Activating swap -- fail

bruno321 · 2011-08-10 00:34:12

Hi. After upgrading to kernel 3 (or that's what I think must have caused it) today, I get a red FAIL when activating swap on boot.

I haven't changed any config related to swap. In any case, here's the relevant line in fstab:

UUID=24346361-6d94-4798-9614-c1ed01980aa4    swap                swap        defaults                      0       0

I checked if the UUID had magically changed but no, it's still the same.

The output of swapon -s is:

Filename                Type        Size     Used    Priority
/dev/sda6        partition    2104476     0    -1

Thank you.

Last edited by bruno321 (2011-08-10 01:32:27)

karol · 2011-08-10 00:57:57

Post the output of 'fdisk -l'.

bruno321 · 2011-08-10 01:00:02

 Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320071851520 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, 625140335 sectores en total
Units = sectores of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Identificador del disco: 0xe1c7e1c7

Disposit. Inicio    Comienzo      Fin      Bloques  Id  Sistema
/dev/sda1   *          63    30732344    15366141    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2        30732345   557278784   263273220    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda3       557278785   586581344    14651280   83  Linux
/dev/sda4       586581345   625137344    19278000   83  Linux
/dev/sda5        30732408   235545029   102406311    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda6       235545093   239754059     2104483+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda7       239754123   283900679    22073278+  83  Linux
/dev/sda8       283900743   365912504    41005881   83  Linux
/dev/sda9       365912568   557278784    95683108+  83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders, 488397168 sectores en total
Units = sectores of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Identificador del disco: 0x65968677

Disposit. Inicio    Comienzo      Fin      Bloques  Id  Sistema
/dev/sdb1              63   467909189   233954563+   f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sdb5             126   244204064   122101969+   b  W95 FAT32
/dev/sdb6       244204128   467909189   111852531    b  W95 FAT32

Disk /dev/sdc: 122.9 GB, 122942324736 bytes
240 heads, 63 sectors/track, 15881 cylinders, 240121728 sectores en total
Units = sectores of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Identificador del disco: 0xe0b6b1d7

Disposit. Inicio    Comienzo      Fin      Bloques  Id  Sistema
/dev/sdc1   *       16128   240120719   120052296    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)

Disk /dev/sdd: 1000.2 GB, 1000202043392 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121600 cylinders, 1953519616 sectores en total
Units = sectores of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Identificador del disco: 0x00021631

Disposit. Inicio    Comienzo      Fin      Bloques  Id  Sistema
/dev/sdd1            2048  1953519615   976758784    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

Last edited by bruno321 (2011-08-10 01:24:12)

karol · 2011-08-10 01:22:49

When pasting code, please use [ code ] tags https://bbs.archlinux.org/help.php#bbcode

like this

It makes the code more readable and more convenient to scroll through.

Try changing your fstab, but it's only a stab in the dark.

man fstab wrote:

The second field (fs_file).
This field describes the mount point for the filesystem. For swap partitions,
this field should be specified as `none'. If the name of the mount point contains
spaces these can be escaped as `\040'.

Can you activate your swap by hand?

bruno321 · 2011-08-10 01:31:32

I changed that in fstab as you suggested, to no avail. Also, swapon -a does not output any error.

It puzzles me that even if swap is apparently not activated on boot, swapon shows the correct partition as I said on the first post...

EDIT: Hmm, swapon -U 24346361-6d94-4798-9614-c1ed01980aa4 says: " /dev/sda6: swapon failed:device or resource busy".

Last edited by bruno321 (2011-08-10 01:34:14)

thisoldman · 2011-08-10 02:52:52

Please use the [⁣code] and [/co⁣de] tags when you paste code. It does make the page easier to read.

You could look in dmesg to see if there's any information there.

Here's what I get, starting with swap enabled at boot. My fstab has the filetype set as 'swap' exactly as in the first post:

# swapon -s
Filename                                Type            Size    Used    Priority
/dev/sda7                               partition       2097148 0       -1

# swapoff -av
swapoff on /dev/sda7

# swapon -s
Filename                                Type            Size    Used    Priority

# swapon -av
swapon on /dev/sda7
swapon: /dev/sda7: found swap signature: version 1, page-size 4, same byte order
swapon: /dev/sda7: pagesize=4096, swapsize=2147483648, devsize=2147483648

# swapon -s
Filename                                Type            Size    Used    Priority
/dev/sda7                               partition       2097148 0       -1

You are getting a response from 'swapon -s' that seems to say swap is active. At least it's the same response I get with an active swap.

Here's a couple of suggestions:
Try running 'badblocks' on the swap partition. Make sure the partition isn't mounted. Or...

You could reformat the swap partition without checking badblocks. The '-U' option of mkswap would allow you to keep the same UUID for the partition.

bruno321 · 2011-08-10 03:05:55

How odd. I did the same chain of commands you did, and got analogous results. So swap really seems to be active...

I ran badblocks on the swap partition: no bad blocks.

Anyway, I'm kind of lazy to reformat the swap partition, especially since a) I do not know how to do this properly, I'd do it using gparted... b) Swap seems to be working!

karol · 2011-08-10 03:18:09

bruno321 wrote:

Anyway, I'm kind of lazy to reformat the swap partition, especially since a) I do not know how to do this properly, I'd do it using gparted... b) Swap seems to be working!

You can use mkswap to (re)create a swap partition.

thisoldman · 2011-08-10 03:23:42

Perhaps it's not mounting swap that's failing?

$ dmesg | grep fail

and

$ dmesg | grep swap

Last edited by thisoldman (2011-08-10 03:24:26)

bruno321 · 2011-08-10 03:25:34

 # dmesg | grep fail
[    0.210075]  pci0000:00: ACPI _OSC request failed (AE_NOT_FOUND), returned control mask: 0x1d
[    6.039300] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Test WP failed, assume Write Enabled
[    6.040173] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Asking for cache data failed
[    6.041796] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Test WP failed, assume Write Enabled
[    6.042671] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Asking for cache data failed
[    6.045173] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Test WP failed, assume Write Enabled
[    6.046798] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Asking for cache data failed

# dmesg | grep swap
[   20.999477] Adding 2104476k swap on /dev/sda6.  Priority:-1 extents:1 across:2104476k 
[ 5632.073747] Adding 2104476k swap on /dev/sda6.  Priority:-1 extents:1 across:2104476k

thisoldman · 2011-08-10 03:42:55

It looks like /dev/sdd isn't plugged in. I assume it's an external drive.

If it is an external drive that is included in your fstab add the 'nofail' option. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fs … al_devices

bruno321 · 2011-08-10 03:46:28

Indeed, it is an external drive, but it is not on fstab. I just use hal to automatically detect it when plugged, etc. (I know hal is deprecated, but I haven't been able to get udisks to work with pcmanfm)

thisoldman · 2011-08-10 04:01:31

Problem solved? Because your swap is working.

The fail message is probably due to some sort of mixed communication on the failure to mount the external drive and the use of hal. Disable hal in your daemons array and the message will probably go away.

You could do it just to test, you don't have to keep it disabled. But more problems may arise if you stick with hal much longer.

subatomic · 2011-08-16 07:27:17

sorry but I want to jump in here while the thread is still active. I'm having the same problem however my swap is on an internal disk.
here are my outputs

UUID="02397e53-621d-4d5b-b111-45718b408245" /boot ext2 defaults 0 1
UUID="29f4648a-ca89-4b44-a871-c9c786c05c3c" swap swap defaults 0 0
UUID="bae85392-689d-4dc3-8a17-64f14537c08c" / ext4 defaults 0 2
UUID="998cb9c2-45af-4442-b521-42d9a4c260c5" /home ext4 defaults 0 2

fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000bb3d9

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1              63   976768064   488384001   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00088d43

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1              63   976768064   488384001   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdc: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1   *           1      208844      104422   83  Linux
/dev/sdc2          208845      738989      265072+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdc3          738990    41704739    20482875   83  Linux
/dev/sdc4        41704740   625137344   291716302+  83  Linux

dmesg | grep swap
[    8.071325] Adding 265068k swap on /dev/sdc2.  Priority:-1 extents:1 across:265068k 
dmesg | grep fail
[    0.235455]  pci0000:00: ACPI _OSC request failed (AE_SUPPORT), returned control mask: 0x0c

swapoff -a
badblocks -nvs /dev/sdc2
Checking for bad blocks in non-destructive read-write mode
From block 0 to 265071
Checking for bad blocks (non-destructive read-write test)
Testing with random pattern: done                                
Pass completed, 0 bad blocks found.

thisoldman · 2011-08-16 10:53:07

bruno321's problem may have been a misreading of the bootup messages. When I boot up, after the partitions are checked, the next five messages printed on screen are:

:: Remounting Root Read/Write           [DONE]
:: Creating mtab                        [DONE]
:: Mounting Local Filesystems           [DONE]
:: Activating Swap                      [DONE]
:: Configuring Time Zone                [DONE]

I suspect one of three things happened:

The messages were misread, and the '[FAIL]' was actually for 'Mounting Local Filesystems'. The two messages are consecutive and may pass by quickly.
Something (HAL?) interfered with the activation of swap but was corrected by something unknown.
Something else failed but the failure was listed on the 'Activating Swap' line.

I think the first scenario is likely. bruno321's /dev/sdd was not mounting but was expected to be there.

@subatomic, if 'swapon -s' returns '/dev/sdc2', your swap partition is being mounted and is active. If it is not active, it will return no device name.

Another way to check is to simply issue 'swapon -av'. If swap was not active, there will be some output to the terminal screen. If swap is already active, there will be no messages.

Or you could check with htop. The line for swap when it is active will show 'N/XMB', which is 'N' used of 'M' MB available. With swap not active, the line will show, '0/0MB'.

Edit: fixed typo.

Edit 2:

If you don't clear the screen at boot, you can take a screenshot of the remaining messages on tty1 with:

# setterm -dump 1

This will create a text file, 'screen.dump', in the directory from which the command was issued. You may then examine the file with 'less' or use 'grep' to search through it.

$ grep FAIL screen.dump    ### Or
$ grep Swap screen.dump

Last edited by thisoldman (2011-08-16 11:25:03)

Misfit138 · 2011-08-18 01:02:09

This problem seems to be related to new syntax in the /etc/fstab file- specifically, the /dev/pts and /dev/shm entries.
Try a vimdiff /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.pacnew
-or-
change

 none                 /dev/pts      devpts    defaults               0      0
 none                 /dev/shm      tmpfs    defaults                0      0

to

devpts               /dev/pts      devpts    defaults               0      0
shm                  /dev/shm      tmpfs     nodev,nosuid          0      0

falconindy · 2011-08-18 01:03:10

Really, the /dev/{pts,shm} entries should be removed entirely.

Misfit138 · 2011-08-18 01:14:11

falconindy wrote:

Really, the /dev/{pts,shm} entries should be removed entirely.

Keep it simple. I like it, and it works.
Jersey strong, all day long...

thisoldman · 2011-08-18 02:15:52

It makes some sense to me now. Thank you, falconindy and Misfit138. I'm off to investigate the boot sequence more deeply.

Last edited by thisoldman (2011-08-18 02:18:14)

Arch Linux

#1 2011-08-10 00:34:12

Activating swap -- fail

#2 2011-08-10 00:57:57

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#3 2011-08-10 01:00:02

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#4 2011-08-10 01:22:49

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#5 2011-08-10 01:31:32

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#6 2011-08-10 02:52:52

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#7 2011-08-10 03:05:55

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#8 2011-08-10 03:18:09

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#9 2011-08-10 03:23:42

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#10 2011-08-10 03:25:34

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#11 2011-08-10 03:42:55

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#12 2011-08-10 03:46:28

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#13 2011-08-10 04:01:31

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#14 2011-08-16 07:27:17

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#15 2011-08-16 10:53:07

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#16 2011-08-18 01:02:09

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#17 2011-08-18 01:03:10

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#18 2011-08-18 01:14:11

Re: Activating swap -- fail

#19 2011-08-18 02:15:52

Re: Activating swap -- fail

Board footer