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Distribution: openSuSE Tumbleweed-KDE, Mint 21, MX-21, Manjaro
Posts: 4,629
Rep:
Boot stops. Can't find (mount?) partitions. Why?
This is openSuSE 11.0
Bootsplash verbose, excerpt from the output:
Code:
...
USB ohci_hcd
USB usb7: SerialNumber: 0000:00:16.0
Trying manual resume from /dev/sdb9 {which is swap of course}
resume device /dev/sdb9 not found (ignoring)
Trying manual resume from /dev/sdb9
resume device /dev/sdb9 not found (ignoring)
Waiting for device /dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor....-part7 to appear
..........................................................
Could not find /dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor....-part7...
Want me to fall back to /dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor....-part7 (Y/n) y
Not found, exiting to /bin/sh
I can't mount by hand either, it says "unknown command".
This is the disk from my old box {deceased}. I installed it as second disk in my new box which runs openSuSE 11.3_64. This second disk carries openSuSE 11.2 which I can boot with the same GRUB, openSuSE 11.0 which throws the errors shown above and FreeBSD which breaks off booting ending up in a prompt "mountroot>".
I need the old SuSE she has our homebanking program .
As I understand your post, you removed the hard drive containing Opensuse 11.0 and placed it in a drive which has Opensuse 11.3 and 11.2 on it and you are able to successfully boot the latter two using Grub from, 11.3?
Check the menu.lst entry from 11.3 (if you are using its Grub) to see what entry you have for 11.0. Check the /etc/fstab to see what it has.
It's looking for the system on partition 7. Is that where it is?
I have Opensuse 11.2 and had problems booting a couple of other systems. Using a configfile entry or chainloader in place of the /dev/disk/by-id worked for me. Lazy way out but...
If you use the configfile or chainloader you will need the Grub files in 11.0.
Distribution: openSuSE Tumbleweed-KDE, Mint 21, MX-21, Manjaro
Posts: 4,629
Original Poster
Rep:
Umm, no and yes .
I placed the old drive in a new computer, all unchanged, i.e. the hardware moved over to the new chassis. The old one has 11.0 and 11.2 on it. On boot 11.0 dies with the messages shown in the OP, but I can boot 11.2. (and of course 11.3_64 from my new drive).
I made the old drive bootable in the BIOS and I also chainloaded the old GRUB(!) with my latest installation on the new drive resulting in the same failure. And yes, 11.0's "/" is on /dev/sdb7.
This is the new /boot/grub menu.lst:
Quote:
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title Desktop -- openSUSE 11.3 - 2.6.34.7-0.5
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.5-desktop root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST31000520AS_5VX0VRDP-part5 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST31000520AS_5VX0VRDP-part7 splash=verbose quiet showopts vga=0x345
initrd /initrd-2.6.34.7-0.5-desktop
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: openSUSE 11.2 - 2.6.31.14-0.1 (default) (/dev/sdb1)###
title openSUSE 11.2 und 11.0 (Bootloader auf /dev/sdb1)
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
chainloader +1
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.0 - 2.6.25.5-1.1-pae
root (hd1,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.25.5-1.1-pae root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6L250R0_L607SAMG-part7 lang=de resume=/dev/sdb9 splash=verbose showopts vga=0x345
initrd /initrd-2.6.25.5-1.1-pae
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: FreeBSD###
title FreeBSD 8.0 mit GRUB direkt
rootnoverify (hd1,2)
makeactive
root (hd1,2,a)
kernel /boot/loader
This is the chainloaded /boot/grub/menu.lst from the old GRUB / drive:
Quote:
# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Sat Sep 25 11:47:34 CEST 2010
# THIS FILE WILL BE PARTIALLY OVERWRITTEN by perl-Bootloader
# Configure custom boot parameters for updated kernels in /etc/sysconfig/bootloader
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.2 - 2.6.31.14-0.1 (default)
root (hd1,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.31.14-0.1-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6L250R0_L607SAMG-part11 resume=/dev/sdb9 splash=verbose showopts vga=0x345
initrd /initrd-2.6.31.14-0.1-default
[...]
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.0 - 2.6.25.5-1.1-pae
root (hd1,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.25.5-1.1-pae root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor_6L250R0_L607SAMG-part7 lang=de resume=/dev/sdb9 splash=verbose showopts vga=0x345
initrd /initrd-2.6.25.5-1.1-pae
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: FreeBSD###
title FreeBSD 8.0 mit GRUB direkt
rootnoverify (hd1,2)
makeactive
root (hd1,2,a)
kernel /boot/loader
See anything? And please keep in mind the booting kernel can't mount /dev/sdb7. Why?
When you boot initially, it is using the OS 11.3 bootloader, the one you refer to as the "new" menu.lst, is that correct?
Does the problem occur when selecting 11.0 from this menu? It shows the two standard entries for 11.3, the next title line show 11.2 and 11.0 and I expect that boots 11.2? The title line after that is just for 11.0 which when selected fails?
Note the root entries. You have root (hd0,0) for 11.3 and 11.0 and 11.2 shows root (hd1,0). 11.2 and 11.0 are on the same drive, correct? If so, change the 11.0 entry to reflect which partition it is on.
If that is not the problem, I mean if you boot from your initial menu.lst on 11.3 and select the 11.2 and 11.0 chainloader entry and then get the problem, the solution would be different. The menu.lst from the old drive is from OS 11.2? If so, and this is where the problem comes up, check its /etc/fstab file.
The error complains about not being able to find sdb9, swap partition. Do you have that? The other part of the error is "Could not find /dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor....-part7...". It's looking for partition 7 without success!
In the second menu.lst (old) are those the original entries?
Posting your partition info might help?
Distribution: openSuSE Tumbleweed-KDE, Mint 21, MX-21, Manjaro
Posts: 4,629
Original Poster
Rep:
Quote:
Originally Posted by yancek
When you boot initially, it is using the OS 11.3 bootloader, the one you refer to as the "new" menu.lst, is that correct?
Yes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by yancek
Does the problem occur when selecting 11.0 from this menu? It shows the two standard entries for 11.3, the next title line show and I expect that boots 11.2? The title line after that is just for 11.0 which when selected fails?
Not immediately. This entry line with 11.2 and 11.0 (chain)-loads the old GRUB from /dev/sdb. It lets me select from the second menu.lst snippet which then fails. As does the last line with the direct call.
Quote:
Originally Posted by yancek
Note the root entries. You have root (hd0,0) for 11.3 and 11.0 and 11.2 shows root (hd1,0). 11.2 and 11.0 are on the same drive, correct? If so, change the 11.0 entry to reflect which partition it is on.
11.3 is on /dev/sda, the others on /dev/sdb. 11.0's "/" is on /dev/sdb7, 11.2's "/" on /dev/sdb11
Quote:
Originally Posted by yancek
If that is not the problem, I mean if you boot from your initial menu.lst on 11.3 and select the 11.2 and 11.0 chainloader entry and then get the problem, the solution would be different. The menu.lst from the old drive is from OS 11.2? If so, and this is where the problem comes up, check its /etc/fstab file.
You mean the /etc/fstab off 11.0? Now this is an idea... I'll report later.
Quote:
Originally Posted by yancek
The error complains about not being able to find sdb9, swap partition. Do you have that? The other part of the error is "Could not find ...". It's looking for partition 7 without success!
Yes, /dev/sdb9 is the old swap, which is not active now. Indeed /dev/disk/by-id/ata-Maxtor....-part7 is 11.0's "/".
Quote:
Originally Posted by yancek
In the second menu.lst (old) are those the original entries?
Posting your partition info might help?
They are mostly the original. At first I changed the boot device in the BIOS (i.e. swapped sda and sdb) but this didn't work either. Here is the output from "fdisk -l":
Code:
linux-3ppp:/home/me # fdisk -l
Platte /dev/sda: 1000.2 GByte, 1000204886016 Byte
255 Köpfe, 63 Sektoren/Spur, 121601 Zylinder
Einheiten = Zylinder von 16065 × 512 = 8225280 Bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00009696
Gerät boot. Anfang Ende Blöcke Id System
/dev/sda1 1 17 128000 83 Linux
Partition 1 endet nicht an einer Zylindergrenze.
/dev/sda2 17 4194 33551360 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 * 4194 12549 67111936 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 12549 121602 875969536 f W95 Erw. (LBA)
/dev/sda5 12549 16726 33550336 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 16726 25080 67109888 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 25081 25602 4192256 82 Linux Swap / Solaris
Platte /dev/sdb: 251.0 GByte, 251000193024 Byte
255 Köpfe, 63 Sektoren/Spur, 30515 Zylinder
Einheiten = Zylinder von 16065 × 512 = 8225280 Bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00041d0d
Gerät boot. Anfang Ende Blöcke Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 62 497983+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb2 63 1308 10008495 bf Solaris
/dev/sdb3 * 1309 3267 15735667+ a5 FreeBSD
/dev/sdb4 3268 30515 218869560 f W95 Erw. (LBA)
/dev/sdb5 12332 13637 10490413+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb6 13638 16070 19543041 83 Linux
/dev/sdb7 16071 18029 15735636 83 Linux
/dev/sdb8 18030 19988 15735636 83 Linux
/dev/sdb9 19989 20237 2000061 82 Linux Swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb10 20238 20498 2096451 83 Linux
/dev/sdb11 20499 25067 36700461 83 Linux
/dev/sdb12 3268 12331 72806517 83 Linux
The changes (for now) should just be on the old menu.lst, from 11.2.
Just to clarify, when you select from the new menu.lst the 11.2 chainloader entry, you are able to successfully boot 11.2 off the second menu.lst but booting 11.0 from that menu.lst fails? I would suggest you change the entry for 11.0 from: root (hd1,0) to root (hd1,6). I have Opensuse 11.2 and here is its menu.lst entry. It is on sda8, swap on partition 6:
Check the fstab file on 11.0 which is what you are booting from at this point and make sure the entries for 11.0 and swap are correct. sdb7 and sdb9. (Just re-read your last post. You said sdb9 swap is not active so are you using the swap on the first drive. Maybe changing the 11.2 fstab entry for swap to sda7 would help).
You could check the disk by-id to make sure they are correct. I doubt this is the problem though: ls /dev/disk/by-id
Distribution: openSuSE Tumbleweed-KDE, Mint 21, MX-21, Manjaro
Posts: 4,629
Original Poster
Rep:
Quote:
Originally Posted by yancek
...when you select from the new menu.lst the 11.2 chainloader entry, you are able to successfully boot 11.2 off the second menu.lst but booting 11.0 from that menu.lst fails?
That is correct. Booting also fails using GRUB of the 11.3_64 installation (see first menu.lst).
Quote:
Originally Posted by yancek
I would suggest you change the entry for 11.0 from: root (hd1,0) to root (hd1,6).
That doesn't work. I tried it for sheer desperation but as I understand the GRUB manual "root" points to the partition where GRUB resides. I usually give it an own parition (i.e. (hd1,0) for /dev/sdb -- the old installations and (hd0,0) for /dev/sda's /boot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by yancek
I have Opensuse 11.2 and here is its menu.lst entry. It is on sda8, swap on partition 6:
I'd guess you have /boot as a normal subdirectory in the "/" partition? My setup is different here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by yancek
Check the fstab file on 11.0 which is what you are booting from at this point and make sure the entries for 11.0 and swap are correct....
They are. I erred in asmuch as swap is still /dev/sdb9 for openSuSE 11.0, but I gave 11.3_64 a larger one, since my new box has lots more RAM.
Quote:
Originally Posted by yancek
You could check the disk by-id to make sure they are correct. I doubt this is the problem though: ls /dev/disk/by-id
You're right I checked earlier and they are correct.
In the meantime I think that this is a kernel problem. When you re-read my very first post and examine the last line of the "code"-text box it reads: "Not found, exiting to /bin/sh". That's not GRUB's command line that is the shell of the booting kernel I'd say. Any thoughts on this?
...In the meantime I think that this is a kernel problem....
yes, this is very likely. Which differences are between the old an the new hardware? compare lspci for both boxes (maybe a live-CD works). I'll guess there's a missing driver for the disk-controller.
Distribution: openSuSE Tumbleweed-KDE, Mint 21, MX-21, Manjaro
Posts: 4,629
Original Poster
Rep:
The old box is dead (doesn't show even the BIOS messages during power-on self test) so I can't run lspci there.
Wait, I re-re-re-read your post: "missing driver for the disk-controller" you wrote. I'm way out of my depth here but if 11.0 should lack the driver for the controller, how can I find out which one it is (i.e. its name) and is there a way to insert it into the existing installation of 11.0?
P.S.: I do have a CD with drivers of the Gigabyte board, but I doubt that there is anything for linux. I'll look soonest.
Well the point is that I know a similar issue when booting a new Gentooinstallation and my selfbuild kernel is missing the SATA-Controller. In your case the point is, that the drivers for your Harddisk must be in the kernel since it would not have been running in your old computer. But there must be a difference in the hardware. So I would look at lspci with a live-CD and then search in the kernels .config file.
Markus
Edit: you may use lspci with the other Suse installation. But then it may be easier to compare both .config files. Another (better) idea. Start your Suse 11.3 and chroot into the old Suse, then execute lsmod and find out what the old kernel is missing.
Last edited by markush; 11-01-2010 at 08:25 AM.
Reason: typo, new idea
Distribution: openSuSE Tumbleweed-KDE, Mint 21, MX-21, Manjaro
Posts: 4,629
Original Poster
Rep:
Quote:
Originally Posted by markush
...my selfbuild kernel is missing the SATA-Controller. In your case the point is, that the drivers for your Harddisk must be in the kernel since it would not have been running in your old computer. But there must be a difference in the hardware. So I would look at lspci with a live-CD and then search in the kernels .config file.
Hmmm. In the BIOS it says: Second SATA controller running in IDE mode (or somthing like this). It is an old IDE disk. Maybe you hit it right off here and the old Susie hasn't got the right SATA controller driver or IDE driver to run on this hardware).
But one can load kernel modules. If I find the correct one, how to insert that during boot?
I can boot the new hardware and get a lspci, I'll post it soonest -- only right now I'm not sitting in front of that box.
Quote:
Originally Posted by markush
...Edit: you may use lspci with the other Suse installation. But then it may be easier to compare both .config files.
How do I do that at all? I never compiled a kernel so I'm totally new here.
Distribution: openSuSE Tumbleweed-KDE, Mint 21, MX-21, Manjaro
Posts: 4,629
Original Poster
Rep:
No no, it is not that problematic at all: I still have the old 11.2 on the same old disk which does boot . You suggest chroot'ing to the old installation? Hmm, well worth a try. I'll read up on chroot (never used it before).
mount /dev/whereureoldSuseis /mnt/oldsuse
mount -t proc none /mnt/oldsuse/proc
mount -o bind /dev /mnt/oldsuse/dev
chroot /mnt/oldsuse /bin/bash
source /etc/profile
now your in your old system (as root) and can build an adequate kernel (likely only a little modification). But be sure not to configure the new driver as a module since you would need an initrd then.
Markus
Last edited by markush; 11-01-2010 at 08:52 AM.
Reason: added an explanation
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