[Solved] systemd failed to mount

hoobastank · 2014-08-26 17:00:12

Hi,

I haven't updated my system for one year maybe more but it's ok for me until now. Today I updated only two packages without any error; NetworkManager and wpa_supplicant because of some necessity but my system didn't boot as expected. That's why I decided to downgrade these packages but pacman gave me some errors that something like that "this files bla bla is already exits" when I was trying to downgrade NetworkManager package so I used "--force" parametre with pacman. I downgraded two files and tried to reboot system but that time boot process gives me error that systemd failed to mount some stuffs.

Here is systemd error screen:
http://s24.postimg.org/kgpyi4l7p/systemd_error.png

I can login to system as single user mode but as you see above at the last line on the screenshot root user has only read access on the file system. So what can I do at this point to resolve this problem? Thanks in advance.

diagnosing:
- login to system as a single user mode
- root user doesn't have write access to disk so I have no chance to remove or install any packages anymore but I can use lots of console commands.
- weird thing is some of console commands don't work as expected such as mount.
- and observerd error in boot process is already related to mount task, "systemd failed to mount ... etc"
- that's why I have to recover mount command so I've decided to reinstall util-linux package.

solution:
- download last version of ArchLinux iso file
- making bootable flash drive with that iso file
- boot from usb
- let's assume that our broken system is on /dev/sdax

# mkdir /mnt/arch
# mount /dev/sdax /mnt/arch
# cd /mnt/arch
# mount -t proc proc proc/
# mount -t sysfs sys sys/
# mount -o bind /dev dev/
# chroot /mnt/arch /bin/bash
# cd /var/cache/pacman/pkg
# pacman -U util-linux-a.b.c.d.pkg.tar.xz
# exit
# reboot

That's all.

-- mod edit: read the Forum Etiquette and only post thumbnails http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/For … s_and_Code [jwr] --

Last edited by hoobastank (2014-08-27 01:20:10)

ewaller · 2014-08-26 17:37:10

hoobastank wrote:

I haven't updated my system for one year maybe more but it's ok for me until now. Today I updated only two packages without any error;

That is the ultimate way to break your system. Partial upgrades are not supported in Arch. Please update the entire system and then, if it does not work, we can take a closer look.

jasonwryan · 2014-08-26 18:26:12

hoobastank wrote:

I haven't updated my system for one year.

Strike one.

Today I updated only two packages

Strike two.

so I used "--force" parametre with pacman.

Strike three...

You may get some help here with this, and if you do, you should thank your lucky stars that the community is prepared to forgive this sort of wanton disregard of how Arch works.

hoobastank · 2014-08-26 19:06:39

Yes know how Arch linux works but my linux is customized for me. I dont want to re-customize it because of every update and it was ok till today though I did some partial updates. Partial updates don't broke my system if I do it carefully. But if it goes wrong, I rollback the system by downgrading packages without any problem till today.

This time, I don't know how it happened but systemd was broken. using live cd/usb and chroot may help me but I don't know where I have to start diagnose the problem.

ewaller · 2014-08-26 19:08:42

hoobastank wrote:

but I don't know where I have to start diagnose the problem.

Obtain a list of installed packages.
One by one, determine the dependencies.
Check each one of those dependencies by hand.

jasonwryan · 2014-08-26 19:11:48

hoobastank wrote:

Yes know how Arch linux works but my linux is customized for me. I dont want to re-customize it because of every update and it was ok till today though I did some partial updates. Partial updates don't broke my system if I do it carefully. But if it goes wrong, I rollback the system by downgrading packages without any problem till today.
This time, I don't know how it happened but systemd was broken. using live cd/usb and chroot may help me but I don't know where I have to start diagnose the problem.

Partial updates are unsupported. If you want to continue down this path, you are on your own. Literally.

oliver · 2014-08-26 19:22:24

hoobastank wrote:

I can login to system as single user mode but as you see above at the last line on the screenshot root user has only read access on the file system. So what can I do at this point to resolve this problem? Thanks in advance.

You could try the remount option to mount to get r/w access and then upgrade? Just a guess.

 mount -o remount,rw  /

hoobastank · 2014-08-26 20:30:00

@ewaller

I'm using a tool called armh to determine previously installed or upgraded packages. I upgrade only two packages networkmanager and wpa_supplicant not else. Upgrade process didn't give any error so I did assumed that everything was ok but it hanged on boot. I switched a virtual console and login as root. I removed any latest packages which I didnt have before the upgrade (theye are the dependencies of new version of networkmanager) and downgraded networkmanager and wpa_supplicant. I've never cleared /var/cache/pacman/pkg directory since I installed my system so any package of the system can be downgraded easily. But this time networkmanager package gave me some errors that "this files bla bla is already exits" when I was trying to downgrade it, that's why I had to use "pacman -U --force networkmanger-old-version". And then I'm here because systemd failed to mount some stuffs. I can still login as root but without write access to hdd so I cant install or remove packages anymore. By the way I can't use some terminal commands too because it gives error that it couldn't find some lib files which the command requires.

hoobastank · 2014-08-27 01:16:41

jasonwryan wrote:

hoobastank wrote:
Yes know how Arch linux works but my linux is customized for me. I dont want to re-customize it because of every update and it was ok till today though I did some partial updates. Partial updates don't broke my system if I do it carefully. But if it goes wrong, I rollback the system by downgrading packages without any problem till today.
This time, I don't know how it happened but systemd was broken. using live cd/usb and chroot may help me but I don't know where I have to start diagnose the problem.
Partial updates are unsupported. If you want to continue down this path, you are on your own. Literally.

I've solved the problem and the solution is on my first post.

- I know that how Arch Linux works,
- I know that I am on my own,
- I know that there is always a simple solution for any hard problem in Linux.

So I've never wrote negative things about Arch Linux or the community since my first post. I've never expected an official support from here. I always know linux users are open-minded persons. In fact they don't always have to reply me but I thought that one of them might advice me about this problem nonetheless. Only a simple clue can lead me to solve problem. You don't have to be prejudiced all time to all user. Just give a chance people to explain themselves.

Arch Linux

#1 2014-08-26 17:00:12

[Solved] systemd failed to mount

#2 2014-08-26 17:37:10

Re: [Solved] systemd failed to mount

#3 2014-08-26 18:26:12

Re: [Solved] systemd failed to mount

#4 2014-08-26 19:06:39

Re: [Solved] systemd failed to mount

#5 2014-08-26 19:08:42

Re: [Solved] systemd failed to mount

#6 2014-08-26 19:11:48

Re: [Solved] systemd failed to mount

#7 2014-08-26 19:22:24

Re: [Solved] systemd failed to mount

#8 2014-08-26 20:30:00

Re: [Solved] systemd failed to mount

#9 2014-08-27 01:16:41

Re: [Solved] systemd failed to mount

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