[ydl-gen] Serious problem, please help

[Warren Nagourney]

Thanks, Derick. Actually I fixed it just now (whew!!) by using the  
"interactive startup mode" in the "ydltext" mode of kboot. After  
answering "no" to about 20 questions, I was able to log in with a  
mounted filesystem and changed the kboot.conf to the working video  
mode. Then everything booted fine.

One of the sources of my troubles I am sure is the name change of the  
root directory in more recent kernels. I think the system was looking  
for the newer root (/dev/ps3da2) using the older kernel and thinking  
it was an ext2 filesystem, which led to the prompt for a superblock.

Thanks again.

-Warren Nagourney

On Nov 24, 2007, at 12:26 PM, Derick Centeno wrote:

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> Hi Warren:
>
> Sorry to hear that this happened to you after Thanksgiving.  Being  
> a bit of a
> incessant tinkerer myself, I understand the drive to pursue one's own
> process of trial and error.  Sometimes one moves into a new  
> direction sometimes
> one gets into the jam you're reporting.
>
> I found a rather detailed explanation for you which could address  
> your problem
> by restoring the superblock by resorting or recalling the backup of  
> the
> superblock which Linux creates for itself.  Before I refer you to  
> the article
> recall that the superblock refers to data structures containing  
> information
> regarding the hard drive partition which Linux resides on; ext2 or  
> ext3 refers
> to the filetype that same data is written in.  Simply stated, the  
> superblock
> always needs to be present regardless of the filetype because the  
> superblock
> comprises everything describing where your data is within a hard drive
> partition.  When an application, process or anything else needs  
> information
> regarding information regarding a particular file (and remember  
> everything in
> Unix/Linux is a file) the fastest way to determine that information  
> is to query
> the superblock.
>
> The article also discusses a programmer's preference regarding a  
> "production
> system" which I'll attempt to elaborate upon briefly.  A  
> "production system"
> can be considered any Unix/Linux environment in which programming  
> projects
> exist.  Even if the only programs you write are explorations into  
> producing
> "Hello World", within any computer language available in Linux,  
> these projects
> and efforts are yours and require a solidly tested kernel and  
> associated
> components for compilers, etc.  The article advises against the  
> tendency
> amongst many consumers/users to acquire the latest version of any  
> program or
> project or kernel, because getting the latest does not mean that  
> the latest
> version is free of bugs.  Instead acquiring the latest version  
> usually means
> that the bugs are hidden because they've not been thoroughly tested  
> by a
> sufficiently large body of persons.  This is also why the tendency  
> amongst many
> is to remain within "stable" releases of a product.
>
> Also every Unix/Linux is likewise identified as stable,  
> experimental or
> leading/bleeding edge. Staying "stable" is not as exciting as "the  
> latest"
> stuff, but there are certainly a lot less headaches.
>
> Here's the article discussing the superblock and a possible means  
> of recovery.
> If this doesn't work, you may be looking at a complete  
> reinstallation.  Of
> course, hopefully after you read the article you may just choose to  
> stay within
> YDL 5.0.2 just as TSS released it.
>
> http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/surviving-a-linux-filesystem- 
> failures.html
>
> In the meantime, just in case you were interested in a bit more  
> background
> regarding the Unix File System (UFS) I believed the brief  
> discussion located
> in Wikipedia here could be useful:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_File_System
>
> Good Luck...
>
> On Fri, 23 Nov 2007 23:58:57 -0800
> Warren Nagourney <warren at phys.washington.edu> wrote:
>
>> I have been playing around with a number of kernels and other things
>> on my PS3 and managed to make the thing unbootable. It happened when
>> I tried an unusable video setting in my kboot.conf (after everything
>> was working fine) and the system hung up. In my desperation I might
>> have run one of the "rescue" modes from kboot. When I try ydltext it
>> now complains that the superblock is missing, but it assumes that I
>> have an ext2 filesystem (isn't it ext3 ?) and puts me in
>> "maintainance mode". All I would like to do is to be able to restore
>> my kboot.conf video setting and boot normally. Is there a way of
>> accessing the file system using the memory stick which I originally
>> used when installing the OS? By the way, during all of the above, I
>> was never able to access the system using ssh - I guess it fails
>> before enabling the network. Any help much appreciated. Thanks.
>>
>> Warren Nagourney
>>
>>
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>
> ==========
>
>  "If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often
> think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in  
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>
> "What Life Means to Einstein: An Interview by George Sylvester
> Viereck," for the October 26, 1929 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.
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