Re: rescue bootable cd ???
On 09/28/2007 09:25 PM, helices wrote:
* Bill Thompson <Billt@Mahagonny.com> [2007:09:28:16:18:26-0700] scribed:
On Fri, 28 Sep 2007 17:27:02 -0500
helices <helices@helices.org> wrote:
What do you do?
If you are looking at just recovering a system that won't boot, you
don't need a specific Debian disk to do it. I usually carry a copy of
the System Rescue CD (http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page). It has all
of the tools I need to recover a downed system. If I need to work on
the Debian system itself, I mount the drive and chroot into the
partition. Once there I can su to root so that I am using the proper
Debian environment, run apt-get to update software, and test the
configuration of any of the installed services or utilities.
Why re-invent the wheel?
Well, because the two (2) systems on which I have experienced these --
to me -- insurmountable boot problems were running lvm on top of
software raid 5. I was NOT able to get to the root filesystem files
using debian rescue cd nor knoppix. Both times this happened, it had
something to do with initramfs; but, after many, many days of struggle,
it became easier to rebuild from scratch, and to restore specifics on
top of that from tape.
What am I missing?
I don't know, but you might try Bill Thompson's suggestion of System
Rescue CD as well as the new Knoppix CD, 5.1.1.
As far as initramfs is concerned, I suggest removing it from the
equation by compiling a kernel with everything you need to access the
disk built directly into the kernel; don't rely on an initrd at all.
To attempt to answer your first question, I'll say "look at the Debian
Installer." You can probably create a specialized installer CD for your
environment; however this is much harder than using a Knoppix CD.
To attempt to answer your second question, I'll say "talk to the Debian
Installer developers." Finding out what parts of the installer CD need
to be updated when the O/S is updated is complicated enough to require
the input of the experts.
Now I have a few questions:
What version of Knoppix failed for you before?
Do you have a separate /boot partition that is on a filesystem that Grub
can recognize? Read the document "info grub intro features" to get a
list of supported filesystems.
If /boot is on a Grub-supported filesystem/partition, is the initial
root disk on that partition?
Is /boot on an lvm volume? (Probably not, because the system wouldn't boot.)
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