[GTALUG] Cannot open rescue disk

[Giles Orr]

On 7 July 2018 at 23:09, Ken Heard via talk <talk at gtalug.org> wrote:

> The computer has Debian Jessie installed in it.  One day recently after
> starting it, the BIOS identified the hardware.  It went as far as to
> display the line "Verifying DMI Pool Data ..................." and then
> stopped. The rest of the monitor was filled up with series of 99s
>
> I then tried to use a the Rescue mode on a Stretch net install disk. The
> opening menu of the disk appeared on the monitor, but it did not respond to
> input from the keyboard.  I consequently could not select the rescue option.
>
> I checked the keyboard on another computer where it worked.  Using the
> keyboard from the other computer on the one not working also did not work
> there.
>
> The net install disk can be opened on the other computer.  In fact I used
> it there to install Stretch on it.
>
> I did a Google search, but all the references I found assumed ability to
> open the computer from a rescue disk.
>
> Does anybody know why this problem would arise, and what to do about it --
> if anything -- by way of fixing it.
>
> Regards, Ken Heard
>

This link: https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000474.htm suggests the
problem is lower level than I thought (BIOS rather than OS, which may
negate what I've written below).  You could take a look and see if their
suggestions help.  Doesn't look like a fun problem to tackle, sorry.  As
they suggest, start reseating or better, disconnecting internal components
one at a time in the hope the problem goes away on one of them.

I use Knoppix ( http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html )
almost exclusively for rescue - I would give it a try.  I'm inclined to
suspect a hardware problem, and if you get the same error after burning
Knoppix to a USB stick and booting, that would be ... well, a partial
confirmation.  Only partial because Knoppix is still, at its core (I think
...), Debian.

If it does boot, you have a much friendlier and better equipped interface
for system exploration and recovery than the pure Debian rescue package.

-- 
Giles
https://www.gilesorr.com/
gilesorr at gmail.com
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