Initramfs error + zero length partition

[Amolkarekar]

I have problem booting my machine. I have recently updated to Linux mint 18.3 version. After startup machine shows black screen with (initramfs) at the end.
I searched and found on this forum to try manual fscheck. When I try that command
Fsck /dev/sda1
I get - could this be a zero-length partition? At the end.
Please help me to fix this problem. If you need some additional info let me know.
I am worried about my data. How can I retrieve the data (at least)?
Regards, Amol

[sanmig]

Hi, caution I'm a n00b!

I'd go for the Mint19 live system, boot from USB and check with GParted if the system looks like it is expected.
This info may also help others to help you.

[Amolkarekar]

thanks for the help.
here are the results for partition check -

Code: Select all

mint@mint ~ $ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x3ae8e621

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        2048  1936943103   968470528   83  Linux
/dev/sda2      1936945150  1953523711     8289281    5  Extended
Partition 2 does not start on physical sector boundary.
/dev/sda5      1936945152  1953523711     8289280   82  Linux swap / Solaris

and also

Code: Select all

mint@mint ~ $ sudo parted -l
Model: ATA TOSHIBA MQ01ABD1 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End     Size    Type      File system     Flags
 1      1049kB  992GB   992GB   primary   ext4            boot
 2      992GB   1000GB  8488MB  extended
 5      992GB   1000GB  8488MB  logical   linux-swap(v1)


Warning: Unable to open /dev/sr0 read-write (Read-only file system).  /dev/sr0
has been opened read-only.
Error: Invalid partition table - recursive partition on /dev/sr0.         
Ignore/Cancel?                       

please suggest...

[Amolkarekar]

Anybody can please tell me about this problem..?

At least tell is there any possibility to get my data back ?

Please help...

[sleeper12]

Can you boot with a different kernel or use timeshift to restore your system to when it worked

[WharfRat]

Anybody can please tell me about this problem..?

At least tell is there any possibility to get my data back ?

Please help...

You can recover your data by mounting the Mint partition to /mnt with sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt

The filesystem will be visible with ls -lh /mnt

You would need another media to copy your stuff from /mnt/home/yourname.

What does ls -lh /mnt/boot show

[Amolkarekar]

Hello Wharfrat,
I have started mz machine using bootable mint CD version 17.0

when I tried
mint@mint ~ $ ls -lh /mnt/boot
ls: cannot access /mnt/boot: No such file or directory

and then

mint@mint ~ $ sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sda1,
missing codepage or helper program, or other error
In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
dmesg | tail or so

these are the results. I am total newbie to the these system commands ... please help to get back my data.

[WharfRat]

It looks like your filesystem is corrupted. You can try an alternate superblock with e2fsck, but things don't look good.

Unmount the partition with sudo umount /mnt then paste back the results of sudo mke2fs -n /dev/sda1

This will not format anything, but it will show the alternate superblock locations that you can try with e2fsck.