Mint won't boot

[Pacificus]

Firstly, I'm no coder. I know very little about what makes computers work and even less about programming them. I certainly do not know the vast majority of Linux lingo, or what to do with it if I did.

I'm currently running Mint from a DVD because the hard drive boot version has stopped working. I first ran the HDD version a couple of days ago after loading it onto a brand new 4TB drive. I didn't partition the drive, or rather I made it one partition.

I was, during these past couple of days, not able to put Mint into sleep mode of hibernation mode – they simply didn't work at all.

This latest – most severe – problem manifested while watching a YouTube video in full-screen. The video suddenly stopped and the computer froze. I was forced to reset the motherboard. When the computer restarted Mint would not load and I was met with a command prompt, with which I have no idea what to do.

On accessing the HDD in question (using Mint live disc version) I was given the following message:


“An error occurred while accessing '3.6 TiB Hard Drive', the system responded: The kernel driver for this filesystem type is not available.: Error mounting: mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sdc2,
missing codepage or helper program, or other error
In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
dmesg | tail or so”


Please help me. I really don't want to go back to using Windows.

[caf4926]

You need to use GPT not the old Legacy MBR partitioning?
Did you?

[passerby]

When you try to boot, how far do you get? Are you able to boot into rescue mode?
If so, run fsck and try to repair the problems with your mint partition.
If not, boot into the live DVD and open gparted, then check the partition in question from there.

Hibernation mode might be a problem with the specific kernel not playing well with your system, but let's start with booting.

[Pacificus]

You need to use GPT not the old Legacy MBR partitioning?
Did you?

I haven't got a clue. I partitioned/formated the disc using the Mint live disc partitioning program (Partition Manager). I remember I had a choice of file types, none of which I understood. A brief web search prompted me to use one of them that ended with a '3' (I forget its full name).

I just tried to check the HDD in question using Partition Manager but the HDD isn't even showing up amongst the other HDDs - or in the Root/list of HDDs (My Computer equivalent). It's a brand new HDD, could it be faulty in some way? Maybe my motherboard (EVGA 780i) is faulty. My Gigabyte motherboard definitely is faulty, which is why I reverted to using my older EVGA until I get it fixed or replaced.

If the HDD isn't faulty I'm willing to re-format the disc and reinstall Mint. Maybe that would be easiest to resolve this matter.

Maybe I should check the motherboard first. Is there a program I could use to check its health/diagnose any issues?

The Mint live OS is now very sluggish and the computer - including mouse cursor - froze-up completely a short while ago (I had to reset the mobo). I am strongly considering throwing the computer at a wall and buying a rail ticket to the jungle. I've literally had computer problems for about 5-years and see no end in sight.

When you try to boot, how far do you get? Are you able to boot into rescue mode?
If so, run fsck and try to repair the problems with your mint partition.
If not, boot into the live DVD and open gparted, then check the partition in question from there.

Hibernation mode might be a problem with the specific kernel not playing well with your system, but let's start with booting.

I was able to get as far as the rescue mode, but it did no good at all – it made no difference, it only stole more time from my life.

Many thanks for your suggestions. I'll try them as soon as I've posted this reply and let you know how I get on.

[Pacificus]

When you try to boot, how far do you get? Are you able to boot into rescue mode?
If so, run fsck and try to repair the problems with your mint partition.
If not, boot into the live DVD and open gparted, then check the partition in question from there.

I rebooted Mint from the HDD after disconnecting all other HDDs (unlike last time), including a couple which do have problems (but are still readable). This time I was given the option for Mint to repair HDD errors, which I selected and now it works again. Perhaps that was the rescue mode you meant? The other rescue mode was given in a sort of Mint boot menu following the mobo screen (that one didn't work, as I said in my last reply). This new rescue option was given later during the boot process. I'm sorry I don't know the proper terminology to describe these respective boot stages. 
 
Thanks for your help. I've made a note of the terminal commands just in case, but if the problem does reoccur first thing I'll do is attempt boot with no other HDDs connected. Do you think having the other HDDs connected might have caused the issue? 
 
As for the sleep/hibernation modes problem, I would be grateful for suggestions! Thanks. 
 
I'll save this problem for another day but the spell checker in LibreOffice chooses when it wants to function properly. Right now it's choosing not to work at all, frustratingly.

[passerby]

Sorry, I should've been more specific with the rescue mode. Glad it worked though
I don't think the other HDDs caused the error, unless your BIOS's boot order puts one of the other HDDs first. Just like people accidentally trying to boot through USB devices.

As for sleep mode/hibernation, what kernel are you running? I'm sure there's a better place to start troubleshooting this error, but if you only have one kernel on your system (not a bad thing, btw) and thus haven't tried a newer version, it's possible that it's a kernel/hardware problem.
Before that, however, please try:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install powermanagement-interface
sudo pm-suspend (or sudo pm-hibernate)


This should get your computer to sleep via the commandline, so any errors thrown will (hopefully) be displayed.

I don't have any particularly useful insight into the libreoffice dilemma, but when spell/grammar check doesn't work for me it usually starts if I go to Tools > Language > All text > USA (GB, if you prefer). Telling it which language to use for the document seems to kick start it.

[Pacificus]

Sorry, I should've been more specific with the rescue mode. Glad it worked though
I don't think the other HDDs caused the error, unless your BIOS's boot order puts one of the other HDDs first. Just like people accidentally trying to boot through USB devices.

As for sleep mode/hibernation, what kernel are you running? I'm sure there's a better place to start troubleshooting this error, but if you only have one kernel on your system (not a bad thing, btw) and thus haven't tried a newer version, it's possible that it's a kernel/hardware problem.
Before that, however, please try:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install powermanagement-interface
sudo pm-suspend (or sudo pm-hibernate)


This should get your computer to sleep via the commandline, so any errors thrown will (hopefully) be displayed.

I don't have any particularly useful insight into the libreoffice dilemma, but when spell/grammar check doesn't work for me it usually starts if I go to Tools > Language > All text > USA (GB, if you prefer). Telling it which language to use for the document seems to kick start it.

Thanks again.

I tried the code for sleep mode you posted. The monitor went into standby mode for a few seconds before coming back to life displaying a command prompt message informing me that not all systems were able to go into sleep mode. None of the fans stopped spinning.

Unfortunately I am experiencing several new problems now as well as the sleep/hibernate issue:


audio crackles a little using both video players (it played fine for the first day or two),

I've started using Stella Atari emulator which, on exiting roms, causes the monitor to display the all open apps display (as it does when the cursor is moved to the upper left corner of the screen). (This doesn't not happen every time.) However, when this happens while using Stella I am unable to select any of the apps and have to reset my motherboard to escape it.

The Software manager has stopped working properly. It refuses to download or run any new software. It gets to around 50 % and then does nothing. It doesn't even allow me to cancel the installation. I have to close the program.

I tried the Libreoffice fix you suggested but to no avail. Not having a spellchecker is rather frustrating for a borderline dyslexic. I tried to download Openoffice but got a bunch of files I have no idea what to do with. With Windows programs it's easy to do; there's a single file with .Exe which I click to get underway. Why Linux doesn't do this (that I have noticed) I have no idea.


So, I'm experiencing a lot of bugs. I'm having a worse experience with Linux than I did with Windows.

Oh, I don't really know what a kernel is. A brief search tells me it helps applications run but I don't know if it's hardware or software and certainly couldn't say whether I have one or more.

Thanks in advance for any further help you may be willing to offer. Otherwise I might create a new thread for these further issues, or throw the computer under a train. The latter is a very attractive option right now.

[passerby]

Given the multitude of issues, I think you should consider a fresh install. Whatever happened before, during and after the HDD dilemma, it sounds like by attempting to fix one problem you've created more >.<

Did you encounter any issues when using the live DVD? If not, the issues are probably due to packages you've added/removed after installing mint, in which case a fresh install would work. Given the large size of your HDD, however, I suggest creating another partition and installing mint on there (so you can see if the issues are for that install alone without removing your current installation).

Without any more info to go on, my gut says the sleep/hibernation issue is due to ill compatibility with the kernel (will be present on a fresh install), the Atari emu could be too, but the others are likely package conflicts (or you've removed packages they need), in which case a fresh install would fix the issues.

In other words, I recommend:
-Creating another partition
-Doing a fresh install on the new partition
-Testing each of the programs/features you're having difficulty with on the new installation
It's not a fix (well... it could be), but it will give us more information to go on. If all goes well, it could be as simple as a fresh install and a kernel upgrade.