Lost Mount Point - Partitions Semi-Disappeared [Solved]

[azziam]

Please, anyone who can help with a hopefully simple brain surgery!  I have a multi-boot system I've used daily and in its present form for probably 2 years.  Every day I use my updated PCLOS GNOME and I don't shut it down often but do frequently put it to sleep.  Thunderbird had been crashing frequently recently so a couple nights ago I closed T-Bird and Firefox and shutdown the machine for a fresh boot in the morning.  With several attempts it just gets to the line "waiting for sda8 to appear" and after a minute timeout period I get a kernel panic.  

Grub appears normal (visually at bootup) and I can boot into XP or this older PCLOS GNOME I've kept for emergencies (like now).  In Nautilus the root partition I need is not showing and neither is its /home partition.  Gparted shows all partitions correctly but the root partition I need shows no mount point and no key symbol.  I tried running Partition>Check to check and repair /dev/sda8 and it didn't help.  My partitions are
/dev/sda1  NTFS  XP
/dev/sda2   FAT32  Storage  (files for Tbird and FF live here so they are the same in every OS.
/dev/sda3   Extended
/dev/sda5  ext4    /      (the one I'm using right now)
/dev/sda6   linux-swap
/dev/sda7   ext4   /home
/dev/sda8   ext4        (supposed to be root of my missing OS)
/dev/sda9   ext4   /home  

I searched some and I'm reading at http://www.av8n.com/computer/htm/grub-reinstall.htm  I don't quite grok what radicula is and I would prefer specific advice for our beloved OS.  I can ignore "sudo" but I'm still not on familiar ground even if the answer is in front of my face.

[azziam]

Please, anyone who can help with a hopefully simple brain surgery!  I have a multi-boot system I've used daily and in its present form for probably 2 years.  Every day I use my updated PCLOS GNOME and I don't shut it down often but do frequently put it to sleep.  Thunderbird had been crashing frequently recently so a couple nights ago I closed T-Bird and Firefox and shutdown the machine for a fresh boot in the morning.  With several attempts it just gets to the line "waiting for sda8 to appear" and after a minute timeout period I get a kernel panic. 

Grub appears normal (visually at bootup) and I can boot into XP or this older PCLOS GNOME I've kept for emergencies (like now).  In Nautilus the root partition I need is not showing and neither is its /home partition.  Gparted shows all partitions correctly but the root partition I need shows no mount point and no key symbol.  I tried running Partition>Check to check and repair /dev/sda8 and it didn't help.  My partitions are
/dev/sda1  NTFS  XP
/dev/sda2   FAT32  Storage  (files for Tbird and FF live here so they are the same in every OS.
/dev/sda3   Extended
/dev/sda5  ext4    /      (the one I'm using right now)
/dev/sda6   linux-swap
/dev/sda7   ext4   /home
/dev/sda8   ext4        (supposed to be root of my missing OS)
/dev/sda9   ext4   /home   

I searched some and I'm reading at http://www.av8n.com/computer/htm/grub-reinstall.htm  I don't quite grok what radicula is and I would prefer specific advice for our beloved OS.  I can ignore "sudo" but I'm still not on familiar ground even if the answer is in front of my face.

If it helps, fdisk -l /dev/sda got me this:

Code: [Select]

[root@localhost ~]# fdisk -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x6bbef6d5

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        6374    51199123+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2            6375        8923    20474842+   b  W95 FAT32
/dev/sda3            8924       30401   172522035    5  Extended
/dev/sda5            8924       10478    12490506   83  Linux
/dev/sda6           10479       10987     4088511   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda7           10988       18780    62597241   83  Linux
/dev/sda8           18781       20309    12281661   83  Linux
/dev/sda9           20310       30401    81063958+  83  Linux


[Just17]

I would first do a fsck on sda8 from the other install.
It seems the filesystem might be damaged.

Also check how full the partition is ........  df in a terminal.

[azziam]

I would first do a fsck on sda8 from the other install.
It seems the filesystem might be damaged.

Also check how full the partition is ........  df in a terminal.

I got:

Code: [Select]

[root@localhost ~]# fsck /dev/sda8
fsck from util-linux-ng 2.16.2
e2fsck 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
Gnome1011Root: clean, 300456/768544 files, 2058732/3070415 blocks
[root@localhost ~]#

gparted shows me that the partition is 11.7-GiB with 7.85GiB used.  Funny I hadn't noticed I accidentally named those partitions 1011 instead of 2011.  Now I looked at what the etc/fstab looks like in this working install and it's probably the same in the non-working one.  When I put the second linux on the drive, whatever I used for partitioning/formatting wanted to call the second root part "/boot" and it called the 2nd home part "/nome" (with an n)(it reads that way in gparted too).  I assumed this was a little trick used by the utility to differentiate the two installs.  I never thought much more about it as everything has worked fine fine for a long time.  The only thing that has changed recently was a really small update from Synaptic a few days before.  I don't remember what the 5 or 6 files were.  One may have been Tbird or FF and then a few more small things.   Then there were 5 or 6 other java files that always fail because of java fonts failing.  Nothing here that seems any different than usual.

[Just17]

You might try

fsck -v -f /dev/sda8   (making sure the partition is NOT mounted)

[azziam]

You might try

fsck -v -f /dev/sda8   (making sure the partition is NOT mounted)

Thanks, that gives me:

Code: [Select]

[root@localhost ~]# fsck -v -f /dev/sda8
fsck from util-linux-ng 2.16.2
e2fsck 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information

  300456 inodes used (39.09%)
    1103 non-contiguous files (0.4%)
      98 non-contiguous directories (0.0%)
         # of inodes with ind/dind/tind blocks: 0/0/0
         Extent depth histogram: 231233/69
 2058732 blocks used (67.05%)
       0 bad blocks
       1 large file

  208010 regular files
   22718 directories
    3416 character device files
   13613 block device files
       2 fifos
     644 links
   52391 symbolic links (51816 fast symbolic links)
     297 sockets
--------
  301091 files

I'm encouraged that nothing seems actually damaged.  I think I just need to re-create that mount point but I'm not sure how I do that.

[kjpetrie]

There should be no mount point for partitions outside the system in which they are used. The fstab of the two installs need to be different.

Boot into the old working Gnome and create a mount point:

Code: [Select]


su -c 'mkdir -p /mnt/other'
Then mount /dev/sda8 there:

Code: [Select]


su -c 'mount /dev/sda8 /mnt/other'
If you get any errors post them here.

Otherwise, post the output from the following commands:

Code: [Select]


cat /etc/fstab

cat /mnt/other/etc/fstab

blkid

[azziam]

There should be no mount point for partitions outside the system in which they are used. The fstab of the two installs need to be different.

Boot into the old working Gnome and create a mount point:

Code: [Select]


su -c 'mkdir -p /mnt/other'
Then mount /dev/sda8 there:

Code: [Select]


su -c 'mount /dev/sda8 /mnt/other'
If you get any errors post them here.

OK, I did those (didn't use the -c), but it asks for the file type to mount when I try to mount so I tried 'mount -t ext4 /dev/sda8 /mnt/other' and it wasn't rejected.  I'll try a reboot and see if I get something.

Otherwise, post the output from the following commands:

Code: [Select]


cat /etc/fstab

cat /mnt/other/etc/fstab

blkid

Before rebooting I ran the above anyway and the first appeared unchanged.  The hiidden one shows:

Code: [Select]

[root@localhost ~]# cat /mnt/other/etc/fstab
# Entry for /dev/sda8 :
UUID=0c6e38e2-2ed1-45a7-ab44-e42687d3b653 / ext4 defaults 1 1
# Entry for /dev/sda9 :
UUID=69589db2-bd5a-44a4-a007-d60902259557 /home ext4 defaults 1 2
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda6 :
UUID=bb52c20b-bdec-4fa4-aa66-1471c22f7720 swap swap defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sdb2 :
UUID=cddc834e-2037-48b1-adec-9f0f849b8e1d swap swap defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sdc5 :
UUID=c60f69b1-b617-4323-927c-8ffb355e3e53 swap swap defaults 0 0
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0
I can see I need to edit some old junk out when I can get to it.

[azziam]

I'm still getting the same result.  I hand-copied what I'm seeing at the kernel panic, FWIW:

waiting for device sda8 to appear (timeout 1min)
waiting for device sda6 to appear (timeout 1min)
Creating root device
Mounting root filesystem
mount: could not find filesystem '/dev/root'
Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!
Pid: 1, comm: init Not tainted 2.6.33.7-pclos6.bfs #1
Call Trace:
blah
blah
blah
blah
blah
[<c038f1c0>] syscall +0x7/0xb

Things still look the same in GParted, every partition shows a mount point except /dev/sda8.  Information shows Status: Not mounted.  Status for /dev/sda9 which is /home for the missing install shows as 'Mounted on /nome'.  So, I don't know why that one doesn't show up in Nautilus.  Of course that's the partition I'm more concerned about since it has business files I need very soon.  I'm downloading a new iso since I misplaced my previous one.  Maybe booting from it will give me a different view but I doubt it.  Bad MBR??  What are normal mount points shown in GParted if there are more than one Linux on a HDD?

[kjpetrie]

Sorry, I can't help you unless you paste all the information I asked for.

[azziam]

Sorry, I can't help you unless you paste all the information I asked for.

OK, maybe I shouldn't have tried the reboot yet.  I redid each thing.  Still had to add the file type but now the mount point shows in GParted although neither missing partition shows in Nautilus.  Outputs below:

Code: [Select]

[pete@localhost ~]$ cat /etc/fstab
# Entry for /dev/sda5 :
UUID=d9055e38-8201-48e8-b794-1acdbe85e60f / ext4 defaults 1 1
# Entry for /dev/sda8 :
LABEL=Gnome1011Root /boot ext4 relatime 1 2
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0
tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda7 :
UUID=31abdc8e-b3da-41b7-a8a9-b68eedc07fe2 /home ext4 defaults 1 2
# Entry for /dev/sda9 :
LABEL=Gnome1011Home /nome ext4 relatime 1 2
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda6 :
UUID=bb52c20b-bdec-4fa4-aa66-1471c22f7720 swap swap defaults 0 0
 

Code: [Select]

[pete@localhost ~]$ cat /mnt/other/etc/fstab
# Entry for /dev/sda8 :
UUID=0c6e38e2-2ed1-45a7-ab44-e42687d3b653 / ext4 defaults 1 1
# Entry for /dev/sda9 :
UUID=69589db2-bd5a-44a4-a007-d60902259557 /home ext4 defaults 1 2
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda6 :
UUID=bb52c20b-bdec-4fa4-aa66-1471c22f7720 swap swap defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sdb2 :
UUID=cddc834e-2037-48b1-adec-9f0f849b8e1d swap swap defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sdc5 :
UUID=c60f69b1-b617-4323-927c-8ffb355e3e53 swap swap defaults 0 0
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0

Code: [Select]

[pete@localhost ~]$ blkid
/dev/sda1: UUID="9E4081024080E1FF" LABEL="250XP50P1" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda5: UUID="d9055e38-8201-48e8-b794-1acdbe85e60f" TYPE="ext4" LABEL="PCLOSG2010Root12"
/dev/sda6: UUID="bb52c20b-bdec-4fa4-aa66-1471c22f7720" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sda7: LABEL="PCLOSG2010Home60" UUID="31abdc8e-b3da-41b7-a8a9-b68eedc07fe2" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda2: LABEL="250P2FAT32G" UUID="5958-8213" TYPE="vfat"
/dev/sda9: LABEL="Gnome1011Home" UUID="69589db2-bd5a-44a4-a007-d60902259557" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="Ubuntu Studio" UUID="55a52536-d73f-4cab-91a0-e61dd404c22b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb5: UUID="c60f69b1-b617-4323-927c-8ffb355e3e53" TYPE="swap"

I see no sda8.

[Just17]

try as root

blkid -c /dev/null

[Old-Polack]

Sorry, I can't help you unless you paste all the information I asked for.

OK, maybe I shouldn't have tried the reboot yet.  I redid each thing.  Still had to add the file type but now the mount point shows in GParted although neither missing partition shows in Nautilus.  Outputs below:

Code: [Select]

[pete@localhost ~]$ cat /etc/fstab
# Entry for /dev/sda5 :
UUID=d9055e38-8201-48e8-b794-1acdbe85e60f / ext4 defaults 1 1
# Entry for /dev/sda8 :
LABEL=Gnome1011Root /boot ext4 relatime 1 2                  <-- What were you thinking when you did this?
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0
tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda7 :
UUID=31abdc8e-b3da-41b7-a8a9-b68eedc07fe2 /home ext4 defaults 1 2
# Entry for /dev/sda9 :
LABEL=Gnome1011Home /nome ext4 relatime 1 2
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda6 :
UUID=bb52c20b-bdec-4fa4-aa66-1471c22f7720 swap swap defaults 0 0


Why have you chosen to mount another installation's / partition on your /boot directory of the running system? This makes no sense at all.

Code: [Select]

[pete@localhost ~]$ cat /mnt/other/etc/fstab
# Entry for /dev/sda8 :
UUID=0c6e38e2-2ed1-45a7-ab44-e42687d3b653 / ext4 defaults 1 1
# Entry for /dev/sda9 :
UUID=69589db2-bd5a-44a4-a007-d60902259557 /home ext4 defaults 1 2
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda6 :
UUID=bb52c20b-bdec-4fa4-aa66-1471c22f7720 swap swap defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sdb2 :
UUID=cddc834e-2037-48b1-adec-9f0f849b8e1d swap swap defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sdc5 :
UUID=c60f69b1-b617-4323-927c-8ffb355e3e53 swap swap defaults 0 0
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0

Code: [Select]

[pete@localhost ~]$ blkid
/dev/sda1: UUID="9E4081024080E1FF" LABEL="250XP50P1" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda5: UUID="d9055e38-8201-48e8-b794-1acdbe85e60f" TYPE="ext4" LABEL="PCLOSG2010Root12"
/dev/sda6: UUID="bb52c20b-bdec-4fa4-aa66-1471c22f7720" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sda7: LABEL="PCLOSG2010Home60" UUID="31abdc8e-b3da-41b7-a8a9-b68eedc07fe2" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda2: LABEL="250P2FAT32G" UUID="5958-8213" TYPE="vfat"
/dev/sda9: LABEL="Gnome1011Home" UUID="69589db2-bd5a-44a4-a007-d60902259557" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="another distro Studio" UUID="55a52536-d73f-4cab-91a0-e61dd404c22b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb5: UUID="c60f69b1-b617-4323-927c-8ffb355e3e53" TYPE="swap"

I see no sda8.

[azziam]

try as root

blkid -c /dev/null

Still no sda8

Code: [Select]

[root@localhost ~]# blkid -c /dev/null
/dev/sda1: UUID="9E4081024080E1FF" LABEL="250XP50P1" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda2: LABEL="250P2FAT32G" UUID="5958-8213" TYPE="vfat"
/dev/sda5: LABEL="PCLOSG2010Root12" UUID="d9055e38-8201-48e8-b794-1acdbe85e60f" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda6: UUID="bb52c20b-bdec-4fa4-aa66-1471c22f7720" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sda7: LABEL="PCLOSG2010Home60" UUID="31abdc8e-b3da-41b7-a8a9-b68eedc07fe2" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda9: LABEL="Gnome1011Home" UUID="69589db2-bd5a-44a4-a007-d60902259557" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="Ubuntu Studio" UUID="55a52536-d73f-4cab-91a0-e61dd404c22b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb5: UUID="c60f69b1-b617-4323-927c-8ffb355e3e53" TYPE="swap"

[azziam]

Code: [Select]

[pete@localhost ~]$ cat /etc/fstab
# Entry for /dev/sda5 :
UUID=d9055e38-8201-48e8-b794-1acdbe85e60f / ext4 defaults 1 1
# Entry for /dev/sda8 :
LABEL=Gnome1011Root /boot ext4 relatime 1 2                  <-- What were you thinking when you did this?
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0
tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda7 :
UUID=31abdc8e-b3da-41b7-a8a9-b68eedc07fe2 /home ext4 defaults 1 2
# Entry for /dev/sda9 :
LABEL=Gnome1011Home /nome ext4 relatime 1 2
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda6 :
UUID=bb52c20b-bdec-4fa4-aa66-1471c22f7720 swap swap defaults 0 0


Why have you chosen to mount another installation's / partition on your /boot directory of the running system? This makes no sense at all.

I believe when I did the second PCLOS install on this disk, that the mount points were named by the utility.  It's been a couple years and I remember having doubts at the time.  I don't try to get creative on my own where it involves rules I'm only trying to learn.  It has worked perfectly well for all this time.  Maybe something was setup to eventually fail?  I appreciate the helps and i'll be gone till later today and hope to find out how these partitions are hidden.