Re: [gentoo-user] re: can't find /boot/grub/grub.conf after kernel upgrade [3.10.7]

[Alexander Kapshuk <alexander.kapshuk@gmail.com>]

On 09/07/2013 11:11 PM, Canek Peláez Valdés wrote:
> On Sat, Sep 7, 2013 at 2:41 PM, Alexander Kapshuk
> <alexander.kapshuk@gmail.com>  wrote:
>    
>> On 09/07/2013 10:35 PM, Canek Peláez Valdés wrote:
>>      
>>> On Sat, Sep 7, 2013 at 2:30 PM, Alexander Kapshuk
>>> <alexander.kapshuk@gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>        
>>>> On 09/07/2013 10:25 PM, Canek Peláez Valdés wrote:
>>>>          
>>>>> On Sat, Sep 7, 2013 at 1:53 PM, Alexander Kapshuk
>>>>> <alexander.kapshuk@gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>>>            
>>>>>> On 09/07/2013 09:35 PM, Canek Peláez Valdés wrote:
>>>>>>              
>>>>>>> On Sat, Sep 7, 2013 at 1:24 PM, Alexander Kapshuk
>>>>>>> <alexander.kapshuk@gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>>>>>                
>>>>>>>> On 09/07/2013 09:11 PM, Canek Peláez Valdés wrote:
>>>>>>>>                  
>>>>>>>>> On Sat, Sep 7, 2013 at 1:06 PM, Alexander Kapshuk
>>>>>>>>> <alexander.kapshuk@gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>>>>>>>                    
>>>>>>>>>> Howdy,
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Just compiled the new kernel [3.10.7], was about to edit my
>>>>>>>>>> /boot/grub/grub.conf, and found it missing:
>>>>>>>>>> box0 boot # pwd
>>>>>>>>>> /boot
>>>>>>>>>> box0 boot # ls -a
>>>>>>>>>> .  ..  kernel-3.10.7-gentoo  kernel-3.8.13-gentoo
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> What did I miss?
>>>>>>>>>>                      
>>>>>>>>> Do you have /boot in a separated partition? Did you mounted it?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Nothing should touch /boot, AFAIK.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Regards.
>>>>>>>>>                    
>>>>>>>> I do have '/boot' on a separate partition. If I understand it correctly,
>>>>>>>> '/boot' gets mounted every time at system start-up, based on
>>>>>>>> '/etc/fstab', does it not?
>>>>>>>>                  
>>>>>>> By the contents of your fstab, it should...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>                
>>>>>>>> box0 boot # cat /etc/fstab
>>>>>>>> <snip>
>>>>>>>> /dev/sda1        /boot        ext2        default,noatime    0 2
>>>>>>>> /dev/sda2        none        swap        sw        0 0
>>>>>>>> /dev/sda3        /        ext4        noatime        0 1
>>>>>>>> /dev/sda5        /home        ext4        noatime            0 2
>>>>>>>> /dev/cdrom        /mnt/cdrom    auto        noauto,ro    0 0
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> box0 boot # mount|grep /dev/sda
>>>>>>>> /dev/sda3 on / type ext4 (rw,noatime,data=ordered)
>>>>>>>> /dev/sda5 on /home type ext4 (rw,noatime)
>>>>>>>>                  
>>>>>>> ,,,however mount says up there that it's not mounted.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>                
>>>>>>>> box0 boot # fdisk -l /dev/sda
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes, 488397168 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/sda1   *        2048       67583       32768   83  Linux
>>>>>>>> /dev/sda2           67584     1116159      524288   82  Linux swap / Solaris
>>>>>>>> /dev/sda3         1116160    43059199    20971520   83  Linux
>>>>>>>> /dev/sda4        43059200   488397167   222668984    5  Extended
>>>>>>>> /dev/sda5        43061248   488397167   222667960   83  Linux
>>>>>>>>                  
>>>>>>> For some reason your /boot partition didn't get mounted. See the boot
>>>>>>> logs, and try to mounting by hand. Perhaps the fsck failed or it needs
>>>>>>> manual intervention.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Regards.
>>>>>>>                
>>>>>> Based on the 'dmesg' output below, EXT2-fs attempted to mount the '/'
>>>>>> partition instead of the '/boot' one.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> box0 ~ # dmesg|grep 'EXT.*fs'
>>>>>> [    2.444214] EXT2-fs (sda3): error: couldn't mount because of
>>>>>> unsupported optional features (240)
>>>>>> [    2.444736] EXT4-fs (sda3): couldn't mount as ext3 due to feature
>>>>>> incompatibilities
>>>>>> [    2.481412] EXT4-fs (sda3): mounted filesystem with ordered data
>>>>>> mode. Opts: (null)
>>>>>> [    9.448819] EXT4-fs (sda3): re-mounted. Opts: (null)
>>>>>> [    9.731383] EXT4-fs (sda5): mounted filesystem with ordered data
>>>>>> mode. Opts: (null)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Would that suggest a corrupted /boot/grub/grub.conf file?
>>>>>>              
>>>>> Not necessarily. Can you manually mount /boot and see the contents of
>>>>> /boot/grub/grub.conf.
>>>>>
>>>>>            
>>>>>> How did the system boot then?
>>>>>>              
>>>>> If grub can see the boot partition (and is correctly configured and
>>>>> installed on the MBR), it can mount the root system without problems
>>>>> regardless of fstab. Do you use an initramfs?
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards.
>>>>>            
>>>> 'mount /boot' fails:
>>>> box0 ~ # mount /boot
>>>> mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sda1,
>>>>         missing codepage or helper program, or other error
>>>>         In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
>>>>         dmesg | tail or so
>>>>
>>>> No, I do not use 'initfamfs'.
>>>>
>>>> What do you suggest doing?
>>>>          
>>> Mounting it by hand:
>>>
>>> mount -t ext2 /dev/sda1 /boot
>>>
>>> Regards.
>>>        
>> That did the trick. Thanks very much.
>>
>> Here's my /boot/grub/grub.conf:
>> box0 linux # cat /boot/grub/grub.conf
>> # This is a sample grub.conf for use with Genkernel, per the Gentoo handbook
>> #
>> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=1&chap=10#doc_chap2
>> # If you are not using Genkernel and you need help creating this file, you
>> # should consult the handbook. Alternatively, consult the
>> grub.conf.sample that
>> # is included with the Grub documentation.
>>
>> default 0
>> timeout 30
>> splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
>>
>> title Gentoo Linux 3.8.13
>> root (hd0,0)
>> kernel /boot/kernel-3.8.13-gentoo root=/dev/sda3
>> #initrd /boot/initramfs-genkernel-x86-2.6.24-gentoo-r5
>>
>> title Gentoo Linux 3.8.13 (rescue)
>> root (hd0,0)
>> kernel /boot/kernel-3.8.13-gentoo root=/dev/sda3 init=/bin/bb
>> # vim:ft=conf:
>>
>> Is there anything that suggests as to why the /boot partition failed to
>> mount at system start-up?
>>      
> No, I don't see anything that. However, since you cannot "mount
> /boot", but doing it manually works, that means something is wrong
> with your fstab. Can I see it again? There is no /boot/etc/fstab,
> right? What does /boot/grub/device.map say?
>
> Regards.
>    
Getting late. I'll have to chase it up tomorrow. Sorry.

Thanks heaps for your help.

I'll keep yourself and the list posted on the progress made.