[oclug] Boot problem

[james terris]

Brad Barnett wrote:
> On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:22:58 -0500
> james terris <shinden at sympatico.ca> wrote:
> 
> 
>>Hello everyone,
>>
>>I recently was trying to install Java on my linux debian server so I can
>>run Tomcat.
>>
>>During the apt-get install java-package (I think) it asked to update 
>>glibc. The install seemed to go ok although it wouldn't recognize my 
>>java path settings so I rebooted the system.
>>
>>After rebooting it immediately goes to a prompt that simply says:
>>grub>
>>
>> From that menu I was able to figure out that my boot/grub.menu.lst file
>>had been renamed to boot/grub.menu.lst~ and replaced with a default copy
>>(I assume) and my boot/initrd.img-2.4.27-2-386 file was missing.
>>
>>So, any idea how to get that initrd.img file back? I could reinstall if 
>>it came down to it I suppose but I would hope that that would be 
>>unnecesary. Is there some new way that grub boots that doesn't need that
>>file any more?
>>
> 
> 
> I have a sneaking suspicion that you were running Debian Sarge, but
> have 'stable' in apt's sources.list file, instead of 'sarge' or 'etch'
> for release version.
> 
> So, what has likely happened is that you have upgraded part of your system
> to etch, while ignoring many substantial warnings, and are now in a bit
> of trouble.
> 
> What you'll need to do, for starters, is to find out what version of
> Debian you were running.  When you know, you're going to have to boot off
> of something (a CD like Knoppix or a Debian CD with a rescue mode on it). 
> Once you have Linux booted, you'll need to mount your drive, make sure dev
> and proc are available via a bind mount), and chroot to your old system's
> root.
> 
> If you didn't clean out your /var/cache/apt/archives directory, you might
> have the .deb of your old kernel there.  If so, and if your system isn't
> totally borked, you may be able to simply do an apt-get install
> --reinstall of that kernel, and all may be well.  I suggest this method,
> because more than your initrd may be missing from your kernel.
> 
> If you don't have your old kernel there, you can try to copy if off of
> your install CD for that distro.  If not that, you can edit your
> /etc/apt/source.list file, and change your stable apt lines to 'sarge' if
> you were indeed using that distro.  Then do an apt-get update, and install
> your old kernel again.
> 
> I've been intentionally vague about some of this, because resolving this
> issue over email (with the unknown true state of your system) is probably
> beyond a reasonable expectation when IRC, Instant Messaging and Live
> People are possibly other ways of getting help.  
> 
> As well, if every part of this message seems like gibberish to you, a
> rescue of your current system is going to be a lot of work for you
> mentally... as it will be quite the learning curve.
> 
> Put another way, there are a lot of unknown variables with your situation.
>  So, read what I've suggested above as a jumping board, and come back with
> more details if you want more help...

Ok,
The original contents of the boot folder are still there except for the 
initrd.img-2.4.27-2-386 file. I can see the different kernels that I had 
compiled.

The last version of the kernel is 2.4.33, it says 3.3.5-13 for Debian 
and I do have "stable" in the sources.list file.

Unfortunately, there were no warnings when I ran the apt-get. it 
completed successfully and there were no signs of anything unusual until 
  I rebooted.

Since the kernel seems to still be there what are the odds that simply 
booting off the cd, fixing the grub files and reinstalling grub allow it 
to boot properly again?

ttyl,
james