pg159
April 16th, 2009, 04:52 PM
I'm a complete Linux/Ubuntu novice interested in exploring the OS. Decided to do that by installing a virtual Ubuntu machine on my MacBook Pro under Parallels Desktop 3.0. The original installation went smoothly and everything was running great.
Shortly afterwards, the update icon appeared with a long list of recommended updates. I ran this and afterwards the system behaved normally. The next time I tried to start the Ubuntu VM it failed with the following message.
_______________
Starting up ...
[ 971.188264] ACPI: Unable to load the System Description Tables
Loading, please wait ...
Check root= bootarg cat /proc/cmdline
or missing modules, devices: cat /proc/modules is /dev
ALERT! /dev/disk/by-uuid/2b791d3e-905c-4a23-9e4f-6e3e53177daf does not exist. Dropping to a shell!
BusyBox v1.1.3 (Debian 1:1.1.3-5ubuntu12) Built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.
(initramfs)
_______________
If I hit [esc] on the Grub screen, I get the following choices:
Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernal 2.6.24-23-generic
Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernal 2.6.24-23-generic (recovery mode)
Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernal 2.6.24-19-generic
Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernal 2.6.24-19-generic (recovery mode)
Ubuntu 8.04.2, memtest86+
I tried selecting each of the four kernals, all gave the same error as before. For the heck of it, I also tried the last one. It started a test routine which my system passed.
I posted this and RomeReactor suggested that I look at this thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=987243
_______________
How about when you get the Grub menu on start up, select the first Ubuntu kernel entry, press "e" to edit it, select the "kernel" line, press "e" to edit it, and at the end of the kernel line add "rootdelay=130" similar to:
Code:
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic root=UUID=d0b10c15-66ed-4d1c-b7f6-c1fc131636f7 ro quiet splash rootdelay=130
Press enter to save the change, then "b" to boot. Let me know if that makes any difference.
_______________
I tried this, even tried different delay times, no change. At that point, I gave up, trashed the VM files and started over. Once I had a working Ubuntu VM, I made a backup copy of it just in case. I then used it for the past two months without upgrading and all was fine except for large arrow telling me that there were upgrades available. Finally, I decided to try upgrading again (on a copy of the VM).
All went well except that one file "tzdata" (time zones and daylight savings time) could not be fetched. I got an error "could not resolve us.archive.ubuntu.com". After the upgrade, all was fine until I restarted. Then I got the exact same behavior as before.
I decided to start both the original and the upgraded copies and hit [esc] so that I could inspect the kernel lines.
Original VM - kernel/boot/vmlinuz-2.26.24-23-generic root=UUID=413a4b7b-2f56-48f7-925e-f97f2720ff0a ro quiet splash vga=791
Upgraded VM - kernel/boot/vmlinuz-2.26.24-23-generic root=UUID=2b791d3e-905c-4a23-9e4f-6e3e53177daf ro quiet splash
I appended vga=791 to the upgraded version and booted => no change.
I replaced 2b791d3e-905c-4a23-9e4f-6e3e53177daf with 413a4b7b-2f56-48f7-925e-f97f2720ff0a and appended vga=791 in the upgraded version and IT WORKED until I restarted. Then it behaved just as before and when I inspected the kernel line, it was still "...2b79.......splash"
I repeated the above edit, got it working and inspected /proc/cmdline and the /dev/disk/by-UUID folder. cat cmdline returns "root=UUID=413a4b7b-2f56-48f7-925e-f97f2720ff0a ro quiet splash vga=791". The by-UUID folder contains three files, of type "link to block device":
413a4b7b-2f56-48f7-925e-f97f2720ff0a which points to sda1
9a208a96-dafc-49c9-938d-e80704749182 which points to sdb1
0464c93f-2bca-4bce-998f-2ab4a1cc793f which points to sdc1
I logged in as root and tried renaming the file 413a4b7b-2f56-48f7-925e-f97f2720ff0a to 2b791d3e-905c-4a23-9e4f-6e3e53177. Restarted and got the exact same behavior as before
_________
ALERT! /dev/disk/by-uuid/2b791d3e-905c-4a23-9e4f-6e3e53177daf does not exist.
_________
I have no idea what to try next. Editing the kernel every time I restart is a pain in the a**. Do I just live with the original system and ignore its messages to upgrade? Any ideas?
Shortly afterwards, the update icon appeared with a long list of recommended updates. I ran this and afterwards the system behaved normally. The next time I tried to start the Ubuntu VM it failed with the following message.
_______________
Starting up ...
[ 971.188264] ACPI: Unable to load the System Description Tables
Loading, please wait ...
Check root= bootarg cat /proc/cmdline
or missing modules, devices: cat /proc/modules is /dev
ALERT! /dev/disk/by-uuid/2b791d3e-905c-4a23-9e4f-6e3e53177daf does not exist. Dropping to a shell!
BusyBox v1.1.3 (Debian 1:1.1.3-5ubuntu12) Built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.
(initramfs)
_______________
If I hit [esc] on the Grub screen, I get the following choices:
Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernal 2.6.24-23-generic
Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernal 2.6.24-23-generic (recovery mode)
Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernal 2.6.24-19-generic
Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernal 2.6.24-19-generic (recovery mode)
Ubuntu 8.04.2, memtest86+
I tried selecting each of the four kernals, all gave the same error as before. For the heck of it, I also tried the last one. It started a test routine which my system passed.
I posted this and RomeReactor suggested that I look at this thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=987243
_______________
How about when you get the Grub menu on start up, select the first Ubuntu kernel entry, press "e" to edit it, select the "kernel" line, press "e" to edit it, and at the end of the kernel line add "rootdelay=130" similar to:
Code:
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic root=UUID=d0b10c15-66ed-4d1c-b7f6-c1fc131636f7 ro quiet splash rootdelay=130
Press enter to save the change, then "b" to boot. Let me know if that makes any difference.
_______________
I tried this, even tried different delay times, no change. At that point, I gave up, trashed the VM files and started over. Once I had a working Ubuntu VM, I made a backup copy of it just in case. I then used it for the past two months without upgrading and all was fine except for large arrow telling me that there were upgrades available. Finally, I decided to try upgrading again (on a copy of the VM).
All went well except that one file "tzdata" (time zones and daylight savings time) could not be fetched. I got an error "could not resolve us.archive.ubuntu.com". After the upgrade, all was fine until I restarted. Then I got the exact same behavior as before.
I decided to start both the original and the upgraded copies and hit [esc] so that I could inspect the kernel lines.
Original VM - kernel/boot/vmlinuz-2.26.24-23-generic root=UUID=413a4b7b-2f56-48f7-925e-f97f2720ff0a ro quiet splash vga=791
Upgraded VM - kernel/boot/vmlinuz-2.26.24-23-generic root=UUID=2b791d3e-905c-4a23-9e4f-6e3e53177daf ro quiet splash
I appended vga=791 to the upgraded version and booted => no change.
I replaced 2b791d3e-905c-4a23-9e4f-6e3e53177daf with 413a4b7b-2f56-48f7-925e-f97f2720ff0a and appended vga=791 in the upgraded version and IT WORKED until I restarted. Then it behaved just as before and when I inspected the kernel line, it was still "...2b79.......splash"
I repeated the above edit, got it working and inspected /proc/cmdline and the /dev/disk/by-UUID folder. cat cmdline returns "root=UUID=413a4b7b-2f56-48f7-925e-f97f2720ff0a ro quiet splash vga=791". The by-UUID folder contains three files, of type "link to block device":
413a4b7b-2f56-48f7-925e-f97f2720ff0a which points to sda1
9a208a96-dafc-49c9-938d-e80704749182 which points to sdb1
0464c93f-2bca-4bce-998f-2ab4a1cc793f which points to sdc1
I logged in as root and tried renaming the file 413a4b7b-2f56-48f7-925e-f97f2720ff0a to 2b791d3e-905c-4a23-9e4f-6e3e53177. Restarted and got the exact same behavior as before
_________
ALERT! /dev/disk/by-uuid/2b791d3e-905c-4a23-9e4f-6e3e53177daf does not exist.
_________
I have no idea what to try next. Editing the kernel every time I restart is a pain in the a**. Do I just live with the original system and ignore its messages to upgrade? Any ideas?