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#1 2016-02-26 01:51:40

nObRaIn
New Member
Registered: 2016-02-25
Posts: 3

Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: unable to mount root fs

Hi all, I've been meaning to give bunsenlabs a try for some time now but I can't find a way to boot from a usb in live mode.

I have already tried diferent usb sticks and diferent methods of transfering the image to the usb (rufus, lili etc from windows) but I only have access to this windows 7 laptop (i5, 6gb ram, no uefi) right now and I can't test creating the usb in linux or booting a different system.

This was all with the and64 iso. I also tried crunhbang (worked great) and the i386 iso that went a bit further but ended up with e black screen that was turning on and off every few seconds.

So, can it be that something is broken with this release? Anyone with a similar issue?

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#2 2016-02-26 07:25:54

ohnonot
...again
Registered: 2015-09-29
Posts: 5,592

Re: Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: unable to mount root fs

so you are trying to boot bl on that same i5 laptop? that must be 64bit then.

i think you are right to point out the different methods of creating the usb medium.
if you look at the bunsenlabs website, it leads you to a debian wiki page with instructions for many different windows programs.
see, bunsenlabs is really more than 90% debian, so with most problems you can look for debian solutions.
also, usually people recommend to check the checksums (sha-256, same link).

i am a little confused why crunchbang boots on a fairly new (i5) machine, but not bunsenlabs.

how far into the boot process does it display the kernel panic, and what precedes it?
we would need that info (make a photo?) to do more than guesswork. same with your computer. maybe you can use crunchbang to post the specs.

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#3 2016-02-26 07:49:08

Head_on_a_Stick
Member
From: London
Registered: 2015-09-29
Posts: 9,093
Website

Re: Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: unable to mount root fs

I recommend USBWriter for transferring the ISO image in Windows.

See https://sourceforge.net/p/usbwriter/wiki/Documentation/

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#4 2016-02-26 14:38:00

nObRaIn
New Member
Registered: 2016-02-25
Posts: 3

Re: Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: unable to mount root fs

Hi again, and thanks for the help.

I have already tried USBWriter, win32imager (and a few others that I can't remember off the top of my head) with the exact same result. I think lili caused a different problem, but I'll have to double-check on that and post back, as at the time I wasn't really expecting it to work for some reason anyway.

This is the same laptop I'm trying to boot (details below):

crunchbang@crunchbang:~$ sudo lshw -short
H/W path         Device      Class          Description
=======================================================
                             system         SATELLITE L750 (PSK2YE-0EL00JGE)
/0                           bus            Base Board Product Name
/0/0                         memory         1MiB BIOS
/0/19                        memory         6GiB System Memory
/0/19/0                      memory         2GiB SODIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1333 MH
/0/19/1                      memory         DIMM [empty]
/0/19/2                      memory         4GiB SODIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1333 MH
/0/19/3                      memory         DIMM [empty]
/0/2a                        processor      Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2430M CPU @ 2.4
/0/2a/2c                     memory         32KiB L1 cache
/0/2a/2d                     memory         256KiB L2 cache
/0/2a/2e                     memory         3MiB L3 cache
/0/2a/0.1                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.2                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.3                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.4                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.5                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.6                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.7                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.8                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.9                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.a                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.b                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.c                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.d                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.e                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.f                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/2a/0.10                   processor      Logical CPU
/0/2b                        memory         32KiB L1 cache
/0/1                         processor      
/0/1/0.1                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.2                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.3                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.4                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.5                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.6                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.7                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.8                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.9                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.a                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.b                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.c                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.d                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.e                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.f                     processor      Logical CPU
/0/1/0.10                    processor      Logical CPU
/0/100                       bridge         2nd Generation Core Processor Family
/0/100/1                     bridge         Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Core Pro
/0/100/1/0                   display        NVIDIA Corporation
/0/100/1/0.1                 multimedia     GF108 High Definition Audio Controll
/0/100/16                    communication  6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 
/0/100/1a                    bus            6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 
/0/100/1b                    multimedia     6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 
/0/100/1c                    bridge         6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 
/0/100/1c.1                  bridge         6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 
/0/100/1c.1/0                bus            uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller
/0/100/1c.5                  bridge         6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 
/0/100/1c.5/0    wlan0       network        AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI
/0/100/1c.6                  bridge         6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 
/0/100/1c.6/0    eth0        network        AR8151 v2.0 Gigabit Ethernet
/0/100/1d                    bus            6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 
/0/100/1f                    bridge         HM65 Express Chipset Family LPC Cont
/0/100/1f.2      scsi0       storage        6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 
/0/100/1f.2/0    /dev/sda    disk           160GB Hitachi HTS54251
/0/100/1f.2/0/1  /dev/sda1   volume         100MiB Windows NTFS volume
/0/100/1f.2/0/2  /dev/sda2   volume         148GiB Windows NTFS volume
/0/100/1f.2/1    /dev/cdrom  disk           CDDVDW TS-L633F
/0/100/1f.3                  bus            6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 
/0/2             scsi6       storage        
/0/2/0.0.0       /dev/sdb    disk           2055MB SCSI Disk
/0/2/0.0.0/1     /dev/sdb1   volume         941MiB Windows FAT volume
/0/2/0.0.0/2     /dev/sdb2   volume         1017MiB Linux filesystem partition
/1                           power          OEM_Define5
/2                           power          CRB Battery 0

The last few lines before the kernel panic:

? mount_block_root+0x2a9/0x2b8
? sys_mknod+0x185/0x210
? prepare_namespace+0x133/0x169
? kernel_init_freeable+0x1d7/0x1e1
? initcall_blacklist+0xb2/0xb2
? rest_init+0x80/0x80
? kernel_init+0xa/0xf0
? ret_from_fork+0x50/0x90
? rest_init+0x80/0x80
kernel offset: 0x0 from 0xffffffff81000000 (relocation range 0xffffffff81000000-0xffffffff9fffffff)
kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount fs unknown block (0,0)

I only found references regarding bad usb sticks, bad ram, and maybe uefi causing similar issues through google, but nothing very specific. There is an older post in these forums with a similar issue, but again it seems unconclusive.

edit: I almost forgot, sha-256 checked ok.

Last edited by nObRaIn (2016-02-26 14:45:54)

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#5 2016-02-26 15:10:06

xaos52
The Good Doctor
From: Planet of the @pes
Registered: 2015-09-30
Posts: 695

Re: Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: unable to mount root fs

Compare your lshw output with mine:

H/W path                 Device      Class          Description
===============================================================
                                     system         Computer
/0                                   bus            Motherboard
/0/0                                 memory         3875MiB System memory
/0/1                                 processor      Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2350M CPU @ 2.30GHz
/0/100                               bridge         2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller
/0/100/1                             bridge         Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Core Processor Family PCI Express Root Port
/0/100/1/0                           display        GF108M [GeForce GT 630M]
/0/100/2                             display        2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller
/0/100/16                            communication  6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1
/0/100/1a                            bus            6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2
/0/100/1a/1              usb3        bus            EHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1a/1/1                        bus            Integrated Rate Matching Hub
/0/100/1a/1/1/1                      multimedia     USB2.0 UVC 1.3M Webcam
/0/100/1a/1/1/2                      communication  Bluetooth wireless interface
/0/100/1b                            multimedia     6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller
/0/100/1c                            bridge         6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1
/0/100/1c.1                          bridge         6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2
/0/100/1c.1/0            wlan0       network        Centrino Wireless-N 1030 [Rainbow Peak]
/0/100/1c.3                          bridge         6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4
/0/100/1c.3/0                        bus            uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller
/0/100/1c.3/0/0          usb2        bus            xHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1c.3/0/1          usb1        bus            xHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1c.3/0/1/2                    input          USB Receiver
/0/100/1c.5                          bridge         6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 6
/0/100/1c.5/0            eth0        network        AR8151 v2.0 Gigabit Ethernet
/0/100/1d                            bus            6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1
/0/100/1d/1              usb4        bus            EHCI Host Controller
/0/100/1d/1/1                        bus            Integrated Rate Matching Hub
/0/100/1d/1/1/1          scsi6       storage        DataTraveler G3
/0/100/1d/1/1/1/0.0.0    /dev/sdb    disk           7751MB SCSI Disk
/0/100/1d/1/1/1/0.0.0/1  /dev/sdb1   volume         1256MiB Hidden HPFS/NTFS partition
/0/100/1d/1/1/2                      input          USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse
/0/100/1f                            bridge         HM65 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller
/0/100/1f.2                          storage        6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller
/0/100/1f.3                          bus            6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller
/0/2                     scsi0       storage        
/0/2/0.0.0               /dev/sda    disk           500GB ST9500325AS
/0/2/0.0.0/1             /dev/sda1   volume         461GiB Linux filesystem partition
/0/2/0.0.0/2             /dev/sda2   volume         4007MiB Linux swap volume
/0/3                     scsi2       storage        
/0/3/0.0.0               /dev/cdrom  disk           DVDRAM GT60N

Look at my /dev/sdb, /dev/sdb1 which is for an 8GB USB stick with a Debian Cinnamon live/install disk.

Compare with your /dev/sdb, /dev/sdb1 - which I presume is the bunsenlabs live/install disk?
If not, insert your bunsenlabs live/install USB stick, run lshw again and eventually post it here.

Your sdb seems to me a 2GB stick, containing a FAT32 partition of +- 1 GB followed by a linux partition (your bunsenlabs install image?).

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#6 2016-03-01 17:35:13

nObRaIn
New Member
Registered: 2016-02-25
Posts: 3

Re: Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: unable to mount root fs

A quick update here, and a new question.

So, this (sdb in lshw) was infact a 2GB stick with a bootable crunchbang in one partition and a 1GB (aprox) fat32 partition. Even though I can't remember what was the method I used to create this stick, it was the only one that was working (with crunchbang) and the one that I never tried  with bunsenlabs before, as it was the oldest and smallest of them all.

Having already tried with four different sticks, I was convinced that the problem was elsewhere but, as it is often the case, I was wrong. So I have two relatively new no-name sticks and two new sandisk sticks (one of them less than a month old) all unable to boot bunsenlabs (or anything else, I guess) and an eight year old sandisk that boots just fine (I whipped crunchbang and tried with bunsenlabs, no problems).

I tried a couple of times more with the newer sandisk (without success) and it now locked itself and shows as read only, so I guess there was a problem there from the beginning. Searching for a method to test the rest of my sticks I found h2testw. If I understand it correctly, it writes data to the stick and then it reads it back looking for errors.

So, I tested all four of my (remaining) sticks and all but the old 2GB one return at least some errors. Needless to say that I am not surprised with the no-name sticks, but two out of three sandisks? both relatively new?

Is anyone having any experience with h2testw or similar programs? I would obviously be interested in a reliable linux alternative if there is one.

Last edited by nObRaIn (2016-03-01 17:37:02)

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#7 2016-03-02 06:46:34

ohnonot
...again
Registered: 2015-09-29
Posts: 5,592

Re: Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: unable to mount root fs

nObRaIn wrote:

Is anyone having any experience with h2testw or similar programs? I would obviously be interested in a reliable linux alternative if there is one.

fsck and badblocks.
search the web on how to use them, i just saw various good-looking articles.
if the affected blocks are always the same, then you can tell the file system to not use them, which would make the stick usable again. takes a little commandline-fu.

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