[FIXED] Booting Stalls then System hangs

[Atip]

After a new distro installation failed and had to be aborted I cannot access anything anymore, except TC Linux from a USB stick where I am in now. Booting into the hard drives, from any Live CD or other USB installation like Salix-XFCE4-Live booting starts, then all those numbers and comments scroll and at a certain point stops and after a while the system hangs. Those numbers say for example ata2.00 status {DRDY ERR} or ATA bus error or time out which I have always seen before. Would not know which and what exactly. I took a picture of those messages and can provide if this is needed. From TC Linux I did a reiserfsck which changed nothing.

I have a feeling it has something to do with /dev/proc. (Guess that's wrong)

From TC Linux I can mount all partitions on my HD and access them they look as brisk as ever.

Not much more info I can give. Hopefully there is a way to straighten this problem since for now I am stuck.

Edit: On further thought this might be a problem of the MOBO since booting from any media, be it HD, CD or Flash Drive the pattern is the same. Initial start then stall followed by system freeze. My MOBO is 2003
vintage. Only TC Linux can be booted since it runs of RAM only.

[gapan]

These sound awfully like hardware problems.

[Shador]

What about live or any system on a different, independent media? Can you boot those? Do you have some information about the HDD? Can you check its partitioning like this:

Code: Select all

fdisk -l
parted /dev/sda print

Repeat the second command for every hard drive you have in that machine.

[Atip]

What about live or any system on a different, independent media? Can you boot those? Do you have some information about the HDD? Can you check its partitioning like this:

Code: Select all

fdisk -l
parted /dev/sda print

Repeat the second command for every hard drive you have in that machine.

As mentioned I cannot boot from any media be it HD, CD or FD stick except TC Linux.

Code: Select all

~$ fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks  Id System
/dev/sda1               1           3       24066   6 FAT16
/dev/sda2               4           6       24097+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda3               7        9729    78099997+  5 Extended
/dev/sda5               7        4468    35840983+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda6            4469        6509    16387072+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda7            6510        9729    25864618+ 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks  Id System
/dev/sdb1               1           6       48163+  c Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sdb2               7         133     1020127+ 82 Linux swap
/dev/sdb3             134        9729    77079870   5 Extended
/dev/sdb5             134        2683    20480702  83 Linux
/dev/sdb6   *        3356        7944    36861111  83 Linux
/dev/sdb7            7945        9729    14337981  83 Linux
/dev/sdb8            2683        3355     5398528  82 Linux swap

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdc: 4040 MB, 4040748544 bytes
125 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1018 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 7750 * 512 = 3968000 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks  Id System
/dev/sdc1   *           1        1018     3944719  83 Linux

:~$ parted /dev/sda print
WARNING: You are not superuser.  Watch out for permissions.
Model: ATA ST380215A (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End     Size    Type      File system  Flags
 1      32.3kB  24.7MB  24.6MB  primary   fat16
 2      24.7MB  49.4MB  24.7MB  primary   ext2
 3      49.4MB  80.0GB  80.0GB  extended
 5      49.4MB  36.8GB  36.7GB  logical   reiserfs
 6      36.8GB  53.5GB  16.8GB  logical   reiserfs
 7      53.5GB  80.0GB  26.5GB  logical   reiserfs

If I will do this command parted for /dev/sdb system freezes, in fact that happens with any disk command for /dev/sdb.

[Shador]

Remove the sdb disk and see whether everything returns to normal. Probably that drive is failing which can cause it to timeout. Recently had that problem due to bad blocks with a drive at work but far less severe. Try to check the drive using a long smart test and send it back if you still have some sort of memory. No idea whether you still can rescue some data but I guess you need to use some backup.

[Atip]

Remove the sdb disk and see whether everything returns to normal. Probably that drive is failing which can cause it to timeout. Recently had that problem due to bad blocks with a drive at work but far less severe. Try to check the drive using a long smart test and send it back if you still have some sort of memory. No idea whether you still can rescue some data but I guess you need to use some backup.

Thanks I have tried that several times and it did not change anything. Beside the swap that drive is used for testing distros so nothing is really lost. I even reformatted partitions sdb6/7 using the TC Linux Live CD which later would not start as well. Nothing changed. And a while ago my PC desktop apparently just died, can't start it at all. Time to go to hospital or cemetery. Using now my wife's HP-2133 netbook Salix-XFCE4. A bit cumbersome.

[Shador]

As I said try checking smart data and running a long smart test.

[Atip]

It was the MOBO after all. One capacitor had blown. Got brand new 2nd hand board.
HDs working properly nothing lost.

[Shador]

Glad you found it. With local access to the machine you're always in the best position to debug the problem and HDD was just my first guess. Sounds like a cheap mobo though. I've only seen this with a bad flatscreen display, which has now new and reliable capacitors in place. For a screen the boards are fortunately relatively simple.