Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: I cannot Boot! Please help!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Beans
    9

    Exclamation I cannot Boot! Please help!

    I am having a problem simular to apperrently alot of people in here however none of the solutions anyone else provides seem to work. When I boot I get several error messages:

    mount: mounting /dev/mapper/ubuntu-root on /root failed: Invalid argument
    mount: mounting /dev on /root/dev failed: No such file or directory
    mount: mounting /sys on /root/sys failed: No such file or directory
    mount: mounting /proc on /root/proc failed: No such file or directory
    Target filesystem doesn't have /sbin/init.
    No init found. Try passing init= bootrag


    Then when I have run a live cd and tried following several different advice I get the following:

    sudo mkdir /media/root
    sudo mount /dev/sda1 /media/root

    mount: unknown filesystem type 'LVM2_member' (I have tried installing lvm2 and this command still doesn't work)

    sudo fdisk /dev/sda1

    The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 36449.
    There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
    and could in certain setups cause problems with:
    1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
    2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
    (e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)
    (It then comes up to a command prompt....I have been running this server for about a month before now without problems)

    sudo e2fsck /dev/sda1

    e2fsck 1.41.4 (27-Jan-2009)
    e2fsck: Superblock invalid , trying backup blocks...
    e2fsck: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/sda1

    The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2
    filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2
    filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
    efsck2 -b 8193 <device>

    sudo e2fsck -b 8193 /dev/sda1

    e2fsck 1.41.4 (27-Jan-2009)
    e2fsck: Superblock invalid , trying backup blocks...
    e2fsck: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/sda1

    The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2
    filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2
    filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
    efsck2 -b 8193 <device>


    I am obviously in way over my head here because a) I am really new to ubuntu and b) I have no idea what in the world a super block is.

    Someone please help... if you need anymore info please let me know (I am going to need step by step direction).



    (I am sorry this is a repost of another thread with a different title because no one responded to my last one so hopefully this will be better)

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    On board my boat
    Beans
    483
    Distro
    Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

    Re: I cannot Boot! Please help!

    1st: You have not ever had this installation running? (You have no "work" you do not want to lose on the installation partition?)

    2nd: If #1 is true, get the installation disk and re-install Ubuntu.
    Make sure you put it in the correct partition
    Make sure the partition is formatted as ext3.
    Make sure you know the location (it should be hd0,1)
    Don
    Looks fine to me but then I don't know/care what you run

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Beans
    9

    Re: I cannot Boot! Please help!

    I have had it up and running for about a month so unfortunately I do have a good bit of 'work' on my server....its not a terrible amount but I would hate to lose it. I could redo it but I would lose a handful of files. Any other solutions?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Beans
    9

    Re: I cannot Boot! Please help!

    Does anyone else have any suggestions?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Beans
    30
    Distro
    Kubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron

    Re: I cannot Boot! Please help!

    I, too, am over my head to offer the solution you want to hear.

    I've installed Ubuntu 7.04, 8.04, and Arch to manually partitioned hard drives with LVM and LUKS. I will not make assumptions to your partitioning methods, so I need some information.

    1. Which OS?
    2. How did you install the OS?
    3. Single hard drive?
    4. Does this hard drive have multiple operating systems?
    5. With which utility was the hard drive partitioned?
    6. What were the names and mount points of those partitions?

    Thank you.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Beans
    9

    Re: I cannot Boot! Please help!

    Ok... I am going to try and answer your questions...if you need more information let me know....
    1. OS- Ubuntu Server Edition
    2. Installation- Downloaded the installation cd...(not sure what your asking but maybe that answers it)
    3. Single Hard Drive- yes
    4. Multiple OS- No
    5. It was partioned during the installation...
    6. I don't know...
    I am sorry for my ignorance. I am pretty much a total newby and so if there is a way to find any other information that might help you help me I would be more then happy to try and figure it out. I just don't understand why it happened and how to recover it.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Beans
    30
    Distro
    Kubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron

    Re: I cannot Boot! Please help!

    Did you manually partition the hard drive or did you let the installer partition the hard drive for you?

    I ask because this
    Quote Originally Posted by AINTEZ86
    mount: mounting /dev/mapper/ubuntu-root on /root failed: Invalid argument
    tells me there is an LVM group named ubuntu and an LVM volume named root. I can't imagine the Ubuntu installer using logical volumes by default because they add complexity to the installation. I expect the Ubuntu installer to create primary partitions.

    Try running the LiveCD again.

    I think you will need to load the device-mapper kernel module before mounting the LVM partitions. Sourced from here.
    Code:
    sudo modprobe dm_mod
    List the partitions on sda:
    Code:
    sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda
    List the logical volume groups:
    Code:
    sudo vgdisplay /dev/mapper/ubuntu
    List the logical volumes:
    Code:
    sudo lvdisplay /dev/mapper/ubuntu
    I'll wait for you to respond before I ask more questions.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Beans
    9

    Re: I cannot Boot! Please help!

    Here are the commands and there responses. I am sure I need to install the mod for the first one for them to work but I am sorry but I am not sure how to do that...I was atleast hopefully able to give you a little more information from the second one. Will check again tonight! Thanks for your willingness to try and help me. I think I let the installer partition it...but I might have done it manually...


    sudo modprobe dm_mod
    FATAL: Module dm_mod not found.

    sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda
    Disk /dev/sda: 300.0 GB 300069052419 bytes
    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 36481 cylinders
    Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
    Disk identifier: 0xd957d957
    Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
    /dev/sda1 * 1 36450 292784593+ 8e Linux LVM
    /dev/sda2 36451 36481 249007+ 5 Extended
    /dev/sda5 36541 36481 248976 83 Linux

    sudo vgdisplay /dev/mapper/ubuntu
    sudo: vgdisplay: command not found

    sudo lvdisplay /dev/mapper/ubuntu
    sudo: lvdisplay: command not found

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Beans
    30
    Distro
    Kubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron

    Re: I cannot Boot! Please help!

    My bad.

    Attach an ethernet cable to the computer, a backup medium, and boot the LiveCD. From here:

    Install lvm2:
    Code:
    sudo apt-get install lvm2
    Load the module:
    Code:
    sudo modprobe dm-mod
    Check the file system:
    Code:
    sudo fdisk -l
    Note the name given to the backup medium.

    Enter the following if the sda1 partition is encrypted (I don't think it is):
    Code:
    sudo cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda1 sda1
    Then enter the passphrase.

    Scan the system for volume groups:
    Code:
    sudo vgscan
    There is at least one volume called "ubuntu" on your system.

    Activate the volume group(s):
    Code:
    sudo vgchange -ay ubuntu
    Locate logical volumes:
    Code:
    sudo lvs
    Continue if you recognize and/or can decipher the logical volumes.

    Create a directory:
    Code:
    sudo mkdir /mnt/test0
    Create another directory:
    Code:
    sudo mkdir /mnt/test1
    Again:
    Code:
    sudo mkdir /mnt/test2
    And again:
    Code:
    sudo mkdir /mnt/test3
    Mount the logical volume from which to copy data (assumes the important logical volume is home):
    Code:
    sudo mount /dev/ubuntu/home /mnt/test0
    Mount the backup medium:
    Code:
    sudo mount /dev/??? /mnt/test1
    Change to the home directory to see which files and folders to backup:
    Code:
    cd /mnt/test0
    Copy your files to some external medium:
    Code:
    cp /mnt/test0/??? /mnt/test1
    Create additional directories and mount additional logical volumes as needed.

    I must know the logical volumes before I can attempt to recover your system.

    The following is to satisfy my curiosity.

    I think sda5 is formatted as ext3. Mount sda5:
    Code:
    mount -t ext3 /dev/sda5 /mnt/test2
    Change to the /media directory which should have the contents of sda5:
    Code:
    cd /mnt/test2
    List the contents of sda5:
    Code:
    ls

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •