Hi. Back again.
My startup stopped working, probably due to experimenting with Bluestar linux.
I reinstalled Zorion 7.2 and tried to run Rescuezilla, but it couldn't find the backup file - probably on my second internal HD that Zorion installation seems to format in an unrecognizable format.
Eventually got everything back with Timeshift (presumably from my external HD) and DejaDup after a day of work.
Got up today and back to the same error. Once I get stuff reinstalled, I'll post the error from a photo on my phone. Hah! Found a use for Zorin Connect
Situation now. Zorin 7.2 reinstalled, Timeshift installed, RescueZilla set up again to backup to my internal HD (after formatting to ext4) and an external HD.
Points so far -
the problem I had with Youtube videos not playing is present from the initial installation (ie not something that appears later)
Yesterday's installation of Z 7.2 allowed me to browse and choose my background - this has gone in today's installation.
Any ideas?
I'm trying not to use my assorted DEjaDup (Timeshift backup destroyed during one of the installations), Pikabackup etc to start with a clean system, but ...
You need to boot in recovery mode (Advanced boot option), drop to a root terminal and run fsck.
sudo fsck /dev/sdX
change X to the letter of your drive/partition that is causing you problems. If you get complaints about partition being mounted you could try from live distro. I once lost /home completely (not showing in GParted) and had to use a live version of Kali to run e2fsck.
Hi Swarfendor - Do I need to do this if it's booting (maybe not perfectly) now? Though none of my backups on my external HD or Google seem to be working
Advanced boot option is in the list of 4 options on booting?
What does drop to a root terminal mean?
When you get to Advanced menu, choose recovery, a menu appears. The last item should be drop to a terminal. In respect of the sda command I think you need /dev/nvmexxxx
can't remember the exact parlance.
Can you boot into the desktop? If not I would advise you boot with Zorin installation media then navigate to edit the grub file so that you can see the GRUB file. Back later, in the middle of reinstalling collapsed curtain track.
After 2 b***y attempts are runned Rescuezilla, I can boot into a basic looking desktop without the option of setting the background.
I also tried to do what you said, and get the first screen - no idea what they mean. I tried the fdsk option and the grub thing, with no difference in the outcome.
The second screen shows the disk usage
No idea how to get to this "grub file" and what to do with it.
I don't understand how a new install doesn't erase all the â– â– â– â– on my SSD boot drive and let me start afresh, with the option of choosing the background scene. (I feel like adding lots of !!!!, but have resisted it!)
Edit. No need to rush to help, as I'm taking a rest, being very depressed about the whole thing. Of all 5 USB keys tested, the only one recognised and not skipped over during boot is the Blue star one. I'm currently installing that, then may see if the Zorin installer will be recognised and used to replace Blue star, then start from scratch with Zorin. Have lost two whole days on this so far
OK, If you get to that menu again, use the cursor down arrow to get to 'Drop to root shell prompt'. Press enter then:
sudo fsck /dev/sda3
Looking at your drive it looks like you have everything on one partition in respect of the OS. You may come across a warning that you can't run fsck because /dev/sda3 is mounted. In which case you would need to run Zorin in live mode and then open a terminal in your live session of Zorin and try running fsck command from that. All your tmpfs files are using RAM not your hard drive.
Hi @swarfendor437 . I manged to get my Bluestar USB drive to be recognised and to install Bluestar (wiping the SSD drive), then replaced it with Zorin 17.2 Pro (wiping the SSD drive). Will I still need to go through the steps you kindly suggest?
Also I'm going mad trying to remember how I changed the background on Zorin from mountains to a nice bright sea/desert scene. Could you put me out of my misery regarding where this option is?
Edit - found it by right clicking the desktop!
I expect I'll then have to go through the process of getting Youtube videos to run again
Fire up your favorite terminal and edit the rc.local file. (note: I am running Elementary OS, so scratch is my editor. replace with your favorite editor, Gedit etc.. In Elementary OS the actual command for scratch is “scratch-text-editor”, I just created a symbolic link in /usr/bin to “scratch” to shorten the command)
sudo scratch /etc/rc.local
Your file should look like this:
My file seems to be empty, but not sure if I'm doing it right - what is "etc"?
/etc is that part of GNU that allows you to create .conf files to get things working. The link should show how to automate fstrim using cron. I don't have an SSD now, only HDDs. Try using nano instead:
Right-click on the desktop and select "Change background". Or through Settings -> Background.
In regards to your issue, it looks that one of your installs may have borked something... if you can boot into the desktop, either one of your installed distributions or even using the live USB, I would recommend you copy any important files to another drive and re-install from scratch.
Personally, I tried to stay away from dual-boot as much as possible. It's only a matter of time until it causes more trouble than it's worth.
Also reinstalled from scratch more than once - one time, got it all set up again after a day of work, but it had disappeared the next morning! Today's reinstall after first installing Bluestar, the only live USB I could get to recognise out of 5, then replacing it with my live Zorin USB that was now recognised, has worked and I've been backing up everywhere.
I'm not using dual boot. It seemed that something was wrong with my SSD drive set up and it couldn't be recognised, so I hoped installing Bluestar might sort out the setting up of the drive and it seems to have made the drive accessible. @swarfendor437 mentioned that the drive looked strange
Now wading my way through the inability to play videos again - this appears with just the Zorin setup installed before loading anything else.
