Can't start with kernel-2.6.20-16-generic

[Siegfried Gevatter]

Binary package hint: linux-source-2.6.22

After I updated to the new linux image, 2.6.20-16-generic I can't start anymore. It loads until like a 30% of the progress bar and then it says this:

"The superblock could not read or does not describe a corrected ext2 filesystem. If the device is (?) and it really contains an ext2 filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
      e2fsck -b 8193 <device>"

(?) = Can't understand what word I wrote there xD

After that message prints there are others saying that many commands don't exist and then I can write on the terminal, but it recognized no command and says I've to install it. Key combination Ctrl + Alt + Supr does work.

If I select the kernel I had before on Grub, everything works fine. Also, I don't know why it complains about ext2, since all partitions used by the system are ext3.

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

Thanks for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. I'm a bit confused about which kernel you are having an issue with. You mention '2.6.20-16' yet that package this bug is filed against is '2.6.22' which is the kernel version for Gutsy. Could you please clarify the situation? Thanks in advance.

[Siegfried Gevatter (rainct)]

Sorry, it should be in linux-source-2.6.20, corrected.

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

RainCT:
Can you attach your
/etc/fstab
file (via the web interface or by pasting it) and add the output of
lspci
to this bug report?

[Fibonacci (fibonacci-prower)]

I can - I experience the same problem with 20-16 as the initial reporter (and many others - see http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=456662).
I also have to add that writing "irqpoll" at the end of the kernel options on /boot/grub/menu.lst for 20-16 appears to solve this problem, but then the boot sequence is unbearably slow.

/etc/fstab:
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# /dev/hdb1
UUID=b1c9ae04-50dc-4513-9a52-ef3b7c8a0640 / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /dev/hda1
UUID=A680C6F080C6C651 /media/hda1 ntfs defaults,nls=utf8,umask=007,gid=46 0 1
# /dev/hdb5
UUID=7439-2E24 /media/hdb5 vfat defaults,utf8,umask=007,gid=46 0 1
# /dev/sda1
UUID=4455-2CA9 /media/sda1 vfat defaults,utf8,umask=007,gid=46 0 1
/dev/hdc /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0
/dev/hdd /media/cdrom1 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0
/dev/ /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto 0 0
/swapfile swap swap defaults

lspci:
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P DRAM Controller/Host-Hub Interface (rev 02)
00:02.0 Display controller: Intel Corporation 82865G Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev c2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB (ICH5) SATA Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV34 [GeForce FX 5200] (rev a1)
01:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82562EZ 10/100 Ethernet Controller (rev 01)

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

Fibonacci :
Thank you. Looks like you are another sufferer of the IRQ problem described in Bug #116996 ...

[Siegfried Gevatter (rainct)]

lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE/PE DRAM Controller/Host-Hub Interface (rev 01)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE Chipset Integrated Graphics Device (rev 01)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 81)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL (ICH4/ICH4-L) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DB (ICH4) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)
01:04.0 Communication controller: Agere Systems LT WinModem (rev 02)
01:05.0 USB Controller: ALi Corporation USB 1.1 Controller (rev 03)
01:05.1 USB Controller: ALi Corporation USB 1.1 Controller (rev 03)
01:05.2 USB Controller: ALi Corporation USB 1.1 Controller (rev 03)
01:05.3 USB Controller: ALi Corporation USB 2.0 Controller (rev 01)
01:09.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401 100Base-T (rev 01)

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

RainCT:
ext3 is backwards compatible with ext2. The repair tool that is used is called e2fsck and "just" sees ext3 partitions as ext2 ones with a little bit extra (a journal).

You are another person influenced by the disabling of ata_piix on ICH4 boards as described in Bug #116996 . Under 2.6.20-15 work out what the UUIDs are for partitions /dev/sdb1 and /dev/sdb2 using something like:
sudo vol_id -u /dev/sdb1
. Back up your /etc/fstab file. Try and do
sudo umount /backup
which should unmount /backup assuming nothing is using it. Change /etc/fstab to use a uuid for /backup the use sudo mount /backup to see if the UUID works. /home is trickier since it will already be in use.so you must take extra care that the UUID is correct. Be careful...

Assuming all your hard disk partitions are referenced using UUIDs you should be able to at least boot 2.6.20-16 (do report back)...

[Siegfried Gevatter (rainct)]

Thanks, that solved it :)

[Sitsofe Wheeler (sitsofe)]

Thanks for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This particular bug has already been reported and is a duplicate of bug #116996 and is being marked as such. Please feel free to report any other bugs you may find.

(PS: If your CD/DVD is broken that issue is Bug #117413 but this may soon be resolved in another kernel update)