OS uninstallable

Thu Mar 30 21:01:18 UTC 2023

On 31/3/23 03:42, Bret Busby wrote:
> On 31/3/23 03:15, Bret Busby wrote:
>> On 31/3/23 01:38, Bret Busby wrote:
>>> On 30/3/23 21:23, Ian Bruntlett wrote:
>>>> Hi Bret,
>>>>
>>>> I am not a GRUB 2 expert but I do have some internet links that may 
>>>> be of interest...
>>>> https://www.linuxfoundation.org/blog/blog/classic-sysadmin-how-to-rescue-a-non-booting-grub-2-on-linux <https://www.linuxfoundation.org/blog/blog/classic-sysadmin-how-to-rescue-a-non-booting-grub-2-on-linux>
>>>>
>>>> The latest GRUB 2 manual can be found here:
>>>> https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/grub.html 
>>>> <https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/grub.html>
>>>>
>>>> And there is a rescue disk intended to fix GRUB problems:
>>>> https://www.supergrubdisk.org/ <https://www.supergrubdisk.org/>
>>>>
>>>> Please note, I am _not_ a GRUB expert, I just collect useful links...
>>>>
>>>> HTH,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Ian
>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>> -- ACCU - Professionalism in programming - http://www.accu.org 
>>>> <http://www.accu.org>
>>>> -- My writing - https://sites.google.com/site/ianbruntlett/ 
>>>> <https://sites.google.com/site/ianbruntlett/>
>>>> -- Free Software page - 
>>>> https://sites.google.com/site/ianbruntlett/home/free-software 
>>>> <https://sites.google.com/site/ianbruntlett/home/free-software>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> Thank you for the links, Ian.
>>>
>>> I worked through the instructions on the first link, and, it went 
>>> okay, until the
>>> grub-install
>>> command, which returned a set of errors, of which, I managed to 
>>> capture a screenshot, which is stored on the desktop.
>>>
>>> So, I figured "Okay,so I will have to go through the set of steps to 
>>> get it to boot, each time;
>>>
>>> grub> set root=(hd0,1)
>>> grub> linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1
>>> grub> initrd /initrd.img
>>> grub> boot
>>>
>>> (as applies to the applicable partitions on this computer)
>>> .
>>>
>>> But, when I booted, then, performed a system upgrade (apt 
>>> full-upgrade) then rebooted, the computer merrily booted into Linux, 
>>> with not having found the existing MS Windows installation.
>>>
>>> So, because that OS was Linux Mint Mate 21, I updated to 21.1, and 
>>> rebooted.
>>>
>>> That rebooted the same.
>>>
>>> Then, because it has an nVIDIA GPU, and, the system analyser thing 
>>> (the thing that shows as a clipboard,in the right hand corner of the 
>>> panel, with a red exclamation mark, when it figures that something 
>>> needs doing to the system, like installing additional drivers or 
>>> language packs) recommended installing the nVIDIA driver, rather than 
>>> the installed nouveau driver, I did that, then, it told me that the 
>>> system needed to be rebooted.
>>>
>>> So,I rebooted the computer, from within that application.
>>>
>>> Then, upon rebooting, I got the grub menu, so, selected Linux Mint, 
>>> and then, the system broke.
>>>
>>>  From what I can make out of the lines of text, the first critical 
>>> line is
>>> "
>>> [ 3.940637] Kernel panic  - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs 
>>> on unknown-block(0.0)
>>> "
>>>
>>> and then, about 19 lines of text, ending with
>>>
>>> "
>>> [ 3.940972] ---[ end Kernel panic  - not syncing: VFS: Unable to 
>>> mount root fs on unknown-block(0.0) ]---
>>> "
>>> ..
>>> Bret Busby
>>> Armadale
>>> West Australia
>>> (UTC+0800)
>>> ..............
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> I had shut down the computer, waited a while (more than ten minutes - 
>> we have heavy rain at present, and, a cat wanted to go outside, then 
>> changed its mind a few times - the back yard is under water, and the 
>> cat finally decided to go outside and get wet), and, rebooted the 
>> computer.
>>
>> It went into the GRUB menu, which showed only three options - boot 
>> into Linux, boot into linux advanced settings, or, boot into UEFI 
>> firmware settings (the computer is BIOS/MBR, not UEFI/GPT).
>>
>> Then, it went to a screen saying
>> "Out of memory
>> press any key to continue"
>>
>> I did not press a key, and the computer got bored waiting, so, it went 
>> to the screen of the kernel panic.
>>
>> Regarding the "Out of memory", the computer has a Xeon CPU and 32GB RAM.
>>
>> ..
>> Bret Busby
>> Armadale
>> West Australia
>> (UTC+0800)
>> ..............
>>
>>
> 
> So, I powered down the computer, again, and, waited a few minutes, then 
> booted it, and, pressed the <ESC> key, which took me to the grub command 
> line prompt.
> 
> So, I followed the instructions on the web page from the first link that 
> Ian Bruntlett posted, again, and, it went okay, except, when I was 
> working through the part
> 
> "
> Booting From grub>
> 
> This is how to set the boot files and boot the system from the grub> 
> prompt. We know from running the ls command that there is a Linux root 
> filesystem on (hd0,1), and you can keep searching until you verify where 
> /boot/grub is. Then run these commands, using your own root partition, 
> kernel, and initrd image:
> 
> grub> set root=(hd0,1)
> grub> linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-29-generic root=/dev/sda1
> grub> initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-29-generic
> grub> boot
> "
> 
> when I got to the line
> grub> initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-29-generic
> with the current version number, substituted for that version number; 
> thus, becoming
> grub> initrd /boot/initrd.img-5.15.0-69-generic
> and pressed <ENTER>
> I got
> "error: out of memory"
> 
> So, I am wondering whether the computer will run Linux Mint Mate 21, 
> but, not Linux Mint Mate 21.1, as it seems unable to cope with
> initrd.img-5.15.0-69-generic, but, was able to boot, following the same 
> sequence of instructions, when Linux Mint Mate 21, with an earlier 
> kernel version, was installed.
> 
> ..
> Bret Busby
> Armadale
> West Australia
> (UTC+0800)
> ..............
> 

So, it occurred to me, to power the computer down, wait a while, reboot 
to get to the grub prompt, and, to try the sequence

 > grub> set root=(hd0,1)
 > grub> linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-29-generic root=/dev/sda1
 > grub> initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-29-generic
 > grub> boot

with 3.13.0-29 replaced with 5.15.0-41, as the earliest version of the 
kernel on the system, to see whether that would boot.

And, that worked, so, it is now working, with that kernel number.

For the present time...

..
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
(UTC+0800)
..............