Progress Report: Re: [nylug-talk] Upgrading RH 7.1 from mountable .iso file...

[Bill Catlan]

So close for the RedHat folks ... you would think that a distro could just 
nail the fundamentals...

Well, I experienced three problems during my "upgrade" from RedHat Linux 
7.1 to RedHat Linux 9.  I should note that I indicated that I wanted to 
upgrade the filesystem from ext2 to ext3.

First, a simple packaging error in a kde language module.  A reboot to 
deselect that package allowed the install to complete.

Second, lilo did not get run to execute the changes made to 
lilo.conf.  Plus, my original kernel image was erased, so the second entry 
in lilo pointing to that image was invalid.  I manually commented out the 
old lilo settings, ran lilo, and could finally boot properly from the MBR 
on /dev/hda.

Lastly, e2fsck fails, complaining that /dev/hda1 is mounted and the file 
system could not be checked.  I entered maintenance mode and tried to force 
a check using the -f option.  (I previously tried just putting the empty 
file 'forcefsck' in the root path to trigger it, and it failed to do 
so.)  This was not sufficient and e2fsck continues to fail to this moment 
during the boot sequence, causing the boot to fail, unless i override the 
result code.  I was able to run e2fsck in maintenance mode after forcing it 
to do so even though doing so may cause "SEVERE damage to the 
filesystem."  Even though /dev/hda1 was mounted rw when I enter maintenance 
mode (This I think is the problem - my /etc/lilo.conf file says 
"read-only", don't know what gives.), I figured I was in single user mode 
and should be ok.  I hoped that doing so would eliminate the attempt to do 
a fsck next boot, but it did not eliminate the attempt.  The second time I 
did an e2fsck in maintenance mode, it resulted in certain inodes being 
cleaned and /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit being deleted.  When this happened, the 
fsck was not attempted next boot, and my system booted next time, with some 
complaints.  I then manually installed the initscripts package to get my 
rc.sysinit file back, and modified /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit to override the 
fsck results code in order to allow me to boot.

Well, I'd like to get the e2fsck working properly, even though I have soe 
notion that its not required on an ext3 filesystem.  Not in familiar 
territory on that, so some clue would be much appreciated.

Hope this recap is helpful to some on the list;  gonna get a copy to the 
folks at RedHat as well.

Bill




At 09:54 AM 5/15/2003, Bill Catlan wrote:
> > > I've found it's busy for a few weeks after RH9
> > came out, and it's been busy
> > > today; but most of the time I've had no problems.
>
>I should have noted that I only recently attempted to
>get my RedHat system up to date.  I run a Debian
>system at work and have been out of the loop on RH.
>So, my recent experience with RHN has been dismal
>(last week or so), while I do recall having some
>success around a year ago.
>
>Well, as an update on migrating my system from RH 7.1
>to RH 9, I got the ISOs installed and all the default
>packages installed.  There was one hiccup with a KDE
>language file - the Brazil rpm - which cause a fatal
>error during the install.  I was able to reboot and
>find that the other 500 or so packages that got
>installed previously had remained installed and the
>upgrade script detected that I only need the remaining
>packages installed.  I did a custom install at this
>point and removed the KDE Brazil and other language
>packages, and the installation completed.  The reboot
>failed at the end, so I did a manual power cycle.
>
>The boot sequence then failed, however, returning the
>dreaded "LI" as LILO failed to boot the system.  I
>should mention, this was an upgrade attempt, not a
>fresh install.  Also, I chose the grub bootloader
>during both upgrade sessions, but it seems LILO is
>still in control (based upon the LI).  I belive LILO
>was the old bootloader on the 7.1 system.
>
>That's where I left off.  I will troubleshoot the
>bootloader issue tonight ... if I can only remember
>what I did the last time I saw this. :)
>
>Thanks everyone for your tips and links.
>
>Bill
>
>
>
>--- David Rosenstrauch <david.rosenstrauch at aleri.com>
>wrote:
> > On Thursday 15 May 2003 12:28 am, Carl Friedberg
> > wrote:
> > > I've found it's busy for a few weeks after RH9
> > came out, and it's been busy
> > > today; but most of the time I've had no problems.
> > That's just me...
> > >
> > > Carl
> >
> >
> > +1.  It's usually quite busy after a new RH release,
> > but calms down a few
> > weeks later.
> >
> >
> > DR
> >
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