RH upgrade 6.2->7.2 ext2->ext3,halts at boot

[Guest_imported]

the booting stops at "Checking file systems"
it never times out, but that character-sign keeps blinking

must use power switch.

can't reupgrade; the system isn't booted down properly (because it doesn't boot properly)

2 windows (fat32) partitions mounted.

urgent! need help!

sysstem:
compaq presario something
win95, red hat
intel p1 166 mmx
32 sd-ram
sound blaster compatible onboard
disabled onboard trio 64+ 2mb
sis 6326 8mb
teles isdn

 

[ifincham]

Hi,

You should probably boot in single user mode and run fsck. Append the following to the lilo prompt (ctl-X out of graphical lilo screen)

boot: linux single rootfstype=ext2

If you have grub - highlight the normal linux line, press 'e' twice and append 'single rootfstype=ext2' to the end of the command, press enter, press 'b' to boot.

It should stop with the '#' prompt . Then do:

# fsck -A

You have to leave it to run the fsck - it may take a long time if you have large partitions. When its finished do :

# sync
# sync
# init 6 (to reboot)

Hope this helps

 

[Guest_imported]

it didn't work

i noticed small changes during the kernel booting, however it still halts at "checking filesystems"
(halts, not freezes)

will this work through rescue disc?
any other solution?

 

[cambull]

I tried to upgrade a VALinux machine that had RedHat 6.2
The upgrade did not go well, much like your experience.
The easiest way out in my case was to forget about upgrading and just install RedHat 7.2 with all the new features. That went very smoothly.

 

[Guest_imported]

cambull: i did so yesterday and even though the system whent very slow it worked, but now all of a sudden i got the same problem _again_!

 

[cambull]

I note this line from your first posting:
2 windows (fat32) partitions mounted
Can we assume that those partitions are still on the machine?
When I had Windows 98 and Mandrake on the same machine, I found that an upgrade to a newer version of Mandrake did not turn out well. It has been simpler for me to have one machine for Linux and one for Windows 98.
Although I have no experience debugging Linux problems, I have found one thing from Windows experience. It always seemed advisable to get things working with a minimum of hardware. No modem, no printer etc etc. These could be added later. In your case, it does not look like you have a very complicated system in the first place. Partitioning, of course, can be quite a complication.

 

[Guest_imported]

thanks. i've been thinking of it myself (because "checking root filesystem" is passed). what shall i edit (in what file) to stop mounting by default (when accessing rescue mode)?