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I have a pc that i wanted to use as a spare server. The details are: enter image description here I have 8 gigs of ram, and a brand new 320 gb hdd.

I tried to install debian (wheezy) on it using net install (I used unetbootin, selected the x64 debian 7 option) Everything worked well for one night, and now i am getting the error :

sudo: unable to open /var/lib/sudo/ts/BLEH: Read-only file system

This same read only file system happened with ubuntu as well, but I thought it was too 'heavy' on my system.

What are some ways to troubleshoot , and pinpoint the cause of the problem, whether its my power supply,processor , or whatever ?

Thanks in advance

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    Can you find an error in /var/log/messages?
    – Willian Paixao
    Commented Oct 17, 2016 at 16:10
  • if i boot from some other os (thinking of using gparted live) , how should I get to /var/log/ of my hdd ?
    – harveyslash
    Commented Oct 17, 2016 at 16:18
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    You could mount your partition and change directory but it won't give the information I need. I need you to boot the Debian, even if it's buggy.
    – Willian Paixao
    Commented Oct 17, 2016 at 16:22
  • i am back. I booted it up , and it says unexpected consistency . can't access tty job control turned off. and initramfs
    – harveyslash
    Commented Oct 17, 2016 at 18:05

1 Answer 1

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Usually this is a sign of hardware error.

Check the cables of hard disk, the ventilation and dust on motherboard.

When Linux (the kernel) finds an grave error on reading a disk, it put it in read-only state, not to damage it further (writing wrong data in wrong place).

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  • there is no dust at all on the motherboard, cables seem to be okay. How do I systematically troubleshoot each part to find out whats wrong ? I've been trying to install the server for many days now
    – harveyslash
    Commented Oct 17, 2016 at 16:10
  • You can check with the command dmesg, to find where the error originate. If you harddisk has S.M.A.R.T., try with smartctl to check if there are error on the hard disk logs. Ok. I didn't write it in the answer, but hard disk broke often, a broken hard disk is the most probably cause. BACKUP data NOW.
    – Giacomo Catenazzi
    Commented Oct 17, 2016 at 16:13
  • i dont have any important data that i need to back up. So when I return , I will boot up using GParted live , then run smartctl ?
    – harveyslash
    Commented Oct 17, 2016 at 16:16

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