Unable to recover Chrome OS after Xubuntu installation

[Aaron Robson]

Hi everyone,

I'm having some major issues trying to reinstall Chrome OS after an attempt to install Xubuntu. I had problems with the Xubuntu installation, specifically with LVM, so I wanted to revert completely back to stock and start over. Unfortunately, I am unable to recovery Chrome OS. I get the message 'an unexpected error has occurred', and looking at the VT-2 and VT-3 terminal outputs, VT-2 says 'badblocks: invalid starting block (0): must be less than 0'. Digging into the error log in VT-3, it appears that the recovery software is unable to mount the partition table in the SSD. What can I do? I have a Xubuntu live USB that I could use to rewrite the partition table, but in going back to stock I disabled legacy and USB booting, so there is no way I know to get the stick to boot. Help! Thanks so much!

Aaron

[Richard Barnette]

On 9/26/14, 2:47 AM, Aaron Robson wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm having some major issues trying to reinstall Chrome OS after an attempt to install Xubuntu. I had problems with the Xubuntu installation, specifically with LVM, so I wanted to revert completely back to stock and start over. Unfortunately, I am unable to recovery Chrome OS. I get the message 'an unexpected error has occurred', and looking at the VT-2 and VT-3 terminal outputs, VT-2 says 'badblocks: invalid starting block (0): must be less than 0'. Digging into the error log in VT-3, it appears that the recovery software is unable to mount the partition table in the SSD. What can I do? I have a Xubuntu live USB that I could use to rewrite the partition table, but in going back to stock I disabled legacy and USB booting, so there is no way I know to get the stick to boot. Help! Thanks so much!
>

After recovery ends, whether or not it's successful, the log of
all the output on VT3 gets written to the USB stick used for
recovery. The log is in "log/recovery.log", in partition 1
on the recovery stick. That file is necessary for any kind of
useful diagnosis.

Other useful information you could provide:
* What model of Chromebook is this?
* Is your device in dev mode or verified mode?
* Describe any changes you made to the device while in
dev mode.
* Confirm that you followed exactly the instructions
to be found here:
http://google.com/chromeos/recovery

I note that the recovery process is meant to be foolproof;
it's not supposed to be able to fail unless the hardware is
broken. It's possible that there's some change you can make
while in dev mode that breaks some recovery cases, in which
case we'd like to know about it so that it can get fixed.


> Aaron
>

--
--jrb

[Aaron Robson]

Thanks for the help. In response to your questions:

I have limited access to another computer, so I can't upload the log file at the moment. As soon as I can, I will. Just looking at the output, I see I/O errors on device sda, and unable to read partition table. Not sure if those are any help.

This is an Acer C720, model PEPPY C6A-N3C-A7O.

Currently it is in dev-mode, however I am able to switch back and forth using the ESC-Refresh-Power key combination on start up. I've had it in dev-mode since I got it.

In dev-mode, I enabled USB and legacy boot, and when I had Xubuntu installed I had modified the boot flags using the set_gbb_flags script so it would boot to legacy by default. I had installed Xubuntu as the only OS on the SSD. When going back to Chrome OS, I set the boot flags back to default. Those are all the changes I can think of now.

I followed the recovery instructions exactly, even pulling the battery as I read mentioned as a possible solution. Still getting the same error. Any ideas are much appreciated. If I can get legacy booting enabled I can use my Xubuntu USB key to reformat the SSD, but without a working OS I don't know how to change the boot flags.

[Aaron Robson]

Just to update - I've added the recovery logs that I pulled from the Chrome OS recovery USB. Hopefully they will help. Thanks.

[Richard Barnette]

On 9/28/14, 3:50 AM, Aaron Robson wrote:
> Just to update - I've added the recovery logs that I pulled from the
> Chrome OS recovery USB. Hopefully they will help. Thanks.
>

OK. Short summary of the logs: The kernel detected the internal
SSD, but then encountered errors. Typically, this would indicates
a hardware failure. The drive itself may have failed, although it
could be as simple as a loose connection.

The logs suggest you've got a custom SSD storage device in place
of the factory-installed storage. That's enough to explain the
problem.

The recovery.log file is where all the action is. It includes
the output from dmesg; I've included the relevant text below.
The log shows two events. The first is short and sweet:

[ 2.827406] ata1: SATA link up 6.0 Gbps (SStatus 133 SControl 300)
[ 2.827613] ata1.00: ATA-10: SATA SSD, S9FM01.7, max UDMA/100
[ 2.827633] ata1.00: 250069680 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth
31/32), AA
[ 2.827883] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/100
[ 2.828194] scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access ATA SATA SSD
S9FM PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[ 2.828511] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 250069680 512-byte logical blocks: (128
GB/119 GiB)
[ 2.828690] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
[ 2.828707] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[ 2.828807] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: enabled, read cache:
enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA


This says /dev/sda is a 128GB SSD, apparently working normally.
The Acer C720 comes with 16GB or 32GB standard, so this hardware
has been customized.


About 30 seconds later, bad things happen. Basically, the kernel
has trouble getting to /dev/sda, tries to fix things, and then
gives up with a fatal error. Ultimately, this sort of event is
caused by some sort of hardware problem.


[ 33.729286] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x1 SErr 0x0 action 0x6
frozen
[ 33.729303] ata1.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED
[ 33.729318] ata1.00: cmd 60/08:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/40 tag 0
ncq 4096 in
[ 33.729318] res 40/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask
0x4 (timeout)
[ 33.729336] ata1.00: status: { DRDY }
[ 33.729349] ata1: hard resetting link
[ 39.042391] ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
[ 43.733611] ata1: softreset failed (device not ready)
[ 43.733625] ata1: hard resetting link
[ 48.891751] ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
[ 53.735946] ata1: COMRESET failed (errno=-16)
[ 53.735961] ata1: hard resetting link
[ 58.894088] ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
[ 88.775111] ata1: COMRESET failed (errno=-16)
[ 88.775126] ata1: limiting SATA link speed to 3.0 Gbps
[ 88.775136] ata1: hard resetting link
[ 93.780247] ata1: COMRESET failed (errno=-16)
[ 93.780262] ata1: reset failed, giving up
[ 93.780271] ata1.00: disabled
[ 93.780282] ata1.00: device reported invalid CHS sector 0
[ 93.780300] ata1: EH complete
[ 93.780330] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Unhandled error code
[ 93.780340] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda]
[ 93.780348] Result: hostbyte=DID_BAD_TARGET driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[ 93.780358] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] CDB:
[ 93.780365] Read(10): 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00
[ 93.780410] end_request: I/O error, dev sda, sector 0
[ 93.780420] Buffer I/O error on device sda, logical block 0
[ 93.780482] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Unhandled error code
[ 93.780494] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda]
[ 93.780502] Result: hostbyte=DID_BAD_TARGET driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[ 93.780512] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] CDB:
[ 93.780519] Read(10): 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00
[ 93.780564] end_request: I/O error, dev sda, sector 0
[ 93.780573] Buffer I/O error on device sda, logical block 0
[ 93.780635] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Unhandled error code
[ 93.780647] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda]
[ 93.780655] Result: hostbyte=DID_BAD_TARGET driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[ 93.780665] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] CDB:
[ 93.780672] Read(10): 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00
[ 93.780717] end_request: I/O error, dev sda, sector 0
[ 93.780726] Buffer I/O error on device sda, logical block 0
[ 93.780763] sda: unable to read partition table
[ 93.780972] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] READ CAPACITY(16) failed
[ 93.780983] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda]
[ 93.780990] Result: hostbyte=DID_BAD_TARGET driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[ 93.781000] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Sense not available.
[ 93.781081] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] READ CAPACITY failed
[ 93.781093] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda]
[ 93.781101] Result: hostbyte=DID_BAD_TARGET driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[ 93.781111] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Sense not available.
[ 93.781298] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Asking for cache data failed
[ 93.781311] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 93.781322] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk

> --
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--
--jrb

[Aaron Robson]

Thanks for your input regarding the logs. A few follow-up questions and comments:

As you pointed out, the SSD is indeed not the factory installed equipment, but it was working just fine with Chrome OS, Chrome OS + Crouton, and Ubuntu for a few months before this issue came up.

Do you think there would be any chance to fix the drive using a utility like Gparted (or something else)? Is there any way to test if it really is a hardware failure of the drive, or just an issue with the partition table, etc. that Chrome OS recovery is unable to fix?

I bought the SSD of Amazon, so I can contact them about a possible replacement, but I am located in West Africa right now, which makes the process a bit more of a hassle. I'd like to exhaust my options for trying to fix it before I do anything else. Thanks again for your help!

[Richard Barnette]

On 10/2/14, 3:57 AM, Aaron Robson wrote:
> Thanks for your input regarding the logs. A few follow-up questions and
> comments:
>
> As you pointed out, the SSD is indeed not the factory installed
> equipment, but it was working just fine with Chrome OS, Chrome OS +
> Crouton, and Ubuntu for a few months before this issue came up.
>
> Do you think there would be any chance to fix the drive using a utility
> like Gparted (or something else)? Is there any way to test if it really
> is a hardware failure of the drive, or just an issue with the partition
> table, etc. that Chrome OS recovery is unable to fix?
>

Given that it was working fine for a while before it started failing,
it seems likely that the problem is purely hardware. Note that
"hardware problem" is a superset of "SSD problem". The problem could
be a simple as a loose or damaged connection. I think the connection
is even a likely cause, because I believe mechanical connectors are
less reliable than solid state devices with no moving parts.

Gparted isn't likely to help with your problem at all. There may be
other tools that would help, but this forum isn't the best place to
find those kinds of experts, and mostly, talk about hardware problems
are off-topic for this ML.

> I bought the SSD of Amazon, so I can contact them about a possible
> replacement, but I am located in West Africa right now, which makes the
> process a bit more of a hassle. I'd like to exhaust my options for
> trying to fix it before I do anything else. Thanks again for your help!
>

Although it's possible that the SSD itself is bad, it's not really
guaranteed that replacing it will fix anything (cf. the comment
about connectors, above).

> <javascript:>

> > View archives, change email options, or unsubscribe:
> >
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> <http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-os-discuss?hl=en>
>
> >
>
> --
> --jrb

[Gwendal Grignou]

I would try with another SSD. Looking at the error, the controller
stopped responding. First to the read command, then to the hard resets
(aka COMRESET). If it was a bad link, you would get other type of
errors (SError).

Out of curiosity, which SSD did you buy? Its firmware is "S9FM01.7",
which leads me to believe it has a Phison S9 controller, but ts model
name is "SATA SSD" is surprisingly bland. I was expected a brand name
(Corsair for instance).

[Aaron Robson]

This was the drive I used: http://www.amazon.com/MyDigitalSSD-Super-Cache-Solid-State/dp/B00EZ2E8NO/ref=sr_1_1

After reading the latest reviews, it seems like there are a number of people who have run into problems with the drive, so that looks like the most likely source of error. I opened it up and checked the connections as best I could and everything looked good. Thanks for all the help!