Unable to boot after flubbed install

[Old-Polack]

MtnMan:

Not much help at the moment, but for once you get back up and running, run the command as root, fdisk -l > /home/<you>/partitions.txt. Then send an email to yourself at an online free mailbox, with that file as an attachment. Should this ever happen again, you'll have an exact reference with which to restore your partition table. (Voice of experience) 

[MtnMan]

old-polack> That is a very good suggestion.  I am also going to try using more online storage options in general.

djohnston> Sorry for getting testy and typing in red.  It is mainly because I am just a dumb[donkey] noob that I didn't express correctly that I didn't understand how to make the changes but I knew (pretty sure) what was supposed to be what.

as> Thanks for the suggestion of testdisk in the first place (and the coffee).  I ended up doing the change and it looked right but when I saw chunks of unallocated spaces scattered all over the place in gparted I decided to flush and start over fresh.

Before I start with installs again I thought to make partitions first and maybe avoid this problem in the future.  Can someone please tell me if this looks ok - now would be the time to fix it if not.

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x49ed49ec

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1            2048    48822271    24410112   83  Linux
/dev/sda2        48824307   238372469    94774081+   5  Extended
/dev/sda3       238372533   616949759   189288613+  83  Linux
/dev/sda4       616949760   625141759     4096000   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda5        48826368    73402367    12288000   83  Linux
/dev/sda6        73404416    97980415    12288000   83  Linux
/dev/sda7        97982464   122558463    12288000   83  Linux
/dev/sda8       122559948   147139334    12289693+  83  Linux
/dev/sda9       147142656   192198655    22528000   83  Linux
/dev/sda10      192200704   238370815    23085056   83  Linux

[djohnston]

MtnMan,

No problem. We all get testy from time to time. And having a borked install doesn't help.

That layout looks fine. I don't know whether all the extra partitions are for multiple distros or for segregated storage. I know you allocated some space with your last installation for storage/backup, and you should do the same again. One suggestion. If you are going to be multibooting, I would put a small partition as the first one, 100 to 250 MBs in size (megabytes). That partition would serve as your /boot partition and would store the /boot directory of each distro installed. Doing it that way, you can store your "master" GRUB boot menu there. You can also keep copies in the root partition of each distro as backups. The only way you could run into possible problems is with mixing legacy GRUB with GRUB2, or with installing a distro that doesn't recognize all the other installed OSes.

One last thing. I would take old-polack's advice very seriously about emailing yourself copies of your partition layout. Then you have a master template to work from if you ever run into problems.

[MtnMan]

djohnston>   you are correct  - multiple installs and one large storage partition.   I made the small one at the start - 547MiB is the smallest allowed with gparted (0.7.0-3).  Now...

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        2048     1122303      560128   83  Linux
/dev/sda2         1122304    48822271    23849984   83  Linux
/dev/sda3        48824307   238372469    94774081+   5  Extended
/dev/sda4       238372533   616949759   189288613+  83  Linux
/dev/sda5        48826368    73402367    12288000   83  Linux
/dev/sda6        73404416    97980415    12288000   83  Linux
/dev/sda7        97982464   122558463    12288000   83  Linux
/dev/sda8       122559948   147139334    12289693+  83  Linux
/dev/sda9       147142656   192198655    22528000   83  Linux
/dev/sda10      192200704   228767743    18283520   83  Linux
/dev/sda11      228769792   238370815     4800512   82  Linux swap / Solaris

Thanks to all for the help (and tolerance).

[Old-Polack]

[
Before I start with installs again I thought to make partitions first and maybe avoid this problem in the future.  Can someone please tell me if this looks ok - now would be the time to fix it if not.

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x49ed49ec

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1            2048    48822271    24410112   83  Linux
/dev/sda2        48824307   238372469    94774081+   5  Extended
/dev/sda3       238372533   616949759   189288613+  83  Linux
/dev/sda4       616949760   625141759     4096000   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda5        48826368    73402367    12288000   83  Linux
/dev/sda6        73404416    97980415    12288000   83  Linux
/dev/sda7        97982464   122558463    12288000   83  Linux
/dev/sda8       122559948   147139334    12289693+  83  Linux
/dev/sda9       147142656   192198655    22528000   83  Linux
/dev/sda10      192200704   238370815    23085056   83  Linux

I don't like this at all. You have three normal primary partitions as well as an extended primary partition, which is good, but they are scattered all over the drive, so when displayed in order numerically they do not show their physical relationship on the hard drive. The numbers 1-4 are reserved for primary partitions, so they should be created in numerical order, with 4 being the extended partition, which should then extend to the end of the drive. All logical partitions will then be contained within that extended partition and will be numbered sequentially as they are created, thus giving a clear and easily understandable readout with the fdisk -l command.

Example:

For extra clarity, I've shown the cylinder rather than sector readout, ie fdisk -l -u=cylinders.

[root@fatman Documents]# fdisk -l -u=cylinders

Code: [Select]

Disk /dev/sda: 750.2 GB, 750156374016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 91201 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x2db1883a

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1          13      104391   83  Linux
/dev/sda2              14         761     6008310   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3             762        4497    30009420   83  Linux
/dev/sda4            4498       91201   696449880    5  Extended
/dev/sda5            4498       16947   100004593+  83  Linux
/dev/sda6           16948       41750   199230066   83  Linux
/dev/sda7           41751       45520    30282493+  83  Linux
/dev/sda8           45521       50506    40050013+  83  Linux
/dev/sda9           50507       65096   117194143+  83  Linux
/dev/sda10          65097       79686   117194143+  83  Linux
/dev/sda11          79687       91201    92494206   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0000d21c

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1               1          39      313236   83  Linux
/dev/sdb2              40        1047     8096760   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb3            1048        7127    48837600   83  Linux
/dev/sdb4            7128      121601   919512405    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5            7128       20500   107418591   83  Linux
/dev/sdb6           20501       33267   102550896   83  Linux
/dev/sdb7           33268       37158    31254426   83  Linux
/dev/sdb8           37159       41049    31254426   83  Linux
/dev/sdb9           41050       44940    31254426   83  Linux
/dev/sdb10          44941       48831    31254426   83  Linux
/dev/sdb11          48832       61886   104864256   83  Linux
/dev/sdb12          61887      101050   314584798+  83  Linux
/dev/sdb13         101051      104942    31262458+  83  Linux
/dev/sdb14         104943      108893    31736376   83  Linux
/dev/sdb15         108894      113071    33559753+  83  Linux
/dev/sdb16         113072      117641    36700160   83  Linux
/dev/sdb17         117641      121601    31813992+  83  Linux

Note that all partitions are displayed in proper order, both numerically and as they physically appear on the hard drive. The first partition on each is a small boot partition, as described by djohnston. This is followed by a swap partition, then a / partition for the first Linux OS installed. The fourth partition is the extended partition and all partitions following therefore must be logical, so are created in numerical order, without any questions as to type, by command line fdisk, which is my partitioning tool of choice.

[MtnMan]

old-polack> Thanks.  That's the hardcore nitty gritty I want but I don't (yet) know how to partition with CL.  I only did the ordering that way to keep my storage intact but I'm willing to wipe that too to get it right.  Do you already have a tute - if so it would be a great start.  If not I'll do the best I can.

[Old-Polack]

old-polack> Thanks.  That's the hardcore nitty gritty I want but I don't (yet) know how to partition with CL.  I only did the ordering that way to keep my storage intact but I'm willing to wipe that too to get it right.  Do you already have a tute - if so it would be a great start.  If not I'll do the best I can.

There is a pretty good one here;

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,93910.msg795321.html#msg795321

Note that if you keep track of the actual start and end sectors of each partition, you can create each partition using those numbers, but by using the appropriate numerical partition designation, can change them from primary to logical, or from logical to primary, without damaging the existing content. As long as the partition starts and ends on the same sector numbers, the file system within, holding the contents, will be undamaged.

Note: In the example above, only the first three primary partitions are created. In your case, the next command would be to use the n command, then the e choice to create the extended partition, accepting both the default start and default end sectors. Once that's done, all additional partitions created subsequently will, of necessity, be logical partitions, as all of the primary partition numbers have been used up.

[MtnMan]

old-polack> Thanks for that - I am very excited to get to it before work tomorrow.  I want to know your reasoning for putting swap near the beginning.  From my understanding of the disk the beginning (or area near the center of the platter) has the fastest r/w ability and best used for the main os.  Why squander it on swap if it would not be used.  Of course if it is used it makes good sense to have it there.  Just wanted to get your reason/idea before I stick it somewhere else.

[Old-Polack]

old-polack> Thanks for that - I am very excited to get to it before work tomorrow.  I want to know your reasoning for putting swap near the beginning.  From my understanding of the disk the beginning (or area near the center of the platter) has the fastest r/w ability and best used for the main os.  Why squander it on swap if it would not be used.  Of course if it is used it makes good sense to have it there.  Just wanted to get your reason/idea before I stick it somewhere else.

I have two reasons.

1. My first partition is the boot partition, and the easiest partition to steal extra space from, if needed, without extensive system problems, is the swap partition. I can do that while the main system is running, without having to resort to using the liveCD.

2. Swap, being slow at best, needs all the help it can get when it's used. I've had multi GBs of swap in use at times, though not often.

Having 10 installations; they can't all have their / partition at the beginning of the drive. Honestly, I can't tell the difference in speed from the one on sda3, from the one on sda17, the last partition on a 1 TB drive. I really don't think drive location much matters to the rest of a running system these days, but it does seem to make a difference with swap. Rather than consider that space squandered, I consider it best use overall.

[MtnMan]

old-polack>  Thanks for the clear and detailed instruction.  Everything looks good (to me).  Installed FM to sda10 without a hitch.  Gparted never looked better with labels and all.  That is a slick way of making partitions.

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x7cbb8d41

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1            2048      514047      256000   83  Linux
/dev/sda2          514048    17291263     8388608   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3        17291264    59234303    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda4        59234304   625142447   282954072    5  Extended
/dev/sda5        59236352   101179391    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda6       101181440   143124479    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda7       143126528   185069567    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda8       185071616   227014655    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda9       227016704   268959743    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda10      268961792   321390591    26214400   83  Linux
/dev/sda11      321392640   625142447   151874904   83  Linux

Feeling much better now.

[Old-Polack]

old-polack>  Thanks for the clear and detailed instruction.  Everything looks good (to me).  Installed FM to sda10 without a hitch.  Gparted never looked better with labels and all.  That is a slick way of making partitions.

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x7cbb8d41

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1            2048      514047      256000   83  Linux
/dev/sda2          514048    17291263     8388608   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3        17291264    59234303    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda4        59234304   625142447   282954072    5  Extended
/dev/sda5        59236352   101179391    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda6       101181440   143124479    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda7       143126528   185069567    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda8       185071616   227014655    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda9       227016704   268959743    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda10      268961792   321390591    26214400   83  Linux
/dev/sda11      321392640   625142447   151874904   83  Linux

Feeling much better now.

When I started with Linux, this was pretty much the only way to partition, and format, drives; the GUI tools came later. The theory is that newbie=command line fear so GUI tools must therefore be easier for them to use. Personally, I like the focus of the command line tools, where each step is clear and concise, and you have complete control of what's happening during each step.

Rather than cater to the command line fear, by only using GUI tools, I like doing these tutorials to dispel that fear and show that the fear is baseless. The command line tools are well thought out and easy to use. Where partition tables are terribly scrambled, with partitions out of order, and partitions overlapping, you can be sure it was the use of GUI tools that caused the problems. Fixing the problems efficiently is almost the exclusive domain of the command line tools. They are not to be feared, but embraced. They are your friends, if you'll let them be.

[MtnMan]

Fixing the problems efficiently is almost the exclusive domain of the command line tools. They are not to be feared, but embraced. They are your friends, if you'll let them be. Wink

My "fear" exists because typing in a command is one thing but there is no such thing as un-typing to reverse your command.  You really have to understand the commands to reverse a mistake.  With a GUI you click a radio button or put a check in a box - if it doesn't suit you you go back and undo it.  Just seems to be much more to learn with CLI and bless you guys that had to learn it all way back.

Please - one more question - creating this 250M boot partition is causing a leeetle problem.  It is not such a big deal that it shows up in the places plane in the file managers and can't be accessed.  The problem begins when trying to log into a E17 desktop and there is immediately a mount error.  This is going to be a nuisance.  

The first thing I think of is to alter the /etc/pmount.allow file so that it is something other than   "/dev/sd[a-z][1-9][0-9]"  then realize that would have to be done with every install if it did work.

Any suggestions?

Edit: should add I think that is the problem just because it never happened before.

[pat@localhost ~]$ dmesg | tail
r8169 0000:04:00.0: eth0: link down
ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
r8169 0000:04:00.0: eth0: link up
ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready
eth0: no IPv6 routers present
kdesud[9682]: segfault at bf3fafc4 ip b6e0879c sp bf3fafc8 error 6 in libc-2.13.so[b6d9c000+161000]
EXT4-fs (sda1): bad geometry: block count 140032 exceeds size of device (64000 blocks)
ip_tables: (C) 2000-2006 Netfilter Core Team
EXT4-fs (sda1): bad geometry: block count 140032 exceeds size of device (64000 blocks)
EXT4-fs (sda1): bad geometry: block count 140032 exceeds size of device (64000 blocks)

That is in E17.

[Old-Polack]

MtnMan:

First things first. I need some more information. Having created that boot partition, did you set a mount point for it?

I have no mount points set to automount except those in my fstab. I do not mount the boot partition on any OS except to make changes to it. I then mount it manually on /mnt/boot while I make the changes, and unmount it immediately after. It works just fine this way, and what is in that partition is isolated from any accidental changes that might otherwise occur, from any upgrades on any of the OS it serves.

Because of the number of partitions I usually have on my machines, I disable anything that wants to automount anything. Nothing is more disturbing than having 30-40 unwanted partition icons pop up on ones desktop, crowding out those few one wishes to be there.

You don't have to go to the same extremes with this, but seriously;

[root@fatman Documents]# ls -l /media
total 0

On my machine, nothing ever mounts in /media. On most of my installations I don't even have a /media directory, just to be sure nothing gets mounted there accidentally.

In the E17 installation, and others for that matter, if a line is created to mount the boot partition somewhere, with the noauto mount parameter, the automounters won't touch it.

From my fstab:

[root@fatman Documents]# cat /etc/fstab |grep boot
LABEL=boot1000           /mnt/boot               ext3    rw,user,noauto,exec,noatime     0 0

The two parameters user,noauto mean the partition will not be mounted automatically at boot up, and that it can be mounted manually, by my normal user, when I actually want to work on something in there, or just to check a setting. I use the same fstab for all my PCLinuxOS installations, changing only the LABEL=<whatever> of the / partition line for each.

[root@fatman Documents]# cat /etc/fstab |grep '1 1'
LABEL=kde2011           /                       ext4    defaults,noatime                1 1

[MtnMan]

old-polack> trying my best to follow you here.

First things first. I need some more information. Having created that boot partition, did you set a mount point for it?

No - not that I am aware of.

Because of the number of partitions I usually have on my machines, I disable anything that wants to automount anything. Nothing is more disturbing than having 30-40 unwanted partition icons pop up on ones desktop, crowding out those few one wishes to be there.

Ditto here.  The only thing I want in my face is the storage partition.



[root@localhost Documents]# ls -l /media
total 0

[root@localhost Documents]# cat /etc/fstab |grep boot
Nothing returns.

[root@localhost Documents]# cat /etc/fstab |grep '1 1'
UUID=187311e0-2e0b-4803-90d7-b8166adac79a / ext4 defaults 1 1

That would be FM - I guess it would help if I learned to use labels here.

From fstab:
# Entry for /dev/sda10 :
UUID=187311e0-2e0b-4803-90d7-b8166adac79a / ext4 defaults 1 1
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda2 :
UUID=e1da4c29-17a1-4e79-aa96-0a635a212c48 swap swap defaults 0 0
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0

In the E17 installation, and others for that matter, if a line is created to mount the boot partition somewhere, with the noauto mount parameter, the automounters won't touch it.

Can you please type that a little slower for me.

Edit:  When I was creating the partitions there was some warning about blocks or something at the end but since everything showed up correctly I didn't think much of it.  Should I make a new table or is this something else?

[Old-Polack]

MtnMan:

Because the size of sda1 is so small, it should be formatted as ext3 rather than ext4. I think that's where the errors are coming from.

[root@localhost ~]# mke2fs -t ext3 -L boot320 /dev/sda1                <Enter>

The -L boot320 part of the line creates a partition LABEL, in this case boot320, denoting the size of the hard drive. I have a boot partition on each of my hard drives, so I named them boot1000 for the 1 TB drive, boot750 for the 750 GB drive, boot300, boot200, boot164, etc. each denoting the drive size where it is to be found. Having two 160 GB drives, the names are boot160-1 and boot160-2. It seemed an obvious choice at the time, being as each LABEL must be unique if it is to act like a UUID number.

If you did not LABEL the partitions when you made them, you can do so at any time with the command;

[root@localhost ~]# tune2fs -L <label name> /dev/<whatever>            <Enter>

The LABELs can be whatever you'd like, but it helps to have some sort of pattern as to how you pick names, so it's easier to remember what they are. You can only have up to 16 characters in a LABEL, so try for short and to the point.

The command blkid will show your partition LABEL names and UUID numbers.

From mine:

[root@fatman Documents]# blkid

Code: [Select]

/dev/sda1: LABEL="boot750" UUID="985efd35-13a4-4279-8129-0f9552d95ccb" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda2: LABEL="swap750" UUID="0ccd09b0-ebb4-4f78-8c73-632232adf438" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sda3: LABEL="750pclos" UUID="ace4498d-cd4b-458b-9b0c-853c0679fe70" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda5: LABEL="Documents2" UUID="d9550e51-e2e6-4b48-b382-d491ab0bc1ea" TYPE="ext3" SEC_TYPE="ext2"
/dev/sda6: LABEL="share9" UUID="3abe7220-57d1-40c8-acb3-b8d13585577f" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda7: LABEL="Documents" UUID="6c984560-d3bc-4ea9-b2ad-62586c662bcf" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda10: LABEL="120backup" UUID="3dff9abc-88c0-47dc-bd2c-f3f991acab69" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda11: LABEL="storage00" UUID="f0320f20-48d5-4ddb-89ed-9da4676aefa4" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="boot1000" UUID="10165aee-8b41-4c52-aa7e-c6b0d6d17eeb" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb2: LABEL="swap1000" UUID="8b44f813-fd45-4f94-b519-28300b4791ad" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sdb3: LABEL="TR5" UUID="6ae6cf37-7fd2-4b9c-86dc-f037141745bb" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb6: LABEL="tmpback" UUID="dcf02721-aca8-494f-8182-cc8ab1df8430" TYPE="ext3" SEC_TYPE="ext2"
/dev/sdb5: LABEL="TR5-Documents" UUID="9c1bbdf4-5f3c-4d70-b03a-983504da6c15" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb7: LABEL="TR6" UUID="36feb97d-2f61-4709-b6f5-8e8d8fee3370" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb8: LABEL="kde2011" UUID="8c17ff68-f606-4148-98ac-1e85324e7bc6" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb9: LABEL="kde64-2" UUID="a8fdfcab-c52a-4de2-adce-28738e49f388" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb10: LABEL="st-backup" UUID="7b1f293e-8deb-49de-adbf-db9173fd2599" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb11: LABEL="os-backups" UUID="3d1692bb-afe0-4648-b5be-d30f1eca32e7" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb12: LABEL="movies2" UUID="fad35a11-5738-401e-88b6-56b78dfeb15a" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb13: LABEL="share1" UUID="9c1c0b28-b24c-40ed-8c90-e5c704021548" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb14: LABEL="minime2010" UUID="ab32e99a-5bb8-4360-b75d-e13df5412608" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb15: LABEL="kde64-4" UUID="15788c3a-2767-4c9e-8ebf-a0a488c1820c" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb16: LABEL="minime12" UUID="d31989a1-48f3-4875-848b-a66db2e86f09" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb17: LABEL="kde64" UUID="78e81c20-8949-487b-b685-de84a16c8802" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda8: LABEL="750mm" UUID="b512d57e-3c7a-4226-96ea-98ba93d5d486" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda9: LABEL="movies" UUID="90ae3f6a-46b2-485a-886d-e4c203491907" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"

My fstab, to show the use of the LABEL names in practice.

[root@fatman Documents]# cat /etc/fstab

Code: [Select]

# Entry for /dev/sda8 :
LABEL=kde2011           /                       ext4    defaults,noatime                1 1
LABEL=TR5-Documents     /home/polack/Documents  ext3    rw,user,noauto,exec,noatime     0 0
LABEL=Documents2        /home/polack/Documents2 ext3    rw,user,noauto,exec,noatime     0 0
# LABEL=share7          /share7                 ext3    rw,user,noauto,exec,noatime     0 0
LABEL=share1            /share1                 ext4    rw,user,auto,exec,noatime       0 0
LABEL=share9            /share9                 ext3    rw,user,auto,exec,noatime       0 0
LABEL=movies            /movies                 ext3    rw,user,auto,exec,noatime       0 0
LABEL=movies2           /movies2                ext3    rw,user,auto,exec,noatime       0 0
# LABEL=TV-1            /tv                     ext3    rw,user,noauto,exec,noatime     0 0
LABEL=storage00         /zstorage00             ext3    rw,user,noauto,exec,noatime     0 0
LABEL=120backup         /zbackup                ext3    rw,user,noauto,exec,noatime     0 0
LABEL=boot1000          /mnt/boot               ext3    rw,user,noauto,exec,noatime     0 0
#LABEL=part17           /mnt/17                 ext4    rw,user,noauto,exec,noatime     0 0
none                    /proc                   proc    defaults                        0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda2 :
#LABEL=swap200          swap                    swap    defaults                        0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda2 :
#LABEL=swap300          swap                    swap    defaults                        0 0
# Entry for /dev/sdc2 :
LABEL=swap1000          swap                    swap    defaults                        0 0
# Entry for /dev/sde2 :
LABEL=swap750           swap                    swap    defaults                        0 0
none                    /dev/pts                devpts  mode=0620                       0 0
/dev/fd0                /mnt/floppy             auto    rw,user,noauto,exec             0 0
/dev/sr0                /mnt/cdrom              auto    ro,user,noauto                  0 0
/dev/sr1                /mnt/dvd                auto    ro,user,noauto                  0 0
# none                  /dev/shm                tmpfs   defaults                        0 0

Note that some of the lines are commented out. This installation is on an external drive, and those items are on an internal drive on my backup machine. When I boot with this drive attached to that machine, I uncomment those lines.