[Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

czar82 · 2010-01-22 11:10:20

maybe was because archlinux crashed when I was turning off it that today when i turn on it, I get this error:

Kinit: Mounted root (ext3 filesystem) read only
No inittab file found
Enter runlevel

I try to type 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, but nothing works. The strange thing is that my Arch yesterday worked fine.

I found this:
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=641469
and this:
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php? … 64#p640464

but I didn't understand so much...

Last edited by czar82 (2010-01-25 17:56:52)

n0dix · 2010-01-22 13:47:21

Post your fstab file, obviously run from live cd.

Last edited by n0dix (2010-01-22 14:26:46)

perbh · 2010-01-22 14:23:12

Obviously - your crash hosed some files - of which inittab is one.
Now - inittab itself is easily enough reconstructed, but one will always wonder what other things/files may or may not be missing.
In any case - my first point of action would be to boot from a live cd, do a fsck, reconstruct inittab and at least making sure it boots into level 3 (non-graphic) and otherwise do a check of important files (fstab being one of them, also /etc/passwd and /etc/group)
See thge 'active' ingredients of _my_ /etc/inittab below:

id:3:initdefault:
rc::sysinit:/etc/rc.sysinit
rs:S1:wait:/etc/rc.single
rm:2345:wait:/etc/rc.multi
rh:06:wait:/etc/rc.shutdown
su:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin -p
c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty1 linux
c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty2 linux
c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty3 linux
c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty4 linux
c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty5 linux
c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty6 linux
ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now
x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/xdm -nodaemon

czar82 · 2010-01-22 15:18:40

i hope that all my files are ok, my degree thesis is there...

i'm burning the arch .iso and now i will try

perbh · 2010-01-22 17:27:54

czar82 wrote:

i hope that all my files are ok, my degree thesis is there...
i'm burning the arch .iso and now i will try

ahem ... I'm not gonna stop you - but to _me_ (at least) there is no better live-cd than 'grml' - it has absolutely everything under the sun - and all 'cli' which I happen to prefer for any kind of recovery ...

Primoz · 2010-01-22 17:30:42

For "nice" GUI try SystemRescueCD.
But I had few troubles with it, when it didn't want to boot...

barzam · 2010-01-22 17:56:49

czar82 wrote:

i hope that all my files are ok, my degree thesis is there...
i'm burning the arch .iso and now i will try

Ouch.. I really really hope you will be able to save the thesis. Good luck!

czar82 · 2010-01-22 21:28:10

(i save all my files with a windows utility (virtual volumes) that allow me to see ext3 partition )

now i burned this:
ftp://mi.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/archlin … e-i686.iso
but maybe the cd is old and it has some problem, sometimes it go to the selection gui of the cd, and other time it go on grub>
so I used virtual volumes to see my inittab~ file that is:

#
# /etc/inittab
#
# Runlevels:
# 0 Halt
# 1(S) Single-user
# 2 Not used
# 3 Multi-user
# 4 Not used
# 5 X11
# 6 Reboot
## Only one of the following two lines can be uncommented!
# Boot to console
id:3:initdefault:
# Boot to X11
#id:5:initdefault:
rc::sysinit:/etc/rc.sysinit
rs:S1:wait:/etc/rc.single
rm:2345:wait:/etc/rc.multi
rh:06:wait:/etc/rc.shutdown
su:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin -p
# -8 options fixes umlauts problem on login
c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/1 linux
c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/2 linux
c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/3 linux
c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/4 linux
c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/5 linux
c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/6 linux
ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now
# Example lines for starting a login manager
x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/xdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/sbin/gdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/kdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/slim >& /dev/null
# End of file

my inittab.pacsave

#
# /etc/inittab
#
# Runlevels:
# 0 Halt
# 1(S) Single-user
# 2 Not used
# 3 Multi-user
# 4 Not used
# 5 X11
# 6 Reboot
## Only one of the following two lines can be uncommented!
# Boot to console
#id:3:initdefault:
# Boot to X11
id:5:initdefault:
rc::sysinit:/etc/rc.sysinit
rs:S1:wait:/etc/rc.single
rm:2345:wait:/etc/rc.multi
rh:06:wait:/etc/rc.shutdown
su:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin -p
# -8 options fixes umlauts problem on login
c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/1 linux
c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/2 linux
c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/3 linux
c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/4 linux
c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/5 linux
c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/6 linux
ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now
# Example lines for starting a login manager
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/xdm -nodaemon
#la linea di sotto c'era scritto in un forum di commentarla
#così non c'è il problema di display all'inizio
#x:5:respawn:/usr/sbin/gdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/kdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/slim >& /dev/null
#x:5:respawn:/usr/sbin/entranced -nodaemon >& /dev/null
# End of file

my fstab:

#
# /etc/fstab: static file system information
#
# <file system> <dir> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0
none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
#/dev/cdrom /media/cd auto ro,user,noauto,unhide 0 0
#/dev/dvd /media/dvd auto ro,user,noauto,unhide 0 0
#/dev/fd0 /media/fl auto users,auto 0 0
/dev/sda1 /home/ivan/Desktop/winHD ntfs-3g auto,silent,umask=0,locale=it_IT.utf8 0 0
UUID=601eda0a-635d-4786-9a34-0da998c9df2e / ext3 defaults 0 1
UUID=907b2093-5d90-41b8-b77b-9136e126ccd2 swap swap defaults 0 0

but i dont have the "inittab" file (only inittab~ and inittab.pacsave), it's a little strange, because i remember that i modified the inittab, and my modify are in inittab.pacsave and not in inittab~

Last edited by czar82 (2010-01-22 21:31:38)

PirateJonno · 2010-01-23 00:08:28

thats weird, seems like you uninstalled the package 'initscripts' with pacman...

Last edited by PirateJonno (2010-01-23 00:08:38)

perbh · 2010-01-23 01:57:59

The 'inittab~' is a result of an edit - it looks ok - you can justr rename it (mv /etc/inittab~ /etc/inittab)

Actually - if you by some miracle has hosed your OS - you should still be able to save your thesis.
Again - boot from a live-cd, mount the partition where your thesis resides and copy it to a usb/sd-device

Last edited by perbh (2010-01-23 02:06:38)

czar82 · 2010-01-23 09:54:00

perbh wrote:

The 'inittab~' is a result of an edit - it looks ok - you can justr rename it (mv /etc/inittab~ /etc/inittab)
Actually - if you by some miracle has hosed your OS - you should still be able to save your thesis.
Again - boot from a live-cd, mount the partition where your thesis resides and copy it to a usb/sd-device

i saved my thesis through an utility from windows (virtual volumes)

it's bettere rename the inittab~ or the inittab.pacsave?
If I remember good, the inittab.pacsave was the right file that I had...

czar82 · 2010-01-23 15:58:25

booting with the live cd, I'm able to see my inittab:

#
# /etc/inittab
#
# Runlevels:
# 0 Halt
# 1(S) Single-user
# 2 Not used
# 3 Multi-user
# 4 Not used
# 5 X11
# 6 Reboot
## Only one of the following two lines can be uncommented!
# Boot to console
id:3:initdefault:
# Boot to X11
#id:5:initdefault:
rc::sysinit:/etc/rc.sysinit
rs:S1:wait:/etc/rc.single
rm:2345:wait:/etc/rc.multi
rh:06:wait:/etc/rc.shutdown
su:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin -p
# -8 options fixes umlauts problem on login
c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty1 linux
c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty2 linux
c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty3 linux
c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty4 linux
c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty5 linux
c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty6 linux
ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now
# Example lines for starting a login manager
x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/xdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/sbin/gdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/kdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/slim >& /dev/null
# End of file

the only difference is the "tty"

i do:

fsck.ext3 -c /dev/sda2

but all the 5 checks was passed,
***file system was modified ***
204654/1001712 files (1.6% non-contiguous), 1709823/4004201 blocks

Last edited by czar82 (2010-01-23 17:48:53)

czar82 · 2010-01-23 18:02:08

i try the first time to rename inittab~ to inittab and a second time inittab.pacsave to inittab, but i get both times this error:

INIT: version 2.86 booting
INIT: cannot execute "/etc/rc.sysinit"
INIT: Entering runlevel: 3
INIT: cannot execute "/etc/rc.multi"
INIT: Id "c1" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
INIT: Id "c2" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
INIT: Id "c3" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
INIT: Id "c4" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
INIT: Id "c5" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
INIT: Id "c6" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
INIT: no more processes left in this runlevel

the story is again the same, i have only the rc.conf.pacsave and rc.conf~

it's ok to copy the missing file from the live cd? (edit, i tried it's not ok... xD )

how could i fix all? somebody could help me with the rc.xxxx missing file?

Last edited by czar82 (2010-01-23 18:59:04)

PirateJonno · 2010-01-24 01:15:41

yeah, i think you need to reinstall initscripts. there should be wiki information about how to use pacman to install stuff from a live cd
Edit: see the last paragraph of http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman.

Last edited by PirateJonno (2010-01-24 01:21:02)

czar82 · 2010-01-24 11:43:16

PirateJonno wrote:

yeah, i think you need to reinstall initscripts. there should be wiki information about how to use pacman to install stuff from a live cd
Edit: see the last paragraph of http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman.

do you mean this?

Boot using the Arch live CD
Mount your root filesystem
Update the pacman database via pacman -Syy
Reinstall the broken package via pacman -r /path/to/root -S package

i tried with pacman -Syy but it don't work, I suppose because the network is not configured under the live cd...
i get this error:
failed to update community (transient resolver failure)
failed to syncronized any database

any suggest?

Last edited by czar82 (2010-01-24 11:49:51)

czar82 · 2010-01-24 19:22:07

nothing?

perbh · 2010-01-24 19:34:10

Seeing at least your initfiles are broken - there may well be more ...
At the end of it all - you may be best off doing a reinstall.

czar82 · 2010-01-24 20:03:46

but if I reinstall, should I format? Or I could reinstall without format, keeping all the program that I installed?

PirateJonno · 2010-01-24 21:54:52

or you could just configure your network on the livecd - how did you install in the first place if you didn't? if you're using wireless i would advise you to plug in an ethernet cable which will be supported better. anyway, next time try not to remove any packages listed when you do

pacman -Sgq base

because it seems you definitely uninstalled initscripts at some point, otherwise the .pacsave file would not be there

Also, you should back up your home folder and maybe make a list of all the packages you had installed, then reinstall all the packages manually and copy your home folder back over. it would be disastrous if you used the same files again because pacman would be unaware of them, so you'll end up with missing dependencies and file conflicts all the time

Last edited by PirateJonno (2010-01-24 21:56:49)

czar82 · 2010-01-25 11:10:41

PirateJonno wrote:

yeah, i think you need to reinstall initscripts. there should be wiki information about how to use pacman to install stuff from a live cd
Edit: see the last paragraph of http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman.

I NEARLY SOLVED!!!
i configured the network from the live installation and i used the guide:

Boot using the Arch live CD
Mount your root filesystem: mount -t ext3 /dev/sda2 /mnt/myLinux
Update the pacman database via: pacman -Syy
Reinstall the broken package via: pacman -r /mnt/myLinux -S initscripts

i get the error:

if you are sure a package manager is not already running, you can remove /mnt/myLinux/var/lib/pacman/db.lck

i renamed the file above, make again:

pacman -r /mnt/myLinux -S initscripts

and now arch start!!!
now i should only set up XFCE (i hope...! )

PirateJonno · 2010-01-25 11:44:17

ok, sounds promising. this is starting to make more sense - did your computer crash during an update? if so that explains why initscripts appeared to be uninstalled, and also why /var/lib/pacman/db.lck still exists. (NB you can safely remove that file, don't move it because the contents aren't important, it will only clutter your hard disk)

by setting up xfce, do you mean that you had it before and now it's gone? if so your problem may be too big to solve here and I would reinstall to be safe. otherwise you should be fine, make sure you follow the wiki or you'll probably run into problems. in particular, make sure you launch with ck-launch-session (although gdm/kdm may do this for you if you use them)

Last edited by PirateJonno (2010-01-25 11:46:05)

czar82 · 2010-01-25 11:51:40

PirateJonno wrote:

ok, sounds promising. this is starting to make more sense - did your computer crash during an update? if so that explains why initscripts appeared to be uninstalled, and also why /var/lib/pacman/db.lck still exists. (NB you can safely remove that file, don't move it because the contents aren't important, it will only clutter your hard disk)

my computer crashed when i was turning off it. (When the computer was on i remember that i installed a package with yaourt, something to read zip file with a gui, but the process seems ok).
ok, i removed the file db.lck

PirateJonno wrote:

by setting up xfce, do you mean that you had it before and now it's gone? if so your problem may be too big to solve here and I would reinstall to be safe. otherwise you should be fine, make sure you follow the wiki or you'll probably run into problems. in particular, make sure you launch with ck-launch-session (although gdm/kdm may do this for you if you use them)

i had XFCE before, but maybe that my initscript changed, i need to set it to load on startup again, or?

i tried from command line with
sudo /etc/rc.d/hal start
startxfce4

and all seems work fine, only in the beginning there's a warning message that say to add myhost to the /etc/hosts

Last edited by czar82 (2010-01-25 11:56:30)

PirateJonno · 2010-01-25 11:57:55

czar82 wrote:

i had XFCE before, but maybe that my initscript changed, i need to set it to load on startup again, or?

I don't know... from the inittab you posted it seems you are using xdm. make sure it's still listed in your new inittab, or at least in /etc/rc.conf. basically the best thing to do is go through the wiki step by step and just check that everything is as it should be (e.g. if you see a pacman -S instruction just check that those packages are installed). it might also help to run a dependency test (not sure how exactly) and possibly a pacman -Qk

czar82 · 2010-01-25 17:54:36

PirateJonno wrote:

czar82 wrote:
i had XFCE before, but maybe that my initscript changed, i need to set it to load on startup again, or?
I don't know... from the inittab you posted it seems you are using xdm. make sure it's still listed in your new inittab, or at least in /etc/rc.conf. basically the best thing to do is go through the wiki step by step and just check that everything is as it should be (e.g. if you see a pacman -S instruction just check that those packages are installed). it might also help to run a dependency test (not sure how exactly) and possibly a pacman -Qk

xfce was loaded from the daemon in rc.conf, so i renamed the old rc.conf.pacsave to rc.conf and used it and all seems solved, I'm thinking to rename too my old inittab.pacsave to inittab..... is a good idea?

however thanks to all!

PirateJonno · 2010-01-25 22:09:05

yeah it should be ok to do that. if I were you i'd look for other pacsave files like this:

locate '*.pacsave'
find / -name '*.pacsave'

locate is faster but find will be more reliable

Arch Linux

#1 2010-01-22 11:10:20

[Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#2 2010-01-22 13:47:21

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#3 2010-01-22 14:23:12

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#4 2010-01-22 15:18:40

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#5 2010-01-22 17:27:54

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#6 2010-01-22 17:30:42

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#7 2010-01-22 17:56:49

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#8 2010-01-22 21:28:10

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#9 2010-01-23 00:08:28

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#10 2010-01-23 01:57:59

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#11 2010-01-23 09:54:00

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#12 2010-01-23 15:58:25

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#13 2010-01-23 18:02:08

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#14 2010-01-24 01:15:41

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#15 2010-01-24 11:43:16

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#16 2010-01-24 19:22:07

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#17 2010-01-24 19:34:10

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#18 2010-01-24 20:03:46

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#19 2010-01-24 21:54:52

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#20 2010-01-25 11:10:41

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#21 2010-01-25 11:44:17

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#22 2010-01-25 11:51:40

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#23 2010-01-25 11:57:55

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#24 2010-01-25 17:54:36

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

#25 2010-01-25 22:09:05

Re: [Solved] no initab file found - Enter runlevel

Board footer