How to recover unbootable system?

Question

I have just run the most recent set of recommended updates on a 10.10 system. The computer is now un-bootable.

It gets as far as the "Ubuntu..." splash and then does nothing. I cannot switch to a console. Booting from the 10.10 Live-CD is fine.

Seems like no point in doing a reinstall, as I'll probably end up at the same point. Downgrade the kernel or other software from the Live-CD??
Any recommendations?

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This is a work computer, so I need to fix this ASAP. Is Ubuntu 10.10 not recommended for corporate environment. Should I be using another distro?

Thanks.

Answer 1

For a work machine then you should certainly consider sticking with the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Long Term Support) release which will get point releases and bug fixes. I wouldn't put my work machine on 10.10 unless working on fixing Ubuntu was my work.

For your unbootable problem, you can install or you can provide a dmesg log to a bug report so the problem can be prevented in future:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs

Answer 2

I had the same problem (likely you already fixed yours by now). The best that I could figure out is that if I pressed F1 while the system was stuck in the Ubuntu splash screen, I could get into the terminal. At least there I could recover all of my data. I ended up doing what Martin Owens suggested and put 10.04 LTS after transferring all of my data by flash drive! To do that you have to type

mkdir flash
sudo fdisk -l
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 flash

You'll have to enter your password for sudo privileges. Then your flash drive will be mounted in the folder "flash". Also your device might not be called /dev/sdb1, you'll be able to see this after doing the sudo fdisk -l (it should be the final one listed).

To eject the drive cd to the directory below "flash" and type

sudo umount /dev/sdb1

At least you can save your data this way. Sort of a pain, but it was all I could figure out!