[clug] Booting problem

[Rod Peters]

On Sunday 18 October 2009 05:00:03 linux-request at lists.samba.org wrote:
> Encapsulated message
>   Re: [clug] Booting problem
>  From: Daniel Pittman <daniel at rimspace.net>
>  To: linux at lists.samba.org
>
> David Tulloh <david at tulloh.id.au> writes:
> > keiths at apex.net.au wrote:
> >>        I have been loaned a Compaq computer and am trying to boot it
> >> into Suse11.3.  I get the usual login screens and then a string of
> >> screen messages which end with :
> >>        "Could not find
> >> /dev/disk/by_id/scsi-SATA_ST3802110A_5LR1ALA9-part2 Want me to fall back
> >> to /dev/sda2?  Y/n"
> >
> > Nobody else seems to have piped up, so I'll throw in my limited
> > knowledge.
>
> Actually, I ignored this until now, when by complete chance one issue
> caught
>
> me eye for y'all to check into:
> >     /dev/disk/by_id/scsi-SATA_ST3802110A_5LR1ALA9-part2 ...
>
> See the '_' in the 'by_id' part?  On my Debian system there is this:
>
> ] ls /dev/disk
> by-id  by-label  by-path  by-uuid
>
> Notice the naming?  'by-id', with a '-', not an underscore.
>
openSUSE has uuid set off by default - lack of it in the boot string should 
not be an issue. 

> That may well explain why the path you gave is not found, because those
> names are (IIRC) upstream udev names, not anything Debian specific.
>
>
> Outside that, David is pretty much spot on, and you should follow his
> advice. :)
>
The fact that Keith has put the HDD in a different computer (read different 
mainboard) leads me to believe it is probably an initrd issue.  openSUSE puts 
the required PATA and/or SATA modules only in the initrd.  Options are:

put it back with the original mobo and use Yast to *add* the relevant modules 
(which does not appear to be an option in this instance)  Had to do this 
myself recently.

find another mainboard having same PATA controller

boot from CD/DVD and select "repair installed system".  That will do a fairly 
thorough review of the config files and should rebuild initrd.
 
>         Daniel

Of equal concern is what killed the BIOS in the original mobo ?  If it was a 
Win virus, then perhaps anticipate more of the same.

Running Win 98 from removable HDD is a superceded approach, particular for 
modern drives for which cooling is an issue.  If the Win apps aren't too 
demanding then VirtualBox running Win 98 is a cleaner way.  Alternatively, 
Wine now works with many apps after a bit of tuning.


Rod