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Prinzhorn
Asked: 2017-04-10 08:40:40 +0800 CST

Speed up LILO boot, takes about 10 minutes

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After grub stopped booting my system at all (boot-repair: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1. Check your device.map) I installed LILO. I know it's not under active development anymore, but I don't have any other options. I'm just happy I can use my PC.

Anyway, as I said in the title the boot takes about ten minutes (it fills like ten lines of dots before finally booting). Which is something I could live with, but it also makes (sometimes necessary) reboots a pain. I tried the compact option which didn't do anything. Ubuntu is installed on a SSD with EXT4 if that matters.

The Laptop is a Lenovo U410 (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0090K8XZ0/). I removed the two drives (HDD+SSD) with a single SSD a few months ago.

$ sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 489,1 GiB, 525112713216 bytes, 1025610768 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xaf50d9a7

Device     Boot      Start        End    Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sda1  *          2048 1009117183 1009115136 481,2G 83 Linux
/dev/sda2       1009119230 1025609727   16490498   7,9G  5 Extended
/dev/sda5       1009119232 1025609727   16490496   7,9G 82 Linux swap / Solaris


$ fsck -f /dev/sda1
fsck from util-linux 2.27.1
e2fsck 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information
/dev/sda1: 1241359/31539200 files (0.2% non-contiguous), 24634630/126139392 blocks


$ fsck -f /dev/sda2
fsck from util-linux 2.27.1
e2fsck 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)
fsck.ext2: Attempt to read block from filesystem resulted in short read while trying to open /dev/sda2
Could this be a zero-length partition?


$ sudo blkid
/dev/sda1: UUID="73439e58-15b3-4949-bdad-1c8b5d0259ae" TYPE="ext4" PTTYPE="dos" PARTUUID="af50d9a7-01"
/dev/sda5: UUID="c9c653a7-716a-4b19-b3b1-b61c0d5a94b8" TYPE="swap" PARTUUID="af50d9a7-05"


$ cat /etc/fstab 
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
# / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=73439e58-15b3-4949-bdad-1c8b5d0259ae /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=c9c653a7-716a-4b19-b3b1-b61c0d5a94b8 none            swap    sw              0       0


sudo parted -l
Model: ATA Crucial_CT525MX3 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 525GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End    Size    Type      File system     Flags
 1      1049kB  517GB  517GB   primary   ext4            boot
 2      517GB   525GB  8443MB  extended
 5      517GB   525GB  8443MB  logical   linux-swap(v1)
boot

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    I took the laptop out of the drawer after a while and replugged the SSD and ... that solved the issue. I have no idea why this only affected booting, but in the end it was just a bad connection.

    So if you ever have a similar problem, make sure to unplug and replug every single cable.

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  2. Partial answer... work in progress...

    To check the file system on your Ubuntu partition...

    • boot to the GRUB menu
    • choose Advanced Options
    • choose Recovery mode
    • choose Root access
    • at the # prompt, type sudo fsck -f /dev/sda1
    • repeat the fsck command if there were errors
    • type reboot

    Update #1

    After having reconfigured your computer from 2 drives (HDD + SSD) to 1 drive (SSD) you'll need to check your BIOS settings to make sure that the master/slave disk/boot devices correctly show only 1 SSD drive (current model) connected to master, and no slave HDD/SSD drives.

    Also, when performing a GRUB update (sudo update-grub) make sure the your Ubuntu Live USB is not plugged into a USB port.

    Make sure that you've got at least BIOS version 21, by following the steps at https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/ideapad-u-series-laptops/ideapad-u410/solutions/HT070218

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