Hang on "Restoring backup files"

Forum: DSL Embedded
Topic: Hang on "Restoring backup files"
started by: jeff75

Posted by jeff75 on Feb. 16 2006,22:30

Great idea, DSL. Having much fun!

Running dsl-3.2-embedded on Windows XP. Everything works great: getting into DSL, downloading myDSL apps, editing files, etc. Eventually, however, when booting DSL hangs on "Restoring backup files from /mnt/hdb". Is there a way to force DSL past this? I lost my first DSL package to this problem. Loaded apps to new DSL, and now have lost my second DSL package to this problem. Really don't want to load all my apps to a third DSL.

Thanks.
Jeff.

Posted by roberts on Feb. 16 2006,22:43

Do not store mydsl extensions in your backup!
I suspect your backup is unterminated because of out of space condition. If you have enough space on hdb then copy them there and use the mydsl=hdb boot option or make an addition virtual hard drive hdc for them.

To start without a backup add the boot time option norestore to the append clause in the dsl-windows.bat file.

Posted by jeff75 on Feb. 17 2006,20:33

Thanks for the clarification. Looks like you have to address this issue frequently. Sorry to add another instance.

I'm creating a larger virtual hard drive per your instructions (http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/Creating_a_Larger_Virtual_HDD). I need clarification. Feel free to wring your hands and curse my ignorance.

> dd of=harddisk bs=1024 seek=60000 count=0

ok

> mke2fs harddisk ( ignore the warning and proceed )

ok

> mkdir /mnt/test2

ok

> mount harddisk /mnt/test -o loop

ok

> mount newdrive /mnt/test2 -o loop

oops. newdrive doesn't exist. Can you point me to instructions to make newdrive (by whatever name) exist?

Posted by roberts on Feb. 17 2006,21:17

Per the instructions posted on the Wiki...
If you make a larger pseduo harddisk, with a different name of course, then mount both the 60MB and your new one.

Hence:
dd of=your_different_name_here bs=1024 seek=your_size_here count=0
mke2fs your_different_name_here ( ignore the warning and proceed )
mount your_different_name_here /mnt/test2 -o loop

Your second, newdrive needs to be a different name.
What you did was to wipe out the existing virtual harddisk and recreate it when you really wanted to make another virtual harddisk and it must have a different name and most likely larger than 60000

Posted by Jeff75 on Mar. 06 2006,17:41

Okay.

dd of=/dev/hdc bs=1024 seek=60000 count=0
mke2fs /dev/hdc
mkdir /mnt/hdc
mount /dev/hdc /mnt/hdc -o loop
mount: You must specify the filesystem type.
mount /dev/hdc /mnt/hdc -o loop -t ext2
mount: Wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock in /dev/loop0, or too many mounted file systems.

Booting I get this message:
ext2-fs warning: maximal mount count reached.

So my questions:
1) What am I doing wrong that I can't mount hdc?
2) If I save to hdc, will I lose what I save when I shutdown?

Thanks for your help.

Posted by Jeff75 on Mar. 06 2006,17:54

I'm listed on the board as an active user within the last 15 minutes. Why am I posting as guest? Cookies are enabled.

Posted by roberts on Mar. 06 2006,21:09

Yikes! You are overwriting a real *nix device.
Don't mess with anything in the /dev directory.

Also, you *are* doing this outside of Qemu.
The dd command is making a regular file with contents suitable for a virtual disk drive. So you would use a simple name like mystuff or myextns or harddisk2 or something that would not conflict with existing. Just as harddisk sitting in the Qemu directory is a file. So too will be your additional file.

This is a complex area. The example I posted in the Wiki was primarily to show how to make it bigger and not lose the default backup data.

Also, be aware that the harddisk is the only virtual drive that gets auto mounted when booting natively when the qemu boot option is given. Having additional virtual hard drives means manual mount when booting natively and adding additional drive map options in the dsl-window bat file.

If this sounds all too confusing, you may wish to grab the Qemu utilities to help ease the making of additional virtual drives. Visit the Qemu site for more information.