[Pkg-sysvinit-devel] Bug#677097: I know what the problem is, don't know the solution

[Alan Chandler]

On 21/06/12 23:10, Roger Leigh wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 21, 2012 at 10:08:16PM +0100, Alan Chandler wrote:
>> On 21/06/12 21:55, Alan Chandler wrote:
>>> On 21/06/12 20:27, Roger Leigh wrote:
>>>> be hidden.
>>>> Do you have an entry in /etc/fstab for /run?
>>>>
>>>> The first three fields *must* be
>>>>
>>>> tmpfs /run tmpfs
>>>>
>>>> or it will think the filesystem type doesn't match, and do a new
>>>> mount rather than a remount.
>>> I don't have an entry in /etc/fstab.
>>>
>>> ...
>>>
>>> any way I will try adding it and rebooting after I have sent this
>>> e-mail to see if that sorts me out.
>> Thanks -  it did.
>>
>> I had to also delete the symlink and find a way to shutdown without
>> a /run, but after I restarted, it worked great and has resolved the
>> issue
> I was not suggesting that you add an entry to /etc/fstab.  You
> don't need one unless you want to override the defaults.  I was
> just asking if you had one in case it was added incorrectly,
> which would have been one way you could confuse things at boot.
>
> So the reason why this is causing problems is still unexplained.
> Could you please remove the entry, reboot and then let me know
> what the contents of /proc/mounts are?  Are there two entries
> for /run, if one is being masked by a second mount?
>
>

I have removed the entry in /etc/fstab and I am still loading perfectly.

The other thing that is left, is the fact that I had a symlink from /run 
to /var/run (which I didn't put there).

I conducted a little experiment, and with a recovery disk I altered my 
system as follows.

1) removed the symlink in /var/run -> /run
2) save the contents of /run (I moved it to /oldrun
3) made a new /var/run which contained a copy of the contents of /oldrun
4) symlinked /run -> /var/run

(I think this is as close to how it was before - the only issue I never 
checked before was whether /var/run had anything in it before booting)

When I booted like this, I had the exact same symptoms as before.

I checked /proc/mounts in this state, and there were two copies of a 
tmpfs mounted at /var/run. (and two copies of /var/run/lock and 
/var/run/shm)

I've put it all back now (not the /etc/fstab entry - that is still 
commented out) and rebooted - and I am back working again.

SO I think the only issue is really how did that symlink get there in 
the first place.  Was there some intermediate stage when this migration 
to /run began that meant it got put there.

I have been running debian sid for years - on this hardware for about a 
year.  I use aptitude and do an update every several days, although 
occasionally I might let it go for a couple of weeks if I am busy (which 
I have been recently).  I use a standard configuration (I don't try to 
change anything) except that I am running VirtualBox with a Windows 7 
environment within it and that does add its own modules.







-- 
Alan Chandler
http://www.chandlerfamily.org.uk