LinHES Forums :: View topic - Linux won't boot anymore!! Please help!

The only thing I can remember doing recently that might have caused it was

Code:

apt-get update
apt-get install tightvncserver

Thanks in advance for the help!!

I managed to boot to a command prompt using the KnoppMyth install CD and I've mounted the hard drive. I was wondering if it's possible to backup my database and settings and then run the install CD as if I was doing an upgrade to fix the boot up process?

I tried running mythbackup, but it didn't seem to work. I think I'm missing something. Anyone have any ideas on how to get this to work? Thanks!

Code:

tar -jcvf /myth/backup/etc.tar.bz2 /etc

I have this exact same problem...

there has to be a fix... I can try the bootup and bypass the initrd.gz like wal0jes

but what then...

if i do an upgrade using the same cd... what all will change on my install?

This works on knoppmyth R5E50

boot knoppmyth (once you get the menu)
crtl+alt+2
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1
chroot /mnt/hda1
apt-get update
apt-get install initrd-tools

*If apt-get cant find initrd-tools

vi /etc/apt/sources.list

to the top of sources.list add the following two lines (i had to do this
because apt-get install initrd-tools was not in any of my sources):

deb http://www.ultramonkey.org/download/2.0.1/ woody main
deb-src http://www.ultramonkey.org/download/2.0.1 woody main

reboot and working!

Thanks for the input slowtolean!

Easy enough

Author:	RichardDavies [ Tue May 15, 2007 9:45 pm ]
Post subject:	Linux won't boot anymore!! Please help!
My MythTV has been working fine for the last couple of months. Out of the blue today my machine would not boot up. I get the message: Code: Mount: device or resource busy (repeated many times) /linuxrc: out of filedescriptors /etc/init: out of file descriptors Kernal panic - not syncing : Attempting to kill init! Could someone please explain to me what this means and if there's any way to rescue the machine? The only thing I can remember doing recently that might have caused it was Code: apt-get update apt-get install tightvncserver Thanks in advance for the help!!

Author:	manicmike [ Tue May 15, 2007 11:00 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Linux won't boot anymore!! Please help!
RichardDavies wrote: The only thing I can remember doing recently that might have caused it was Code: apt-get update apt-get install tightvncserver Thanks in advance for the help!! What version of Knoppmyth are you using? If it's R5E50, vnc runs by default, and you would most likely be correct in your diagnosis. You can uninstall it by booting from the KM boot cd, exiting the setup program, mounting the root partition then chrooting to it. Once you are in, you should be able to get rid of the vnc executable with apt-get remove. If that doesn't work, try Code: dpkg -P tightvncserver

Author:	RichardDavies [ Wed May 16, 2007 7:35 am ]
Post subject:
I'm running R5C7. I'll try the boot CD and see if I can get that to work.

Author:	elgordo123 [ Wed May 16, 2007 10:46 am ]
Post subject:
What causes this? I've had this happen to me in the past. I thought is a corrupt kernel or partition so I did a complete reinstall. Are there certain programs that do this? When it happened to me I just recompiled ffmpeg. That shouldn't affect the bootup at all, (and neither should vncserver)?

Author:	miker [ Wed May 16, 2007 1:25 pm ]
Post subject:
It happened to me to once. I found no help so I put in a Knoppix Live cd and FTPed all the video files to my XP machine. Formatted the drive and dumped all the videos back. ________ MAINE DISPENSARY

LinHES Forums http://forums.linhes.org/

Linux won't boot anymore!! Please help! http://forums.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15237	Page 1 of 2

Author:	wal0jes [ Sun May 20, 2007 6:51 pm ]
Post subject:	I was able to get around this issue - unsure of actual fix
Shutdown my box to move to its summer home; the 3 season room and I got the same error when trying to boot. -------------------------------------------------------------------- "Mount: device or resource busy (repeated many times) /linuxrc: out of filedescriptors /etc/init: out of file descriptors Kernal panic - not syncing : Attempting to kill init!" -------------------------------------------------------------------- I had been trying to get the APC ups daemon working just before the move, so an apt-get install apsupsd was the last thing I did before shudown... booted via knoppix; mounted hda1 on /mnt/hda1 and did a chroot so I could apt-get remove apcupsd and of course that did not resolve my problem... After much searching (a lot of "stuff" on this with regard to SATA disks but I only have IDE...? So here is what I did that has given me a work around for now. I modifed lilo.conf and commented out the line for initrd under the default=Linux section: "# initrd=/boot/initrd.gz" then lilo -v reboot This allows the system to boot without those errors now! SO the big question is what am I missing now that I'm bypassing initrd? Earlier I had gunzipped initrd; mounted and reviewed everything in there and it "looks" OK to me. Restored it back to the way it was and it still didn't work, same error... Figured a 1/2 hour for the move and ate my whole afternoon; so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead for today. Hope this helps a few people at least get running and not have to rebuild! I'm running R5C7 so I should probably upgrade but I have things running SO smooth right now...

Author:	RichardDavies [ Wed May 23, 2007 11:04 pm ]
Post subject:
I managed to boot to a command prompt using the KnoppMyth install CD and I've mounted the hard drive. I was wondering if it's possible to backup my database and settings and then run the install CD as if I was doing an upgrade to fix the boot up process? I tried running mythbackup, but it didn't seem to work. I think I'm missing something. Anyone have any ideas on how to get this to work? Thanks!

Author:	manicmike [ Thu May 24, 2007 2:47 am ]
Post subject:
RichardDavies wrote: I managed to boot to a command prompt using the KnoppMyth install CD and I've mounted the hard drive. I was wondering if it's possible to backup my database and settings and then run the install CD as if I was doing an upgrade to fix the boot up process? I tried running mythbackup, but it didn't seem to work. I think I'm missing something. Anyone have any ideas on how to get this to work? Thanks! Did you chmod into the root of the mount? Once you do this, you should be able to start mysql with Code: /etc/init.d/mysql start Then, you can do a data dump with: Code: mysqldump -u root mythconverg > /myth/backup/mythconverg.sql While you're chrooted, you should also backup the /etc directory with Code: tar -jcvf /myth/backup/etc.tar.bz2 /etc If the mysqldump doesn't work (and I feel that this is your most likely to fail point) tar up the mysql files (/usr/lib/mysql) and try importing them (you may have to look this up, but I think it's possible to import V4 files to V5) When you're done, ctrl+d out of your chroot environment and copy the files somewhere, like a network drive or partition you won't be touching during the install. Keep them safe! Good luck Mike

Author:	tjc [ Thu May 24, 2007 6:46 pm ]
Post subject:
manicmike wrote: Code: tar -jcvf /myth/backup/etc.tar.bz2 /etc Use the tar command from the hints instead. That will produce an archive that works with the restore script.

Author:	mjl [ Thu May 24, 2007 7:15 pm ]
Post subject:
Hi, If you are booted from a cd, you may want to mount the /myth partition also. Other wise when you save the tar files it will be on the wrong partition and be destoryed when you re-install / upgrade... Mike

Author:	RichardDavies [ Thu May 31, 2007 12:13 am ]
Post subject:	System Resurrected!
Thank you to everyone who's contributed to this thread. I was able to resurrect my system using the following procedure: Code: 1. Booting using the KnoppMyth install CD. Cancel install to get to command prompt. 2. mount /dev/hda1 3. mount /dev/hda4 /mnt/hda1/myth/ 4. mount -t proc none /proc 5. mount -n -o remount / 6. su 7. /etc/init.d/mysql start 8. mythbackup 9. Reboot again using KnoppMyth install CD and perform auto upgrade. Hopefully this will be of some use to anyone else unfortunate enough to have this same problem.

Author:	tivo1 [ Fri Jun 08, 2007 6:36 pm ]
Post subject:	help help help
I have this exact same problem... there has to be a fix... I can try the bootup and bypass the initrd.gz like wal0jes but what then... if i do an upgrade using the same cd... what all will change on my install? ________ MOTORCYCLE TIRES

Author:	slowtolearn [ Fri Jun 08, 2007 6:50 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: help help help
tivo1 wrote: I have this exact same problem... there has to be a fix... I can try the bootup and bypass the initrd.gz like wal0jes but what then... if i do an upgrade using the same cd... what all will change on my install? I just ran into a similar issue on a test system running R5D1 - I had used apt to install a new version of ffmpeg. Well, I wasn't really paying attention and let it install, trouble is that by doing that I allowed initrd-tools to be removed, which led to the dreaded "Kernel panic - not syncing : Attempting to kill init!". If you can boot from the KM CD and quit the installation as soon as you are given the option to, then you should be able to chroot to your HD and run Code: /usr/bin/apt-get install initrd-tools WARNING: This was performed on my R5D1 system, I don't know what the implications are to running the above on a newer version /WARNING Hope this helps...

Author:	tivo1 [ Fri Jun 08, 2007 9:25 pm ]
Post subject:
This works on knoppmyth R5E50 boot knoppmyth (once you get the menu) crtl+alt+2 mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1 chroot /mnt/hda1 apt-get update apt-get install initrd-tools *If apt-get cant find initrd-tools vi /etc/apt/sources.list to the top of sources.list add the following two lines (i had to do this because apt-get install initrd-tools was not in any of my sources): deb http://www.ultramonkey.org/download/2.0.1/ woody main deb-src http://www.ultramonkey.org/download/2.0.1 woody main (if you dont know vi, press 'i' for insert, then when your done, press esc :wq <enter> then: apt-get update apt-get install initrd-tools exit shutdown -r now eject cd press enter reboot and working! Thanks for the input slowtolean! Easy enough ________ Free Burger King Gift Cards

Page 1 of 2	All times are UTC - 6 hours
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/

Author:	slowtolearn [ Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:52 am ]
Post subject:
tivo1 wrote: This works on knoppmyth R5E50 That's good to know tivo1 wrote: boot knoppmyth (once you get the menu) crtl+alt+2 mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1 chroot /mnt/hda1 apt-get update apt-get install initrd-tools If apt-get cant find initrd-tools vi /etc/apt/sources.list to the top of sources.list add the following two lines (i had to do this because apt-get install initrd-tools was not in any of my sources): deb http://www.ultramonkey.org/download/2.0.1/ woody main deb-src http://www.ultramonkey.org/download/2.0.1 woody main I haven't looked through the sources.list on R5E50. The following are from my R5D1 boxen: Code:* deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian stable main contrib non-free deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US stable/non-US main contrib non-free deb http://security.debian.org stable/updates main contrib non-free deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org stable main tivo1 wrote: reboot and working! Thanks for the input slowtolean! Easy enough You're very welcome, glad it got you up and running!