Linux Mint System Won't Boot but Fsck Clean
Hi all,
I was running Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia prior to the problems described here. I've just made some changes to my PC which now won't boot. I am attempting to install a new graphics card, and so have installed a RAM upgrade and I have also connected up a new hard drive, which is meant to be unrelated to my Linux build (it's used to run the Windows config my brother uses on the same computer). My system is running a 1TB main disc, the Windows 250GB disc mentioned above, and a 250GB mounted drive which I set up a while back. Being new to this stuff, I think I managed to mount the extra disc incorrectly, since next time I booted I was dropped into recovery mode and got bailed out by some utility helpfully fixing the errors for me - sorry, can't remember the name or specifics of this, but figured it might be important. Now, I made all the changes listed above, and for a while it was dropping me into recovery mode, now I just get a blinking cursor. Following some advice online, I booted into Mint from a Live USB and ran fsck on the two drives, both of which came back clean, so I'm a little stuck on what to do next. Any suggestions? Final piece of info - I think the drives were set up incorrectly because my main 1TB drive is listed as /dev/sdb1, whereas the 250GB drive is at /dev/sda. I think this was probably the reason why when I booted a while back it had to correct these errors - it was trying to boot of /dev/sda by default? Just a thought ... Any ideas would be much appreciated, cheers. |
I'm not speaking from a position of knowledge, but the problem *could* be your /etc/fstab file now being incorrect.
Boot up into Linux off an external media, and paste the contents of /etc/fstab on your boot disk here. Also paste the results from blkid so that we can compare them. |
Moderator Response
Moved: This thread is more suitable in <Linux Mint> and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.
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The move will not hurt it, but I am not sure that this issue is specific to Mint.
On my systems I always label the devices, and change the fstab and grub setting to use the label. I do this because I have seen issues when a minor udev change or hardware change remapped the devices and cause problems like this. Such problems are rare when the device UUID is used for both, but that is NOT very user friendly, and apparently is not in play in this case. An analysis, and solution, will have to await the feedback form the OP. I am looking forward to that with great anticipation. |
Hi, thanks for the responses.
Booting from USB and running 'cat /etc/fstab' returns: overlay / overlay rw 0 0 tmpfs /tmp tmpfs nosuid,nodev 0 0 and the result of 'blkid' is: /dev/sda: UUID="b9d9e4e2-48a4-4bd0-87ba-eab08a98cdb3" TYPE="ext4" /dev/sdb1: UUID="34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="746d55fc-01" |
I've also posted this question on forums.linuxmint.com, and a user has suggested the command 'inxi -SMdpo', which returns the following output if this is of some use:
System: Host: mint Kernel: 5.0.0-32-generic x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.4.5 Distro: Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia Machine: Type: Desktop Mobo: MSI model: 970A-G43 (MS-7693) v: 3.0 serial: <root required> BIOS: American Megatrends v: 10.3 date: 03/28/2013 Drives: Local Storage: total: 1.14 TiB used: 56.8 MiB (0.0%) ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD2500AAJS-75M0A0 size: 232.83 GiB ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 1TB size: 931.51 GiB ID-3: /dev/sdc type: USB vendor: TDK model: Media Trans-It Drive size: 7.46 GiB Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: TSSTcorp model: CDDVDW SH-224DB dev-links: cdrom,cdrw,dvd,dvdrw Features: speed: 48 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram Partition: ID-1: / size: 3.87 GiB used: 56.8 MiB (1.4%) fs: overlay source: ERR-102 ID-2: /rofs raw size: 1.81 GiB size: <root required> used: <root required> fs: squashfs dev: /dev/loop0 Unmounted: ID-1: /dev/sdb1 size: 931.51 GiB fs: ext4 label: N/A uuid: 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e ID-2: /dev/sdc1 size: 1.90 GiB fs: iso9660 label: Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon 64-bit uuid: 20 |
Quote:
Linux enumerates disks as it finds them, (sda, sdb, etc) Your original boot disk is likely no longer /dev/sda. Use UUID or PARTUUID in your fstab file, & all should work. You could use 'labels' also, (but I suggest disk ID is probably better). |
boot the live Linux and run the following commands
Code:
sudo mkdir /mnt/sdb Code:
lsblk -f |
Hi, as requested:
mint@mint:~$ sudo mkdir /mnt/sdb mint@mint:~$ sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/sdb mint@mint:~$ lsblk -f NAME FSTYPE LABEL UUID MOUNTPOINT loop0 squash /rofs sda ext4 b9d9e4e2-48a4-4bd0-87ba-eab08a98cdb3 sdb └─sdb1 ext4 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e /mnt/sdb sdc iso966 Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon 64-bit │ 2019-12-13-16-58-44-00 /cdrom ├─sdc1 │ iso966 Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon 64-bit │ 2019-12-13-16-58-44-00 └─sdc2 vfat Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon 64-bit 833C-CDB0 sr0 and the second one: mint@mint:~$ cat /mnt/sdb/etc/fstab # /etc/fstab: static file system information. # # Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a # device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices # that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5). # # <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass> # / was on /dev/sda1 during installation UUID=34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 /swapfile none swap sw 0 0 /dev/sda /mnt/sda ext4 defaults 0 0 but the third one did not have a grub directory: mint@mint:~$ cat /mnt/sdb/grub/grub.cfg cat: /mnt/sdb/grub/grub.cfg: No such file or directory mint@mint:~$ ls /mnt/sdb bin dev initrd.img lib32 media proc sbin swapfile tmp vmlinuz boot etc initrd.img.old lib64 mnt root snap sys usr vmlinuz.old cdrom home lib lost+found opt run srv timeshift var |
sorry that should have been
Code:
cat /mnt/sdb/boot/grub/grub.cfg |
delete this line in the /mnt/sdb/etc/fstab
Code:
/dev/sda /mnt/sda ext4 defaults 0 0 Code:
sudo nano /mnt/sdb/etc/fstab |
mint@mint:~$ cat /mnt/sdb/boot/grub/grub.cfg
# # DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE # # It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates # from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub # ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ### if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then set have_grubenv=true load_env fi if [ "${next_entry}" ] ; then set default="${next_entry}" set next_entry= save_env next_entry set boot_once=true else set default="0" fi if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then menuentry_id_option="--id" else menuentry_id_option="" fi export menuentry_id_option if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}" save_env saved_entry set prev_saved_entry= save_env prev_saved_entry set boot_once=true fi function savedefault { if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then saved_entry="${chosen}" save_env saved_entry fi } function recordfail { set recordfail=1 if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi } function load_video { if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then insmod all_video else insmod efi_gop insmod efi_uga insmod ieee1275_fb insmod vbe insmod vga insmod video_bochs insmod video_cirrus fi } insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='hd1,msdos1' if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e else search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e fi if loadfont /boot/grub/fonts/UbuntuMono16.pf2 ; then set gfxmode=auto load_video insmod gfxterm set locale_dir=$prefix/locale set lang=en_GB insmod gettext fi terminal_output gfxterm insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='hd1,msdos1' if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e else search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e fi insmod gfxmenu insmod png set theme=($root)/boot/grub/themes/linuxmint/theme.txt export theme if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ] ; then set timeout=30 else if [ x$feature_timeout_style = xy ] ; then set timeout_style=hidden set timeout=0 # Fallback hidden-timeout code in case the timeout_style feature is # unavailable. elif sleep --interruptible 0 ; then set timeout=0 fi fi ### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ### set menu_color_normal=white/black set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray ### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ### function gfxmode { set gfxpayload="${1}" if [ "${1}" = "keep" ]; then set vt_handoff=vt.handoff=1 else set vt_handoff= fi } if [ "${recordfail}" != 1 ]; then if [ -e ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt ]; then if hwmatch ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt 3; then if [ ${match} = 0 ]; then set linux_gfx_mode=keep else set linux_gfx_mode=text fi else set linux_gfx_mode=text fi else set linux_gfx_mode=keep fi else set linux_gfx_mode=text fi export linux_gfx_mode menuentry 'Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e' { recordfail load_video gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode insmod gzio if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='hd1,msdos1' if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e else search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e fi linux /boot/vmlinuz-5.3.0-40-generic root=UUID=34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e ro quiet splash $vt_handoff initrd /boot/initrd.img-5.3.0-40-generic } submenu 'Advanced options for Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e' { menuentry 'Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon, with Linux 5.3.0-40-generic' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-5.3.0-40-generic-advanced-34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e' { recordfail load_video gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode insmod gzio if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='hd1,msdos1' if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e else search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e fi echo 'Loading Linux 5.3.0-40-generic ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-5.3.0-40-generic root=UUID=34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e ro quiet splash $vt_handoff echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-5.3.0-40-generic } menuentry 'Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon, with Linux 5.3.0-40-generic (recovery mode)' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-5.3.0-40-generic-recovery-34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e' { recordfail load_video insmod gzio if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='hd1,msdos1' if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e else search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e fi echo 'Loading Linux 5.3.0-40-generic ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-5.3.0-40-generic root=UUID=34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e ro recovery nomodeset echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-5.3.0-40-generic } menuentry 'Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon, with Linux 5.3.0-28-generic' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-5.3.0-28-generic-advanced-34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e' { recordfail load_video gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode insmod gzio if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='hd1,msdos1' if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e else search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e fi echo 'Loading Linux 5.3.0-28-generic ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-5.3.0-28-generic root=UUID=34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e ro quiet splash $vt_handoff echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-5.3.0-28-generic } menuentry 'Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon, with Linux 5.3.0-28-generic (recovery mode)' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-5.3.0-28-generic-recovery-34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e' { recordfail load_video insmod gzio if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='hd1,msdos1' if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e else search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e fi echo 'Loading Linux 5.3.0-28-generic ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-5.3.0-28-generic root=UUID=34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e ro recovery nomodeset echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-5.3.0-28-generic } menuentry 'Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon, with Linux 5.0.0-32-generic' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-5.0.0-32-generic-advanced-34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e' { recordfail load_video gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode insmod gzio if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='hd1,msdos1' if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e else search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e fi echo 'Loading Linux 5.0.0-32-generic ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-5.0.0-32-generic root=UUID=34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e ro quiet splash $vt_handoff echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-5.0.0-32-generic } menuentry 'Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon, with Linux 5.0.0-32-generic (recovery mode)' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-5.0.0-32-generic-recovery-34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e' { recordfail load_video insmod gzio if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='hd1,msdos1' if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e else search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e fi echo 'Loading Linux 5.0.0-32-generic ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-5.0.0-32-generic root=UUID=34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e ro recovery nomodeset echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-5.0.0-32-generic } } ### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ### ### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ### menuentry 'Memory test (memtest86+)' { insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='hd1,msdos1' if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e else search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e fi knetbsd /boot/memtest86+.elf } menuentry 'Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)' { insmod part_msdos insmod ext2 set root='hd1,msdos1' if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e else search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 34f29a91-35d6-4797-ad41-ac2f2aef8f2e fi linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8 } ### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ### ### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_uefi-firmware ### ### END /etc/grub.d/30_uefi-firmware ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ### # This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the # menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change # the 'exec tail' line above. ### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ### if [ -f ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then source $prefix/custom.cfg; fi ### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ### |
I deleted the line mentioned and rebooted, have the following error on screen if this is any help:
[ 35.526753] ata4.00 status: {DRDY} [ 35.526753] ata4.00 failed command: WRITE FPDMA QUEUED [ 35.526753] ata4.00 cmd 61/10:50:98:da:41/00:00:06:00:00/40 tag 10 ncq dma 8192 out etc. |
do a search on the error
Quote:
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