There are disk errors that are preventing boot.

FSCK does not help because I just get 'fsck from util-linux 2.31.1'

What do I need to do? Detailed step by step instructions please.

You provide almost no context.

Please read this, then provide more information.

I am not sure what other context I can provide. It was Linux Mint that will not longer boot due to a file system error. It will only boot to an intrams prompt.

I know nothing about intrams - it is the first time I have seen it.

Other people who have had this problem got the advice to run fsck to fix the file system error.

I tried it however fsck will not run. I get the prompt 'run fsck in unbuntu_utils...' I have no clue what that means. What utils? Where?

Do you know the device name of your root partition? If so, just use it as the target of fsck, e.g:
If not, it's probably easier to boot your installation image and fsck the all hard drive partitions from there until you find the root partition that needs fixing.
As long as partitions aren't mounted, an unnecessary fsck won't do them any harm at all.

An initramfs btw is just a little temporary root filesystem in ram with basic software that the kernel mounts and then uses to find and load the drivers for the real root partition on the hard drive.

the most important thing is to tell us exactly what's going on. "this does not work" or "that did not help" is not really useful.
Describe all the steps you made and all the responses. If there is no other way you can post screenshots.

1 members found this post helpful.

Assuming you get a
(initramfs)
prompt.

initramfs is a early boot stage where the Linux runs in RAM, not using the disk. "init-ram-filesystem"

Does it report a difficulty with a certain
/dev/sdXY device?

The device is a disk or partition.

Which device is it exactly?
As suggested, run fsck on your device, like

fsck /dev/sdXY

Answer all questions with y