I recently bought a used Lenovo Thinkpad T470. After installing Ubuntu 20.04 and using it a little while, I noticed that it would freeze once in a while, apparently the SSD disk stopped responding. After this I could always restart the system and things would be fine.
But then the other day it crashed while the system was updating and when booting I would get the message that the system gave up waiting for root file system device and
ALERT! UUID=xxx does not exist. Dropping to a shell!
I tried adding rootdelay=5 from the GRUB start parameters (pressing 'e') but it didn't help.
So my experimenting began. There is no valuable data on the system so I have tried a lot of advice trying to restore the system including trying fixing and formatting partitions but without any luck.
The SSD seems to be ok physically ok - running the BIOS memory and storage tests shipped with the system, all seems fine. I have decided to reinstall Ubuntu with the Live USB, but I don't get any options for choosing a partition when running the installer. Running boot-repair I get a similar issue - the button for fixing boot is not there.
So this is my second attempt at rescuing the system and I have decided to document this to some detail, hopefully this can help others.
Updating initram and GRUB
Following the advice given here
ALERT! /dev/disk/by-uuid/xxxxxxxxx does not exist. Dropping to a shell
I booted up with Live USB (Ubuntu 20.04) and looking at the output from sudo blkid:
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo blkid
/dev/sda1: UUID="2020-07-31-16-51-12-00" LABEL="Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS amd64" TYPE="iso9660" PTUUID="zzzz" PTTYPE="dos" PARTUUID="zzzzz"
/dev/loop0: TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/loop1: TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/loop2: TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/loop3: TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/loop4: TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/loop5: TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/sda2: SEC_TYPE="msdos" UUID="zzzz" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="zzz"
/dev/sda3: UUID="yyy" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="zzzz"
The UUID given in the boot error message is different from the one I get from blkid. Based on this information and the output from fdisk -l
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 * 0 5439487 5439488 2.6G 0 Empty
/dev/sda2 5017392 5025327 7936 3.9M ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32)
/dev/sda3 5439488 30031871 24592384 11.7G 83 Linux
I decided to continue:
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
mount: /mnt/dev: mount point does not exist.
Ok - I can create the directories first, np
sudo mkdir /mnt/dev
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
mount: /mnt/dev: mount point does not exist.
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mkdir /mnt/dev
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
mount: /mnt/proc: mount point does not exist.
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mkdir /mnt/proc
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys
mount: /mnt/sys: mount point does not exist.
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mkdir /mnt/sys
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo chroot /mnt
chroot: failed to run command ‘/bin/bash’: No such file or directory
https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/128046/chroot-failed-to-run-command-bin-bash-no-such-file-or-directory
We need to make bash accessible from chroot
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo chroot /mnt /usr/bin/bash
chroot: failed to run command ‘/usr/bin/bash’: No such file or directory
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ which bash
/usr/bin/bash
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mkdir /mnt/usr
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /usr /mnt/usr
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo chroot /mnt /usr/bin/bash
chroot: failed to run command ‘/usr/bin/bash’: No such file or directory
ok
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mkdir /mnt/lib
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mkdir /mnt/lib64
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /lib /mnt/lib
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /lib64 /mnt/lib64
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo chroot /mnt /usr/bin/bash
bash-5.0#
YES! Back to updating initramfs!
bash-5.0# update-initramfs -u
bash: /usr/sbin/update-initramfs: /bin/sh: bad interpreter: No such file or directory
I know that trick now.
bash-5.0# exit
exit
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mkdir /mnt/bin
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /bin /mnt/bin
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo chroot /mnt /usr/bin/bash
bash-5.0# update-initramfs -u
update-initramfs is disabled since running on read-only media
Disappointing.
https://superuser.com/questions/903142/how-to-run-update-initramfs-from-bootable-usb
bash-5.0# whereis update-initramfs
update-initramfs: /usr/sbin/update-initramfs /usr/sbin/update-initramfs.distrib /usr/share/man/man8/update-initramfs.8.gz
bash-5.0# cat /usr/sbin/update-initramfs
#! /bin/sh
echo "update-initramfs is disabled since running on read-only media"
exit 0
We need to call mkinitramfs directly, it seems
bash-5.0# cd /lib/modules
bash-5.0# ls
5.4.0-42-generic
Exciting!
root@ubuntu:/# mkinitramfs -o /boot/initrm.img-5.4.0-42-generic 5.4.0-42-generic
touch: cannot touch '/boot/initrm.img-5.4.0-42-generic': No such file or directory
mktemp: failed to create directory via template ‘/var/tmp/mkinitramfs_XXXXXX’: No such file or directory
Gotcha. Still some directories to be mounted.
root@ubuntu:/# exit
exit
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mkdir /mnt/boot
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /boot /mnt/boot
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo chroot /mnt /usr/bin/bash
root@ubuntu:/# mkinitramfs -o /boot/initrm.img-5.4.0-42-generic 5.4.0-42-generic
mktemp: failed to create directory via template ‘/var/tmp/mkinitramfs_XXXXXX’: No such file or directory
root@ubuntu:/# exit
exit
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mkdir /mnt/var
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount --bind /var /mnt/var
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo chroot /mnt /usr/bin/bash
Fingers crossed!
root@ubuntu:/# mkinitramfs -o /boot/initrm.img-5.4.0-42-generic 5.4.0-42-generic
...
/usr/sbin/mkinitramfs: 76: modprobe: not found
/usr/sbin/mkinitramfs: 75: modprobe: not found
/usr/sbin/mkinitramfs: 76: modprobe: not found
find: ‘/var/tmp/mkinitramfs_TcMfi0/lib/modules/5.4.0-42-generic/kernel’: No such file or directory
/usr/sbin/mkinitramfs: 75: modprobe: not found
/usr/sbin/mkinitramfs: 76: modprobe: not found
E: /usr/share/initramfs-tools/hooks/brltty failed with return 1.
No joy.
initramfs error when installing / updating
Following the above advice regarding packages did unfortunately not help:
root@ubuntu:/# apt-get auto-remove && apt-get clean && apt-get update && apt-get upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Ign:1 cdrom://Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS _Focal Fossa_ - Release amd64 (20200731) focal InRelease
Hit:2 cdrom://Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS _Focal Fossa_ - Release amd64 (20200731) focal Release
Err:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Temporary failure resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com'
Err:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease
Temporary failure resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com'
Err:5 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease
Temporary failure resolving 'security.ubuntu.com'
Err:6 cdrom://Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS _Focal Fossa_ - Release amd64 (20200731) focal Release.gpg
Couldn't create temporary file /tmp/apt.conf.NMc68S for passing config to apt-key
Reading package lists... Error!
W: An error occurred during the signature verification. The repository is not updated and the previous index files will be used. GPG error: cdrom://Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS _Focal Fossa_ - Release amd64 (20200731) focal Release: Couldn't create temporary file /tmp/apt.conf.NMc68S for passing config to apt-key
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/focal/InRelease Temporary failure resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com'
W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/focal-security/InRelease Temporary failure resolving 'security.ubuntu.com'
W: Failed to fetch http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/focal-updates/InRelease Temporary failure resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com'
W: Failed to fetch cdrom://Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS _Focal Fossa_ - Release amd64 (20200731)/dists/focal/Release.gpg Couldn't create temporary file /tmp/apt.conf.NMc68S for passing config to apt-key
W: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
E: Sub-process returned an error code
E: Unable to mkstemp /tmp/clearsigned.message.WSluIb - GetTempFile (2: No such file or directory)
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
root@ubuntu:/#
Wits end here. Help most appreciated.
