[SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

aleciodalpra · 2019-02-11 19:19:16

Hello.

I tried to install BL-Helium (last release) on a Dell Inspiron 1010 (very old). The live CD runs very good.

When the system restart, after instalation, the boot screen (grub) is loaded normaly. When the system starts to load is showed the follow message:

Gave up waiting for root device. Common problems:
— Boot args (cat /proc/cmdline)
— Check rootdelay= (did the system wait long enough?)
— Check root= (did the system wait for the right device?)
— Missing modules (cat /proc/modules; ls /dev)
ALERT! /dev/SDC1 does not exist. Dropping to a shell!

The system is installed on /dev/SDC1.
I tried to install a Debian 9 with XFCE and it worked.

Thanks for any help.

Last edited by aleciodalpra (2019-02-13 15:44:47)

unklar · 2019-02-11 20:52:27

aleciodalpra wrote:

The system is installed on /dev/SDC1.

Do you really mean that or have you misspelled it? smile

aleciodalpra · 2019-02-11 23:05:49

Yes. Above the result of the command fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sdc: 111.8 GiB, 120040980480 bytes, 234455040 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
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xee0b0171

Device     Boot     Start       End   Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1  *         2048 230279167 230277120 109.8G 83 Linux
/dev/sdc2       230281214 234452991   4171778     2G  5 Extended
/dev/sdc5       230281216 234452991   4171776     2G 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Last edited by aleciodalpra (2019-02-13 15:45:13)

hhh · 2019-02-12 01:30:09

aleciodalpra wrote:

/dev/sdc1 * 2048 230279167 230277120 109.8G 83 Linux

Caps sensetive? Use /dev/sdc1 not SDC1 and install grub to /dev/sdc

aleciodalpra · 2019-02-12 13:17:18

The right message is "ALERT! /dev/sdc1 does not exist".

I just used the uppercase to highlight.

unklar · 2019-02-12 14:30:12

If your computer has only sdc big_smile , then install the grub in the MBR as 3xh writes you.

If this is a multi or dual boot installation, you have to tell the (main) grub in sda that there is more on sdc: wink

update-grub

aleciodalpra · 2019-02-12 15:11:42

Thanks unklar.

The computer has just one disk (SSD). I changed an IDE disk to a SSD.

The command fdisk -l returns the /dev/sda and /dev/sdc.
The /dev/sda is the flash disk where the live is running.
The /dev/sdc is the disk SSD.

After system instalation, when is asked to select the disk to install grub, I select the /dev/sdc. Then the instalation is finished with sucess, but the error (Gave up waiting ...) is showed.

The update-grub doesn't work. Another error message is showed and I can't reproduce now.
Later I'll paste here.

S7.L · 2019-02-12 15:20:14

maybe post the output of

lsblk -S

Last edited by S7.L (2019-02-12 15:20:50)

PackRat · 2019-02-12 15:59:15

aleciodalpra wrote:

The command fdisk -l returns the /dev/sda and /dev/sdc.
The /dev/sda is the flash disk where the live is running.
The /dev/sdc is the disk SSD.

That doesn't seem right - assigning /dev/sda to the flash drive and /dev/sdc to the installed drive - and no /dev/sdb.

What's the full output of "fdisk -l"

Have you tried to chroot into the system and reinstall grub?

aleciodalpra · 2019-02-13 00:51:26

PackRat wrote:

What's the full output of "fdisk -l"
Have you tried to chroot into the system and reinstall grub?

Hello PackRat.
I followed some tutorials that sugest to use the chroot, but none worked.

Above the result:

user@debian:~$ sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 7.5 GiB, 8002732032 bytes, 15630336 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
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x6b9a7c64

Device     Boot Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sda1  *     2048 15630335 15628288  7.5G  c W95 FAT32 (LBA)


Disk /dev/sdc: 111.8 GiB, 120040980480 bytes, 234455040 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
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xee0b0171

Device     Boot     Start       End   Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1  *         2048 230279167 230277120 109.8G 83 Linux
/dev/sdc2       230281214 234452991   4171778     2G  5 Extended
/dev/sdc5       230281216 234452991   4171776     2G 82 Linux swap / Solaris


Disk /dev/loop0: 913.7 MiB, 958058496 bytes, 1871208 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

Last edited by aleciodalpra (2019-02-13 15:46:03)

aleciodalpra · 2019-02-13 00:53:33

S7.L wrote:

maybe post the output of
lsblk -S

Hello S7.L

user@debian:~$ sudo lsblk -s
NAME  MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
loop0   7:0    0 913.7M  1 loop /lib/live/mount/rootfs/filesystem.squashfs
sda1    8:1    1   7.5G  0 part /lib/live/mount/medium
└─sda   8:0    1   7.5G  0 disk 
sdc1    8:33   0 109.8G  0 part 
└─sdc   8:32   0 111.8G  0 disk 
sdc2    8:34   0     1K  0 part 
└─sdc   8:32   0 111.8G  0 disk 
sdc5    8:37   0     2G  0 part 
└─sdc   8:32   0 111.8G  0 disk

Last edited by aleciodalpra (2019-02-13 15:46:31)

aleciodalpra · 2019-02-13 01:03:52

unklar wrote:

update-grub

Hello unklar.

If I run to command update-grub, this is the return:

user@debian:~$ sudo update-grub
sudo: update-grub: command not found

So, I install the grub:

user@debian:~$ sudo apt-get install grub2
Reading package lists... Done
...

When I need to choose where device to install, I select /dev/sdc

Configuring grub-pc ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │ The grub-pc package is being upgraded. This menu allows you to select which devices you'd like grub-install to be       │ 
  │ automatically run for, if any.                                                                                          │ 
  │                                                                                                                         │ 
  │ Running grub-install automatically is recommended in most situations, to prevent the installed GRUB core image from     │ 
  │ getting out of sync with GRUB modules or grub.cfg.                                                                      │ 
  │                                                                                                                         │ 
  │ If you're unsure which drive is designated as boot drive by your BIOS, it is often a good idea to install GRUB to all   │ 
  │ of them.                                                                                                                │ 
  │                                                                                                                         │ 
  │ Note: it is possible to install GRUB to partition boot records as well, and some appropriate partitions are offered     │ 
  │ here. However, this forces GRUB to use the blocklist mechanism, which makes it less reliable, and therefore is not      │ 
  │ recommended.                                                                                                            │ 
  │                                                                                                                         │ 
  │ GRUB install devices:                                                                                                   │ 
  │                                                                                                                         │ 
  │    [ ] /dev/sda (8002 MB; Cruzer_Fit)                                                                                   │ 
  │    [+] /dev/sdc (120040 MB; WDC_WDS120G2G0A-00JH30)                                                                     │ 
  │                                                                                                                         │ 
  │                                                                                                                         │ 
  │                                                         <Ok>

Then this error message is showed:

Creating config file /etc/default/grub with new version
grub-probe: error: failed to get canonical path of `overlay'.
grub-probe: error: failed to get canonical path of `overlay'.
grub-probe: error: failed to get canonical path of `overlay'.
Installing for i386-pc platform.
grub-install: error: failed to get canonical path of `overlay'.
Setting up grub2 (2.02~beta3-5+deb9u1) ...

Last edited by aleciodalpra (2019-02-13 15:44:23)

S7.L · 2019-02-13 06:48:34

aleciodalpra wrote:

S7.L wrote:
maybe post the output of
lsblk -S
Hello S7.L
user@debian:~$ sudo lsblk -s
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
loop0 7:0 0 913.7M 1 loop /lib/live/mount/rootfs/filesystem.squashfs
sda1 8:1 1 7.5G 0 part /lib/live/mount/medium
└─sda 8:0 1 7.5G 0 disk
sdc1 8:33 0 109.8G 0 part
└─sdc 8:32 0 111.8G 0 disk
sdc2 8:34 0 1K 0 part
└─sdc 8:32 0 111.8G 0 disk
sdc5 8:37 0 2G 0 part
└─sdc 8:32 0 111.8G 0 disk

Not that it probably matters much but use capital S

lsblk -S

This tells us how many SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) devices your computer has, im interested to know where sdb has disappeared to?

-S, --scsi
              Output info about SCSI devices only.  All partitions, slaves and
              holder devices are ignored.

Try to wrap any terminal commands in the code tags, makes it easier to read.

Last edited by S7.L (2019-02-13 06:52:42)

ohnonot · 2019-02-13 10:04:54

aleciodalpra wrote:

PackRat wrote:

What's the full output of "fdisk -l"

user@debian:~$ sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 7.5 GiB, 8002732032 bytes, 15630336 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
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x6b9a7c64

Device     Boot Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sda1  *     2048 15630335 15628288  7.5G  c W95 FAT32 (LBA)


Disk /dev/sdc: 111.8 GiB, 120040980480 bytes, 234455040 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
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xee0b0171

Device     Boot     Start       End   Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1  *         2048 230279167 230277120 109.8G 83 Linux
/dev/sdc2       230281214 234452991   4171778     2G  5 Extended
/dev/sdc5       230281216 234452991   4171776     2G 82 Linux swap / Solaris


Disk /dev/loop0: 913.7 MiB, 958058496 bytes, 1871208 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

huh, that's weird.

usb is sda
there's NO sdb
SSD (i guess) is sdc

when it should be:

first internal hard drive is (usually) sda
everything else comes right after it, not skipping drive letters

and i have no idea how you could have arrived at that situation.
maybe when i re-read the whole thread...

PS: see, i put your code in code tags? please do that yourself from now on.

aleciodalpra · 2019-02-13 10:11:32

Sorry S7.L, my mistake.

user@debian:~$ sudo lsblk -S
NAME HCTL       TYPE VENDOR   MODEL             REV TRAN
sda  2:0:0:0    disk SanDisk  Cruzer Fit       1.00 usb
sdc  0:0:0:0    disk ATA      WDC WDS120G2G0A- 0000 ata

-- MOD EDIT -- Please use [ code ] tags for terminal output, as requested

Last edited by damo (2019-02-13 10:22:23)

S7.L · 2019-02-13 10:35:19

I think a majority of this has to do with "I changed an IDE disk to a SSD." from post 7. https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/viewtopic … 432#p82432

I dont know much about ssd's i have never used them in my computers as i prefer the old rust drives, im not a gamer or high end user so its not worth wasting money on. My question would be what are the precautions one should take when changing to an ssd, is there a switch you need to toggle in the bios and maybe this particular bios needs to be informed of the change in some way?

Quite possible this old computer is unable to facilitate an ssd...

Has support manuals, even a ubuntu manual.
https://www.dell.com/support/home/au/en … 10/manuals

Last edited by S7.L (2019-02-13 10:40:43)

PackRat · 2019-02-13 10:50:43

ohnonot wrote:

aleciodalpra wrote:

PackRat wrote:

What's the full output of "fdisk -l"

user@debian:~$ sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 7.5 GiB, 8002732032 bytes, 15630336 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
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x6b9a7c64

Device     Boot Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sda1  *     2048 15630335 15628288  7.5G  c W95 FAT32 (LBA)


Disk /dev/sdc: 111.8 GiB, 120040980480 bytes, 234455040 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
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xee0b0171

Device     Boot     Start       End   Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1  *         2048 230279167 230277120 109.8G 83 Linux
/dev/sdc2       230281214 234452991   4171778     2G  5 Extended
/dev/sdc5       230281216 234452991   4171776     2G 82 Linux swap / Solaris


Disk /dev/loop0: 913.7 MiB, 958058496 bytes, 1871208 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

huh, that's weird.

usb is sda
there's NO sdb
SSD (i guess) is sdc

when it should be:

first internal hard drive is (usually) sda
everything else comes right after it, not skipping drive letters

and i have no idea how you could have arrived at that situation.
maybe when i re-read the whole thread...

PS: see, i put your code in code tags? please do that yourself from now on.

And I suspect that when the USB currently at sda is removed and the user attempts to boot normally, the device sdc reverts to sda and grub fails. That possible?

S7.L · 2019-02-13 11:06:27

Im not sure exactly what model OP has as they havent given very many specifications but this is interesing in below link for the dell inspiron mini 1010.

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/164 … +an+SSD%21

aleciodalpra · 2019-02-13 15:48:54

aleciodalpra wrote:

Sorry S7.L, my mistake.
user@debian:~$ sudo lsblk -S
NAME HCTL       TYPE VENDOR   MODEL             REV TRAN
sda  2:0:0:0    disk SanDisk  Cruzer Fit       1.00 usb
sdc  0:0:0:0    disk ATA      WDC WDS120G2G0A- 0000 ata
-- MOD EDIT -- Please use [ code ] tags for terminal output, as requested

Sorry about that! I didn't know this practice.

Last edited by aleciodalpra (2019-02-13 16:31:34)

S7.L · 2019-02-13 16:05:35

Hey aleciodalpra, maybe try install to the original hdd if it is available and not an ssd?

aleciodalpra · 2019-02-13 16:17:50

Thanks all for the answers and help.

The original netbook configuration had an IDE disk running Windows 7. It was no longer usable. It was very, very slow... some web pages didn't load.

When I changed for a SSD disk, first I tried reinstall Windows. It worked, but the performance did not improve as I expected.

So, I tried Linux installing Debian 9 and it worked again, but I couldn't configure wi-fi conection.

Next weekend maybe I'll try others things.

aleciodalpra · 2019-02-13 16:20:39

S7.L wrote:

Hey aleciodalpra, maybe try install to the original hdd if it is available and not an ssd?

Hi.
I already did. It was very slow too. Not too slow as windows.

aleciodalpra · 2019-02-16 01:20:15

Well! It's done. It's resolved.

I downloaded netinstall image and follow the procedure from BL site.

After installed, when the system restarts, the problem showed up again sad

So, I had an insight based on commentary #17 from PackRat.
I rebooted the system and:
1) when the grub went loaded I stopped the decreasing counting and I inserted the flash drive with the installation media;
2) I selected the recovery mode boot. After a few seconds the system was loaded;
3) I logged in (in the text mode, obviously) and I ran the command

update-grub

The grub went uploaded. After that my /dev/sdc disk had turned into /dev/sdb disk. I have no idea why.
5) I rebooted the system again and ... voilà!
6) I followed the procedure to install BL features using the script available.

Last edited by aleciodalpra (2019-02-16 01:29:21)

damo · 2019-02-16 02:00:02

Good news smile

I will mark this as SOLVED - you can do it yourself by editing your first post, to help others who may have the same problem.

Bearded_Blunder · 2019-02-16 02:21:20

Thanks for posting the solution you found! It's great to see when peope do that, and please don't take any offence at @damo's admonitions about editing your first post, while it *is* helpful if you do, the fact that you posted the solution, instead of just wandering off is actually more important than that, as it does show what the solution was smile

While I appreciate that moderators don't want the extra work involved in marking threads solved, I wish they'd make more effort to thank those who actually *BOTHER* to post what the solution was & take some of the sting out of requesting people mark topics [solved]
@damo I don't mean to be picking on you, but I do feel you came across as unappreciative that the OP actually bothered posting a solution, it's actually a really good thing that they did, and It's unfortunate if the response looks like they're being "told off" for not knowing the preferred actions on this board.

I do appreciate from having moderated a couple of boards myself that such edits as you have made become tiresome after enough repetitions, even so please try to appreciate that they concluded the thread positively rather than risking alienating them smile

Not everyone appreciates that it's even possible to make such a change by clicking edit on post #1

Last edited by Bearded_Blunder (2019-02-16 02:42:08)

#1 2019-02-11 19:19:16

[SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#2 2019-02-11 20:52:27

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#3 2019-02-11 23:05:49

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#4 2019-02-12 01:30:09

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#5 2019-02-12 13:17:18

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#6 2019-02-12 14:30:12

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#7 2019-02-12 15:11:42

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#8 2019-02-12 15:20:14

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#9 2019-02-12 15:59:15

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#10 2019-02-13 00:51:26

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#11 2019-02-13 00:53:33

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#12 2019-02-13 01:03:52

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#13 2019-02-13 06:48:34

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#14 2019-02-13 10:04:54

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#15 2019-02-13 10:11:32

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#16 2019-02-13 10:35:19

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#17 2019-02-13 10:50:43

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#18 2019-02-13 11:06:27

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#19 2019-02-13 15:48:54

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#20 2019-02-13 16:05:35

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#21 2019-02-13 16:17:50

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#22 2019-02-13 16:20:39

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#23 2019-02-16 01:20:15

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#24 2019-02-16 02:00:02

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

#25 2019-02-16 02:21:20

Re: [SOLVED]Grub error: Gave up waiting for root file system device

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