Stuck on boot , BusyBox ,initramfs...

[al1x]

Every time I open my ubuntu 10.04 the boot stucks to this screen and if I press enter I can write commands like this..

<initramfs> #command#

what happened?
I realy need some help please..

[quixote]

Do you first get an error message saying that it can't find the root device, or something like that? It sounds like grub (the bootloader) may have somehow lost track of where your ubuntu install is on the drive. That can be fixed. But first, so we know what we're actually trying to fix, give us as much of the error messages you're getting as you can.

[al1x]

ok , this is the message I get before the screen roll :

Killed
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=bootarg

My problem is that when I boot from Live CD although I 've installed Ubuntu 10.04LTS from the same CD now it doesn't proceed to the ubuntu live cd(It's just loading until I see the green light of my dvd drive turning off and I'm getting stuck to ubuntu logo loading screen) and I can't have access to the terminal to fix the problem..So what can I do ? Any grub edit that I can do or something like this without the cd? Plus I have access to some limited commands when the screen stops moving, like this:

<initramfs> #x command#

[quixote]

What's happened is that grub has lost track of where your operating system is located.

You want to stop the process at the initial grub screen that shows you the choices of operating systems. If you don't see choices, press the Shift key from the beginning of booting until a menu appears.

Press c for command, and then start the process of looking for where the system thinks your OS is located. (Or, if you're sure you know, you can skip the various "ls" commands at the beginning.) (This is taken from Grub2 - Rescue Mode.)

At the grub> prompt, type

ls

That will list all the drives and partitions which grub can look at to find an OS. (hd0) is the first drive. (hd0,1) is the first partition on that drive. You need to type "ls (hd0,1)" (without quotes) at the grub prompt and see whether there are files called something like "vmlinuz" and "initrd" there. I don't know what your setup is, so you may have a lot of partitions to check until you find the one you need.

Then go through the following steps:

1. ls (hdX,Y) [replace X,Y with the right numbers, eg (hd0,3) for 3rd partition, 1st drive or (hd1,5) for 2nd drive, fifth partition]

2. set prefix=(hdX,Y)/boot/grub

3. set root=(hdX,Y)

4. set

5. ls /boot  

6. insmod /boot/grub/linux.mod

7*. linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sdXY ro  [use the usual linux way of referring to partitions: sda1 would 1st drive, first partition; sda3: 1st drive, 3rd partition; sdb5: 2nd drive, 5th partition]

8. initrd /initrd.img

9. boot

Assuming this works and it then proceeds to boot into your linux install, be sure to do the following before you reboot. It will write the correct values to your grub files.

sudo update-grub

[al1x]

I 've tried them all several times and I'm getting the same screen with the same issues
My version of grub is GNU GRUB 1.98-1ubuntu7 if that matters..I 've even tried the 2 other commands(root=(loop0) and vmlinuz=.......) for wubi installs because I've installed the ubuntu 10.04 side by side with winxp.But when I set root=(loop0) then I press ls /boot and I get the message "no such disk".hmm..

[hhoyt]

possibly best to reinstall grub2.
boot your install disk.

from root

1) blkid
< find the partition you installed ubuntu on
2) mount /dev/sdax /mnt <<< where x is partion # containing ubuntu and 'a' assumes this is your first hard drive (if have > 1)
3) mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys
4) mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
5) mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
6) chroot /mnt
7)update-grub
8) grub-install /dev/sda <assumes the you want grub to be installed on your first hard drive ('a')
9) reboot

[quixote]

Hmm. Mysterious. And frustrating. hhoyt's suggestions are good ones. (Note that the smiley face at 8 ) is what happens when you need to write "8" followed by a ")". They need to come up with a way to have a literal 8 ) without using Code tags!)

The other thing that would be helpful for troubleshooting is if there was complete information on your situation. The best thing would be if you could run bootinfo script, but that requires at least a LiveCD, which isn't working on your system. What are all the drives and partitions on your system, which OSes do you have on which one, and which are supposed to the bootable ones?

[al1x]

When you say "from root" what do you mean?When I boot from cd I have some options like "Try Ubuntu without installing,Install Ubuntu,Check disk for defect etc." So what I must choose?

[al1x]

Hmm. Mysterious. And frustrating. hhoyt's suggestions are good ones. (Note that the smiley face at 8 ) is what happens when you need to write "8" followed by a ")". They need to come up with a way to have a literal 8 ) without using Code tags!)

The other thing that would be helpful for troubleshooting is if there was complete information on your situation. The best thing would be if you could run bootinfo script, but that requires at least a LiveCD, which isn't working on your system. What are all the drives and partitions on your system, which OSes do you have on which one, and which are supposed to the bootable ones?

Sda1 is my partition of Windows XP (so I can play pc games ) and sda7 is my partition of Ubuntu 10.04LTS.I only have one hdd.

[bcbc]

If you installed with wubi, then don't reinstall grub.

I have seen problems with the latest kernel dropping people in a busybox prompt. I recommend booting your previous kernel, e.g. -23

I don't know of a fix, but if -23 (or your previous kernel if not -23) works then just remove -24.