Ubuntu 11.1 - Kernel panic

[nhasan]

Hi all,

My system is pretty much broken at this point and I cannot boot into ubuntu Please help. I have tried repairing using the Rescatux and Ubuntu secure remix (boot-repair) and no luck.This started after upgrading to Ubuntu 11.1. Previously, the system booted up and dropped me to a command prompt (some issue with the X-server)

1. I am seeing a error: sparse file not allowed if I try and boot up normally
2. If go to recovery mode then I get the following additional information

VFS: Cannot open root device "sda2" or unknown-block (0,0)
Please append a correct "root=" boot option: here are all the available partitions:
Kernel Panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block (0,0)
Pid: 1 comm: swapper Not tainted 3.0.0.12-generic #20 Ubuntu

I booted using the livecd and here is some of the info collected:
=============================== sda2/etc/fstab: ================================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda2 during installation
UUID=8c8fa5e8-e335-4313-91ee-1624a2c6be79 / reiserfs notail 0 1
/dev/sda5 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for any help it is apprciated.

~nhasan

[nhasan]

Added information on the drive / partition.

Additional note: This is a dual boot setup and Win XP is booting up fine. In my previous post I mentioned I upgraded to 11.1... I used the Ubuntu live CD remix to upgrade.

============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System

/dev/sda1 63 152,344,394 152,344,332 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda2 * 152,344,395 233,440,514 81,096,120 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 233,440,576 234,436,544 995,969 f W95 Extended (LBA)
/dev/sda5 233,440,578 234,436,544 995,967 82 Linux swap / Solaris


Drive: sdb __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disk /dev/sdb: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System

/dev/sdb1 * 63 112,454,999 112,454,937 83 Linux
/dev/sdb2 112,455,000 234,436,544 121,981,545 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS


"blkid" output: __________________________________________________ ______________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 426822536822464F ntfs
/dev/sda2 8c8fa5e8-e335-4313-91ee-1624a2c6be79 reiserfs
/dev/sda5 swap
/dev/sdb1 0f8f4bde-bc75-4c08-88fd-18fdc87bc75c reiserfs
/dev/sdb2 6EFC63CFFC63905F ntfs VM

================================ Mount points: =================================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/sda2 /media/8c8fa5e8-e335-4313-91ee-1624a2c6be79 reiserfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)

[nhasan]

This is a gentle bump - which I am told is allowed once every 24 hours and my previous post says it has been there for 1 day.

~nhasan

[flyingfisch]

A similar problem happened to me yesterday. I ended up reinstalling ubuntu. Like you I dual boot XP and Ubuntu 11.10 and like you, I could boot up XP just fine.

You will probably want to back up your home folder with the LiveCD before you reinstall.

[MAFoElffen]

Hi all,

My system is pretty much broken at this point and I cannot boot into ubuntu Please help. I have tried repairing using the Rescatux and Ubuntu secure remix (boot-repair) and no luck.This started after upgrading to Ubuntu 11.1. Previously, the system booted up and dropped me to a command prompt (some issue with the X-server)

1. I am seeing a error: sparse file not allowed if I try and boot up normally
2. If go to recovery mode then I get the following additional information

I booted using the livecd and here is some of the info collected:

=============================== sda2/etc/fstab:=================================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    nodev,noexec,nosuid 0       0
# / was on /dev/sda2 during installation
UUID=8c8fa5e8-e335-4313-91ee-1624a2c6be79 /               reiserfs notail          0       1
/dev/sda5       none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/fd0        /media/floppy0  auto    rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0       0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for any help it is apprciated.

~nhasan

Can you boot from a LiveCD?

You mentioned

(some issue with the X-server)

I am very curious what issue it mentioned.

So from a LiveCD, go to your installed disk and partition and post these 2 file:
/var/log/Xorg.0.log
/var/log/syslog
...BUT, Please post those files between the CODE tags from the "#" button of the posting toolbar. That will put them withing a text box with scrollbars. If not, those 2 long files will take 50 screens to read...instead of one screen while scrolling.

I helped flyingfisch, but your's seems a little different ( at least so far).

[adrian15]

My system is pretty much broken at this point and I cannot boot into ubuntu Please help. I have tried repairing using the Rescatux and Ubuntu secure remix (boot-repair) and no luck.

How to solve this problem with Rescatux (I hope so):

First of all make sure that you select Live AMD64 at boot screen if you installed a 64bit version of Ubuntu.

First of all try the: Grub. Update grub configuration option.

If it fails you should use the Filesystem Check (Fix forced) option and choose your Linux root partition.

Once you have done this it might boot but I don't actually think so. Thus you will have to run:
Grub. Update grub configuration option.
Restore Grub to the MBR option too.

Probably the last one won't be needed. Not sure.

adrian15

[MAFoElffen]

How to solve this problem with Rescatux (I hope so):

First of all make sure that you select Live AMD64 at boot screen if you installed a 64bit version of Ubuntu.

First of all try the: Grub. Update grub configuration option.

If it fails you should use the Filesystem Check (Fix forced) option and choose your Linux root partition.

Once you have done this it might boot but I don't actually think so. Thus you will have to run:
Grub. Update grub configuration option.
Restore Grub to the MBR option too.

Probably the last one won't be needed. Not sure.

adrian15

I think the keyword there would be

Not sure.

With Grub2, If you get the Grub Menu, the MBR is good, has booted and has read the filesystem of /boot/grub/grub.cfg successfully... So reinstalling and configuring is not going to get this OP anywhere.

Although, if in that Grub Menu he selects one on the "Recovery" menu items, if he selects the "root" option. Then he can see to boots messages and see where it goes. If it hangs, he can see where it the messages before it hung. If it boots to a TTY Text console Root promt, then we can rule out the kernel itself.

If it hangs, he can try an earlier kernel and see if it boots.

If it boot to the root prompt- Then he could type "exit" and get back to the recovery menu. There is 2 options for filesystem- One option (remount) is to mount all filesystems. The other is fsck which would check the filsystems on the next boot. The first option on the 11.10 Recovery menu is "resume" which uses the failsafe script and configuration to boot with 9 module scripts instead of 30 plus...with low-graphics mode.

If there was a problem with your just your fstab, even if messaging where turned of, you would be at the Plymouth Splash (Ubuntu with the red and white does) and you would get a message displaying an error in fstab and display that particular fstab line...

I really think we'll find your problem in your Xorg log, but if not, it will surely be in your syslog.

[nhasan]

Can you boot from a LiveCD?

You mentioned
I am very curious what issue it mentioned.

So from a LiveCD, go to your installed disk and partition and post these 2 file:
/var/log/Xorg.0.log
/var/log/syslog
...BUT, Please post those files between the CODE tags from the "#" button of the posting toolbar. That will put them withing a text box with scrollbars. If not, those 2 long files will take 50 screens to read...instead of one screen while scrolling.

I helped flyingfisch, but your's seems a little different ( at least so far).

Hi and thank you for the advice and your time

I took a look in the directory and it doesn't seem to have the files mentioned. I have provided the current contents of the directory below along with a lengthier recap of the events leading up to this Kernel Panic

ubuntu@ubuntu:/media/8c8fa5e8-e335-4313-91ee-1624a2c6be79/var/log$ ls -atrl
total 1041
drwxr-xr-x  2 root              root     48 2011-05-21 09:12 ConsoleKit
drwx------  2 speech-dispatcher root     48 2011-06-06 02:29 speech-dispatcher
drwxr-xr-x  2 root              root     48 2011-07-19 14:51 unattended-upgrades
drwxr-xr-x  2 root              root     48 2011-09-27 13:16 cups
drwxr-xr-x  2 root              root     48 2011-09-30 19:09 samba
drwxr-xr-x  2 root              root     48 2011-10-07 12:41 lightdm
drwxr-xr-x  2 root              root     48 2011-10-10 12:05 dist-upgrade
-rw-rw-r--  1 root              utmp      0 2011-10-12 14:27 wtmp
-rw-rw----  1 root              utmp      0 2011-10-12 14:27 btmp
drwxr-xr-x  2 root              root    104 2011-10-12 14:27 fsck
-rw-r-----  1 root              adm      31 2011-10-12 14:27 dmesg
-rw-r-----  1 root              adm      31 2011-10-12 14:27 boot
-rw-r--r--  1 root              root  49092 2011-10-12 14:27 bootstrap.log
drwxr-xr-x 13 root              root    360 2011-10-12 14:31 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root              root   2509 2011-10-12 14:31 fontconfig.log
drwxr-xr-x  2 root              root    104 2011-11-05 11:26 apt
-rw-rw-r--  1 root              utmp 292292 2011-12-05 03:08 lastlog
-rw-r--r--  1 root              root  24024 2011-12-05 03:08 faillog
-rw-r--r--  1 root              root  23043 2011-12-05 03:08 alternatives.log
drwxr-xr-x  4 root              root    104 2011-12-05 03:11 clean
drwxr-xr-x 12 root              root    600 2011-12-05 03:11 .
-rw-r--r--  1 root              root 929523 2011-12-08 10:12 dpkg.log
ubuntu@ubuntu:/media/8c8fa5e8-e335-4313-91ee-1624a2c6be79/var/log$ date
Fri Dec  9 23:50:09 UTC 2011

Here are the events which happened.
1. Ubuntu installed and chugging along fine
2. Changed graphics card and monitor and X dies (roughly 3 years ago)
3. I get nowhere trying to fix it. Lose interest in the whole thing and shelve Ubuntu
4. Dec 5th this year I get inspired and try to revive the system
5. I think I booted into and got the command prompt for 6.06 LTS
6. I download the LiveCD remix of Ubuntu
7. I decided to upgrade Ubuntu in place to 11.1
8. Now system doesnt boot and I get a Kernel panic for 11.1
9. I try many different repair combinations using Rescatux and Ubuntu Live CD remix (Boot-repair - Grub re-installs, MBR restores etc)
10. None work... leading to my post on the forums...

Also note the following responses to various questions

1. I forced a check on the filesystem but that returned remarkably quickly and did not report errors
2. I see the Grub menu
- selecting latest kernel result in the sparse files and system hang
- selecting latest kernel in recovery mode results in sparse files and panic (see details in my original post
- selecting any other previous kernels simply causes the system to reboot
3. I don't see a root option when i select the recovery kernel (just a sparse files message) and press enter to continue - leading up to the messages around the panic

Thanks for reading about my long sad story. Hope it helps in understanding what has happened how it could be solved.

~nhasan

[adrian15]

I think the keyword there would be
With Grub2, If you get the Grub Menu, the MBR is good, has booted and has read the filesystem of /boot/grub/grub.cfg successfully... So reinstalling and configuring is not going to get this OP anywhere.

Yes, you are probably right. There is not usually need to reinstall grub to the mbr. But the fsck command run from Rescatux might move the hard disk position of grub2 needed files, and that could lead to "Grub2 not finding its own files" error. To solve this problem you need to run the Restore Grub to the MBR option from Rescatux.

But his problem (I forgot to mention this little detail ) is:

VFS: Cannot open root device "sda2" or unknown-block (0,0)
Please append a correct "root=" boot option: here are all the available partitions:
Kernel Panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block (0,0)
Pid: 1 comm: swapper Not tainted 3.0.0.12-generic #20 Ubuntu

which usually means that either the grub.cfg is incorrect, which sometimes happens when you upgrade or that actually the system cannot mount the root fs.

If the system cannot mount the root fs I doubt that you can get to recovery screen but you might after all.

In the case that cannot mount the root fs you can fix that with the Rescatux fsck option I have mentioned. Might it be that the Ubuntu fsck option that you mentioned, the one that it is found on the recovery screen, has forced fix... but I am not quite sure about that. If it had the forced fix then you could use that instead of Rescatux fsck option.

If the problem is an incorrect grub then running the update-grub command is the way to go. From Rescatux is using the Update grub configuration option.

There could be a third possibility about drivers. I mean... Maybe the last system could mount read that hard disk ok but the current one (due to some faulty drivers) cannot read the same hard disk ok.

adrian15

[adrian15]

Here are the events which happened.
...
5. I think I booted into and got the command prompt for 6.06 LTS
...

Usually when going from 6.06 to 11.10 or any other big jumps (That's 5 years!) it is recommended to save your /home directory and make a clean install and restore your /home directory.

Depending on your needs you might want to save your installed packages list.

Please ask someone else if you are interested in this path.

1. I forced a check on the filesystem but that returned remarkably quickly and did not report errors

If you mean that you forced it by the means of Rescatux (and that you selected the right partition) I would like to see its log. Support. Share log on forum option might assist you.