Ubuntu will not boot after not shutting down properly

[danruz]

I accidentally pulled the power plug from my joggler without shutting it down and I think I corrupted the boot loader. I am running Ubuntu 11.04 v1.0 image with btrfs filesystem.

When I now power up the joggler it does not boot into Ubuntu but instead hangs on a black screen with the following white text:

Target filesystem doesn't have the requested /sbin/init.
No init found. Try passing init= bootarg.

Busybox v1.17.1 (Ubuntu 1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1) built-in

(initramfs) _

I presume that I have corrupted the boot loader. If so, how can I repair it?

I am able to view the usb drive contents when plugged into my desktop using an Ubuntu live cd but I don't know what commands I can use to repair the boot loader.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Dan

PS I know I can re-flash the image but I'm hoping to avoid doing that as I would lose my installed programs.

[dwl99]

I don't know how to fix this but I thoroughly recommend using win32diskimager to make a backup of your memory stick from time to time

[Mc-Po]

I accidentally pulled the power plug from my joggler without shutting it down and I think I corrupted the boot loader. I am running Ubuntu 11.04 v1.0 image with btrfs filesystem.

When I now power up the joggler it does not boot into Ubuntu but instead hangs on a black screen with the following white text:

Target filesystem doesn't have the requested /sbin/init.
No init found. Try passing init= bootarg.

Busybox v1.17.1 (Ubuntu 1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1) built-in

(initramfs) _

I presume that I have corrupted the boot loader. If so, how can I repair it?

I am able to view the usb drive contents when plugged into my desktop using an Ubuntu live cd but I don't know what commands I can use to repair the boot loader.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Dan

PS I know I can re-flash the image but I'm hoping to avoid doing that as I would lose my installed programs.

On live cd,
Insert usb stick
open up gparted (System>Administration>Disk Utility)
click on your usb stick
Check Filesystem,
and that Should do it

BTW i wouldnt strongly recommend installing ubuntu on another pc, on a seperate partition (EVEN WUBI), it really does help so many problems with other devices

[danruz]

Thanks guys - yes I will be sure to back up my image once I have it working again!

Buzz - I tried checking the filesystem as you suggested but it wasn't successful. I therefore flashed a new image on my drive... but this did not fix the boot loader! I still get the same error and it won't load Ubuntu.

I have tried flashing the image several times.
Formatting first.
Deleting the partition table.
Deleting the MBR.

Any idea why I still get the boot error? I was under the impression that flashing a new image completely overwrites all data on the drive. Could I have broken my usb drive?!

I actually have the joggler up and running with another usb drive so I am happy. However, I'm interested to know why I still get the errors on my other drive.

[dwl99]

When you reflashed your stick you may not have erased the boot sector. Try flashing this image http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1107587/bootsector.img to your USB stick then flash your Ubuntu image again & all should be well!

[BuZz]

Everything you need is in the image including partition table. there is no "bootsector" as such in use as efi boots to the first fat32 partition.. I would suggest trying another usb stick as it could be yours is being problematic.

[danruz]

No luck getting the stick working (even after flashing the bootsector.img). Conclusion: dodgy usb stick!

All working well with another usb stick, which is now backed up safely

Thanks again for the advice.