Bug 376231 – minimal install CD does not allow to mount some of the devices

• Product: Gentoo Release Media
• Status: RESOLVED NEEDINFO

[Description Tomas Vondra 2011-07-24 15:15:17 UTC]

After booting the system from the minimal install CD (e.g. install-amd64-minimal-20110714.iso), the system does not allow to mount the partition where I'd like to install Gentoo. I just get this message

mount: /dev/sdb1 already mounted or /mnt/gentoo/ busy

This is right after the system stats, so /dev/sdb1 is not mounted and /mnt/gentoo is not busy. This is the mount output

tmpfs / tmpfs rw 0 0
proc /proc proc rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0
udev /dev devtmpfs rw,nosuid,relatime,size=10240k,nr_inodes=486224,mode=755 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts rw,relatime,mode=600 0 0
/dev/sr0 /mnt/cdrom iso9660 ro,relatime 0 0
/dev/loop0 /mnt/livecd squashfs ro,relatime 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/livecd/lib64/firmware tmpfs rw 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/livecd/usr/portage tmpfs rw 0 0
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs rw,noexec,nosuid,devmode=0664,devgid=85 0 0

I can mount other partitions (e.g. /dev/sda1) that are located on drives attached the same controller. If I switch the drives, I can mount /dev/sdb1 (formerly /dev/sda1) but mounting /dev/sda1 now fails. So it's somehow specific to the drive.

I've tried to remove all the partitions from the problematic drive, rewrite the drive with zeroes (cat /dev/zero > /dev/sdb) etc. but nothing helped. If I try to create a filesystem on the partition, I get this message:

"is apparently in use by the system; will not make a filesystem here"

I've tried an older amd64 install CD, I've even tried to boot from an x86 boot CD - same results. After booting from the LiveDVD everything worked fine and I was able to mount /dev/sdb and install the system.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. boot from the install CD
2. attempt to mount /dev/sdb1 to /mnt/gentoo

Actual Results:  
The mount fails with the message 

mount: /dev/sdb1 already mounted or /mnt/gentoo/ busy

Expected Results:  
The partition is mounted to /mnt/gentoo.

[Comment 1 Tomas Vondra 2011-07-24 15:15:53 UTC]

Created attachment 280839 [details]
dmesg output (sdb1 is the problematic device, sda1 works fine)

[Comment 2 Geoff Madden 2011-07-25 03:54:15 UTC]

What is the output of fdisk/or what ever you use to set up the tables on the disk.
There does not appear to be any hassle reported in dmseg,is it possible that the drive has been attached by another o/s,failing that, try another cable to that drive.

[Comment 3 Tomas Vondra 2011-07-25 17:52:00 UTC]

(In reply to comment #2)
> What is the output of fdisk/or what ever you use to set up the tables on the
> disk.

Currently it's like this

fdisk /dev/sda

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 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
Disk identifier: 0x56f5a8ff

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1            2048     7814547     3906250   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda2         7814548   976773167   484479310   83  Linux

but it's not exactly the same as described above (I've modified when trying to make it work).

> There does not appear to be any hassle reported in dmseg,is it possible that
> the drive has been attached by another o/s,failing that, try another cable to
> that drive.

Yes, the dmesg seems perfectly correct. No, the partition was an ext4 partition, properly created and unmounted. I've tried to remove all the partitions, erase the disk, ... still the same.

Once I've booted from LiveDVD, everything worked fine. And now it works fine too (the /dev/sda2 is the root device).

[Comment 4 Jorge Manuel B. S. Vicetto (RETIRED) 2011-08-19 13:06:16 UTC]

Do you still get this issue using the latest installcd?

[Comment 5 Tomas Vondra 2011-09-11 22:50:58 UTC]

Yes, I've just tried the install-amd64-minimal-20110908.iso but it still does not allow me to mount /dev/sda2 (reports it as already mounted).

[Comment 6 Jorge Manuel B. S. Vicetto (RETIRED) 2012-07-09 23:28:03 UTC]

Any changes with the latest minimal-cd?

[Comment 7 Jorge Manuel B. S. Vicetto (RETIRED) 2012-07-16 15:32:12 UTC]

We need more info to work on this.

[Comment 8 Tomas Vondra 2012-07-27 21:55:35 UTC]

(In reply to comment #7)
> We need more info to work on this.

I've retested with the current install CD and everything works fine. I've changed the drive setup (removed some drives, repartitioned others etc.) so either the issue was fixed or I can't reproduce it due to the changes.

I suspected it might be caused by colliding fs labels, but I can't reproduce this either.

I suggest to close the bug, and I'll reopen it if it happens again.