Arch Linux

cerbie

Member

Registered: 2008-03-16

Posts: 124

[solved] Archlive won't mount HDD rw; I just need to edit rc.conf

So I installed Arch64 to sda3.
Without testing X, I enabled gdm.
Now it starts, and hard-locks (holding the power button does not even work ).

Edit: I'm trying to edit rc.conf on my HDD, to remove "gdm" from the last line of rc.conf, on /dev/sda3. I'd prefer to use the Arch CD to fix things, if possible.

Now, if I boot into the arch live CD, and try to mount like:

mkdir /mnt/fs
mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/fs

I get this error:

mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sda3,
       missing codepage or other error
       In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
       dmesg | tail  or so

OK, So I go to /etc/fstab:

/dev/sda3/ /mnt/fs jfs defaults 0 0

Same error on mount -a.

/dev/sda3/ /mnt/fs jfs defaults,ro 0 0

Works perfectly, but I can't edit anything (note: mount -o rw, instead of using fstab, also works).

Also, /var/log/messages.log has this at the end of it:

(timestap): JFS: nTxBlock = 8192, nTxLock = 65536

So, how can I get the Arch CD to mount my HDD read-write? It would make like much easier, and allow me to use it for general purpose rescuing.

Solution: the ever-so-simple fsck. It probably had unfinished transactions when it hard-locked in gdm each time.

Last edited by cerbie (2009-01-17 23:26:54)

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"If the data structure can't be explained on a beer coaster, it's too complex." - Felix von Leitner

kludge

Member

Registered: 2008-08-03

Posts: 294

Re: [solved] Archlive won't mount HDD rw; I just need to edit rc.conf

glib, why-bother-answering-newbie-questions answer:

man mount

freebie answer:

mount -t jfs -o rw /dev/sda3 /mnt/fs

please do the first to understand the second.

btw, your post is confusingly written.  without reading the code snippets closely, it sounds like you're trying to mount the arch cd-rom as read-write.  you can't mount a cd-rom read-write by definition.  (the 'rom' stands for 'read-only memory, after all.)  looking at your code snippets, what you're trying to do is 'mount the partition named /dev/sda3 on the mount-point /mnt/fs while running from the arch live cd.'

Last edited by kludge (2009-01-16 02:24:03)

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[23:00:16]    dr_kludge | i want to invent an olfactory human-computer interface, integrate it into the web standards, then produce my own forked browser.
[23:00:32]    dr_kludge | can you guess what i'd call it?
[23:01:16]    dr_kludge | nosilla.
[23:01:32]    dr_kludge | i really should be going to bed.  i'm giggling madly about that.

cerbie

Member

Registered: 2008-03-16

Posts: 124

Re: [solved] Archlive won't mount HDD rw; I just need to edit rc.conf

OK, edited, then.

Now, what causes that not to work? Here's the specific error, thanks to Google:

mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sda3,
       missing codepage or other error
       In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
       dmesg | tail  or so

Your command, which I think I tried earlier, gives that error, the same as giving no parameters (except device and directory).

Last edited by cerbie (2009-01-16 02:47:33)

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"If the data structure can't be explained on a beer coaster, it's too complex." - Felix von Leitner

kgas

Member

From: Qatar

Registered: 2008-11-08

Posts: 718

Re: [solved] Archlive won't mount HDD rw; I just need to edit rc.conf

Hello cerbie, if you still could not able to edit your rc.conf file, the simplest way is to use an Ubuntu CD.

cerbie

Member

Registered: 2008-03-16

Posts: 124

Re: [solved] Archlive won't mount HDD rw; I just need to edit rc.conf

Hello cerbie, if you still could not able to edit your rc.conf file, the simplest way is to use an Ubuntu CD.

Yeah, I just hate to burn a disc just for that, and it seems every live desktop distro hates my hardware. *sigh* Oh well, I can re-install in half an hour.

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"If the data structure can't be explained on a beer coaster, it's too complex." - Felix von Leitner

kludge

Member

Registered: 2008-08-03

Posts: 294

Re: [solved] Archlive won't mount HDD rw; I just need to edit rc.conf

can you post

* the output of mount invoked wih the verbose flag
* dmesg | grep -B 3 -A 3 -i jfs

it sounds to me (at a guess) like you need to fsck the jfs file-system on /dev/sda3, but without more error messages, i couldn't really tell you.

---

[23:00:16]    dr_kludge | i want to invent an olfactory human-computer interface, integrate it into the web standards, then produce my own forked browser.
[23:00:32]    dr_kludge | can you guess what i'd call it?
[23:01:16]    dr_kludge | nosilla.
[23:01:32]    dr_kludge | i really should be going to bed.  i'm giggling madly about that.

cerbie

Member

Registered: 2008-03-16

Posts: 124

Re: [solved] Archlive won't mount HDD rw; I just need to edit rc.conf

You turned out right there--just a hair late .

I ended up checking it out with the new Linux Format's Ubuntu disc. It gave me some different error in Nautilus. I don't recall what it was, but it was a clear pointer to needing to fsck. fsck replayed the journal for a few seconds, and then it mounted. Now that I copied my old xorg.conf back over, it's working fine.

Last edited by cerbie (2009-01-17 23:28:42)

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"If the data structure can't be explained on a beer coaster, it's too complex." - Felix von Leitner