[Solved] LMDE borked...hardware or software?

[feffer]

Multibooting: Ubuntu, Mint, and LMDE. All OSes are on a solid state drive. The computer runs constantly; I reboot into another OS once a week or so. LMDE had been up for about a week and began to get flakey...unresponsive apps etc. Tried to do a normal shutdown, but could not, so did a hard one. On reboot, GRUB would not find LMDE, so booted into Mint. Not sure where to start troubleshooting this. Is this a hardware or software problem? Could only a portion of a SSD fail? I've never had a such a catastrophic OS failure. Nothing unusual was being done.

Note: the issue was mostly resolved via all41's help further down in the thread.

[Moonstone Man]

Multibooting...

Over 240 posts to your credit and you can still don't provide the output of inxi -Fxz from the offending OS. We can't read minds, nor are we capable of remote viewing. Please provide the essential details that are needed.

[feffer]

Sorry...

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root@mint ~ # inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: mint Kernel: 4.15.0-76-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.6.7 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3) Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine:   Mobo: MSI model: Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON (MS-7A63) v: 1.0
           Bios: American Megatrends v: 1.40 date: 03/31/2017
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i5-6500 (-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 25536
           clock speeds: max: 3600 MHz 1: 800 MHz 2: 800 MHz 3: 800 MHz 4: 800 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GK208B [GeForce GT 710] bus-ID: 02:00.0
           Display Server: X.org 1.18.4 drivers: nvidia (unloaded: fbdev,vesa,nouveau)
           tty size: 110x57 Advanced Data: N/A for root
Audio:     Card-1 NVIDIA GK208 HDMI/DP Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 02:00.1
           Card-2 Intel 200 Series PCH HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1f.3
           Card-3 Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 driver: USB Audio usb-ID: 001-004
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-76-generic
Network:   Card: Intel Ethernet Connection (2) I219-V driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k bus-ID: 00:1f.6
           IF: enp0s31f6 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 3240.7GB (4.0% used) ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 model: N/A size: 250.1GB
           ID-2: /dev/sda model: MKNSSDRE240GB size: 240.1GB temp: 35C
           ID-3: /dev/sdb model: WDC_WD1003FZEX size: 1000.2GB temp: 34C
           ID-4: /dev/sdc model: WDC_WD2000F9YZ size: 2000.4GB temp: 38C
Partition: ID-1: / size: 60G used: 12G (22%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 62.91GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sdc1
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8C mobo: 27.8C gpu: 0.0:42C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 220 Uptime: 19:14 Memory: 3448.5/32128.2MB Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35

Also some info about the SSD my OSes are on.

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root@mint ~ # fdisk -l | grep "nvme0n1p"
Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.
/dev/nvme0n1p1           2048 123025407 123023360 58.7G 83 Linux
/dev/nvme0n1p2      123025408 250001407 126976000 60.6G 83 Linux
/dev/nvme0n1p3      250001408 372881407 122880000 58.6G 83 Linux
/dev/nvme0n1p4      372881408 488396799 115515392 55.1G 83 Linux
root@mint ~ # blkid | grep "nvme0n1p"
/dev/nvme0n1p1: LABEL="ubun" UUID="760b4969-f76a-40b3-a33a-2f0794538d6a" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="45828576-01"
/dev/nvme0n1p2: LABEL="mint" UUID="d5d344e4-9021-4a56-afac-8fd4cd6427ff" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="45828576-02"
/dev/nvme0n1p4: LABEL="extra" UUID="e5ae18ca-2f46-42bb-9a92-f2885583b8ec" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="45828576-04"

[Moonstone Man]

Previous post was in error.

As was that one. I explicitly asked for 'the output of inxi -Fxz from the offending OS' and you post it from somewhere else.

[feffer]

Take a look at the edit in the previous post. I cannot boot into LMDE. It has disappeared. As I mentioned in the first post it does not show up in GRUB.

[Moonstone Man]

Take a look at the edit in the previous post.

Yeah, right.

Good luck.

[feffer]

Not sure why you're upset. I'm looking for help, not a fight. I'm in a Catch-22. LMDE seems to be borked. I cannot see it in GRUB and so cannot boot into it. When I look for info about the SSD it's on I get strange info. I should have LMDE listed on the 3rd partition of the SSD but it does not appear. Instead I get "extra" which should not exit. I realize you're probably helping several people at the same time and I always appreciate help I get here. Maybe got off on the wrong foot for which I'm sorry.

[SMG]

If the OS was getting "flakey" I would think a good place to start would be to do some file system checks -> fsck.

If you have a concern about the drive, then it would probably be best to boot into a live system. That way your entire SSD would be unmounted making the checks easier. I know Mint USB/DVD has GParted on it.

[Moonstone Man]

Not sure why you're upset. I'm looking for help, not a fight.

I'm not upset, nor am I looking for a fight. The point here is, in a normal conversation where I realise I've made an incorrect, unclear or misleading statement, I correct it right there and then in the current time, then I make adjustments based on chronological feedback. I don't suddenly flip back in time to change the actual words that were uttered in the past and magically expect a different outcome in the future. Technical support is very precise, and flip-flopping around doesn't assist the process. As for how that affects me, it's simply that my time is better spent helping other people instead of attempting to undo Gordian knots in the fabric of spacetime.

[feffer]

Multibooting: Ubuntu, Mint, and LMDE. All OSes are on a solid state drive. The computer runs constantly; I reboot into another OS once a week or so. LMDE had been up for about a week and began to get flakey...unresponsive apps etc. Tried to do a normal shutdown, but could not, so did a hard one. On reboot, GRUB would not find LMDE, so booted into Mint. Not sure where to start troubleshooting this. Is this a hardware or software problem? Could only a portion of a SSD fail? I've never had a such a catastrophic OS failure. Nothing unusual was being done.

Because LMDE is no longer available, here is info from currently booted Mint 18.3:

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root@mint ~ # inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: mint Kernel: 4.15.0-76-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.6.7 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3) Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine:   Mobo: MSI model: Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON (MS-7A63) v: 1.0
           Bios: American Megatrends v: 1.40 date: 03/31/2017
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i5-6500 (-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 25536
           clock speeds: max: 3600 MHz 1: 800 MHz 2: 800 MHz 3: 800 MHz 4: 800 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GK208B [GeForce GT 710] bus-ID: 02:00.0
           Display Server: X.org 1.18.4 drivers: nvidia (unloaded: fbdev,vesa,nouveau)
           tty size: 110x57 Advanced Data: N/A for root
Audio:     Card-1 NVIDIA GK208 HDMI/DP Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 02:00.1
           Card-2 Intel 200 Series PCH HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1f.3
           Card-3 Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 driver: USB Audio usb-ID: 001-004
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-76-generic
Network:   Card: Intel Ethernet Connection (2) I219-V driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k bus-ID: 00:1f.6
           IF: enp0s31f6 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 3240.7GB (4.0% used) ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 model: N/A size: 250.1GB
           ID-2: /dev/sda model: MKNSSDRE240GB size: 240.1GB temp: 35C
           ID-3: /dev/sdb model: WDC_WD1003FZEX size: 1000.2GB temp: 34C
           ID-4: /dev/sdc model: WDC_WD2000F9YZ size: 2000.4GB temp: 38C
Partition: ID-1: / size: 60G used: 12G (22%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 62.91GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sdc1
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8C mobo: 27.8C gpu: 0.0:42C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 220 Uptime: 19:14 Memory: 3448.5/32128.2MB Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35

Also some infor from the SSD my OSes are on:

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root@mint ~ # fdisk -l | grep "nvme0n1p"
Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.
/dev/nvme0n1p1           2048 123025407 123023360 58.7G 83 Linux
/dev/nvme0n1p2      123025408 250001407 126976000 60.6G 83 Linux
/dev/nvme0n1p3      250001408 372881407 122880000 58.6G 83 Linux
/dev/nvme0n1p4      372881408 488396799 115515392 55.1G 83 Linux
root@mint ~ # blkid | grep "nvme0n1p"
/dev/nvme0n1p1: LABEL="ubun" UUID="760b4969-f76a-40b3-a33a-2f0794538d6a" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="45828576-01"
/dev/nvme0n1p2: LABEL="mint" UUID="d5d344e4-9021-4a56-afac-8fd4cd6427ff" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="45828576-02"
/dev/nvme0n1p4: LABEL="extra" UUID="e5ae18ca-2f46-42bb-9a92-f2885583b8ec" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="45828576-04"

More specific info:

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root@mint ~ # fsck /dev/nvme0n1p1
fsck from util-linux 2.27.1
e2fsck 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)
ubun: clean, 370302/3842720 files, 4312794/15377920 blocks
root@mint ~ # fsck /dev/nvme0n1p2
fsck from util-linux 2.27.1
e2fsck 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)
/dev/nvme0n1p2 is mounted.
e2fsck: Cannot continue, aborting.


root@mint ~ # fsck /dev/nvme0n1p3
fsck from util-linux 2.27.1
e2fsck 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)
fsck.ext2: Attempt to read block from filesystem resulted in short read while trying to open /dev/nvme0n1p3
Could this be a zero-length partition?
root@mint ~ # fsck /dev/nvme0n1p4
fsck from util-linux 2.27.1
e2fsck 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)
extra: clean, 11/3612672 files, 272773/14439424 blocks

LMDE should be on p3 but that is "missing" instead p4 is called "extra." I have backup images of all my linux OSes, but I'm reluctant to re-install unless I'm clear my SSD is OK. I tried running smartmontools but got poor feedback, perhaps I'd asking incorrectly?

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root@mint ~ # smartctl -i nvme0n1p
smartctl 6.5 2016-01-24 r4214 [x86_64-linux-4.15.0-76-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-16, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

nvme0n1p: Unable to detect device type
Please specify device type with the -d option.

Use smartctl -h to get a usage summary

Do not want to do worse damage, not sure how to proceed?

[feffer]

LMDE-3 may be no longer supported, but it should still operate OK I believe. It may be prudent to upgrade, but not upgrading for a while should not be harmful, right? The reason for asking is that I was running LMDE-3 on a multiboot linux machine and had an unexpected problem on LMDE-3. After a period of inactivity, then going back to the machine, the screen looked odd. The terminal would not accept commands. I tried a normal shutdown/restart, but it was not accepted and I had to do a hard shutdown. After restarting, the GRUB screen no longer showed LMDE as an option. The other 2 distros, Mint_18.3 and Ubuntu were still available. Booting into Mint, there was nothing left of either LMDE or the partition it was on. Is there any possible software reason for this? I started a longer post with more detail in Mint>Hardware, but here I'm just trying to determine if there could be any possible software explanation having to do with the version upgrade?

[karlchen]

<mod>
Merged new thread "Crash on multiboot machine: hardware or software?" into existing thread "LMDE borked...hardware or software?"
Please, do not start more than 1 thread about the same problem in different areas of the forum.
This will lead to confusion and it will not improve your chances of receiving helpful replies.
--
Also merged a single post suffixed to a pretty unrelated thread, "LMDE 3 is no longer supported", into this thread "LMDE borked...hardware or software?"
</mod>

[cretsiah]

I know this is probably going to sound dumb but

is the bios in dual bios mode? (aka bios/uefi) or is it set to mbr only or gpt only

can you check drive partition table maybe via live usb?

im thinking that something over wrote your original boot setup for instance grub trying to convert from mbr to gpt or worse like below adding one or the other

if i have bios set to dual mode i have no ends to problems but usually only during an install

some updates could be considered like a re-install (ie like when grub updates or the initramfs updates or even a dist-upgrade)

when i leave my bios in dual mode i end up with entries (from one drive mind you)
ADATA 800 UEFI
ADATA 800
this is a single drive

similar thing happens when i use rufus to build bios/uefi boot stick F12 will show
USB2.0 PMP
USB2.0 UEFI PMP

I could be wrong but i think that this reference is what has happened based on this statement only

LMDE should be on p3 but that is "missing" instead p4 is called "extra."

[all41]

In multi-boot systems sometimes grub is updated on a partition that is not
the partition your bios is set to boot to. Especially because kernel updates run
a grub update after downloading.

Boot into a live desktop using a Mint install iso usb or dvd---open a terminal and
run the following to scan the detected operating systems:

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sudo os-prober

Here is mine for example only.

Is LMDE detected in yours?

While your there find out where grub(s) are located by copy/paste the following chicken scratchings into
the terrminal. It's a long chain of code with lots of plumbing so make sure to use the
Select All button and paste into terminal:

Code: Select all

sudo fdisk -l 2>/dev/null | egrep "Disk /|/dev/" | sed "s#^/dev/#Part /dev/#" | awk '{print $2}' | sed 's/://' | xargs -n1 -IX sudo sh -c "hexdump -v -s 0x80 -n  2 -e '2/1 \"%x\" \"\\n\"' X | xargs -n1 -IY sh -c \"case  \"Y\" in '48b4') echo X: GRUB 2 v1.96 ;; 'aa75' | '5272') echo X: GRUB Legacy ;; '7c3c') echo X: GRUB 2 v1.97 or v1.98 ;; '020') echo X: GRUB 2 v1.99 ;; *) echo X: No GRUB Y ;; esac\""

[feffer]

In multi-boot systems sometimes grub is updated on a partition that is not
the partition your bios is set to boot to. Especially because kernel updates run
a grub update after downloading.

I'll try this tomorrow. I did have a recent kernel update. The odd thing is that the SSD partition that LMDE was on seems to be gone. I'm loath to redo the partition and put LMDE back on w/o understanding what happened. IE blind trial and error...seldom works well.

[all41]

In multi-boot systems sometimes grub is updated on a partition that is not
the partition your bios is set to boot to. Especially because kernel updates run
a grub update after downloading.

I'll try this tomorrow. I did have a recent kernel update. The odd thing is that the SSD partition that LMDE was on seems to be gone. I'm loath to redo the partition and put LMDE back on w/o understanding what happened. IE blind trial and error...seldom works well.

Depending on the results I would most likely disconnect the other drives while addressing this problem.

[murdokkk2525]

Since you use timeshift you shouldn't have any problem

[feffer]

OK booted from mint ISO:

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mint@mint:~$ sudo os-prober 
error: cannot read `/dev/nvme0n1': Input/output error.
error: cannot read `/dev/nvme0n1': Input/output error.
error: cannot read `/dev/nvme0n1': Input/output error.
/dev/nvme0n1p1:Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS (18.04):Ubuntu:linux
error: cannot read `/dev/nvme0n1': Input/output error.
error: cannot read `/dev/nvme0n1': Input/output error.
error: cannot read `/dev/nvme0n1': Input/output error.
/dev/nvme0n1p2:Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia (18.3):LinuxMint:linux
error: cannot read `/dev/nvme0n1': Input/output error.
error: cannot read `/dev/nvme0n1': Input/output error.
error: cannot read `/dev/nvme0n1': Input/output error.
/dev/sda2@/efi/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi:Windows Boot Manager:Windows:efi
mint@mint:~$ sudo fdisk -l 2>/dev/null | egrep "Disk /|/dev/" | sed "s#^/dev/#Part /dev/#" | awk '{print $2}' | sed 's/://' | xargs -n1 -IX sudo sh -c "hexdump -v -s 0x80 -n  2 -e '2/1 \"%x\" \"\\n\"' X | xargs -n1 -IY sh -c \"case  \"Y\" in '48b4') echo X: GRUB 2 v1.96 ;; 'aa75' | '5272') echo X: GRUB Legacy ;; '7c3c') echo X: GRUB 2 v1.97 or v1.98 ;; '020') echo X: GRUB 2 v1.99 ;; *) echo X: No GRUB Y ;; esac\""
/dev/loop0: No GRUB cb1e
/dev/nvme0n1: GRUB 2 v1.99
/dev/nvme0n1p1: No GRUB 00
/dev/nvme0n1p2: No GRUB 00
/dev/nvme0n1p3: No GRUB 00
/dev/nvme0n1p4: No GRUB 00
/dev/sda: No GRUB 9f83
/dev/sda1: No GRUB 55aa
/dev/sda2: No GRUB f6c1
/dev/sda3: No GRUB 00
/dev/sda4: No GRUB 55aa
/dev/sda5: No GRUB 55aa
/dev/sdb: No GRUB 9f83
/dev/sdb1: No GRUB 00
/dev/sdb2: No GRUB 55aa
/dev/sdc: No GRUB 00
/dev/sdc1: No GRUB 00
/dev/sdc2: No GRUB 00

Also I checked the "Disk" gui app. To my surprise it said the OS SSD was formatted via MBR. This is incorrect, it was formatted via GPT ...so somehow this got mangled. Don't know how to correct this however. Must I reformat the SSD entirely, or is there a simpler way?

via cretsia: I built the machine 5 years ago, and haven't messed with the machine settings since, so I'm not sure how it's set. I think I need a bit more troubleshooting and info before going there. Your post did inspire me to check the "Disk" gui app though and sheds considerable light.

One more comment...for a couple of months, I've noticed a new line when updating...during the GRUB phase: something like "Resume from /dev/sda6 ..."
"If Changing do this..." Should I have paid attention to this and made a particular change?

[cretsiah]

The input error to me suggests maybe those partitions are encrypted (but i could be wrong) and there was suggestion you had to mount encrypted partitions in the live usb to do repairs on them (BUT i dont know how to do that im still caveman level).

The missing grub suggests maybe that grub-pc was installed/removed

or maybe that booting was upgraded to systemd boot

at least at my caveman level understanding

some notes here might be of interest

https://support.system76.com/articles/bootloader/

https://manpages.debian.org/testing/sys ... .7.en.html

my very limited understanding of the notes, suggested an MBR styled install (but on a gpt partition)
aka all boot menu entries and options must be on first bootable disk not where ever you liked to dump it

however im sorry I cant figure out for the life of me how you fix, except maybe looking into uefimanger boot order

[feffer]

Depending on the results I would most likely disconnect the other drives while addressing this problem.

I posted the results of the two cmds that all41 gave me, and was hoping that he could follow up on this.