Cannot Boot: "/sbin/init: No such file or directory"

Well, I'm not entirely sure what happened, but my Ubuntu partition is hosed. If I try to do a standard boot, I'm stuck with a blank monitor after the Grub menu. Selecting "Recovery Mode" shows me the following:

Code:

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run-init:  /sbin/init:  No such file or directory
Kernel panic - not syncying:  Attempted to kill init!
Pid:  1, comm:  run-init Not tainted 3.2.0-34-generic #53-Ubuntu

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The stack trace follows that, and the system hangs.

My first thought was that the filesystem got corrupted somehow (maybe an update or a nasty reboot), so I booted to my my flash drive (Ubuntu Live CD). Following a few other similar threads online, I ran:

Code:

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sudo debugfs
crli <8>
quit

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Followed by this:

Code:

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sudo fsck -yv /dev/sda1

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fsck found a _bunch_ of errors and fixed them, but I still get stuck with the same error when I try to boot...

Ideas?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pkmgarf

Well, I'm not entirely sure what happened, but my Ubuntu partition is hosed. If I try to do a standard boot, I'm stuck with a blank monitor after the Grub menu. Selecting "Recovery Mode" shows me the following:

Code:

---

run-init:  /sbin/init:  No such file or directory
Kernel panic - not syncying:  Attempted to kill init!
Pid:  1, comm:  run-init Not tainted 3.2.0-34-generic #53-Ubuntu

---

The stack trace follows that, and the system hangs.

My first thought was that the filesystem got corrupted somehow (maybe an update or a nasty reboot), so I booted to my my flash drive (Ubuntu Live CD). Following a few other similar threads online, I ran:

Code:

---

sudo debugfs
crli <8>
quit

---

Followed by this:

Code:

---

sudo fsck -yv /dev/sda1

---

fsck found a _bunch_ of errors and fixed them, but I still get stuck with the same error when I try to boot...

Ideas?

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is there some stuff in /lost+found ?
is /sbin/init present and a real ELF 64-bit LSB shared object ( don't lough i got a shell script in init long long ago after a panic in solaris 6) --> file init
cheers

Finally got a chance to look at this again.

There is a LOT of stuff in lost+found -- like 15 GB. /sbin/init is present, and looks to be valid.

What should I go about doing? I'm almost thinking of just grabbing my home folder and reinstalling.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pkmgarf

Finally got a chance to look at this again.

There is a LOT of stuff in lost+found -- like 15 GB. /sbin/init is present, and looks to be valid.

What should I go about doing? I'm almost thinking of just grabbing my home folder and reinstalling.

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oh 15 GB
to rescue files from there you need the checksums and .....
i would prefer -> rescue your privat data and configurations and then make a fresh install.
what i do for a quick reinstall is:
dpkg --get-selections | grep -v deinstall > allepakete.`date +%y.%m.%d.%H.%M`
and after reinstalled:
sudo dpkg --set-selections < allepakete.the_date_and_time_i_want
sudo apt-get -y update
sudo apt-get dselect-upgrade
my privat data get back from the rsync saved data
cheers

This just keeps getting better...

I went to backup my home folder, and it's not there. The entire /home directory is gone.

Not sure what to do...I *really* would like to rescue my home folder, but I don't understand why it's missing now.

*edit*

Stll don't know why my home folder disappeared. I could have sworn it was there after I ran fsck. Anyway, using the instructions here as an outline, I'm in the process of salvaging the directories I actually need from my old home folder. The process is sort of a pain (figuring out which lost+found directory belongs where), but at least I cn save my data...

This machine is my main desktop, and also used for web development, so I was starting t get concerned that I lost my Eclipse workspace. Guess it's time to look into setting up a real backup system.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pkmgarf

This just keeps getting better...

I went to backup my home folder, and it's not there. The entire /home directory is gone.

Not sure what to do...I *really* would like to rescue my home folder, but I don't understand why it's missing now.

*edit*

Stll don't know why my home folder disappeared. I could have sworn it was there after I ran fsck. Anyway, using the instructions here as an outline, I'm in the process of salvaging the directories I actually need from my old home folder. The process is sort of a pain (figuring out which lost+found directory belongs where), but at least I cn save my data...

This machine is my main desktop, and also used for web development, so I was starting t get concerned that I lost my Eclipse workspace. Guess it's time to look into setting up a real backup system.

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oh yeah - to set up a real backup system will be done first when you lost of date (happend to me about 25 years ago - got a real head crash on my private data. thats mean there was nothing to recover witout a polished disk :-( ).
at the moment i just use rsync to two of my boxes via wired lan.
in your former post a have seen that you was using crli . clear inode is a very very hot affair. on a normal install it's not present and that can imagine must have a reason.
crli is the change of the last exit - or a ticket to hell !
if you cleared the inode of your home directory - the entry point in the VTOC is gone !
make up a backup system - best is redudant. one on a second disk and one on another box.
cheers

Well, all is well now. I'm back up and running (now on 12.10), and I managed to get all the important bits out of my home folder.

As for a backup system -- it's been on my to-do list for a long time. I've been just copying my home folder from the desktop/dev box over to my server (which has a nice backup system employed already), but this route requires me remembering to actually push everything to the server in a timely manner. Whatever I end up doing, it's going to be automated, as my most recent backup was 2+ weeks ago...

I'll have to throw some sort of rsync script together.