[ydl-gen] Serious problem, please help

Sat Nov 24 14:07:42 MST 2007

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Congrats, on resolving the problem.

All the best...

On Sat, 24 Nov 2007 10:37:10 -0800
Warren Nagourney <warren at phys.washington.edu> wrote:

> 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  
> > terms of
> > music. ... I get most joy in life out of music."
> >
> > "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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> 
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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 terms of
music. ... I get most joy in life out of music."  

"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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