Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

NM5TF · 2016-06-14 23:36:10

everything was working great until I decided to resize my Arch partition....I had deleted
2 other OS's and wanted to give their space to Arch...made sense at the time...

using a live image of Ubuntu 16.04, I brought up gparted and started the resize...so far
all is good......until the system froze about 1/2 thru the resize....screen tearing & totally
locked up...only recourse was hold down power to force shut down...

upon reboot to the live image, gparted showed Arch with errors....ran the "check & repair
filesystem" app...said it had fixed the errors...but it still won't boot...lucky I still have my
Mint & Fedora installs working.....

both my Arch & Arch-recovery show up in grub, but when either is selected it immediately
reboots...I can see my Arch files from Mint using the file manager, so I assume the partition
is still OK....just whatever makes it boot is not working

have searched the web & numerous forums with no luck so far...is there such a thing as
"disk repair"....have also tried "boot-repair" with no success....

the gurus here may be my last hope

Last edited by NM5TF (2016-06-18 16:02:50)

madpierre · 2016-06-15 00:40:35

My experiences with Gparted and resizing partitions is less than stellar. Did you try to re-install GRUB and the headers (if applicable)?

syg00 · 2016-06-15 03:29:33

And on the contrary, I use gparted all the time and don't even bother with backups first these days.
I'd suspect you moved the start of the partition (i.e. the left-hand boundary in gparted) - always a recipe for care. With a separate EFI partition this is generally safe(r), but on (non-UEFI) MBR systems the minimum requirement is to re-install grub as suggested. Simple chroot should suffice, or use the appropriate parameters to specify the correct directory for the on-disk grub location.

Just because you can see files doesn't necessarily mean everything is there, or that that are all useable. Anything in lost+found for instance ?.

NM5TF · 2016-06-15 14:41:24

@syg00...

thanx for the reply.....

yes, that is exactly what happened...the start of partition was moved left in gparted in my ignorance...(why I posted in Newbie Corner)

and yes, it is a MBR system.....it seems that I did try using boot-repair to "repair MBR" amongst the many, many options tried that left
my head spinning.....when you say to re-install grub do you mean to re-install it to my Arch partition or some place else ??? like I said,
my head is still spinning trying to make this work...

what I should have said is that not only can I see my files on the Arch partition, but I can also open/manipulate them...this leads me to
believe my data is still good...if I can ever make it boot I should be OK....

I downloaded "system rescue CD" and will try that next....will report back later...

NM5TF · 2016-06-15 20:29:19

no luck so far...

I even tried a custom grub menu entry and saved it to /etc/grub.d/40_custom....

#!/bin/sh
echo 1>&2 "Adding Arch Linux"
exec tail -n +4 $0
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
menuentry "Arch Linux" {
set root=(hd0,10)
linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda10 rw quiet
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
}
menuentry "Arch Linux (Recovery Mode)" {
set root=(hd0,10)
linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda10 rw single
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
}

I then did this to make it executable....

sudo chmod +x /etc/grub.d/40_custom

the did sudo update-grub.....it did the update & reported no errors..

Arch & Arch Recovery do appear in grub menu......

tried reboot with no luck still.....

guess "system rescue CD" is my last resort....short of Arch re-install...

NM5TF · 2016-06-16 11:54:33

I found this when comparing Arch to Mint/Fedora.....

my Arch install is missing 4 folders....they are:

BOOT DEV OPT ROOT

no wonder it would not boot !!!

it appears a total re-install is in order ...unless one of you gurus can
tell me how to recover the folders...which really sounds not feasible

ewaller · 2016-06-16 15:44:25

Wait. How did you make that determination?

Boot your install media and mount your root partition on /mnt. If that goes well, them take a look inside with ls -l /mnt

What do you see?

madpierre · 2016-06-17 01:17:40

did sudo update-grub.....it did the update & reported no errors..

I even tried a custom grub menu entry and saved it to /etc/grub.d/40_custom....

No. No. No. Not update and not a bunch of hacking. Remove the custom entries. Then, simply boot the archiso, re-install GRUB, and re-make the config file. Re-imaging initramfs might be a good idea at this juncture as well.

Should this succeed, bear in mind. as syg00's observations suggest, damage may exist beyond the boot sector.

Last edited by madpierre (2016-06-17 01:54:33)

NM5TF · 2016-06-17 14:51:30

@ewaller

did mount /dev/sdb /mnt

ls-l gave this

total 5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root4974 JUN1 16:47 install.txt

@madpierre

tried to re-install grub using

grub-install --target=i38-pc /dev/sda10

error message stating failure to get canonical path of 'airootfs'

now researching grub-install

Last edited by NM5TF (2016-06-17 15:15:36)

Tutti · 2016-06-17 15:14:08

You likely want to mount /dev/sdbX (where X is a number) that corresponds to the root partition of the system.
The output of ls -l that you posted listed the content on the install media, did you use ls -l /mnt?

In the grub-install line you have a space between i386 and -pc it should be i386-pc

NM5TF · 2016-06-17 15:34:28

@tutti

yes I caught the typo....

ls -l /mnt shows
total 0

tried to re-install grub using

grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda10

error message stating failure to get canonical path of 'airootfs'

next tried this

mount -t ext4 /dev/sda10 /mnt
arch-chroot /mnt

error message stating mount point /mnt/dev not valid or something like that

I need a break from this...will be back later

thanx for suggestions so far..

madpierre · 2016-06-17 16:14:34

(Understand the need for a break but before you go...) Is this a 32-bit machine or 64?

Last edited by madpierre (2016-06-17 17:57:20)

nomorewindows · 2016-06-17 17:12:18

Once you get everything mounted that you can, you could run pacman -Qk to see what is missing. Usually / or /boot are partitions you need to be careful with under Linux and boot or system partitions (whatever windows calls them these days).

madpierre · 2016-06-17 18:21:29

When you're refreshed @NM5TF, try this:

Boot archiso

# lsblk (ensure that /dev/sda10 still exists- assuming it does continue)

# mount /dev/sda10 /mnt

# arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash

# pacman -S grub

# grub-install /dev/sda10

# pacman -S linux-headers (if you need them- for DKMS, etc.)

# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

# mkinitcpio -p linux

# exit

# umount -R /mnt

# poweroff

Remove archiso and boot-up.

Beyond this you will be "batting cleanup"- perhaps re-installing and/or re-configuring a network manager, etc., etc.

Last edited by madpierre (2016-06-17 18:24:52)

NM5TF · 2016-06-17 20:33:47

@madpierre

thanx for taking time to help me & providing the detailed list...all seems logical to me

could not get arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash to work....

error message: mount point /mnt/dev does not exist--failed to setup chroot /mnt
can I just copy /dev from Fedora or Mint to sda10 ???

will not let me go further...

I am looking at this episode as a learning experience....the ONLY thing keeping
me from just copying my arch files to Fedora & doing a fresh arch install to sda10

Last edited by NM5TF (2016-06-17 20:35:39)

mrunion · 2016-06-17 22:45:08

So what was the output of lsblk?

madpierre · 2016-06-18 00:50:04

Expanding upon @mrunion's query; and what's the output of $ cat /etc/fstab?

Last edited by madpierre (2016-06-18 00:58:03)

NM5TF · 2016-06-18 14:07:34

with /dev/sda10 mounted to /mnt...

output of cat /etc/fstab was blank....not good !!!

output of lsblk as follows: I left out the different partition sizes as they didn't seem relevant...

sda 8:0 0 232.9G 0 Disk
sda1 8:1 0 0 part
sda2 8:2 0 0 part
sda5 8:5 0 0 part
sda6 8:6 0 0 part
sda7 8:7 0 0 part
sda8 8:8 0 0 part
sda9 8:9 0 0 part
sda10 8:10 0 0 part /mnt
sda11 8:11 0 0 part

sdb1 8:17 0 0 part /run/archiso/bootmnt
sdb2 8:18 0 0 part

sr0 11:0 1 0 rom
loop0 7:0 0 1 loop /run/archiso/sfs/airootfs

madpierre · 2016-06-18 14:23:19

output of cat /etc/fstab was blank....not good !!!

There it is. You could go through the motions and perhaps generate a new fstab but honestly, there's a better than even chance that the data on sda10 is screwed up and you may find yourself chasing down problems at every turn at the most inconvenient of times. If you made a /home directory you can re-install the OS and be back up and running in a half an hour or so. Of course you'll have to go through some of the tweaking process but if you keep the same username, your previous configurations should be valid for the most part.

Scimmia · 2016-06-18 14:30:37

/etc/fstab likely should be blank on the install disk.

NM5TF · 2016-06-18 14:34:21

@madpierre

thanx for the help...this has been quite the learning experience...not one that
I am ready to repeat any time soon !!!

as soon as I saw fstab empty I knew I was in trouble....

I will create a master /home & move my "good" arch files to there & reinstall arch to sda10

when I say "good" files I mean the ones I can access & verify thru Fedora....

madpierre · 2016-06-18 14:37:47

No thanks required. You did the work. If I may make one final suggestion- always keep it simple.

All the best,

p/ Don't forget to mark the thread "[Solved]" if you feel it applies.

madpierre · 2016-06-18 14:53:11

/etc/fstab likely should be blank on the install disk.

Thanks @Scimmia I didn't spot that.

@NM5TF you should have mounted sda10 then keyed in "cat /mnt/etc/fstab". (Sorry, I didn't catch it earlier. Perhaps my question, as posed, was misleading as well?)

If you must input "cat /etc/fstab": mount sda10 > enter the arch-chroot environment > key in the request. Hint: Door #1 is easier. ;-)

(Either way, were it me, I'd still re-format and throw a clean install on the platter. FWIW)

Last edited by madpierre (2016-06-18 15:31:41)

NM5TF · 2016-06-18 15:58:26

I did have sda10 mounted to /mnt

and the cat output is from /mnt/etc/fstab

just now verified it is blank....bummer

doesn't fstab depend on the /dev folder....which is missing on sda10 ???

I'm with you...a clean re-install is the way to go....

as is probably most obvious by now...my background is hardware, not software

thanx people...

marking it as "solved" now

madpierre · 2016-06-18 16:20:40

Well done NM5TF.

Arch Linux

#1 2016-06-14 23:36:10

Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#2 2016-06-15 00:40:35

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#3 2016-06-15 03:29:33

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#4 2016-06-15 14:41:24

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#5 2016-06-15 20:29:19

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#6 2016-06-16 11:54:33

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#7 2016-06-16 15:44:25

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#8 2016-06-17 01:17:40

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#9 2016-06-17 14:51:30

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#10 2016-06-17 15:14:08

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#11 2016-06-17 15:34:28

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#12 2016-06-17 16:14:34

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#13 2016-06-17 17:12:18

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#14 2016-06-17 18:21:29

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#15 2016-06-17 20:33:47

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#16 2016-06-17 22:45:08

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#17 2016-06-18 00:50:04

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#18 2016-06-18 14:07:34

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#19 2016-06-18 14:23:19

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#20 2016-06-18 14:30:37

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#21 2016-06-18 14:34:21

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#22 2016-06-18 14:37:47

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#23 2016-06-18 14:53:11

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#24 2016-06-18 15:58:26

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

#25 2016-06-18 16:20:40

Re: Can't Boot After Partition Resize[SOLVED]

Board footer