Boot process still erratic after update

[mauriceg]

A month ago I posted a query about the boot problems I was experiencing since an update to PCLOS 11.06 (K.D.E.)

These problems are continuing, with variations on the following symptoms :

# Sometimes the boot sequence works normally, sometimes it doesn't;

# Sometimes I get the message 'Booting the system', the four icons appear and then the screen goes blank except for a pointer;

# Sometimes, if I click once on the white 'disk' icon while it's still at the 'fuzzy' stage, the system boots correctly; but sometimes it doesn't;

# Even when I configure the system to boot without log-in, it insists on asking for a double-click before loading the desktop.

There are no signs of hardware problems and once the system has eventually booted, it works normally. But why should it show such erratic behaviour ?

Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks !

Maurice George

[menotu]

Hi mauriceg - did you try what kjpetrie suggested in your original post

How do you shut down when this happens? You need to find a way to shut down cleanly to avoid filesystem damage and if you do have to resort to turning off or resetting the machine you need to boot into a livecd and fsck your partitions before you boot again, to minimise the damage.

You may need to experiment with video settings and kernels to find a better combination.

As suggested did you run fsck from a LiveCD?

Also have you tried a different kernel and/or video card ? (I would suggest doing just one of those before trying the second)

[mauriceg]

Hello, menotu.

I've never delved into this area of Linux so would welcome a few more details please.

Assuming that I need to run a LiveCD like PCLOS or Knoppix, it seems that I would have to unmount the ext3 partition before running fscd. Is that right ? If so, do I need to remount the partition after that ?

(I've seen various warnings about the risks of fscd; rather alarming.)

Any other tips you can give me would be *very* helpful.

Thanks.

Maurice

[Texstar]

Things to try.

Run fsck on your system from either the LiveCD or by typing shutdown -rF now in a  su to root terminal console.

Edit /etc/sysconfig/speedboot and change it to
SPEEDBOOT=no

Clean out all of your tmp folders.

/home/yourname/tmp

/root/tmp

/tmp

reboot

[marcin82]

You can also boot on the safe mode. Login as root (su), then:

Code: [Select]

touch /forcefsckthen:

Code: [Select]

reboot

[mauriceg]

Hello, Texstar.

Your *very* fast and *very* complete answer has solved the problem.

I'm really grateful to you (and others).

Long live PCLOS !

Maurice George (U.K.)