(I'm new to the forum, and i don't know if the picture uploaded correctly)
I updated the software last night, and my laptop needed to reboot to finish the updates. That's when this screen popped up. I typed in "help" to see the built-in commands, then typed "exit" because i saw some people suggest that around the forum.
How do i fix this? And what caused it in the first place?
First Option:
Boot into Recovery Mode: reboot, and hold down the Left Shift Key. At the Grub Menu, select "Advanced Options"
From the recovery menu, select "fsck"
Follow the prompts. When it is complete and asks to remount - select "yes"
Reboot and test.
Second Option:
You will need to create or reuse a bootable copy on DVD or USB of Zorin OS (Or you can use another convenient distro).
You must unmount a disk before you can run fsck on it, which is why you must boot into a bootable medium. Boot up in Try Zorin, then open a terminal
Unmount your disk:
In your case, it would be
sudo umount /dev/sda2
Attempt fsck repair: EDIT (I originally wrote this out with the -p command. Just now, I actually zoomed into the OP's provided screenshot and noticed that the prompt states to not use the -p command. I am removing the command that I originally provided and replacing it with a manual fsck guide, instead.
Normally I would leave the original for posterity, but I remove it now to avoid confusion.)
fsck /dev/sda2 -y
sudo reboot
If system boots up, open terminal and run
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt autoremove
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
Is attempting the fsck repair part of the second option?
Also, does this mean I'll lose everything on my laptop? Or will i be able to get back into it without having to reinstall the operating system?
I remember that screen popped up after an update before, and i ended up having to reinstall Zorin, mainly because i wasn't sure what else to do.
Yes, both are methods of running fsck.
No, fsck is similar to chkdsk; it does not wipe or format, but looks for faults on the disk.
If fsck is successful, you should be able to boot up normally.
Okay. So, do i try option 1, see if it works, and try 2 if it doesn't?
And do you know why this happened? It only ever happens after an update, but i don't know the cause.
I don't know the cause. We might have to try a lot of troubleshooting to try to figure that out.
I can tell you this; If this happens after some updates; it is noteworthy.
If it happens after every update; then there is likely a Physical Flaw with your hard drive. Updates can write a lot of data to your drive. Some process may detect the bad sector and avoid writing to it.
Some repairs (which are clearly not physically performed) are to place 'markers' noting the beginning and the end of the bad sector, telling the system to avoid that sector from then onward.
Okay. So, all i need to do is go through the methods you outlined already. Do i use the USB that i have Zorin on? I didn't put it on a disk. I used a USB stick.
I restarted the computer and held down the left shift key and chose "Advanced Options", but now I'm not sure which of these to choose.
You can try the first listed (Recovery Mode) kernel.
That screen says to run fsck manually. It looks like the Second Option I listed up above is the only option.
You said "You will need to create or reuse a bootable copy on DVD or USB of Zorin OS (Or you can use another convenient distro).
You must unmount a disk before you can run fsck on it, which is why you must boot into a bootable medium. Boot up in Try Zorin, then open a terminal
Unmount your disk:
In your case, it would be".
Just to be clear ('cause i don't want to mess up anywhere), do i do all that from the screen I'm at, or do i plug in the USB and do it from there?
Also, could it be that my hardware isn't compatible with the update that caused this?
Plug in the USB and boot from USB.
I wouldn't think so. If there was a hardware incompatibility like that, an update wouldn't affect it. It would have been clear from the start.
How do i boot from the USB stick?
The actual key you hit depends on your Computer make and manufacturer. Commonly, it is F12, F10 or F8. You can look it up by searching for "accessing boot order" or ":accessing BIOS" on your computer make and model. e.g. "accessing boot order acer aspire".
Hit the appropriate key at the Splash Screen as the Motherboard Boots on your Computer. This screen usually displays the manufacturer name.
Then move to the Boot Tab (If accessing through EFI or through BIOS) or down arrow key from the Boot Order screen (If accessing directly from Boot Order) and choose your USB stick.
Is the Sandisk your USB stick?
Also, that window shows that Secure Boot is enabled. This must be disabled to install Zorin (And should have been disabled to install Ubuntu).
It is, but i don't know which one to choose.
Is that the reason I'm having trouble? How do i disable it?
To disable secure boot:
This is a Slight variable. Sometimes you can do it directly through the UEFI settings on the motherboard, accessing it from Boot. Sometimes, you need to twiddle some knobs in windows, then switch to MB Settings and Some Manufacturers do not allow that ability, at all.
Which USB - I do not know. I would just try the Sandisk first,t hen the Sandisk Partition2 and see what happens. It depends on how your copy of Zorin was written to your USB.
So, the second article talks about going into Windows to disable it, but I've never actually run Windows on this computer, i don't think. After i got it, i immediately put Zorin on here, and it worked fine mostly. Until now, i guess.
And as for the method in the first article, I'm not sure which option to select. I need to disable Secure Boot before i can fix whatever is wrong with Zorin, right?
