Kernel 3.5.x Fails To Boot on our FC17 i686 with LVM

[andygmorris]

Hi all,

I'm looking for assistance on where to report technical errors to the people that maintain the kernel.

Our Sony Vaio (VPCW216AH) has been running happily with LVM+EXT4 encryption on FC17 (32 bit), up until when linux kernel 3.5.0-2 was released.

We are currently upto date with all software, and v3.5.1-1.fc17.i686 still contains whatever error is causing our problem.

I have set auto-update completely off so that nothing else gets updated as our GRUB still has v3.4.6-2.fc17.i686 which still works fine, and I don't want that to go off the list. (It seems that it keeps the latest 3 kernels in place).

Who can I pass the relevant information to, to get this issue resolved.
They'll need to tell me what they need to know so that I can note in down and post/email it.

Basically, after it boots on 3.5.x, I get dropped to a "Welcome to emergency mode" prompt that asks for the root password and then to a shell (root) prompt.

I can get no further than this point, other than to be returned back to emergency mode.

There's a whole page load of info on the screen, but I don't know what is relevant for an investigator to see, and what's not.

I have another, newer, Sony Vaio which is booting v3.5.1-1.fc17 (but 64-bit) without issues.
That machine is my work-horse and would be dramatic if I hit the same issues with that machine.

Can anyone point me in the right direction to get this critical error assessed and fixed?

Thanks in advance.

[andygmorris]

Update: I reported this yesterday on Red Hat's Bugzilla, but it's not been taken up yet.

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=848019

[andygmorris]

Update : No response has been provided through Bugzilla/RedHat yet.

[andygmorris]

Update : Still no response has been provided through Bugzilla/RedHat yet.
I've emailed the Red Hat kernel maintenance list directly to see if anyone replies.

[Topher]

I had a similar issue happen to me after some kernel updates.

Running 'sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg' fixed it for me.

[andygmorris]

Originally Posted by Topher

I had a similar issue happen to me after some kernel updates.

Running 'sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg' fixed it for me.

Hi Topher,

Thanks for posting and trying to help.

Unfortunately, my day just went from bad to worse as that command removed my bootable kernel from grub (option 3 on the grub menu) and replaced all three kernel options with only 1 bootable option using the kernel that doesn't boot.

Not your fault, and thank you for trying to help. At least you tried.

---------- Post added at 01:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:32 PM ----------

Rant...

I've definitely learned my lesson with Fedora's bleeding edge, allowing it to update its kernel repeatedly.
No one from Bugzilla ever replied, and I even sent a direct email to the kernel mailing list as well.
Not a single look reply to investigate, let alone try to fix the issue.


Next...

I'll have to take the disk out of the laptop, and see if I can access the data from the LUKS LVM and take a second backup before I wipe it and install another OS.

I will probably opt for a more stable release, a long term (or rolling) release distro...
Maybe it'll be Ubuntu as it has a 12.04 LTS (with kernel 3.2.x)... that lasts for 5yrs.
Or maybe I'll throw on CentOS as I can then use Gnome 2.x or KDE 4.x
CentOS runs kernel 2.6.x and is stable.
Decisiosn, decisions.


I'm afraid my days of Fedora are coming to an end, on all 4 of my machines.

This isn't the first time we've left Fedora, but I this time, we wont return.
Ironically, we did like the Gnome 3 (shell) experience.
We chose that because with previous Fedora installations, we used KDE.
That turned out to be a big buggy for us, with stability issues (window crashes).

Anyways..... long live the Fedora project, just not on this specific laptop.

---------- Post added at 02:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:33 PM ----------

Quick update....

As it happens, before carrying out the command that Topher detailed, I took a copy of /boot/grub2/grub.cfg file.
That seems to be my saving grace.

I have accessed the boot partition of the LVM drive using another machine (with the hard disk via USB).
I copied the current /boot/grub2/grub.cfg to /boot/grub2/grub.cfg_broken
Removed /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
Copied my backup of grub.cfg to /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
Reinstalled the hard disk, rebooted, and there's the kernel (3.4.x) that allows the machine to boot.

Now, to go in, take a second backup and then wipe it, and then get on with a fresh install.

Which OS did I choose?
I have decided on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (32-bit)

Why?
It's a long term release (5yrs)
It runs kernel 3.2.x (at the moment, and I wont allow further kernel updates).
It has Unity, ok... but it has Gnome fall-back too.
And the (arguable) bonus, it's just 2 commands to install Gnome Shell again.
The wife will be pleased... she will have 3 desktops to choose from!
4 desktops, in fact, if I go the whole hog and give her KDE too.

Hope you've enjoyed reading the story.
And hopefully, some comments in here help others too.

[Topher]

Ahh!! Sorry it didn't work for ya! I had a minor freak out when it happened to me but that did the trick.

There is nothing wrong with going with a distro that works for you. I just recently came over to Fedora after about 9 months on Mint. I wanted something with a bit more challenge, and forced me to get a little deeping to my computer. I can definitely understand wanting something with a little more stability though.

Good luck!