unable to mount kernel panic

dextrose · 2008-10-30 13:02:12

Hey guys,

After resizing the reiserfs arch partition, I can't boot

kinit:unable to mount root fs on device dev(8,1)
kinit not found!
kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init"

Is there a way to regenerate this data booting from arch cd or a live cd?

Regards,
Jorge Nunes.

Last edited by dextrose (2008-10-31 01:23:04)

nexus7 · 2008-10-31 06:33:24

dextrose wrote:

...device dev(8,1)...

What does this mean?
If that would be hd(8,1) on grub, you seem to have at mindst nine hd's?! You probably mean s.th. like /dev/sdXY.

Some more particular information is badly needed here~ So what partiton did you resize, "/" or another, e.g. "/boot" if you have one, and did you shrink it or enlarge it? Did you resize really only one partition, and how did you resize it (which programm, within arch or windows or with other [external] media)?

Last edited by nexus7 (2008-10-31 09:26:02)

dextrose · 2008-11-10 01:16:18

sorry my laptop AC power almost died, I had to take off a few days to get it back running.

arch was originaly installed in the first partition, however I has to create a MBR partition before the first. I had reversed the operation by deleting the previows and moved back the arch partition into the original place. The operation was made using Acronis Disk Director.
I do have access to every file and managed to get it back running until the kinit mount problem.

I really need to get mysql deamon running and a command line to mysqldump the whole thing. the rest are files

I have been trying to install mandriva though it hasn't been able to write the GRUB on top.

with regards,
Jorge.

kludge · 2008-11-22 06:35:17

can you please post your:

/boot/grub/menu.lst
/etc/mkinitcpio.conf
/etc/fstab

and more of the output before the crash?

nowahn · 2008-12-05 13:19:39

I've got the same kernel panic with the same message, but it was just after an update (kernel26, xorg-server, nvidia within some others)
I first found out that the fallback option was able to boot , so try to boot with the fallback option, if it works, it might be the same bug
if it is the same bug, try this, it works for me :
- boot with the fallback option
- edit your /etc/mkinitcpio.conf : add "reiserfs" to the MODULES line

MODULES="... reiserfs"

- build your /boot/kernel26.img

mkinitcpio -g /boot/kernel26.img

- reboot and choose the normal option (not the fallback)
that should works.

please post a message here to tell me your results, I'm very interested because I've been dealing with that bug for one week and you are the first one that seems to have the same bug
if you are interested and if you understand french, here is my topic on the french forum : http://forums.archlinux.fr/topic2802.html

kludge · 2008-12-05 20:02:13

these

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=26118

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=55842

might be related.

but s'rsly. some more output to go on would help.

nowahn · 2008-12-06 11:05:07

sorry kludge, my message was just my solution, without explanation, details are on my topic on the french forum.
maybe I was not clear :
- first of all, on my system, the fallback option have always been working, if that's not your case, I think you have not the same bug (in all your topics, theres no output about the fallback option)
- yesterday, my bug was almost fixed : I was able to build a working boot image by adding "reiserfs" to the MODULES line of my /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
- today, my bug is fixed (thanks tuxce) : the fix is to edit /lib/initcpio/install/autodetect (it is the "autodetect" hook) : change in the function "findfs" (line 16)

...grep -v -e loop -e ram -e fd...

with

...grep -v -e /loop -e /ram -e /fd...

my bug happens because my partitions are named "/dev/mapper/nvidia_bafgafdap#" (my system is on raid array) and were not taken in account by autodetect because they were considered as floppy just because their names include "fd". no reiserfs filesystem were found, so the reiserfs module was not included by the "autodetect" hook. I don't have to put "reiserfs" in my /etc/mkinitcpio.conf when editing my "autodetect"
(if your partition names include "loop", "ram" or "fd", you might have the same bug)
- today, the question is why was that working before, it might have never work on my system

here is a summary of what I did to solve my bug, that could help you :
- I boot many times with the "break=y" option :
edit your /boot/grub/menu.lst and add "break=y to the "kernel" line

kernel ... break=y

then, the boot sequence stops just before passing control to kinit, that is to say just before trying to mount partitions
your are in a shell in the filesystem of the boot image (allowing you to test this system, try to mount a partition, ...)
it is in this way that I found out that my boot image was not able to mount a reiserfs partition, but was able to mount an ext2 partition
tip : this is a kind of mini-shell, there's only a few commands ("ls" is not present), but you can add any tools by adding it to the BINARIES line of your /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and rebuilding your boot image
- the -s option of mkinitcpio (this is not the -S option !) :
the -s option write to a file the list of all that is included in the boot image you are building.
building my fallback image includes the reiserfs module, but building my standard image did not include it
(if your fallback option works, compare standard and fallback option)

kludge · 2008-12-06 20:01:06

wow, nowahn! that's an excellent guide... i actually solved my problem days ago, but your guide is excellent. it also points to a bug in the hug. you should report it!

nowahn · 2008-12-07 15:43:39

kludge wrote:

you should report it!

that's done :
http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/12374?project=1

Musikolo · 2009-07-31 23:02:50

nowahn wrote:

- edit your /etc/mkinitcpio.conf : add "reiserfs" to the MODULES line
MODULES="... reiserfs"

It was this!! Thanks.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-10-30 13:02:12

unable to mount kernel panic

#2 2008-10-31 06:33:24

Re: unable to mount kernel panic

#3 2008-11-10 01:16:18

Re: unable to mount kernel panic

#4 2008-11-22 06:35:17

Re: unable to mount kernel panic

#5 2008-12-05 13:19:39

Re: unable to mount kernel panic

#6 2008-12-05 20:02:13

Re: unable to mount kernel panic

#7 2008-12-06 11:05:07

Re: unable to mount kernel panic

#8 2008-12-06 20:01:06

Re: unable to mount kernel panic

#9 2008-12-07 15:43:39

Re: unable to mount kernel panic

#10 2009-07-31 23:02:50

Re: unable to mount kernel panic

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