[Bradford] New laptop, cannot mount partitions

Devo Too mike_g at devotoo.org.uk
Sun Mar 10 16:24:28 UTC 2019 

Sorry again. Typo - I'd put a space between gen and fstab. It's back on 
track.

On 10/03/2019 16:21, Devo Too via Bradford wrote:
> Hoping I won't have to use it again. Thank you Steve, seems mkfs.ext4 
> did the trick and I've loaded the base arch distro. But trying to create 
> fstab with genfstab and the system is asking me if I want to change gen 
> to (I think, the console font is absolutely tiny, to be fixed later) 
> 'grn'[nyae] and I haven't the first idea what the hell it is on about. 
> Should I say yes or no?
> 
> On 10/03/2019 15:53, Duncan Hughes wrote:
>> /dev/loop0 will come back next time you boot from the iso
>>
>>> On 10 Mar 2019, at 15:52, Devo Too via Bradford 
>>> <bradford at mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>> Thanks Duncan, but I've been through that section of the destructions 
>>> using both fdisk and parted at least a couple of times each. fdisk is 
>>> now showing sda and its three partitions as I set them up including 
>>> sda1 as EFI System, the other two as Linux filesystem. That's with 
>>> fdisk -l. /dev/loop0 has gone, so I just hope it wasn't required.
>>>
>>> Now checking to see that everything has been written, as mount 
>>> command reports.
>>>
>>> On 10/03/2019 15:39, Duncan Hughes via Bradford wrote:
>>>> Hi Mike
>>>> I’ve just looked through the Arch installation and you do have to 
>>>> create your own partitions and filesystems.  Look for the section in 
>>>> the installation docs that starts with “Format the partitions”.
>>>> You’ll need to pass the full path of sda to fdisk, i.e.  fdisk /dev/sda
>>>> Your loop0 device is a file from the boot iso that’s been mounted as 
>>>> a file system.
>>>> Anything in /dev is not a file, it’s the handle to a device.
>>>> HTH
>>>> Duncan.
>>>>> On 10 Mar 2019, at 15:10, Devo Too via Bradford 
>>>>> <bradford at mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Nothing to lose at all. So ran the commands only to realise I 
>>>>> should have done something else first.
>>>>>
>>>>> fdisk -l sda
>>>>> fdisk: cannot open sda: no such file or directory.
>>>>>
>>>>> blkid
>>>>> /dev/sda1 {unchanged}
>>>>> /dev/sda2 UUID-"{string}"
>>>>> /dev/sda3 UUID-"{string}"
>>>>>
>>>>> EUREKA!
>>>>> Reading the two lines below in the blkid output, which I'd ignored 
>>>>> as part of the USD drive report (/dev/sdb1) the second line is 
>>>>> /dev/loop0, viz:
>>>>>
>>>>> /dev/loop0: TYPE="squashfs"
>>>>>
>>>>> - is it now a case of rewrite the stick with another type and try 
>>>>> again? If so, instructions please? I just followed the "how to".
>>>>>
>>>>> Mike
>>>>>
>>>>> On 10/03/2019 14:44, Steve Wilson via Bradford wrote:
>>>>>> assuming there's no data to be lost on sda2/sda3 I'd be tempted to 
>>>>>> create the file system on them and try to mount.
>>>>>> # mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
>>>>>> # mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda3
>>>>>> # mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
>>>>>> # mkdir /mnt/home
>>>>>> # mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/home
>>>>>> Steve.
>>>>>> On 10/03/2019 11:31, Devo Too via Bradford wrote:
>>>>>>> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Installation_guide is the 
>>>>>>> "head" document with various links off it to help find other wiki 
>>>>>>> pages and materials. I've copied this 631Mb .iso 
>>>>>>> archlinux-2019.03.01-x86_64.iso correctly onto a USB stick by CL 
>>>>>>> having checked the signature.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I've been using both parted and fdisk to try to generate the 
>>>>>>> required file systems. But nothing comes of them when I attempt 
>>>>>>> to mount them. mkfs looks interesting, maybe worth trying to set 
>>>>>>> the partitions manually? But as nothing else is getting through  
>>>>>>> I'm seriously suspecting something is blocked.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> No swap partition as I'd allowed sufficient space within the / 
>>>>>>> partition for a 4GB swap file.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The only thing on the laptop is the few 'Doze10  remnants the 
>>>>>>> assemblers used to test it prior to despatch. I thought they'd 
>>>>>>> have been overwritten but it seems nothing is being permanently 
>>>>>>> written.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thanks for your input so far. Very much appreciated.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Mike
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 10/03/2019 00:43, Steve Wilson via Bradford wrote:
>>>>>>>> It doesn't look like there's a filesystem configured on there, 
>>>>>>>> have you missed/overlooked any mkfs commands?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> If there's a filesystem/swap configured there should be a FILE= 
>>>>>>>> output to blkid.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Do you have a link to the instructions you've been following? 
>>>>>>>> Also was there anything on the disk before which you're trying 
>>>>>>>> to keep?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Steve.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 10/03/2019 00:16, Devo Too via Bradford wrote:
>>>>>>>>> The responses are on the laptop and I'm having to type this on 
>>>>>>>>> the PC as haven't been able to get into the laptop hdd. Nothing 
>>>>>>>>> gets written onto it sofar as I can tell. I have to switch the 
>>>>>>>>> keyboard layout from US to UK each time I switch it on.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> # blkid
>>>>>>>>> /dev/sda1 Label=System, UUID= {string}, vfat and PARTUUID= 
>>>>>>>>> {string}
>>>>>>>>> /dev/sda2 PARTUUID= {string}
>>>>>>>>> /dev/sda3 PARTUUID= {string}
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On 09/03/2019 23:37, Steve Wilson via Bradford wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> What's the output of blkid show?
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> This should allow you to identify the actual file system used 
>>>>>>>>>> on the partition, it might be a case of making sure the 
>>>>>>>>>> filesystem tools/progs package is installed for the specific 
>>>>>>>>>> file system.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I've not tried arch so I don't the the OS specific details, 
>>>>>>>>>> maybe it's time I had a play with it.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Steve.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On 09/03/2019 23:06, Devo Too via Bradford wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> On 09/03/2019 19:49, Darren Drapkin wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>> On Saturday 09 Mar 2019 17:19:38 Devo Too via Bradford wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi Folks,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Shiny new laptop received yesterday. Followed the Arch Wiki 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> to set up
>>>>>>>>>>>>> from a .iso on a memory stick and all looked well until - 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> immediately
>>>>>>>>>>>>> after partitioning the hard drive, trying the mount command.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> For both sda2 (root partition set as Linux root (x86-64), 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> using mount
>>>>>>>>>>>>> /dev/sda2 /mnt) and sda3 (home partition set as Linux 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> filesystem, using
>>>>>>>>>>>>> mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/home having set up /mnt/home directory).
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> sda1 is an EFI System partition and mounted OK.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> At the mount command, both partitions, response is:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> /mnt: wrong fs type,
>>>>>>>>>>>> This suggests to me that you have to specify the type of 
>>>>>>>>>>>> filling system
>>>>>>>>>>>> explicitly, for some reason #mount /dev/sda2 /  is not 
>>>>>>>>>>>> enough. Possibly you
>>>>>>>>>>>> will need to make sure you are mounting the root partition 
>>>>>>>>>>>> on the right place
>>>>>>>>>>>> and you may need a# -t option
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Done that - tried both as 'Linux filesystem', which all the 
>>>>>>>>>>> tutorials sanction, then root as 'Linux root (x86-64)' with 
>>>>>>>>>>> the same response each time.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> bad option,
>>>>>>>>>>>>> bad superblock on /dev/sda2, missing
>>>>>>>>>>>> Bad superblock suggests that you may have that rare thing on 
>>>>>>>>>>>> a modern hard
>>>>>>>>>>>> drive, an actual defective sector. You may need to run fsck 
>>>>>>>>>>>> on it.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> As it occurs on two partitions, each occupying separate sets 
>>>>>>>>>>> of sectors, it would surely indicate at least two bad 
>>>>>>>>>>> sectors? But thanks, I'll try fsck too.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> codepage or helper program, or other error
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Google searches haven't thrown any light on the topic so 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> far although it
>>>>>>>>>>>>> is a commonly reported problem.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> One of several more G searches suggests the possibility of a 
>>>>>>>>>>> corrupted kernel in the download. That .iso has been in the 
>>>>>>>>>>> Arch Downloads since 1st March and I used the Bytemark 
>>>>>>>>>>> repository, which I'd trust more than most, as source. It's 
>>>>>>>>>>> none too convincing. Besides, most of the searches have 
>>>>>>>>>>> thrown up reports from over a year ago and there probably was 
>>>>>>>>>>> a kernel corruption in the December 2017 release most mention.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Do any of you have ideas?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Could it be a hard drive problem? I've tried unsuccessfully 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> to use both
>>>>>>>>>>>>> parted and fsdisk to do the partitioning. It's a 960GB hdd 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> so I suspect
>>>>>>>>>>>>> it should have 4KB sectors rather than 512 bytes, although 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> the system
>>>>>>>>>>>>> reports otherwise.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> All pointers welcome.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> TIA.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Mike
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -- 
>>>>> Bradford mailing list
>>>>> Bradford at mailman.lug.org.uk
>>>>> https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bradford
>>>
>>> -- 
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>>> Bradford at mailman.lug.org.uk
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>>
>

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