I run Ubuntu 8.04 on an Asus EeePC 900, to which I've connected an
external USB drive. I've made an entry for it in /etc/fstab so it
will mount at boot.

However, during boot fsck usually fails to find the drive and the boot
sequence stops asking for root password or ctrl-D, which is very
annoying if I reboot remotely. The drive is detected seconds later.
I need to get fsck to wait until the USB drive becomes available. How
can I do this?

My workaround for now is to use "0" (passno) in the sixth column of
/etc/fstab and to do a mount -a in a script in /etc/init.d, but I'd
like to do this in a cleaner way.

I've tried to add the rootwait option to the kernel, but it doesn't
make a difference.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
--
Steinar

--
ubuntu-users mailing list
ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com
Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

Hi Steinar

On Friday 15 August 2008 21:26:55 Steinar Midtskogen wrote:
> I run Ubuntu 8.04 on an Asus EeePC 900, to which I've connected an
> external USB drive. I've made an entry for it in /etc/fstab so it
> will mount at boot.
>
> However, during boot fsck usually fails to find the drive and the boot
> sequence stops asking for root password or ctrl-D, which is very
> annoying if I reboot remotely. The drive is detected seconds later.
> I need to get fsck to wait until the USB drive becomes available. How
> can I do this?
>
> My workaround for now is to use "0" (passno) in the sixth column of
> /etc/fstab and to do a mount -a in a script in /etc/init.d, but I'd
> like to do this in a cleaner way.
>
> I've tried to add the rootwait option to the kernel, but it doesn't
> make a difference.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
> --
> Steinar



What's the exact error you see from fsck? Last time I got one was when I
reinstalled grub on a usb stick and I also reinstalled an operating system on
the main computer. Take note of the UUID mentioned in the error and try
commenting out that line in etc/fstab with a # character and rebooting. My
understanding is the UUID for the drive in Q has changed and the thread(s) re
UUIDs may be of help. In particular a certian link posted earlier

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingUUID

Hope it's of help
James

--
ubuntu-users mailing list
ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com
Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

Steinar Midtskogen wrote:
> I run Ubuntu 8.04 on an Asus EeePC 900, to which I've connected an
> external USB drive. I've made an entry for it in /etc/fstab so it
> will mount at boot.
>
> However, during boot fsck usually fails to find the drive and the boot
> sequence stops asking for root password or ctrl-D, which is very
> annoying if I reboot remotely. The drive is detected seconds later.
> I need to get fsck to wait until the USB drive becomes available. How
> can I do this?
>
> My workaround for now is to use "0" (passno) in the sixth column of
> /etc/fstab and to do a mount -a in a script in /etc/init.d, but I'd
> like to do this in a cleaner way.
>
> I've tried to add the rootwait option to the kernel, but it doesn't
> make a difference.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
>
Why use fstab at all? Ubuntu Hardy does a good job of automatic
loading of USB devises. At least it does with my external hard drive and
memory sticks.

Karl


--

Karl F. Larsen, AKA K5DI
Linux User
#450462 http://counter.li.org.
PGP 4208 4D6E 595F 22B9 FF1C ECB6 4A3C 2C54 FE23 53A7


--
ubuntu-users mailing list
ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com
Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

On 08/15/2008 06:26 AM, Steinar Midtskogen wrote:
> I run Ubuntu 8.04 on an Asus EeePC 900, to which I've connected an
> external USB drive. I've made an entry for it in /etc/fstab so it
> will mount at boot.
>
> However, during boot fsck usually fails to find the drive and the boot
> sequence stops asking for root password or ctrl-D, which is very
> annoying if I reboot remotely. The drive is detected seconds later.
> I need to get fsck to wait until the USB drive becomes available. How
> can I do this?
>
> My workaround for now is to use "0" (passno) in the sixth column of
> /etc/fstab and to do a mount -a in a script in /etc/init.d, but I'd
> like to do this in a cleaner way.
>
> I've tried to add the rootwait option to the kernel, but it doesn't
> make a difference.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks,

I would say that your current method of solving the problem is the
correct one--unless you wish to delay the boot process.




--
ubuntu-users mailing list
ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com
Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

Mumia W. wrote:

> On 08/15/2008 06:26 AM, Steinar Midtskogen wrote:
>> I run Ubuntu 8.04 on an Asus EeePC 900, to which I've connected an
>> external USB drive. I've made an entry for it in /etc/fstab so it
>> will mount at boot.
>>
>> However, during boot fsck usually fails to find the drive and the boot
>> sequence stops asking for root password or ctrl-D, which is very
>> annoying if I reboot remotely. The drive is detected seconds later.
>> I need to get fsck to wait until the USB drive becomes available. How
>> can I do this?
>>
>> My workaround for now is to use "0" (passno) in the sixth column of
>> /etc/fstab and to do a mount -a in a script in /etc/init.d, but I'd
>> like to do this in a cleaner way.
>>
>> I've tried to add the rootwait option to the kernel, but it doesn't
>> make a difference.
>>
>> Any suggestions?
>>
>> Thanks,
>
> I would say that your current method of solving the problem is the
> correct one--unless you wish to delay the boot process.

I have only _suggestions_ - a hint where to look next - but you shouldn't
have to unreasonably delay the boot process - if the drive is going to
always be attached.

First, "usbstorage" (and probably other modules) need to be in the initrd
image for you to have a hope of mounting early in the boot process.

Second, what's on the USB drive? If it's not actually needed during boot,
passno=2 should be good enough. passno=0 is explicitly skipping fsck,
iirc.
--
derek


--
ubuntu-users mailing list
ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com
Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users