Re: EMERGENCY 'umount /'
per_adua32 wrote:
>
> After booting with linux-init=/bin/sh I was dropped
> into bash. I then tried to unmount the root filesystem
> so that I could mount it again as read/write. However,
> when I entered the command
>
> umount /
>
> I got some message like can't open mtab: file doesn't
> exist or something like this.
I don't know what the option "linux-init=/bin/sh" makes. Rescue disk
creates a root filesystem in memory (doesn't use any hard disk, the
device for that fs is /dev/ram0) which is loaded from the diskette with
the kernel image. The root fs in the hard disk is not mounted.
Nevertheless, it can be mounted for example in /target with:
# mount /dev/hdb3 /target
(/dev/hdb3 is the device for the disk partition where my working Linux
has the root filesystem)
Now, your mtab can be read in /target/etc/mtab. In order to know which
filesystems are mounted and where, try "df".
BTW: You cannot umount / if it is busy (open files or processes with
their working directory under it). If "umount" find it not busy
(unbusy?) then it will umount it, and then will try to write the new
situation in /etc/mtab but... /etc/mtab does not exist because / is not
mounted. After this, you will be able to do nothing but running programs
already in memory (e.g., shell and built-in commands). For example, you
will not be able to "mount" because this program was somewhere under /.
--
Conrado Badenas (Assistant Lecturer)
Department of Thermodynamics. University of Valencia
c/. Doctor Moliner, 50 | e-m: Conrado.Badenas@uv.es
46100 Burjassot (Valencia) | Phn: +34 - 963 864 350
SPAIN | Fax: +34 - 963 983 385
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