Booting enters BusyBox v1.30.1

Support & Help Requests
#1

When booting my Dell XPS with Mate i got shuffled into an terminal with the output:

> BusyBox v1.30.1 (Ubuntu 1:1.30.1-6ubuntu2.1) built-in shell (ash)
> Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.
> 
> (initramfs)

Exit-command outputs:

> (initramfs) exit
> 
> Gave up waiting for root file system device. Common problems:
> - Boot args (cat /proc/cmdline
>   - Check rootdelay= (did the system wait long enough?)
> - Missing modules (cat /proc/modules; ls /dev)
> ALERT! UUID=6311f740-8be0-4c1f-bb26-6efbf0bb6fd5 does not exist. Dropping to as shell!

It seems as the UUID file does not exist, which showes me into the shell. I have no idea what the UUID files is though.
Any help would be greatly appreciated :thinking:

Ubuntu Mate 1.24.1.
Kernel Linux 5.11.0-38-generic x86_64
Release 21.04 (Hirsute Hippo) 64-bit.

#2

It seems as the UUID file does not exist, which showes me into the shell. I have no idea what the UUID files is though.
Any help would be greatly appreciated :thinking:

uh oh :worried:

UUID=6311f740-8be0-4c1f-bb26-6efbf0bb6fd5

It is not a file, it is a partition, probably your root partition.

This is what your system is doing at boot:

  1. POST
  2. Start grub bootloader from sector 0 or EFI
  3. Grub starts Linux(=kernel) + initramfs
  4. Linux wants to mount root partition on '/'
    (root partition contains the whole Operating System)
  5. Linux can not find the root partition
  6. Linux falls back to 'build-in' busybox's ash shell

The short version:

If the story below is too technical, just try to save your system with:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair

The long version:

Ultimately not necessary but it could give some clues about what went wrong if you are curious enough to care :wink:

Now I will assume that you have a bog standard install (but if you partitioned manually, stop here)

First start from a Live UM session and check if the partition with that UUID exists:

lsblk --fs |grep -v '^loop'

Do a filesystem check on that partition

sudo fsck UUID=6311f740-8be0-4c1f-bb26-6efbf0bb6fd5

If all is well, mount that diskpartition on /mnt

now check if that partition is really the root partition and
check if grub dutifully passes the right UUID to the kernel:

grep -i vmlinuz /mnt/boot/grub/grub.cfg

if file does not exist (error) -> reinstall grub
no error but no output either -> update-grub
output but no matching UUID -> update-grub

... or use this:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair

2 Likes
#3

Thanks for the reply! What does it mean to have a ”bog standard install”? I installed Mate by using a usb with the ISO file, if that is what you mean.

I am very interested in trying to solve the issue since i think it is a great learning opportunity! :grin:

#4

What does it mean to have a ”bog standard install”?

When you let the installer do automatically what it can automatically do :slight_smile:

Or, to be precise, if you left the partitioning to the installer.

#5

I finally got into a live UM session from my original USB with the UM ISO.
These are the outputs I got:

$ lsblk --fs |grep -v '^loop'
NAME           MAJ:MIN      RM       SIZE      RO    TYPE
sda              8:0         1      14.6G       0     disk
|_sda1           8:1         1       2.8G       0     part/cdrom
|_sda2           8:2         1       4.9M       0     part
|_sda3           8:3         1       300K       0     part
|_sda4           8:4         1      11.9G       0     part/var/crash

$ sudo fsck UUID=UUID=6311f740-8be0-4c1f-bb26-6efbf0bb6fd5
fsck: couldn't find matching filesystem: UUID=6311f740-8be0-4c1f-bb26-6efbf0bb6fd5

I don't know what any of it means, does it mean all is well and I can attempt to mount it?

Sorry if any of this is really obvious, I am quite the novice :grimacing:

#6

I don't know what any of it means,

lsblk --help
will explain the meaning of the columns

Also, read the manpage.
man lsblk

sda is the only drive detected, but that is the USB-stick you booted from.
no other drives visible.

does it mean all is well and I can attempt to mount it?

Not as it is, at the moment, because we can't see it yet.
Since the bootloader 'grub' works, the disk must be physically in working order.

check this:

ls -l /dev/disk/by-id

and this:

ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid

1 Like
#7

Thanks once again for you answers!

I actually found a dude who owns a workshop that specializes in GNU/Linux nearby my apartment. He agreed to fix it for me and then tell me what he did so I can learn something (isn't this community just the best? :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:)

I can return once I have the answers for what went wrong!

#8

https://ostechnix.com/how-to-fix-busybox-initramfs-error-on-ubuntu/

The above link gives a good description of this problem and a fix that will enable you to boot your system again.
I put Mate on a friend's computer 2 years ago and shortly after he got this message. It's happened 2 more times since. It's a quick fix, and 3 times in 2 years isn't a major issue. It seems like an intermittent hardware problem.