HOW TO RECOVER FROM Busybox, or related error that corrupts a Linux filesystem:
if you end up in initramfs -
you might see:
BusyBox ... or some other error in Linux... (something caused a problem, didn't die... corrupted the file system)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.
(initramfs) exit
you will see something like this: (NOTE THE /dev/... part)
The root filesystem on /dev/sda5 requires a manual fsck. (the part after /dev is very, very important, that is the corrupt filesystem)
(initramfs) fsck /dev/sda5 -y (fsck - file system check, then the partition, the -y is the switch to say, yes please, fix this for me!)
After checking is done
(initramfs) reboot
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The system should come back up... there's either a problem with the program or possibly with the hard drive.
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life as you once knew it should return to normal... once back in your system check to make sure your system is up to date by
doing an update... e.g. in MUD (mint, ubuntu, and debian): sudo apt-get update ; sudo apt-get upgrade
in SuSE: sudo zypper update
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IT is also recommended that you check your application, e.g. firefox to see if it's a current version, usually under "HELP" and "ABOUT"
instruction on how to update it are often there. IF the application is current version you could reinstall it:
in MUD: sudo apt-get install firefox
in SuSE: sudo zypper install firefox
(be aware that there might be a different name for the package or you may need to download the application from the web)
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If you're working with something like firefox and it dies or won't quit, you need to kill the process before you shut down, if that's what
caused the initial busybox error... of course YMMV depending on version, distribution and so on...
listing truncated, there will be a lot of data... NOTICE the first number after the user name (luser)
TYPE:
ps -ef | grep firefox
luser 2690 1138 5 Jan24 ? 03:11:27 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox
luser 2746 2690 3 Jan24 ? 01:51:30 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 1 -isForBrowser -prefsLen 1 ....
luser 2788 2690 0 Jan24 ? 00:15:13 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 2 -isForBrowser -prefsLen 108 ....
luser 2803 2690 1 Jan24 ? 00:55:03 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox ....
the PID (process ID) is 2690, the PPID (parent PID) is 1138, note that the lines below the first instance of firefox has a PPID of 2690.
If you kill 2690 the children should die as well.
WHAT YOU DO NOT SEE when you use the grep command is the first line from the ps -ef, which looks like this:
UID PID PPID C STIME TTY TIME CMD
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SO, this is what you're looking for with the header line included... the lowest number PID for the app
ps -ef | grep firefox
UID PID PPID C STIME TTY TIME CMD
luser 2690 1138 5 Jan24 ? 03:11:27 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox
luser 2746 2690 3 Jan24 ? 01:51:30 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 1 -isForBrowser -prefsLen 1 ....
luser 2788 2690 0 Jan24 ? 00:15:13 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 2 -isForBrowser -prefsLen 108 ....
luser 2803 2690 1 Jan24 ? 00:55:03 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox ....
NEXT STEP if you try to close the app and it won't go away... meaning if you type ps -ef | grep firefox and numbers still show up,
then... find that PID and type the following:
kill 2690 (MAKE SURE YOU USE THE ACTUAL NUMBER YOU FIND WITH THE ps -ef | grep command IT WILL BE DIFFERENT)
repeat the ps command... if it's still there, then take it up a notch:
kill -9 2690
if that doesn't kill firefox then take it up one more notch:
sudo kill -9 2690
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The question is, what caused this?
- a failing hard drive? check log files for errors related to that device.
- run a diagnostics from your device bios screen
- look for errors in log files related to the application.
- if it still happens after an update then consider reinstalling the applications.
NOTE: this is a VERY RARE PROBLEM... I've only encountered it once in over 20 years... but a friend
encountered it twice in a short period of time... making me suspect it's a failing hard drive... but I'm guessing...
the device and friend are hundreds of miles away... :)
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