Reputation: 346Reputation: 346Reputation: 346Reputation: 346
How did you install Ubuntu on it? I had a real pig of a time getting an Acer netbook to boot to a live CD, I eventually booted it using USB. I've never tried booting from a flash card, but it may well be possible if you're having trouble getting it to boot then the first step is to change the BIOS settings so that Hard Disk is below whatever other media you want to boot (in this case, it could be the CD, DVD, Flash or USB)
 
Old 04-17-2011, 03:38 PM   #3
jefro
Moderator
 
Registered: Mar 2008
Posts: 21,937

Rep: Reputation: 3619Reputation: 3619Reputation: 3619Reputation: 3619Reputation: 3619Reputation: 3619Reputation: 3619Reputation: 3619Reputation: 3619Reputation: 3619Reputation: 3619
Are you trying to boot from the hard drive grub to look for a CF reader?
 
Old 04-19-2011, 12:01 AM   #4
jfxg
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Aug 2007
Distribution: PClinuxOS
Posts: 25

Rep: Reputation: 15
I think you are using grub 2. here is something on it. I don't have much experience on it but here is some info from ubuntu:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1195275
init is the first program run after /dev/root is mounted. It sounds like grub can't find the root partition.
read the above entry and check the menu before you boot the os.
good luck
 
Old 04-20-2011, 02:15 PM   #5
joel_k
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Jan 2008
Posts: 8

Rep: Reputation: 0
Booting flash drive - finding /sbin/init

On my eeepc I bring up a boot menu by pressing F2 and then selecting the flash drive or sd card - try googling for your acer model and boot flash drive, etc. Can you still boot windows, or did you set the machine up to be only ubuntu? If it is a dual boot, you should probably be looking at a menu that lets you select the system to boot when you first turn the machine on. You arrow down the menu to select the operating system. This menu should be grub2 for ubuntu. You can type e to edit the commands that boot that particular operating system. You will need to have a root="something" in the kernel command line. Ex:


linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-22-generic root=UUID=32304494-b7be-4da9-81c8-bb1a8fbfc25e ro single

this is an ubuntu boot which usually identifies the root partion by a long UUID string. You can also identify the root partion by device like: /dev/sda2. If you can boot some version of linux from a flash drive typing dmesg | grep sda should show you the partions found on your first hard drive. Typing
sudo mkdir /mnt/sdaX <Ret>
sudo mount -o ro /dev/sdaX /mnt/sdaX <Ret>
(Replace "X" with the number of the partion you install ubuntu on.) This will mount the partion read-only under /mnt/sdaX.
Type:
ls -l /mnt/sdaX/sbin/init
This should turn up something, at least a link. I haven't quite figured out upstart, which is what ubuntu uses instead of init if I remember. If you can't find something under /mnt/sdaX/sbin/init you should probably think of re-installing. Google your model number of acer, and get the most complete description of how someone got ubuntu installed that you can find.
 
  


Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
[SOLVED] Target filesystem cant find sbin/init Manobi Ubuntu 3 12-27-2010 06:41 PM
can't find /sbin/init, drops to busybox th1bill Linux - Desktop 3 09-10-2010 07:10 AM
/sbin/init: Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init! jalejo08 Linux - Kernel 7 07-02-2009 01:16 PM
No /sbin/init found on rootdev... mkinitrd problem? a_priebe47 Slackware 6 05-15-2008 09:49 AM
Chkroot scan - /sbin/init & /sbin/ifconfig INFECTED bicoba Linux - Security 4 06-07-2006 09:16 AM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Newbie

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:34 AM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration