Ubuntu won't start anymore

[blondyman1503]

well i was following online instuctions on how to add USB support to Virtualbox and it told me to add "# For USB access with Virtualbox
none   /proc/bus/usb   usbfs   devgid=####,devmode=664   0   0" to the end of /etc/fstab. I did and saved it. it said that it would take effect after i restarted, so i did. when i choose Ubuntu from the GRUB menu i got this "^@" and thats it. it will not go past that no matter how long i wait. i've tired this 5 times, same thing...

What do i do?

[blondyman1503]

and i cant change the fstab file with a live cd or another installed Ubuntu copy...
it says i dont have permissions

[Bruce H]

You can use the Live CD to rescue your system. The reason you are having trouble though, is that you are trying to modify the /etc/fstab on the live CD partition, not your computer's hard drive. Here's how to fix it.

Boot up with the live cd. When the system is up and running, open a terminal. You need to find your system's hard drive, then mount it. Use fdisk to examine your system's disk devices.

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sudo fdisk -l
You'll see a listing similar to this one.

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Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x38000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        2432    19535008+  83  Linux
/dev/sda2            2433       38913   293033632+   5  Extended
/dev/sda5            2433       38662   291017443+  83  Linux
/dev/sda6           38663       38913     2016126   82  Linux swap / Solaris

On my system, the root directory is on /dev/sda1. I happen to know that my system uses the ext4 filesystem, but yours may vary. (In fact, the Id attribute there tells you, but nevermind that for now.)

So, what you want to do next is create a mount point (a directory) for your filesystem in the live CD environment, then mount the drive.

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sudo mkdir /mnt/harddrive

sudo mount -t ext4 /dev/sda1 /mnt/harddrive

If you get an error saying something about wrong file type or something, try specifying the ext3 filesystem. If you get nothing, it likely worked.

Once it is mounted, you can open the fstab in gedit.

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sudo gedit /mnt/harddrive/etc/fstab

Remove the offending lines, reboot, and enjoy. If you have any other problems, post back here with error messages or anything you think might help to diagnose the problem further.

Good luck.

[zee]

Try this ->
Zee's 6 step ubuntu fix
http://zeeis.me/ubuntu-boot-error-simple-fix-gave-up-waiting-for-root-device/

[ykihipp]

Hey !

One simple solution is to share "/media" folder and map it to vbox client.