Can't find Knoppix filesystem...

[jonallen23]

I have seen this problem brought up before, but with no suitable solution (I have tried entering nodma, failsafe, etc... after the "Welcome to the KNOPPIX live GNU/Linux on CD!" screen appears)

I have put this disk in my desktop and had no problem loading it, so I know that it was burned properly. What else can I do to make this work? I am desperately trying to get files off of an HP notebook. I am using version 5.1.1

The screen reads as follows...

Running Linux Kernel 2.6.19
Total Memory Available: 1033384kB, Memory free: 1021748kB.
Scanning for USB/Firewire devices... Done.
Enabling DMA acceleration for: hda [ST98823A]
Enabling DMA acceleration for: hdc [HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4084N]
Looking for CD in: /dev/hdc

Then...
Can't find KNOPPIX filesystem, sorry.
Dropping you to a (very limited) shell.
Press reset button to quit.

Additional builtin commands available:
Cat mount unmount
insmod rmmod lsmod

knoppix# _


Can anyone please help me on this, my wife needs the data off of this computer ASAP for work!
Thanks in advance for you help.

[unbob]

Sorry I don't have a solution ... I'm having the same problem while running Knoppix v2.6.19.5 virtual machine under VMware Player. Hoping a Knoppix guru reads this and has an easy answer! TIA, Rob

[Capricorny]

I'm surely no Knoppix guru, but..
The error message from the HP notebook shows that the booting stage proceeds correctly, but it is not able to read the KNOPPIX image. You may try burning the ISO image again, I have had fewer problems ot this type (I think so, at least) when using quality CD-RW media and burning slowly.
Making a bootable USB-stick is another option, but then you would have to be sure about the booting ability of the laptop/stick duo first.
What I would have done if burning a new disk does not helt, is take the hard drive out and place it in a USB-cabinet, which is easily available. Then mount the partitions in question from a pc running Knoppix, and proceed from there.

[unbob]

OK, here's my solution: edit the 'vmx' (file extension) file; change the 'ide1:0.fileName=' parameter to wherever your Knoppix CD iso file is located; save the 'vmx' file; start Knoppix (in my case, start the Knoppix VM). Good Luck! Rob

[Arbatras]

I'm getting the same exact error message as jonallen23. It has something to do with not being able to access the cloop.ko file that is under \KNOPPIX\modules\cloop.ko

After it says that it can't find that file it brings up the error message "cannot find knoppix file system" and so on.

unbob, can you tell me exactly where that .vmx file is? I'm having trouble finding it. And once I do can you tell me how exactly to change it? (I'm not too smart =)

[Arbatras]

Nvm about my last post. I was burning it correctly but I was using "el-cheapo" Office Depot brand CD-R's. I got some quality sony CD-RW's and now it works fine =)

[Harry Kuhman]

A good burn is important, and beyond knowing how to burn an ISO file and confirming a good download by using the md5 checksum, burning speed, media quality and optical drive quality are all important. Using a CDRW is not normally important, but the lower reflecitivity of a CDRW can actually help compensate for other drive imperfections by forcing the automatic gain circuit to crank up the gain of the optics. (And of course it helps prevent waste if the resulting burn still has problems.)

But don't confuse the high cost of Sony media with quality. I've used several different batches of Sony CDRs and they are the worst discs that I have ever used. The discs actually self-destructed and began to look like frost on a window. For the ones that I had already stored data on, the data was lost. Others were bad as soon as the shrink wrap was opened. And it's not a question of how I store them, no other discs that I have have ever done this. And it's not just a bad batch; This has happened to me on different batches and even different Sony product number CDRs (Obviously I had bought both of the two different versions of the discs before I found the problem, as I'll never trust my data to Sony discs again.) And I have a friend who bought Sony discs and has had the same problem.

You can see a picture of some of these bad discs here: http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/2560/sonycdr7pb.jpg

[Capricorny]

But don't confuse the high cost of Sony media with quality. I've used several different batches of Sony CDRs and they are the worst discs that I have ever used <snip>. ..
You can see a picture of some of these bad discs here: http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/2560/sonycdr7pb.jpg

Several retailers here in Norway only stock Verbatim CD-RWs, that may be for a good reason. They are a bit more expensive, but in this context, you don't need loads of them, so price really doesn't matter much.

[nnigam]

For the booting problem, I now just copy the iso directly to the hard drive of my laptop. Then I can boot with the knoppix bootfrom=/dev/hda/k511.iso cheat code that works great if my cd's get bad, and it is a lot faster as well as freeing up the cd drive after I boot.

As for the Sony CD's, I have had bad experience with Sony, so I do not buy any Sony product at all. I strongly suspect the quality of the materials they use in their products from my experience with their support staff and letters to their head office.

Neeraj

[hat_monkey]

The screen reads as follows...

Running Linux Kernel 2.6.19
Total Memory Available: 1033384kB, Memory free: 1021748kB.
Scanning for USB/Firewire devices... Done.
Enabling DMA acceleration for: hda [ST98823A]
Enabling DMA acceleration for: hdc [HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4084N]
Looking for CD in: /dev/hdc

Then...
Can't find KNOPPIX filesystem, sorry.
Dropping you to a (very limited) shell.
Press reset button to quit.

Additional builtin commands available:
Cat mount unmount
insmod rmmod lsmod

knoppix# _

have this problem popping up occassionally both when booting from CD and USB.
solution: unplug USB or / and eject CD, reinsert/replug and try boot again (and again ....and again) until the computer finally boots correctly.