Failed upgrade/rescue disk questionI

[pdcooper]

Upgraded to 14.04.1 and had kernel panic on using the new kernel, so I went into an old kernel 2.5.07 I think and got the thing going. Then I did an update/upgrades and now I have the same thing with the old kernel. Updating grub front scue disk has left me with an unbootable system with a
file not found &grub rescue prompt.
where to from here
/dev/sda is a Hd with windows on it
/dev/sdb1 &5 is the Ubuntu install
/dev/sdc is /home

I've got a lot of development stuff stuff in /var/www and /user/local.

Rescue disk (10.4 is the one i have) ,chroot , grub-update which gets me back to the kernel panic (unable to mount root FS on unknown hd(0,0)
-but that should be 1,0 I think.
if I just reinstall from the rescue disk will it overwrite my stuff in / ?

Any suggestions gratefully received.

[sudodus]

The first thing to do in situations like yours is to backup everything important to another disk.

Normally you can expect the installer to overwrite files. It wants to format the root partition too, you can stop that in the manual partitioning mode 'Something else', but all such operations are risky and can go wrong.

I would make a clean installation and afterwards re-install your development stuff from the backup into the new system.

[pdcooper]

Thanks - I've got other stuff as well so am prepared to try and sorry this out for a while.
i booted off the rescue disk, crooked into /dev/sdb1 , ran update-grub (or grub-update, whatever it is now), it found all the kernel 3.2... And the windows disk and seemed to be ok. Rebooting into the native system just says
error:file not found.
grub rescue

So the boot isn't finding grub. Is it looking on /dev/sda which is my windows disk?
if so how do I tell it to look on /dev/sdb ?

[sudodus]

Try according to this link

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2/Installing#Fixing_a_Broken_System

[pdcooper]

ive got supergrub2 CD ,so booted from that, it found my linux installation, gave me the edit grub option , i changed the UUID to /dev/sdb1 and i have a working system .


menuentry 'Ubuntu' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-a9131882-41ba-4ebe-9770-93cf73d69c89' { recordfail
load_video
gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$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 a9131882-41ba-4ebe-9770-93cf73d69c89
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root a9131882-41ba-4ebe-9770-93cf73d69c89
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-57-generic root=UUID=a9131882-41ba-4ebe-9770-93cf73d69c89 ro i915.modeset=1
initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-57-generic
}


mars@twelve-M266:~$ ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 5 17:10 755fe957-fd5b-444b-ac6c-b2c174f7cc2c -> ../../sdc5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 5 17:10 9644AB6E44AB5033 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 5 17:10 a9131882-41ba-4ebe-9770-93cf73d69c89 -> ../../sdb1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 5 17:10 c9e9613e-d0e5-4f96-94bf-655912e9f802 -> ../../sdc1
mars@twelve-M266:~$




so the numeric string is correct but it doesnt boot with it

[sudodus]

ive got supergrub2 CD ,so booted from that, it found my linux installation, gave me the edit grub option , i changed the UUID to /dev/sdb1 and i have a working system .


menuentry 'Ubuntu' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-a9131882-41ba-4ebe-9770-93cf73d69c89' { recordfail
load_video
gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$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 a9131882-41ba-4ebe-9770-93cf73d69c89
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root a9131882-41ba-4ebe-9770-93cf73d69c89
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-57-generic root=UUID=a9131882-41ba-4ebe-9770-93cf73d69c89 ro i915.modeset=1
initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-57-generic
}


mars@twelve-M266:~$ ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 5 17:10 755fe957-fd5b-444b-ac6c-b2c174f7cc2c -> ../../sdc5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 5 17:10 9644AB6E44AB5033 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 5 17:10 a9131882-41ba-4ebe-9770-93cf73d69c89 -> ../../sdb1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 5 17:10 c9e9613e-d0e5-4f96-94bf-655912e9f802 -> ../../sdc1
mars@twelve-M266:~$




so the numeric string is correct but it doesnt boot with it
[/CODE]

The strings marked red are the same.

I'm confused:

- Have you got a working system now?
- Or doesn't it boot?

[pdcooper]

if i try to boot from the HD , i get a file not found, grub rescue prompt
If i boot from Supergrub2 liveCD it finds grub.cfg and then tell it to use that, it gives me the standard ubuntu menu. The boot then stop with a kernel panic

http://goo.gl/A2YNzY
( apologies for the quality)
If i choose the ubuntu boot option and change the boot UUID to /dev/sdb1 it starts.
On a couple of occasions this boot sequence ( /dev/sdb1) has had to wait for / to be available , so i wonder if the failure to boot from the HD is that the bootloader isnt waiting for the / HD to become available . This is an older P4 machine , if its relevant .

HTH

I have a working system if i boot from the CD and edit grub to point to /dev/sdb1

thanks for your help

[sudodus]

Version 14.04 LTS

It could be that mounting the HDD does not get ready before it is used. It could be other things too, for example that some driver (for graphics or wifi or some other hardware) does not work properly or that you have not enough RAM for standard Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS.

A computer with Pentium 4 is near the lower limit for the ultra light-weight flavour Lubuntu and the medium light-weight flavour Xubuntu.

-o-

Version 12.04 LTS

An old computer may work better with the previous long time support version Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (not standard Ubuntu, but a community re-spin, which promises support until April 2017: Bento, Bodhi or LXLE).

-o-

Please specify your computer

- Brand name and model
- CPU
- RAM (size)
- graphics chip/card
- wifi chip/card

It will make it easier to give relevant advice.

See also the following links

Old hardware brought back to life (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2130640)
Try Ubuntu (Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, ...) before installing it (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2230389)

[sudodus]

It's getting late here, I might have time for only one more reply tonight. Other people reading this thread, please chip in and continue helping :-)

[pdcooper]

this enough information ?

used for office stuff a bit of PHP programming and web.
No games or video. My download speed is Max 1.75MB/s , usually 1.5 . thats the limiting factor for a lot of stuff
Ubuntu with gnome2 desktop with no effects.


root@twelve-M266:~# lshw -short
H/W path Device Class Description
================================================== ====
system Desktop Computer
/0 bus 8IG1000MK
/0/0 memory 128KiB BIOS
/0/4 processor Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06GHz
/0/4/b memory 8KiB L1 cache
/0/4/c memory 512KiB L2 cache
/0/4/0.1 processor Logical CPU
/0/4/0.2 processor Logical CPU
/0/5 processor Pentium 4
/0/5/0.1 processor Logical CPU
/0/5/0.2 processor Logical CPU
/0/5/0 memory 8KiB L1 cache
/0/5/1 memory 512KiB L2 cache
/0/1c memory 1792MiB System Memory
/0/1c/0 memory 512MiB DIMMProject-Id-Version: lshwReport-Msgid-Bugs-To:
/0/1c/1 memory 512MiB DIMMProject-Id-Version: lshwReport-Msgid-Bugs-To:
/0/1c/2 memory 512MiB DIMMProject-Id-Version: lshwReport-Msgid-Bugs-To:
/0/1c/3 memory 256MiB DIMMProject-Id-Version: lshwReport-Msgid-Bugs-To:
/0/100 bridge 82865G/PE/P DRAM Controller/Host-Hub Interface
/0/100/2 display 82865G Integrated Graphics Controller
/0/100/6 generic 82865G/PE/P Processor to I/O Memory Interface
/0/100/1d bus 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #1
/0/100/1d.1 bus 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #2
/0/100/1d.2 bus 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #3
/0/100/1d.3 bus 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #4
/0/100/1d.7 bus 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB2 EHCI Controller
/0/100/1e bridge 82801 PCI Bridge
/0/100/1e/2 wlan3 network RTL-8185 IEEE 802.11a/b/g Wireless LAN Controller
/0/100/1e/8 eth1 network 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) integrated LAN Controller
/0/100/1f bridge 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) LPC Interface Bridge
/0/100/1f.1 scsi0 storage 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) IDE Controller
/0/100/1f.3 bus 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) SMBus Controller
/0/100/1f.5 multimedia 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller

[sudodus]

Looking at these specifications,


/0/4 processor Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06GHz

/0/1c memory 1792MiB System Memory

/0/100 bridge 82865G/PE/P DRAM Controller/Host-Hub Interface
/0/100/2 display 82865G Integrated Graphics Controller

1. I suggest that you try a version of LXLE based on 12.04 LTS 32-bit Ubuntu. I think it will work out of the box (without tweaking).

2. If you want something based on 14.04.1 32-bit Ubuntu, I suggest that you try Lubuntu or Xubuntu and switch to UXA acceleration according to this link

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu/AdvancedMethods#Old_Intel_graphics