USB HDD installation problem.

gmport · 2013-02-22 15:46:51

This is my first posting on the forum.

I have been using Linux for about 4 years now, first with Ubuntu and later Mint. I still consider myself to be a beginner as I'm getting on a bit... old dogs new tricks etc. Anyway, I'm looking for a new challenge and have (almost) managed to install Arch on a new 500GB USB HDD attached to my laptop. I'm using a separate drive so that I can leave my main dual boot Mint/XP installation intact as it's in constant use.

I said 'almost managed to install Arch' as there is something wrong with the installation. It appears to install ok to start with but then after a few re-boots I seem to get disc errors. I thought at first I had a faulty drive but a replacement shows exactly the same problem.

I have read about HOOKS for USB installations but am confused and not sure of the exact syntax, how to apply HOOKS in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf nor if this would solve my problem.

My system is now throwing all sorts of errors and they seem to be associated with /dev/sdb3, my root partition... time for a fresh install!

I would be grateful for any advice, if possible in simple terms.

Regards
gmport

s1ln7m4s7r · 2013-02-22 16:09:17

I have installed arch inUSB Drives a few times and i will coment what i know!

For new installations there is no need to have any extra HOOKS in mkinitcpio for quite some time now. Just change your /etc/mkinitcpio.conf as this structure:

HOOKS="base udev block filesystems" - Will create a full initramfs

twilight0 · 2013-02-22 16:10:46

USB installation (not live):
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … _a_USB_key

Common hooks in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mk … mmon_hooks

The new hook called "block" replaces all previous hooks for fw, mmc, pata, sata, scsi , usb and virtio. If you put this hooks I assume it will work. RTMF mate.

WonderWoofy · 2013-02-22 16:17:27

@twilight0, I think you mean "RTFM mate"

@OP, it would likely help if you actually indicated what these errors actually said instead of simply saying that you "seem to get disk errors".

ewaller · 2013-02-22 16:31:18

WonderWoofy wrote:

@twilight0, I think you mean "RTFM mate"

Dyslexics of the world untie!

Back on topic. You mentioned this is a USB drive. Is it a spinning USB drive or a SSD? Any chance it is being starved for power? If it is a spinning disk and you are powering it from a single USB 2.0 port, it is likely it is. As was pointed out, you have provided no indication as to what was reported by the system. Those messages would be helpful.

Perhaps you could post the output of journalctl -b --no-pager

gmport · 2013-02-22 16:55:38

I rebooted the installation so that I could copy some of the error messages for posting when the screen filled with numbers (addresses?). Eventually things settled down allowing me to open mkinitcpio.conf, so I applied 'HOOKS="base udev block filesystems"' as suggested by s1ln7m4s7r. After doing 'mkinitcpio -p linux' and re-booted everything was fixed!!

The error messages appeared to say that it was having problems reading data from the root partition on sdb3... so it was not a drive problem as such.

Thank you s1ln7m4s7r and everyone else for your replies and suggestions, your help is very much appreciated.

Regards
gmport

gmport · 2013-02-22 17:27:26

Spoke too soon!!!

Nothing like the problems I first reported but now I'm getting:

/dev/sdb3: Superblock needs_recovery flag is clear, but journal has data.
/dev/sdb3: Run journal anyway.
/dev/sdb3: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; Run fsck MANUALLY
ERROR: Bailing out. Run fsck /dev/sdb3 manually.

After running fsck /dev/sdb3 it boots ok 1 or 2 times, but eventually I get the above message again.

Any suggestions please?

Regards
gmport

s1ln7m4s7r · 2013-02-22 19:37:24

what filesystem are you using?

s1ln7m4s7r · 2013-02-22 19:39:07

what mount options have you used for you file system

gmport · 2013-02-22 23:55:04

I'm sorry, I did say that I am still a beginner. Not sure if this is what you are asking.

The partitions are:

/boot sdb1 ext4
swap sdb2
/ (root) sdb3 ext4
/home sdb4 ext4

For the installation, I followed very closely the tutorial I found at 'http://gotux.net/arch-linux/arch-linux- … tallation/'. I had to add the wireless settings found in the 'Unofficial Beginners' Guide' on the Arch linux home page.

I've just installed Sabayon 11 on the drive in question to see if there is a hardware problem after all but so far the installation is rock steady. I have another smaller USB drive that I could try to install on to see if there is an underlying problem with the type of drive that I'm using.

Regards
gmport

siot · 2013-02-23 11:24:28

https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/33887

gmport · 2013-02-23 11:55:43

Thanks siot,

I'm not sure that this bug could be the cause of my problem as the drive seems to be recognised. It appears to be just the root partition that's giving me problems.

Regards
gmport

siot · 2013-02-23 12:30:39

Some ideas:

Mmmm, have you looked at SMART or if your system has the correct date (on BIOS before syncing)...

Last edited by siot (2013-02-23 12:31:32)

gmport · 2013-02-23 12:37:43

s1ln7m4s7r,

I am now in the process of putting Arch back onto the drive. Sabayon 11 gave the drive no problems, so I don't think I have a hardware fault.

Here is the installation procedure I used last time and for this install. The only change I have made for this install is to include the HOOKS before 'mkinitcpio -p linux'.

1.	# loadkeys uk
 
2.	# nano /etc/locale.gen
		 en_GB.UTF-8 UTF-8	  (un-comment)	
	# locale-gen
	# export LANG= en_GB.UTF-8

3.	# ip link set wlp2s0 up

4.	# wifi-menu wlp2s0

5. Create partitions using “cfdisk” ( cfdisk /dev/sdb )
 
/dev/sdb1, /boot, ext4, 100mb, marked bootable
/dev/sdb2, swap, type 82, 4gb 
/dev/sdb3, / (root), ext4, 25gb 
/dev/sdb4, /home, ext4, remainder of 500GB drive 

6.	# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1
	# mkswap /dev/sdb2
	# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb3
	# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb4

7.	# lsblk /dev/sdb

8.	# mount /dev/sdb3 /mnt
	# mkdir /mnt/boot && mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/boot
	# swapon /dev/sdb2
	# mkdir /mnt/home && mount /dev/sdb4 /mnt/home

9.	# pacstrap /mnt base base-devel 

10.	# arch-chroot /mnt pacman -S grub-bios 

11.	# genfstab -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab 

12.	# arch-chroot /mnt 

13.	# nano /etc/hostname (and add desired hostname)

14.	# pacman -S wireless_tools wpa_supplicant wpa_actiond dialog

15.	# nano /etc/conf.d/netcfg			
		WIRELESS_INTERFACE=”wlp2s0”
16 	# ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/London /etc/localtime 

17.	# nano /etc/locale.gen	(uncomment 'en_GB.UTF-8')

18.	# nano /etc/locale.conf
		LANG="en_GB.UTF-8"
		LC_COLLATE="C"		
		LC_TIME="en_GB.UTF-8"

19.	# locale-gen 

20.	# nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
		HOOKS="base udev block filesystems"   (un-comment)
 	
21.	# mkinitcpio -p linux 

22.	# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
	# grub-install --recheck /dev/sdb

23.	# passwd root
	    enter password

24. 	# exit 

25.	# umount /mnt/{boot,home,} 

26. 	REBOOT

27. 	Login as Root

28.	# ip link set wlp2s0 up
	# wifi-menu wlp2s0
	
29.	# systemctl enable net-auto-wireless.service

Regards
gmport

gmport · 2013-02-23 13:29:24

siot,

No I don't think I checked the date, I'm doing a fresh install at the moment so will check later. Likewise SMART.

Thank you for your reply.

Regards
gmport

s1ln7m4s7r · 2013-02-23 16:26:46

If the problem persists, and if you desire, i have a script that i've created for my own, because i install arch linux very often (for testing purposes).

It's a little diferent of what you are using, i use:

GTP Partitioning with cgdisk
syslinux as bootloader
optional file systems (ext4;btrfs)
and some optional, ready to install, applications and gnome 3 desktop

it has a modular construction, subdivided into sub-scripts (.sh files). And you only install what you want.

In the beginning arch came whith a ncurses installer, and newest builds dont. It has similar look but its witten in shell-script language.

Give-me an email and i will send it to you and explaine how to use it.

gmport · 2013-02-23 19:15:51

Hi s1ln7m4s7r,

I have re-installed Arch onto the USB drive. While installing, and after entering 'arch-chroot /mnt pacman -S grub-bios', there were 11 warnings:

warning:could not get filesystem information for /run/archiso/bootmnt no such file or directory
warning:could not get filesystem information for /run/archiso/cowspace no such file or directory
warning:could not get filesystem information for /run/archiso/sfs/root-image no such file or directory
warning:could not get filesystem information for /sys/fs/cgroup/systemd no such file or directory
warning:could not get filesystem information for /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset no such file or directory
warning:could not get filesystem information for /sys/fs/cgroup/cpu,cpuacct no such file or directory
warning:could not get filesystem information for /sys/fs/cgroup/memory no such file or directory
warning:could not get filesystem information for /sys/fs/cgroup/devices no such file or directory
warning:could not get filesystem information for /sys/fs/cgroup/freezer no such file or directory
warning:could not get filesystem information for /sys/fs/cgroup/net_cls no such file or directory
warning:could not get filesystem information for /sys/fs/cgroup/blkio no such file or directory

Exactly the same warnings occurred after entering:
'pacman -S wireless_tools wpa_supplicant wpa_actiond dialog'

The installation completed. At first everything was fine – I repeatedly rebooted with no errors. However after shutting down just once an error was reported but it flashed past so quickly that I couldn't read it. From then every time I closed down then re-started there was an error.

I'm starting to think that 'ewaller' may be on the right track when he mentions that it could be that the drive is being starved of power. The drive does only have a single USB cable!

Again on ewaller's suggestion, I ran journalctl -d... I assume that errors are shown in red? Anyway I have noted them here:

Arch Kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] No Cashing mode page present
Arch Kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache : write through
Arch Kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] No Cashing mode page present
Arch Kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache : write through
Arch Kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] No Cashing mode page present
Arch Kernel: sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache : write through
-
-
-
Arch Kernel: EXT4-fs  error (device sdb3) : ext4_mb_generate_buddy: 742: group 33, clusters in bitmap, 13368 in gd
-
-
-
Arch Kernel: wlp2s0 : sendmsg : Cannot assign requested address

Thank you very much for your kind offer, I may well take you up on it. But, first there is something I want to try. I have another, smaller USB that is powered by 2 cables so I would like try an installation that.

Regards
gmport

s1ln7m4s7r · 2013-02-24 03:46:11

After googleing i found that this error:

EXT4-fs error (device sdb3) : ext4_mb_generate_buddy: 742: group 33, clusters in bitmap, 13368 in gd

is a well known corruption bug of ext4 filesystems that has appeard in latests linux kernel 3.x versions

I read of a patch, but nothing conclusive. As archlinux kernel is vanilla (means it is directlly build from the linux kernel branches without patching) it has only 3 patches applied to it.

Then if the patch hasn't been uploaded to mainstream, accepted and added to kernel by the maintainer (a.k.a. Linus Tovalds), we don't get it in our pc's.

s1ln7m4s7r · 2013-02-24 03:52:38

you could try another filesystem to see if the problem persists: xfs, jfs,btrfs, just in the case you aren't able to fix.

s1ln7m4s7r · 2013-02-24 03:56:04

Another thing instead of doing:

arch-chroot /mnt pacman -S grub-bios

you can install all of your packages with pacstrap /mnt package_names, instead of going chroot. I only go to chroot to setup things.

gmport · 2013-02-24 12:13:15

Hi s1ln7m4s7r,

Thank you for your replies and the advice, I have noted all for reference. The thing is I seem to have found the problem! I installed the system on a 40GB USB drive that has 2 cables and it seems to have completely solved the problem.

Thank you 'ewaller' for suggesting that this may be the problem. I was very reluctant to accept this as I am able to install and run Sabayon on the 500GB drive with absolutely no problems.

Thank you again s1ln7m4s7r for your patience, thank you ewaller for your good advice and thank you everyone else that replied.

Regards to all
gmport

Arch Linux

#1 2013-02-22 15:46:51

USB HDD installation problem.

#2 2013-02-22 16:09:17

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#3 2013-02-22 16:10:46

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#4 2013-02-22 16:17:27

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#5 2013-02-22 16:31:18

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#6 2013-02-22 16:55:38

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#7 2013-02-22 17:27:26

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#8 2013-02-22 19:37:24

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#9 2013-02-22 19:39:07

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#10 2013-02-22 23:55:04

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#11 2013-02-23 11:24:28

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#12 2013-02-23 11:55:43

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#13 2013-02-23 12:30:39

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#14 2013-02-23 12:37:43

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#15 2013-02-23 13:29:24

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#16 2013-02-23 16:26:46

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#17 2013-02-23 19:15:51

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#18 2013-02-24 03:46:11

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#19 2013-02-24 03:52:38

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#20 2013-02-24 03:56:04

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

#21 2013-02-24 12:13:15

Re: USB HDD installation problem.

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