Upgrade 8.10 --> 9.04 : ext3 Filesystem read-only

[pjw]

Ubuntu 9.04
linux-image-2.6.28-11-generic: 2.6.28-11.42

What I expoect: Booting into Gnome.
What happens:
Booting normal gives the messages (and a lot more):

* Loading cpufreq kernen modules...
* Starting sytem log daemon...
chown: changing ownership of '/var/og/mail.warn' : Read-only file system
chown: changing ownership of '/var/og/user.log' : Read-only file system
...
* Starting kernenl log daemon...
chown : ... : Read-only file system
mkfifo: ... : Read-only file system

I can login at console 2 and remount rw (but it's a bit late for most packages).
dmesg says all ok.
fsck says all ok.
Same problem with kernel 2.6.27-14.33.

Workaround:
- Grub booting with: kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=/dev/sda1 ro apm=off acpi=on splash

-- File /boot/grub/menu.lst:
...
title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=/dev/sda1 ro apm=off acpi=on quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
savedefault
...

-- File /etc/fstab:
/dev/sda1 / ext3 defaults,relatime 0 1
/dev/sdb1 /mnt/media ext3 defaults,relatime 0 2
/var/swapfile none swap sw 0 0
tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs defaults,size=600m 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hdc /media/cdrom iso9660 defaults,ro,user,noexec,noauto 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/dvd iso9660 defaults,ro,user,noexec,noauto 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy vfat defaults,user,noauto,showexec,umask=022 0 0

[pjw (pjw1965)]

error in initscripts

[pjw (pjw1965)]

The upgrade intrepid -> jaunty did not write the defaults in /etc/default/rcS

RAMRUN=yes

is needed, if booted with 'splash quiet' (quiet makes VERBOSE=yes), because the script /etc/init.d/checkfs.sh (called at /etc/rcS.d/S20checkroot.sh) needs a writable /var/run:

PROGRESS_FILE=`mktemp -p /var/run` || PROGRESS_FILE=/var/run/checkroot_fsck
set -m
logsave -s $FSCK_LOGFILE fsck -C3 $force $fix -t $roottype $rootdev >/dev/console 2>&1 3>$PROGRESS_FILE &
set +m
usplash_progress "$PROGRESS_FILE"
rm -f $PROGRESS_FILE

checkfs.sh should also work whithout RAMRUN=yes (i.e.skip the $PROGRESSFILE thing)

[pjw (pjw1965)]

typo: checkroot.sh not checkfs.sh !

Why is it not possible to edit my own comment?

[Scott James Remnant (Canonical) (canonical-scott)]

Please explain your comment: "
    error in initscripts
"

right now, this looks like you have a filesystem error that you haven't fixed

[pjw (pjw1965)]

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/371614/comments/2 should explain it.

My Filesystem is fine! No errors, checked 3 times!
Reproduce it with "quiet splash" as kernel parameter and uncomment RAMRUN=yes /etc/default/rcS (only if you have ext2/ext3 filesystem, see source code).
On my system a "quiet splash" fails at the fsck and as a result (don't ask me why) it stays mounted read-only. But the boot continues (lots of error messages about a read-only fs, but no root-prompt).

checkroot.sh (with quiet as boot-parameter) is only working correct, if /var/run is writable (means RAMRUN=yes in /etc/defaults/rcS). The script wants to write to a progress file, which is only possible, if /var/run is mounted into the RAM.

Fixing the bug by skipping the hole $PROGRESSFILE thing or forcing the user to use RAMRUN.
Or better you shuld check for a writable /var/run/ directory before using it!

replacing the block:

PROGRESS_FILE=...
...
rm -f $PROGRESS_FILE

with

fsck $force $fix -t $roottype $rootdev

solved the problem.

[Scott James Remnant (Canonical) (canonical-scott)]

On Wed, 2009-05-13 at 20:39 +0000, pjw wrote:

> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/371614/comments/2 should explain
> it.
>
How did you install intrepid?

The default has always been RAMRUN=yes in Ubuntu

Scott
--
Scott James Remnant
<email address hidden>

[pjw (pjw1965)]

Scott

> How did you install intrepid?

> The default has always been RAMRUN=yes in Ubuntu

Your're right. The normal user would never notice it.

But if the user has a choice, it should not broke the boot process.

Peter

[Scott James Remnant (Canonical) (canonical-scott)]

On Thu, 2009-05-14 at 11:36 +0000, pjw wrote:

> > How did you install intrepid?
>
> > The default has always been RAMRUN=yes in Ubuntu
>
> Your're right. The normal user would never notice it.
>
> But if the user has a choice, it should not broke the boot process.
>
I'm not sure who added the choice.

It's certainly not one we support; most of the boot process
requires /var/run be writable - that's kinda why it's there.

Scott
--
Scott James Remnant
<email address hidden>

[pjw (pjw1965)]

>I'm not sure who added the choice.

>It's certainly not one we support; most of the boot process
>requires /var/run be writable - that's kinda why it's there.

In intrepid I had RAMRUN=false and everything was fine. Something has changed during upgrade to jaunty.

The manual says:

$ man rcS

       RAMRUN Make /var/run/ available as a ram file system (tmpfs). Will
             also disable cleaning of /var/run/ during boot. Set to ’yes’ to
              enable, to ’no’ to disable. The size of the tmpfs can be con‐
              trolled using TMPFS_SIZE and RUN_SIZE in /etc/defaults/tmpfs.

[pjw (pjw1965)]

Please fix the bug for Ubuntu.

Don't breaks the boot process and use of configuration.

It's working in Debian, it should also in Ubuntu.

[Scott James Remnant (Canonical) (canonical-scott)]

We've removed the RAMRUN option, and any existing setting will be ignored. /var/run will always be a tmpfs.